I’m reading Edward J. Larson’s book, Summer for the Gods. It is about the Scopes trial in 1925 in a small town called Dayton, TN and it concerned a Tennessee law forbidding the teaching of evolution in public schools. In setting the stage for the trial, Larson writes about some of the main characters and describes Clarence Darrow’s view of Christianity. Darrow viewed “Christianity as a slave religion, encouraging acquiescence in injustice, a willingness to make do with the mediocre, and complacency in the face of the intolerable”. [1] Is this what Jesus taught us to do? Some might think so because of the passages quoted below:
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. (Luke 6:27-31 NIV)
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV)
However, as we have consistently said in this blog, we can prove any point we want by just picking out certain verses in the Bible. If we read the entire Bible, we discover that Jesus was not always so meek and mild as Darrow would have us believe.
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” (Matthew 10:34-36 NIV)
Jesus constantly challenged the status quo. For example, he violated Jewish law by healing a person on the Sabbath which resulted in the Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus (Mark 3:2-6). And Jesus used violence when he used a whip to drive commercial enterprises out of the temple (John 2:13-16).
What the Bible tells us is that our use of violence to correct injustice should be extremely rare. Most of the time we should use peaceful means to change what is wrong in our world. And if the Darrows of the world consider that to be the action of a slave, I would ask them if Jesus acted like a slave.
__________________________
[1] Edward J. Larson, Summer for the Gods, New York: Basic Books, 1997, p. 71.
