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Where's the Theology?
| Article
# : |
14661 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1988 |
2,722 Words |
| Author
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George Szamuely
George Szamuely writes for Commentary and The Wall Street
Journal. He is a former editor of the Times Literary
Supplement. |
Since the eighteenth century, the intelligentsia has been at war with itself. Arrayed on one side were all those who, echoing the heroic cries of the Enlightenment, called for yet further efforts in the struggle to bring to an end the tyranny of "despot and dogma"--usually meaning the power of the church. On the other side were to be found all those who believed the symbol of Christ on the cross--the image of suffering and sacrifice for the salvation of mankind--to be expressive of everything that was of any value in our civilization. And since the church was the custodian of this symbol, its power and prerogatives had to be defended at all costs. Yet, curiously enough, the figure of Jesus of Nazareth remained almost completely unscathed throughout this ferocious battle. Not even the freest of free thinkers dared to call his oral stature into question. (His divinity was, of course, a different issue altogether.) Not only was there something admirably rebellious and egalitarian about this carpenter whose closest confidants were fishermen, but if one read the Gospels in a certain way, one might even come away with the idea that Jesus was a patron saint of the Enlightenment. Counterposing Jesus' teaching with the official doctrine of the institutionalized church (of whatever denomination) became a much-favored standby in malicious polemicizing.
Dictates of the Torah
Had Jesus not claimed that the Temple was an obstacle to the spread of holiness? Did he not teach that mere obedience to the dictates of the Torah would not ensure salvation? And was he not an early champion of the doctrine of the separation of church and state when he commanded "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are
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