Monday, November 4, 2013

International Night Cultural Quiz

We had an international party of sorts the other week at church and I drew up a trivia quiz representing some of the nationalities.  Several folks whined complained it was too hard. (None of the Japanese knew about Osaka as the capital... multiple times?)  たぶん温度差がある。 Well, perhaps it probably doesn't hurt that I was a lit/history major.  Anyway, try it out and see how you do. 

I don't know how to use fancy fonts and watermark graphics on blogspot, so I'll post screen shots.







































So, how did you do?  Three of the eight tables got 24 of them right.  I guess if you can beat 24, you earn a prize.

I'll put the answer key below in the comments.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Daniel and the Dreaming King of Babylon


Flight of the Prisoners by Tissot

Here’s a story.  Once again as with the frog fable, the connection to this Japanese blog might appear tenuous, but if you’re a careful reader you’ll find it glaring out at you in the subtext.

This started out as a more local color commentary touching on issues like cross-cultural insights, syncretism, the significance of names, and whether Ezekiel’s “Daniel” refers to the Ugaritic character or to our Daniel, etc., but it seemed better to just have the camera zoom in and let it record whatever it saw. 

Come to think of it, I did a piece like this before for a history class, talking about the Visigoths (or Thervingi, to be on the safe side) crossing over the Danube in A.D. 376, fleeing to Rome to escape the Huns.  So much fun.

Although, yeah, I’m probably off on some of the historical details.  It’s not like I get paid to research all this stuff as extensively as I’d like before offering it as a short story/Bible study/blog post.  I couldn’t quite get the pulpy, adventure men’s magazine kind of story I aimed for with a Bible story (like “Daniel and the Savage Moons of Mars” or something), but for what it’s worth, enjoy…



Daniel and the Dreaming King of Babylon

The holy city of Zion, many-towered in its splendor, perfect in beauty, has been under siege by the dreadful host of Babylon.  King Jehoiakim of Judah had been caught off guard and was surrounded on all sides, no allies to come to his aid.  It was clear to those in the city that the end was at hand.  To a few, it was also apparent that the words of the prophets were being fulfilled; the hand of the Lord was against them. 

No one would accuse Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, of being an especially devout or prescient king, and, indeed, casting the prophet Jeremiah’s oracle into the fire and then searching for the holy man’s life did nothing to hide his corruption.  The false prophets seething around the king had no lack of auspicious dreams and ominous words to sooth his mind and make the people forget the name of God for Baal.  So it was that when it looked like the might of Egypt was the better bet, despite that fact that it was Pharaoh that slew his father, Jehoiakim had decided to stop paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar.  It would not be the last time he would make such a miscalculation. 

The world watched as the three superpowers of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon marched inexorably toward history.  At last they met at the banks of the Euphrates.  Arrows filled the sky as the sound of horse and chariot thundered over the earth.  By the battle’s end, the Assyrian Empire was no more, Egypt was so soundly thrashed that it slunk away nevermore to be a major player.  The Euphrates flowed on as it had since the time of Noah. 

And just like that, the Babylonian army turned its head to finish off at the tributary kingdoms of the Levant.  The king had only been on the throne of Judah for four years by the reckoning of the Hebrew calendar when the vast array arrived at the gates.* 

Nebuchadnezzar’s herald presented the demands: captives from the royal house of Judah along with the sacred vessels from the temple, spoils of war, tribute of obeisance to the gods of Babylon.  Daniel received the news as it spilled down the streets, and soon found friends from the royal household who confirmed the rumors. More than anything, he wished to see Jeremiah one last time, but he was not to be found at his house and Daniel didn’t have time to inquire for him.  He met the priests he knew at the sanctuary and offered them a word of comfort.  Then he had to return home to make preparations. 

Finally, word came that Jehoiakim assented to the demands.  Things happened quickly then as the men of Judah opened the gates and in rushed the advance guard, binding and organizing the people into companies in the rough fashion of soldiers.  Daniel tried to keep track of where his friends and family were being taken as best he could; everywhere there was noise and confusion though, driven through with the barking of orders, as people were numbly led this way and that.  Soon he found himself separated into a grouping of strangers as they were numbered and waited for rations to be assigned them.  The men had their heads shaved while the women and children were taken elsewhere.


But all of that seemed a lifetime ago.  Now he walks in a long caravan of captives stretching off into the dusky horizon.  A thousand miles of desolation.  His head still pounded something awful from the gash he got from a soldier for trying to help along one of the elders who had tripped and stumbled.  Part of him thought of how he might escape if there was a suitable distraction, but as the miles passed there was no opportunity, and what’s more, he was ashamed to admit, he had lost any real will to try for it.  Behind them, the smoke from the ruins of the city gates rose in ashen plumes.  It was as if someone had wrenched his heart from his chest.

Of his own parents he did not know their fate.  Before his exile, they had raised him to revere Yahweh, and to learn His ways and His covenant with His people.  They had specially named him with such an aim in mind, דָּנִיֵּאל – “God is my Judge.”  In his mind, he could hear his father’s deep, baritone voice intone the Scripture passage for the day at the breakfast table.

Not a day went by that he didn’t think of their legacy and the stay of men like Joseph and Moses in Egypt, of Elijah and Samuel.  Men of grit and strong sinew.  Joseph had been renamed Zaphenath-Paneah, but had kept true and steadfast to the Lord and saw the word flourish during his time.  Indeed, Abraham’s ancestors had been called out of this very land, Ur Kaśdim.  If Jonah’s preaching could humble the king of Nineveh along with the inhabitants of city, and young King Josiah could cleanse the land of Solomon’s blood-stained idols… 

He looked over the multitudes of his distraught countrymen and resolved in his heart that, come what may, in the darkest of dungeons he would not to turn his back on Yahweh or let himself become entranced by offers of release and comfort, if only he would bow to this grinning statue or press his lips to that votive carving.

When they were yet miles away, he could see the brightly-gleaming citadels of Shinar, among them the ancient temple of Etemenanki and the prominent temple of Marduk in Esagila, touching the sky.  If those in Jerusalem had seen this, Daniel thought, they never would have entertained the idea of opposing this king.

Once in the great eight-walled city of Babylon, he meekly expected the worst, to be ignominiously tortured or shackled as a household servant for the rest of his days, a laughingstock and object of derision.  Several weeks of travel by foot, subsiding on meager rations seasoned with prayer, left him fairly weak to whatever awaited him. 

Quite to his surprise, however, he and the other sons of the nobility, like his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, found themselves given the most luxurious of quarters and a place at the king’s tables.  Daniel’s new home had a restful garden with plashing fountains and colorful flowers he had never seen before.  From his balcony he could gaze upon the pennants of jeweled palaces.  He smiled to himself.  It was not to be the crude tools of torture, but a silky offer of sweet enticements.

Babylon was alive with foreign merchants selling their exotic wares in the spacious plazas, ringed with columns.  He had not known there were so many nations and tongues to be found in the inhabited world.  To be honest, he often felt like a helpless child, unable to read the street signs or quite catch what the vendors were after, gesticulating in their curlicue accents.

These people are cultured and well-groomed, he thought, but at the same time so crude and uncouth.  He passed altars and shrines on every corner dedicated to lurid abominations of wood and stone.  A vile and detestable sensuality was the sop that flowed at the edges of most commercial activity.  Around the temple precincts, various establishments were usually connected to a backroom serviceable for anyone with enough coin.  By evening or midday one heard the sounds of reveling, as if the people had thrown off all restraint to plunge in headfirst, swimming in iniquity, lapping it up.  He felt nauseous at the thought.  It was as if --- well, to be honest, it was not so very different from some parts of Jerusalem after sundown.

In turn, many of his brethren shunned the marketplaces altogether and stuck to their own neighborhoods.  Besides, what butcher would adhere to Levitical purity in the preparation of the food?  What shopkeeper might one find that didn’t sell meat and wine that had been portioned and dedicated to false gods?

Walking the streets around the temple precincts, especially during festivals near the massive ziggurat-mountains, the air filled with the pounding of drums, it was not long before his initial shock gave way to a deep ache in his heart.  For this people had become a burden to him, and deep in his kidneys he felt a compassion for their ignorance and pitiful estate apart from the living God.

The local communal gathering of Jewish men met in Shimei’s house.  It was headed by a competent enough fellow, even if his strain of teaching was provincial by training and his forceful personality was of a sensitive nature, not unlike the way a bully feels wounded even by light words.  To be sure though, there were also to be found some teachers and scribes who were decent and godly men to sit under.  In any case, Daniel was not allowed out of class for the Sabbath so he rarely got to gather in prayer with the congregation there.

He did not make friends easily at the royal preparatory school.  The other boys seemed to keep their distance. 

At mealtime a classmate would taunt, “You don’t still pray to your lousy, defeated god, do you?  I saw him this morning kissing the feet of Marduk the Great!” 

It was then that he realized how the reputation of his people preceded him.  In his blood, he burned to give a defense… he could not speak their tongue well enough, but his fists had a ready answer.

When he and Azariah walked by on their way home, the other boys whispered and snickered amongst themselves like the crackling of thorns under a pot.  Usually the two simply ignored them, but today the tallest of them was feeling especially assured of his cleverness and he only got louder.  “Hey!  I’m talking to you, Hebrew!  Why don’t you get on your knees and kiss my feet!”  He started to come closer.

Next to him, Azariah had an impassive look and kept walking.  Daniel was prepared to take a blow for Yahweh.  It was a common enough thing for his people living over on the Chebar to get a black eye or broken bone on the way home.  But sometimes he knew Yahweh’s response came in the form of rendering to some bull-headed Babylonian kid a fat lip and a strike to the knee.  Still, he was glad Azariah was beside him, athletic in build and with his eyes set straight ahead, never wavering his pace. 

The gang of toughs kept up their curses but they didn’t seem interested enough to keep following them at the moment.  Later, it might be a different outcome should one of the Hebrews be caught alone.

In class he was surprised and at first a little shaken to find some of his teachers openly despised him for what they regarded as his arrogant, narrow-minded, backwater religion.  But he did not mind their scornful laughter.  He asked God to have mercy on them.  If he had to bide his time he would.  One day he would gain a competency in their language to provide a proper response and explanation of the things of God.

His chief instructor was Ashpenaz, the royal advisor and a man of broad learning.  He had the Hebrew youth given new cultic names in honor of the Babylonian gods.  The fact that Daniel was now addressed by a name invoking a loathsome and debauched god was particularly irksome. It was, of course, a dastardly attempt to subvert and sever his identity as a son of Israel, and each time it burned his ears, he had to keep from bristling.  At times he daydreamed of lashing back at a classmate, “Say it again!  Go on, say Belteshazzar just one more time!”

His studies were a welcome distraction.  The Akkadian dialect along with literary Sumerian were supple and able to carry ideas and feelings that were not to be found in his own tongue.  The poetry could be grand and sweeping.  Other times, the assigned texts were watery superstitions passing as wisdom, indeed much of it was the sort of black wisdom that comes from the earth and the air.  He longed to linger over the Scriptures of Moses and David and relish in the ways of God’s working with man… but deadlines were deadlines and by the following Friday he had to translate the last three sections of the epic of The Man Who Saw the Abyss, King Gilgamesh of Uruk.

In-between his readings, nothing was more was pleasant and refreshing than to take a walk in his garden.  He had planted a couple fruit-bearing shrubs and a cinnabar tree near the far corner.  A little shade in that spot, once they had grown up, would be just the thing.  At night the starry sky shined in with a luminous language, a name for each one.  He laid on his back for hours as the mazzaroth wheeled above, shining in the radiance of glory, the various scenes passing right to left.  Parsing the celestial works of the Lord was one of his favorite acts of worship.  What endless stores of knowledge the Almighty had concealed up there among the spheres!



In time, as he gained fluency in the languages, he would visit with the leading Chaldean scholars and other priests in their quarters, that is, those that would speak with him.  There was a certain aura surrounding them, for they hardly ventured out in the light of day, and a ghoulish pallor to the skin.  Deep in the temple complexes, lost somewhere in the labyrinth of chambers, they performed their voorish rites.  They were the keepers of the ancient mysteries and the high priest took no small pleasure during the spring equinox ceremony, when the consummation of Marduk and Sarpanit was celebrated, of reminding the king of his place below the gods. 

It was rumored they were wealthier than the king as well due to considerable silver they amassed by the temples selling all manner of charms, talismans, amulets, fortune-stones, wish-dolls, lucky horoscopes, protective figurines, fertility wands, moon rings, memorial tokens, prayer beads, exorcisms, and funerary services.

Once in the dark recesses of the temple of the moon, he could hear echoes from the corridor walls.  Sounds of the chanting of unspeakable rites.  He was suddenly keen to find the way out when he came across Mukthar of the Aklos.  His greeting was not returned, but Daniel didn’t mind so much, bowing past him to keep looking for the exit.

Since that time, he was more than happy to confine his place of study to the library, which was actually rather resplendent.  In it he could find respite from the company of vulgar men and avoid the goings of the seers.

The annals of the kings were there for his perusal.  They had a complete set of the Scriptures of Moses, which he set about to copy and translate.  There were tablets preserved from Nizu and Nippur and Ebla, fragments of stone records from the sunken cities of Gozer and Nebthu, the faintest memories of Sarkomand and Celephaïs, the last remnants of the age when Nephilim ruled over the sons of men from mountain strongholds… 

In requesting a certain treatment on the life of Hammurabi, he was told it was held within the Ashurbanipal collection, which required special permission to access.  Upstairs a long corridor led to a series of chambers.  He took the door so designated and approached the desk where a scribe was buried in a text.  The wizened Egyptian looked up slowly to meet him.  His face bore a ritual tattoo and the bronze armlets and earrings spoke of his noble status.  On his desk lay a copy of The Journeys of Melchizedek.

“Ah, what you ask is a hard thing,” he answered.  “That is the only copy is existence.  We do not let just anyone run their profane eyes over it.”

“Is there some task you wish me to do?  Peradventure, to fetch the horn of a she-auroch from the corrals of the Sun?”

“We only require one thing,” he answered.  “One thing to be given to us freely.”

“Yes…?”

Ka nama kaa lajerama.”  The Egyptian’s eyes flickered coldly.  “Your immortal soul.”

Daniel seemed in thought.

“Nah, no – I’m only kidding with you…  Yeah, it’s on the shelve at the end.  I’ll come unlock it for you.  You have your library card?”

Daniel handed it to him.  “Much obliged.  I’m Daniel, by the way.”

“You may call me Cathoris.”  The librarian read the name on the card and looked up quizzically.  “But if Ashpenaz were here, I think I shall have to call you Belteshazzar.”

Daniel shrugged.  “You may call the sky green if you wish.”

“Yes, there is truth there.  You seem older than your years would have tell.  I see you studying here most days.”

“It’s a marvelous collection here.”

“To be honest, there is something I’ve been wondering about the Judahites and I would like to ask of you.”

“You sound in earnest.”

“When Yahweh waged war against my people a thousand years ago, defiling the sacred Nile with blood, mocking our gods, drowning our armies in the sea, piercing Rahab through… the whole world was filled with terror at the tales of the pillar of smoke and fire.  As a boy I read of this in the chronicles and chills ran up my spine.  Neither am I ignorant of when he sent death among the camp of King Sennacherib, wiping out the army of Assyria that was poised to take Jerusalem.”

“But now your land was been pillaged by the Assyrians and now the Babylonians – as they did to my people as well.  I hope you understand that I ask this respectfully.  Your God is known as the Holy One of Israel… but Israel was destroyed and dispersed a hundred years ago.  And now Judah has been scattered as the wind.  What has happened that your once powerful God did not deliver you from all these sorrows?  You do not seem to be such an evil man.  Is there some hidden conspiracy in the affairs of your people that merited your exile?  Does God judge a whole people for the sin of one man?”

Daniel nodded slowly.  “Our people have been looking up at the sky for a long time now, wondering where He went.  And how we might even offer prayers to Him, separated as we are from the altar of atonement and the mercy seat.  But it was not He who abandoned us.  We have rejected the Lord God since our beginning.”

“It is He that has laid these judgments on our head.  You have read in Moses where He warned of such times that His children would turn away from him.  We have been sent many prophets to tell us that He would use foreign kings to discipline His children.  It is because of our grievous sins that He has brought all of this upon us and torn us as a lion tears its prey.  And then we squirm and kick and plead – and He sees all of our empty words and empty promises.  He is not to be mocked.  And yet for all of that He has not forsaken His covenant with Abraham.  He spoke all of this to the prophets and also that He will come and restore Zion one day.”

“You sound very sure of that.”

“The Lord is not like a man to change His mind or forget a matter.  He will bring about what He says as He always has.  Do you not know something of His faithfulness by the records?  Or have you not some understanding of His dealings with the sons of men?”

Cathoris confessed, “I have seen things in my time that I cannot explain.  I know that there are dark creatures in the desert that cry like jackals.  Under the sun there is more to the work of a man’s hands than mindless delirium.  In the end, king and commoner share the same grave and neither will be remembered by the living.  I think there must be a day of reckoning.  Beyond that, I honestly do not know.  Who has been past the gates of death to tell us?”

“Allow me to ask a question of you, noble Cathoris.  This is a time of testing for all of us.  If God judges nations, how much more does He look at individuals?  Does your heart weigh more than a feather of Ma’at?  And if so, do you not fear the awful judgment of Anubis and the sharp teeth of Ammut?  How will you render an account of yourself on that day?”

At first Cathoris was at a loss.  His gaze fell to the ground.  “There is nothing I could say.  My shame is before me.  I am eaten up by it all the day.  My spirit is weighed down at the thought of it.”

“The King of Glory holds the breath of all living beings in his hand.  He weighs the hearts of men for He is the righteous judge of the living and the dead.  If a man were to wash his hands and turn away from the evil in his heart, and seek the Lord for forgiveness and cleansing, such a man will be blessed.  The Lord will clothe him with righteousness.  You see, if your heart is as heavy and chained to sin as you know it to be, what you need is a new one.  The Lord does not only destroy.  I have seen Him deliver those who put their trust in Him and raise them to new life.”

“But I am so…” he looked grief-stricken and went pale at the words.  “Ah, what shall I say?  Tell me, what sacrifice from my hands could possibly be acceptable in His sight to purge me of my uncleanness?”

“Surely, we know blood of goats and sheep cannot remove the sins of a man.  God Himself will provide that sacrifice which will redeem you from your debt against Him.”

“And He will vouchsafe me from the threats of Ammut or whatever rabisu lurks to swallow me up for eternity?” 

“He will rescue you from His divine wrath and show you mercy and lovingkindness.  He did so for me.”

As Daniel spoke, Cathoris had an image of God looking at scenes from his life – secret things he had hidden away in his mind and tried to forget.  He watched in horror at God’s expression as shook His head in disappointment.  He got up and walked away disgusted and Cathoris tried to stop Him, exclaiming, “No, no, wait!  You don’t understand!  I can explain.  Please, it’s not like that!”

Cathoris was silent a long while.  The more he thought on it, the more he knew there was no hope of comfort that could come from the implacable snout of Anubis.  “What injury I have done to Yahweh, I am sorry…”  He raised his hands with his palms out and declared, “Daniel, you have become my witness that this day from where the sun stands in the sky, I pledge myself to Yahweh.  Lord God of Israel, I need your mercy and forgiveness, lest I perish.”

In that moment, they looked at each other in amazement.  Something had happened, that much was clear.  Cathoris had no words for the experience or emotion or whatever it was, but inside he was a different person now than he was five minutes before.  A key had fit the lock, and sprung open a door.  He opened his mouth and began to pour forth a florid hymn in his Egyptian to the One who had come down and drawn near. 



There were plenty of ways one could get in serious trouble at school, but his first serious challenge came early on, quite sooner than he expected - on the very first day of school actually.  Assembled with the entire student body in the grand hall, Daniel was served a full and rich plate of smoked beef and lentil soup with a full-bodied goblet of wine.  It was a sumptuous feast.

But he hadn’t picked up his utensils.  He looked over and then caught the glance of some of his fellow captives who sat before their plates with the same distressed expression.  They knew it all depended on this. A most ingenious trap on behalf of their overseers to test if they would go so far as to directly defy the king in order to obey their God.

The other classmates watched the Hebrews with a perverse eagerness to see them humiliated and partake of the feast honoring their false gods.

For his part, Daniel prayed silently for wisdom in his words and rose to speak with the royal advisor sitting with the other faculty at the dais. 

He bowed to Ashenpaz and in his best Aramaic asked, “Chief advisor, would my lord honor your servant with one request…”

Ashpenaz narrowed his eyes, considering what the boy was up to.  He pursed his lips and then, amazingly, suggested, “In the hallway then.”

Throughout Daniel’s courteous little speech his face bore no expression.  At first Ashpenaz was hesitant to put his own life on the line by denying the king’s command just to accommodate these Hebrews and the peculiarities of their dietary laws.  He fingered the amulet around his neck.  “If I were to grant such a request, would it not mean inviting the king’s wrath to come down on my own head?  Why should he see you looking worse than your classmates?”

“I would never wish that, my lord.  I merely request a consideration that the food my people have lived on has been sufficient for my strength thus far.”

Somehow despite himself he felt tender compassion for Daniel and gave conditional assent, indicating he should ask the steward who was directly over them.  Daniel put forth his request to the sharp-faced official in the form of a bet. 

The steward’s interest was piqued.  What sort of bet?

A ten-day test, Daniel proposed, to see if their God would not increase their strength on a diet of food kept separate from the Babylonian idols.  If they appeared weaker, Daniel would take the blame and take whatever consequences the steward deemed fit. 

The burly overseer was speechless for a moment.  “But what do you mean here?  Is the food dedicated to the great Bel-Marduk not good enough for you?” he snapped.

“It is not a question of taste or quality, which must be beyond compare.  But it is forbidden by the law of the Most High to give honor to any images, statue, or likeness of a created being.  I like a good wine with my steak as much as the next man, but I can’t pretend to share a meal with Marduk or give him my worship.”

The steward rapped his fingers rhythmically on the table as he thought.  Despite himself, he found Daniel’s words compelling and wished that there might be a solution to be found.  “No one has ever asked such a thing...” 

In truth, he wondered if such a scheme might work and he could take the portions to turn a profit on the side.  “Look, why don’t you simply eat and drink for the sake of the king’s command and in your heart pray to your god and tell him they you don’t really worship other gods?”

“But we know that no man could ever serve two masters,” Daniel demurred.  “I could only disobey the Most High at my own peril.”

“Young man, you are either very brave or very foolish…”

“Courage is a fine thing, sir, but even courage is no substitute for conviction.”

The steward had no few gray hairs on his head.  It would be a waste for these young men to give up their lives for so trivial a matter, but he saw that there was nothing he could do to break his conviction.  Whether he saw some shadow of wisdom in this proposal or savored the idea of lining his pockets with some extra coin, well, both came to the same end.

“All right.  No gabbing this around to anyone else,” he held up a finger.  “Ten days.  May it be on your head.”


At the end of ten days time, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah came to bear inspection.  From head to toe, their appearance was healthier than their peers.

“Well, well.”  Ashpenaz’ face betrayed no expression, but merely remarked, “You would seem fair enough.”

The steward, who stood next to him, laughed aloud, “It would seem your water is better than our wine.  Soon we will have to come to him, this little Solomon, for our learning.”

So it was that Daniel’s reputation began to grow among the students and teachers until at the end of the three years it came time for his civil service candidacy exams.

The final examination was notoriously brutal.  The faculty were spread about encircling the room in fine robes grazing the floor.  Behind them, the Chaldeans and court astrologers stood in silence.  Opposite the assembly, the king strode in, his powerful frame overshadowing the young acolytes. 

He looked them over with a piercing glare, his imperious eyebrows furrowed.  Seated on his divan, he began to call them up in turn.  The questions were sharp and incisive in his maieutic style – how to adapt various military stratagems upon suddenly being outflanked, what course to take in the case of deciding between two lying parties, which has the greater merit between grain and cattle, how to discern the omen of various birds in flight, how to proof the square of a hypotenuse of a triangle, and so on with the sciences and history and poetry. 

To everyone who attended the interview, the understanding and aptitude of the Hebrew exiles was astounding.  The king folded his massive arms and declared them to be ten times more learned than the wise men of the realm.  The counselors for their part regarded the youths with a nod of respect and smiled weakly.

As for the Hebrews, there was a begrudging respect from their classmates.  Together they had struggled and persevered - old rivalries were forgotten as they clapped each other on the back. 

He raised a glass toward them in salute.  “Any man living would be proud to call one of you his son.  Those who know me know that I am little tolerance for weak-minded fools and even less for those who sugar their words before Nebuchadnezzar, King of Kings.  Behold, I built this fortress-city as a wonder of the world.  From Heliopolis to Bensaylum, a stronghold that will stand through the ages.  Do you not tremble at the thought of it?  Do your eyes not get weak at the glory of the sun?  You stand to enter the ranks of a dominion that will outlast the stars in the sky.  Such is my might.  Such is your honor.”

“Hail, King Nebuchadnezzar!” the magistrates shouted.



A couple of years had passed since Nebuchadnezzar’s father, Nabopolassar, Conqueror of Nineveh, went to the tombs of the kings.  His unexpected death forced his son to make haste to end his latter campaign against Jerusalem and return home to lay claim to the throne and deal care of any rivals.

Reigning as sole sovereign, he enjoyed a span of peace along the borders, from the Zagros Mountains to the far Taurus, spending most of his days overseeing public works, aqueducts, and an ever-increasing number of temples, seeing that palace was ever more lavishly adorned with arches and palisades, filled with exotic birds and pleasure gardens.

But now the king was in a dark mood.  Night after night he had been dreaming dreams that shook him with such vividness that he tried to stay awake rather than have to face them again.  The images were seared so in his brain and at daybreak instead of fading the dream infested his thoughts.  He sent his wife away, or rather she went to sleep in another chamber rather than try in vain to quell his distress and endure his violent fits.  One could possibly coax an eagle to land on one’s arm, but there would be plenty of eye gouging before it was over.

Fretfully he paced the cold marble terraces and called for the flute and lyre while the braziers burned throughout the night.  Nothing among his hundred treasure rooms nor any harem girls from faraway lands with sun-kissed hair could engage his interest.  The daughters of Ištar performed their mantic invocations, convulsing in the throes of possession, but none of this was of any avail. 

The royal physician with all of his potions was of no use.  After his summary incarceration, the king called in all the physicians, and metaphysicians, and apothecaries of the land with all their potions and prattling incantations.  Spun webs were hung over the windows.  They tried opening the chronicles and telling him stories of the heroes of old while he had warm milk and cookies.  They put on scary masks and beat drums and made loud noises to scare away the evil spirits.  They drew their knives and with crimson-stained hands went over the entrails of goats and looked for answers in the swirling waters and dusty volumes of forgotten languages, searching the Iškar Zaqīqu cover to cover.  But none of this was of any avail.

Around the palace, the murmur of the court was growing increasingly concerned about the rumors of his mental disturbance.  His eyes were bloodshot and shriveled with the successive nights of sleeplessness. 

At last, his voice thundered down the halls calling in the seers and sorcerers, the magicians and Magi of the mysterious order of Chaldean priests – from the cult of moon-worshippers.  In short, those who traced the ways of the stars and all manner of rocks and plants and beasts, well-versed in the arts of the Egyptians, learned in the formulas for changing the properties of one thing into another, the greater to the lesser and the lesser to the greater.  The king was of Chaldee descent as well, but had no love for them; they repudiated the temple of Marduk.

“Bring them to me,” he ordered.  “Call them down from their lofty towers, summon them at the Temple of Tash, search out the houses of the dead and wake them up!”

When they had arrayed themselves before him in order of their splendid fineries and caps and ponderous beards, he addressed them.  His voice was unnaturally soft and gentle.  “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream...” 

“O king, live forever!” they proclaimed.  “Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”

His lips curled back.  “I have spoken.  If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be hacked limb from limb, and your houses despoiled and laid in ruins.  But if you consult your constellations and show me the dream and its interpretation – I swear by my throne and my kingdom, such gifts and great honor will be yours.  Now, now, don’t be shy.”

There was an awkward cough somewhere and they replied unto him, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.”

“Ha!” the king answered, jumping excitedly from his throne. 

“Ha!” he said again. 

“Was it the purpose of your magics to be protecting me or to curse me?  Am I a serpent that you would try to blow smoke and play charms on me?   Do you doubt the king’s word or think to gain some time for your tricks?  Nebuchadnezzar has spoken – very well!  If you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence.  Tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.”

At this, there was the susurrus of a frantic discourse, their faces flushed in desperate confusion.  Eventually, the huddle broke up and they bowed so low to the ground so that their noses were smushed against the floor.

One of them pleaded, “O wise and sagacious lord, surely there is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.  The thing that the king asks is altogether too wonderful for those below him, and no one can show it to the king except the gods above, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

The king erupted in fury and curses, fierce as a gallu.  His sword left its sheath in a wide, aimless arc and his subjects stumbled over each other in a wild scramble to get out of the reach of the singing blade. 

His roar shook the palace.  “Insolent fools!  Raise the scaffolds!  Hunt them down every last one!”


Daniel was in his upper room overlooking the city.  His had just finished his midday prayers and wiped the tears from his eyes when he saw Nebu-zar-adan, the infamous captain of the king’s guard, arrive in the street below with a contingent of soldiers. 

Nebu-zar-adan was better known as Arioch by the Jews, however, for his rapacious delight in playing the lion with them, teasing his victims before he pounces.  Also, his son was one of Daniel’s old classmates.

“Captain Arioch,” Daniel called down.  “Nice of you to visit.  Just a moment and I’ll be right down.”

He received them in the courtyard and his servant offered the captain a cool drink.  “What can I do for you?”

“Hey Daniel… nice day, isn’t it?” he remarked off to the clouds or trees somewhere.  “To get to it, the king just issued a degree that all the counselors and advisors and wise men are to be rounded up for execution.”  He sipped his glass.  “Would you mind coming with us?”

The soldier next to him had a rope for his hands to be bound.

“Oh, I see.  I hadn’t heard.  That’s a lot of heads.  Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you, captain.”

Arioch scratched at his beard.  “I don’t mind so much.  Good for job security.”

“May I ask why the degree was so urgent?”

As he explained the matter, Daniel nodded.  “He does not seem to be himself.  Captain, I wonder… do you think I might have a word with our king?  There is to be an answer to learning the mystery about this unnatural dream that troubles him so.  Some plot lays about this.”

Arioch looked at his quizzically.  He had heard about this unusual young man from Ashpenaz and the other palace officials and, of course, his son.  “It’s your head,” he grunted.  “We’ll be back in the morning.”

So Daniel walked to the palace, listening for the Lord’s leading.  This was a curious case.  He knew oneiromancy would be of no help in the matter.  Only by divine revelation would the mystery be made known.

The guards opened to him and he went in to the antechamber.  It was not long before the majordomo appeared and he was summoned to see the king.

When the doors opened, he was somewhat startled to see the change that had gripped the warrior-king since last he saw him.  On either side of the throne were two immense twenty-ton statutes of lions, sculpted from the gold of Ophir.  The king sat between them propping his head up with his palm on his cheek.  Though he was hardly ten years older than Daniel, his features were worn haggard and weary, what he could see amid the shagginess of his unkempt beard. 

At last, the king lifted his hand, in a dismissive notion.  “One of the exiles of Judah, I believe… yes, Belteshazzar, isn’t it?  So you have come to beg for a reprieve?  Or are you the barbarian Enkidu come to interpret the king’s dream?”

“Gracious of you to remember, my lord.  If it pleases the king, you may call me Daniel.  May I say, I’m sorry that your sleep has been troubled by this dream of yours.  If you would give me and my friends until morning, we will ask our God who governs the night for the dream and its interpretation that you might have peace in your spirit and come to know what it is that He is wanting to speak to you, and that the lives of the astrologers and Chaldeans may be spared.”  At the back of his mind he reflected on the irony that were this Israel and he of the spirit of Elijah all these false prophets would be dead at his feet.

Nebuchadnezzar suppressed a smirk.  “Does your god whisper so in your ear?  I had thought him conquered.  Are not his cups and dishes adorning the temple of Bel-Marduk?”

“Our God is the Lord of Heaven and Earth.  He does as He pleases.  He is far from the wicked, but indeed He listens to the prayer of the righteous man and, yes, He reveals mysteries to men who keep His word.”

The king looked askance at the kid at first, but as he studied him he saw nothing of guile or fear in his face, nothing of the reclusive pretensions that shrouded the other wise men.  “Well.  We will see, won’t we?  This wager amuses me.  You have your appointment.  Conduct your ceremony and then come back and report.  If you will be needing any scrying stones or animals for sacrifice or something of that nature, let Ashpenaz know.”

“Thank you very kindly, sire, but those will not be necessary.  I look forward to speaking with you again soon.” 

When Daniel had left, Nebuchadnezzar signaled to his officials.  “Send some men and watch that they do not try to escape.”

Even as the words left his mouth though he had no doubt that Daniel would be true to his promise.  He sunk his chin on his hand and waved for the next meeting.


When Daniel returned home and told his friends how it went with the king, they took the whole thing in stride.  It hardly seemed according to the Lord’s providence that He would honor them so richly at their graduation ceremony only to have them hacked to pieces or else hang from the gallows in so short a time. 

Azariah told them he had gotten word out to Hananel and the houses of their people all along the Chebar River would be lit up tonight as they were gathering in prayer.

Mishael ran his hands through his hair and replied, “So what are we waiting for?  Let’s go to the heavenly mercy seat and seek His face.”

They got on their knees and turned their hearts to Lord of Glory, Keeper of His covenant with Abraham, that He would be pleased to use them as vessels of His mercy.  With groanings and in quietude the hours passed until it was very late indeed and Daniel suggested for now they take to their beds and wait for the Lord’s answer.

That night in his sleep Daniel dreamed and his dream was a revelation.  He awoke in amazement and poured out thanksgiving upon thanksgiving to the Lord.

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him.
To you, O God of my fathers,
    I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

He woke his friends to share the news with them and they got word out to the others.  Daniel wrapped his heavy tunic about him and set out in the darkness.  The moon was barely a sliver in the sky and the dawn was not yet a thought on the face of the sky.  In the stillness of the streets, Daniel threaded his way for Arioch’s house, a clutch of soldiers shadowing his steps as he went, and somewhere overhead an angelic watcher following.

Captain Arioch opened his door and blinked in surprise. 

“Good morning to you, Captain Arioch.”

It was his habit to rise early, but not in the sunny manner of the boy before him.  “Ah, good morning, Daniel.  Would you care for a cup of tea?” 

“Thanks, maybe later.  I’ve come to ask that you stay your hand from executing anyone this morning.  I have the king’s answer.”

“You seem fairly confident of yourself…”

Daniel gave a knowing smile and gestured the way.  “Shall we go?”

Arioch shook his head and snorted.  “It’s your head, boy.”


The majordomo announced, “Your Majesty, Captain Arioch send word that he has found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.”

The king set down his pen and stared back at him with listless eyes.  “Oh.  Already?  I guess I will have to finish my book at another time.”

Downstairs the servants were bustling about with fetching water and opening shutters and everything else before the start of the day.  The honey-golden light of dawn stepped down the lofty tower and along the terraces.  In the king’s chamber at the end of the great hall, Nebuchadnezzar in his idiosyncratic way had the wise men assembled to hear Daniel’s presentation.  Breathless with trepidation, they looked on as the young scholar entered who would determine their fate.

He looked diffidently at the Hebrew.  “Do proceed,” he said in a thin voice.  “Enlighten us.”

Daniel nodded respectfully.  “I would like to thank you for the opportunity, your majesty.  As the king has declared, no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can the mystery of his dream, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.  He has revealed it now to me, not because of any wisdom or righteousness that I have, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that he may know the thoughts of his mind and of what is to take place in the days to come.  In your dream, you looked, and behold, a statue of a man, great and terrifying, stood before you.”

Nebuchadnezzar gasped in his seat.  Most terrible, yes! 

“The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.  As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, breaking them into pieces.  Then the giant fell to the ground with an earth-shattering crash.  It broke into a million pieces and the wind blew it all away like the chaff of the summer threshing floors.  But the stone that struck the image grew and grew and became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

The counselors were dumb-founded and looked for a sign from the king’s face that Daniel’s fantastic telling was genuine or not.  The king gripped the edges of the table and sat wide-eyed, panting in fear at his words.  His mind reeled – you and what God?  You and what God?

“This was the dream that was given to you from the Most High.  Now we will tell the king its interpretation.  You, O king, are the head of gold.  The God of the heavens has given you power and dominion over the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens.  Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and after that one yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.  And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.”

“And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, with an iron-like strength but also mixed with a soft and brittle sort. And in the days of those kings the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or left to another people.  It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, just as the stone that was cut from a mountain utterly destroyed all the kingdoms of the image. The kingdom of God shall stand forever.  Of a truth, the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Nebuchadnezzar cried out and fell upon his face in homage before Daniel.

“Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.  Bring incense and a sacrifice to this divine personage, O Belteshazzar.”

“Whoa there, hey now –” Daniel threw his arms out, “O king, please stand to your feet.  Remember, I am but a man!”

He compelled him to get up and with all the great assemblage there Daniel raised his voice to proclaim, “What is the might of man?  What are all man’s riches?  Might does not last, fame passes without notice, and one’s glory is swept away with the sand.  Know this men of Babylon, the king’s dream was sent by the living God, who holds all the starry host in His hands and rules over the kingdoms of men!  I am but His servant.  To Him belongs all honor and glory and power forever.”  And to the king, he nodded once more, “You may call me Daniel.”

“And now that that is resolved,” he smiled, “May I suggest His Majesty proceed to take a royal nap?”

Nebuchadnezzar yawned a huge lion-like yawn and smiled a sleepy smile of satisfaction.  “Yes, I think that would be a very wise course of action, Daniel.”

After that day, Daniel had to move out of his home, for all the many gifts and presents and rewards - servants, precious stones, fabrics, horses - given to him by the king and some of the men whose necks he saved would not fit in it, and with such bountiful gifts he could provide for the many of the poor and destitute of the city.  He was given many titles and lands and an administration over the whole province of Babylon and the position of chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.  As Daniel’s request, the king also appointed Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah each over a third of the province.

This was not by any means the end of his adventures in Babylon though.  As Chief Prefect of the Magi, Daniel was to be the king’s trusted friend and counselor at court and the king listened intently to the strange and marvelous stories of Daniel’s God.

But despite all of that, the king was as yet arrogant and foolish, as kings are often wont to be, and he had not quite learned his lesson.  He still served his gods and as his victories and glories mounted, he forgot about his dream about the giant statue and how kingdoms of men rise and fall at the word of the God of heaven.  Soon Nebuchadnezzar would attempt an act so heinous so as to provoke the fiery wrath of the God he has been spurning.

As for Daniel, he was to become one of the grand viziers of the realm.  He nearly advanced in honor to take the throne as the King of Persia.  And some say he also had a hand in slaying a dragon… But that’s another story.






* At first, I assumed the “siege” of 605 B.C. was a proper Lord of the Rings-style drag-out fight, bloodied orcs and elves laid astrewn over the battlements.  Very Robert Howard-ish.  But apparently the king merely encircled the city and made demands for spoils and what-not and then withdrew.  It wasn’t until later during two other sieges that Jerusalem would be actually attacked and destroyed.  Nevertheless, I wrote a passage with that initial assessment (conflating the different sieges), so as a deleted scene…

Now fire wastes through the streets, gutting the homes nearest the walls.  Pestilence had crept in the windows and doors.  At night, the sound of children wailing for their parents.  When the men of Judah could hold out no longer, the gates were breached and in rushed the onslaught of the warriors of Shinar. 

There from his post on the barricade, a boy who belonged to the royal house of Judah, Daniel by name, witnessed the bloodshed.  He sees his friends and neighbors put to the sword, hacked down as they ran, choking on their prayers for deliverance.  They would have been better off running out of the city to surrender.  The dire words of Isaiah from a hundred years ago resounded in his head of the destruction that would befall the city, and the judgment to come from Hezekiah’s pride, that the treasures and royal descendents would be carried away to the palace of the ruler of Babylon.

He did what he could to resist the invaders and hold his spot, but he was but a youth and his tender hands had but recently learned to grip a sword.  He was no shepherd-boy like David who could go head-to-head with bear and lion in the fields.  Neither did he have the miraculous strength of Samson when he was down in Timnah to tear a lion apart with his bare hands.

He was met by two soldiers, coming at him at a pace.  They did not hold back or waste time with taunts because he was boy.  They meant to break his skull and search for any women in the house. 

Daniel struck for the gaps between their armor, and tried to remember his footing to be able to dodge away – but at a blow he was down and it was over.  When he came to, he was bound with rope, gathered with the other youth of Judah near the Fish Gate, a prisoner of war. 


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Wolf and the Frog

This doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but that last fable and the anime series I'm watching got me on a kick.  If you look carefully about the irrigation channels, you can at least see that it's set in modern Japan.

Just a simple story.  A little bit Aesop and Pom Poko.  Not sure if I hit the right tone or not.  Sorry for the tough vocabulary – force of habit.  Anyway, been thinking a bit about frogs.  I wrote it in about 20-30 minutes at Skylark in Sannomiya this evening.  Enjoy.



The Wolf and the Frog

There once was a frog who lived in a rice paddy.  He came from a rather average frog family with 532 siblings, and he was the 381st egg, making him something of a middle child.  His pond was comfortable and near some old growth woodland where he and his pond-mates liked to play among the fallen foliage. 

Things went on swimmingly for some time until a few men with machines came by and set up concrete trenches with vertical slits to sluice the water between the rice fields, replacing his old dirt ditches.  When they finished, they patted each other on the back and drove off.  Unfortunately, the gap in the irrigation channel was too large to leap across and those frogs caught on the other side were unable to join their friends in other paddies.

So it was that at the end of each day, when all the other frogs bellowed out to one another, the poor creature would saddle up to the concrete ledge and look off in the distance.  Perhaps he wondered if they even still remembered him.

One evening as the gloam of twilight settled over his pond, he squatted down in his usual spot to listen plaintively to the chirruping croaks all cascading on top of one another.  He did not even notice it when a wolf from up in the mountains came sniffing along the edge of the woodland to get a drink from the pond.

He spotted the frog at a glance and, creeping up on it from downwind, was about to snap up the plump fellow in one toothy bite when he noticed the rather sullen look on his face. 

The wolf coughed into his paw.  “Ahem.”

Still the frog did not seem to take much notice.  Instead it bellowed out a deep, guttural sigh.  “Wrruhh-kerrrooo....”

“Frog,” the wolf said.  “Are you sick?”

“Oh, don’t you hear them all?  I miss my friends and family so terribly.  But for this giant canyon...”

The wolf was eyeing the froggy’s fleshy thighs and licked his chomps.  “Your friends, you say?  I see...”

“Oh, what I would give to see them again… if only… Oh, Brother Wolf, do you not love running with your pack more than anything?”

“The truth is, my kind are not so many these days.”

“And don’t you feel a certain something when you hear a howl from faraway?”

The wolf yawned.  His ears perched this way and that as if the wind whispered something from behind.  “Well, maybe a little hungry,” he admitted.

The frog gave a jerky start.  “Oh my, oh my!  I just had an idea, a revelation!  Brother Wolf, would you, could you find it in your heart to carry me across to see them?  I know you wish to eat me, and I can hardly argue the point, but–”

“Ride on my back?” the wolf exclaimed.  “Now, now, frog.  Aside from the law of creaturely camaraderie, I’m afraid we still have our dignity.”  He shook his head dismissively, “No, that is quite out of the question.”  His brow furrowed a little.  “But since you are not sick, I will tell you what I will do.  If you will hop into my mouth and not squirm around too much, I promise to carry you to the other pond to meet your friends.  But after that and you’ve had your fun, I will gobble you up in one toothy bite.”  He shrugged his shaggy mane.  “Nothing personal.”

The frog blinked his bulgy eyes and seemed to reason this out and bellowed in a loud agreement.

So, true to his word, the wolf brought the frog across the channel and gingerly lowered him into the neighboring pond.  All at once hundreds of plumb little froggies all set about leaping and laughing on top of each other with such frivolity that none of them seemed to notice the great hunter standing in their midst.

When the wolf saw how high the frog leaped with delight seeing his friends at long last and they at him, it reminded the wolf of a young pup many moons ago, gamboling around the den with the rest of the pack.

He set his ears to the wind.  A company of a thousand croakings.  He could not tell one from another.

After some time had passed and the moon had made its way quite high among the stars, the frog ambled over in front of him and said somewhat softly, but which a smile, “Okay, Mr. Wolf.  Thank you for your patience.  I’m ready.”

The wolf stood there with his keen eyes yellow in the darkness.  He looked this way and then that. 

“I only came for a drink of water,” he said, and trotted away into the wood.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Frog Returns

Here’s a different kind of post.  As you know, I moved back to Japan, this time to Osaka, at the end of March of this year, smack dab on Easter actually.  While I haven't posted much of my chronicles or pictures or odd anecdotes here (just on Facebook), I've gotten to do some wonderful traveling in the mountains and woodland, deep in dells and misty meadows.  I have a story or two to share, but for now I thought I'd relate part of a recent adventure as a sort of tribute.


Yesterday I went hiking around the Rokko mountain range by Kobe with a good friend (though quite new).  I had plans to go to Tateyama in faraway Toyama; God had better plans.  It was kind of a last minute thing, but somehow or another we were able to pull it off.  I think the details actually worked out perfectly, even as I was able to visit with a Japanese friend I knew in Houston at a cafe before heading off for the cable car to Mt. Maya.

The views were spectacular and we got lost more times than I can remember (always a good sign).  It was plenty hot, but there shady spots to talk and even a patch of snow to play in.  The sculptures you made last a few hours before melting away.

As the day winded down, we found our way to Arima Onsen, one of the three oldest hot springs in Japan (三古湯).  The hot springs are spoken of being used as far back as A.D. 631 in the Nihon Shoki , the second oldest written history book (published in 720), though presumably it had been around for a while before that, possibly making this the oldest hot spring.  From the mountain approach, you take a rope-way car to descend into the valley.  The ticket is a bit expensive, but the view is unbelievable.

The town has a very nostalgic feel of old Japan, quaint houses nestled up along narrow, cobble-stone streets.  We strolled among the festival booths that lined the river, with enka performers and quirky carnival-style games, her hair done up chasen-style (茶筅).  There was a lovely sunset, followed by a marvelous moon, two days shy of being full - how's that for wabi sabi (侘寂)? 

At Arima, which she strangely kept mispronouncing as Ame-something, there are two main types of water grouped according to the chemicals, called "gold spring" and "silver spring."  The "silver" one has some radium in it; yes, it is "mildly radioactive."  We opted for the simple foot bath one, which was also free, and, with a hearty 「かんぱい」 ("cheers!"), enjoyed the quintessential Japanese experience.

She leaves in just a few days for study abroad in Korea.  一期一会  I don't know any suitable farewell sayings in Japanese, but here's a traditional Irish well-wishing...

"May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand."

長大息。

Now then.

As I was saying, at one point in the afternoon, wandering about on the mountaintop, we saw some frogs in a pond.  Or I saw a frog among the leafy greenery on the surface and pointed it out to her for a minute before she could see it.  No, not that - that's a carp.  Yes, right there... see, right where I'm pointing.  She likes frogs.  But she needs better glasses.

Now from time to time in Japanese folk stories one finds tales of giant, ten-foot-tall toads, with rainbows shooting from their mouths and ninjas riding on their backs.  These were not that sort of creature.  But there is a nice play on words with frog (かえる) being pronounced the same as the word for returning home.  And in this case, it's not cheesy, but rather poetic.

Recently, I've been watching an ongoing anime series called "Folktales from Japan" (ふるさと再生 日本の昔ばなし), which has some excellent voice acting in older-style Japanese (all done by only two actors).  Each episode covers three stories in about ten-minutes segments.  I haven't see the one "The Two Frogs" yet, perhaps because it is such a short story.  You can find it in Andrew Lang's Violet Fairy Book

I love folktales and fairy tales and story-telling in general, and this really is a nice one.  This version is just slightly different from the below.

Amy Friedman did an adaption of it recently, very mono no aware (物の哀れ).  Here is her version, which I think is a fine, fine story.  Enjoy...

"Two Frogs From Japan"


Once upon a time in Japan there lived two frogs. One frog lived in the city of Osaka in a quiet little ditch outside of town. The other frog lived in a clear, flowing stream near Kyoto. The frogs, of course, did not know each other.

One day the frog who lived in the ditch in Osaka overheard a man talking as he passed by. "There over the mountain, in beautiful Kyoto," said the man, "is the most glorious palace, the Mikado's palace. It is a place everyone ought to see."

At once the frog in the ditch came up with a plan. "I too would love to see the city of Kyoto and the glorious palace of the Mikado," she said. "I think I will climb the mountain and go there to see for myself."

At the very same time, the frog who swam through the crystal waters of Kyoto thought, "My home is lovely, but surely there is more to see in the world."

The frog from Kyoto had nothing against the Mikado, the country's emperor, but he was bored, for beauty and majesty are not everything. He had grown weary of the world around him. "I think I shall climb the mountain and visit other cities. I have heard Osaka is the place to see."

So, each frog set out to cross the tall mountain that separated the two cities. Up went the frog from Osaka, leaping and hopping with all of her might, so excited was she about her adventure.

And up went the frog from Kyoto. "Oh, to see another world," he thought as he hopped and jumped.

On and on they leapt. They grew thirsty and tired, but they did not think about their troubles. Their eyes bulged with delight as they imagined the new world they would see when they reached the summit.

At last, huffing and puffing, the frog from Osaka came to the very top of the mountain, and there she sat down in the tall grass under a flowering tree to catch her breath and rest her tired legs.

Just at that moment she felt a blade of grass beside her shiver. "Who's there?" cried the frog from Osaka.

Who indeed!? Of course it was the frog from Kyoto who had, at last, reached the mountain peak. "Hello," said he. "It is I, a frog from Kyoto."

"Ahh," said the frog from Osaka, "you must be a most distinguished explorer, my friend. So you have come from the land of the palaces, the home of the great emperor, have you?"

The frog from Kyoto harrumphed and gurgled, trying hard to catch his breath, for his journey had been strenuous. "Yes, gracious explorer, I am from the land of palaces. And you? What about you?"

"Harrumph," croaked the frog from Osaka, "I am from Osaka. I have traveled far and wish to see your land."

"That is my plan precisely," said the frog from Kyoto. I mean to see the city of Osaka, for it is a place that I have never seen."

"You needn't bother with Osaka," said the frog from Osaka. "It is a poor place, filled with ditch water. It clogs the pores, you see. I mean to go to a land of crystal-clear streams."

"Ha," said the frog from Kyoto. "Let me tell you what it's like to sit all day in a sparkling stream. Sparkle and shimmer -- all that glistening water will make your eyes ache, my friend."

At that the frogs fell silent and stared at each other.

She does not look very different from me, thought the frog from Kyoto, and the frog from Osaka thought the same. For a long while the two frogs sat silent, listening to the whistling grass surrounding them and staring at each other.

At last the frog from Kyoto sighed and said, "I have climbed up a high mountain, and I do not wish to climb all the way down to Osaka if it is as dull as you say."

"I feel the same way," said the frog from Osaka. "My journey up the mountain was a strain, you see, and now my legs are feeling very weak. If the sparkling streams are not so wonderful, I don't know that I wish to hop all the way there."

They sat and listened to the whistling grass a while longer.

At last the frog from Osaka said, "If only we were taller, we could look down from this mountaintop and see the cities of our dreams. Then we would know if we wished to go on traveling. Alas, we are short and we are stuck here in this tall grass."

The frogs both sighed sadly.

Then the frog from Kyoto puffed out his throat and said: "It is true that we are tiny and the grass is tall, but my gracious friend, we frogs of Kyoto are famous for our intelligence. I am sure I can come up with a solution. Let me think."

The frog from Kyoto closed his eyes and thought for a long while. At last he leaped into the air, so high he almost caught a glimpse of the city below. "Come, dear friend, and I shall stand upon my hind legs and turn toward you, and you shall stand upon your hind legs and turn toward me. We shall hold each other up this way. Then we shall be taller than this tall grass, and we will be able to see the cities of our dreams."

The frog from Osaka agreed. "A good plan," said she.

And so up they hopped, onto their hind legs. They held each other steady, and the frog from Kyoto looked one way, and the frog from Osaka looked the other.

The frogs, alas, made one mistake. The frog from Kyoto faced Osaka, and the frog from Osaka faced Kyoto, but as you know, frogs' eyes are set so far back upon their heads that when they looked down both frogs were actually looking at their own city. The frog from Kyoto looked out and saw the city of Kyoto, and the frog from Osaka looked out and saw the city of Osaka.

"Oh my," said the frog from Kyoto, "Osaka looks very much like Kyoto."

"My thoughts precisely," said the frog from Osaka. "Your city looks almost exactly like the city I call home."

At that the frogs let go of each other and dropped down on their four legs once again. Then they squatted very still in the tall grass and stared sadly at each other.

"There seems no point in traveling all the way down the mountain just to see a city so very like my own," said the frog from Kyoto.

"No point indeed," said the frog from Osaka. "I think I shall return back home. Farewell, dear friend."

"And farewell to you."

With that the frogs hopped down the mountain, back to their homes, happy to think that their home was as good as any other home, and almost exactly the same.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Reservations of the Worldly-Minded: Shortcomings in Confucian Ethics


There’s a book I’d love to read if someone ever wrote it.  What if instead of being executed by the State, Socrates had been banished, sent to the outer reaches of civilization?  There, far to the east, he stumbles upon a humble village whereupon he starts to question the people about the nature of justice, love, and virtue.  He finds them to be well inclined to hear him and soon they direct him to meet with their king.  Socrates finds the old sage – who is named Kong – to be a very pleasant fellow indeed.  He is dressed in the robes of a lowly magistrate, and over a cup of tea they soon find themselves engrossed in a most passionate philosophical discourse, always coming back to what it would mean for a man to transcend himself and achieve true virtue and moral rectitude. 

Yeah, that’d be a fun read.  Perhaps Peter Kreeft will do us a favor and get on that.

Apparently I’ve been on a little bit of an East Asian religions run of late.  I did not intend to, but it happens that this fits as the third in a series of posts.  The first, “How High is the Threshold?” (Nov. 2012) dealt at some length with Buddhism Scriptures, sects, pluralism, and exclusivism.  Then “Gleanings from Shinto Theology” (April 2013) looked at a nascent awareness of monotheism from a brief passage by a leading Shinto scholar.  Now for the last in the Tripitaka of East Asian religions.  Though, of course, Confucianism is actually closer to secular-humanism than anything else. (The folk religion of Taoism would be more appropriate, but less relevant or influential here in Japan).

Confucius (孔子), or un-Latinized, “Master Kong”, is as seminal to the development and direction of Asian culture and history as Socrates/Plato is to Western civilization.  Plato I read and absorbed in grade school, but I did not look at Confucianism until university. 

Recently, in reading through the Analects (論語) and The Doctrine of the Mean (中庸), I was surprised that we are not given a sustained discourse so much as a brief smattering of anecdotal sayings.  Therein we might find very worthy axioms that speak directly us today.  My favorite is: “Gentlemen are in harmony without conforming, petty men echo each other without being in harmony” (Analects 13:23).  Or, if you are looking for something to hang on your wall or tattoo on your calf, here is the original Chinese:  子曰:「君子和而不同,小人同而不和。」

Other times the sayings read almost like fortune cookie wisdom.  “The Master said, ‘If a man take no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand’ ” (Analects 11).  Fine, but not much to base a civilization around.  Western civilization could not have been built on the foundation of Solomon’s Book of Proverbs alone.

Both Socrates and Confucius sought to bring reform to an age of moral dereliction – not so different from our day and age.  Confucius stressed fulfilling reciprocal obligations, pursuing ethnical norms, and propriety among human relations (or ren, yi, and li) rather than outlining the way to have right relationship with Heaven (God). I know many a Westerner that could benefit from the kind of introspection and self-cultivation that would lead to being deliberate in speech and careful in their reciprocal duties to others.  Socrates, who expressly saw himself as God’s gadfly, his own term, as well as a prophet of Apollo (Hmm – the same or different from God?), emphasized an analytical grasp of transcendent reality and political theorizing.  Socrates was all about “Know thyself”, and Confucius expressed the idea that “Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous” (Analects 2:15). 

But they pursued their philosophies so at the expense of probing the root of human nature and the complexity of our moral condition.  Their view of man was naively simplistic, blaming his moral failures merely on general ignorance of ethics/propriety, as if those properly educated in niceties at Eton ought basically to reach moral excellence and do not sin greatly in either their public or private life.  History and experience do not bear this out.  I wonder if this man-centered view is not so different from the cultivated Stoicism of, say, Marcus Aurelius, who slaughtered Christians, or of Seneca, who looked on while Nero engaged in his egregious dissipations.

As a side note, I hope I won’t sound too biased to say I’m glad we got Socrates since I think with his elenctic approach he penetrated more deeply into the nature of things and critical thinking than Confucius did.  Now it’s possible that aside from Laozi and Mencius I’m simply entirely ignorant of Eastern history and its philosophical traditions, but it sure seems like the West has the benefit of a far richer vein of thought from the Greeks transmitted through Cicero and subsequently the Romans.  Their reach is far.  Cicero’s dialogue Hortensius apparently had a seminal effect on Augustine and Boethius. The rediscovery of his letters helped spark the Renaissance and his De Officiis was the second book off the printing press.  The plays of Seneca would provide inspiration for Shakespeare’s early works.

Then it happened.  Following the advent of the Son of God coming to earth like a shooting star to usher in the kingdom of heaven, an unparalleled burst of inspiration ensued as men could draw upon this well of other-worldly wisdom.  Jesus focused his three short years at the crossroads of the world to culminate in his atoning work on cross and resurrection.  For various reasons the message mainly took root in the west as Paul of Tarsus took it to Rome.  We need merely think of Augustine of Hippo, Anselm, Aquinas, Luther, Edwards, and so on.  Even Boethius is a delight to read against the backdrop of his solid grounding in theology allowing him to play with ease with the accoutrements of philosophy.  I might add, perhaps betraying my own provincialism, what people had the favorable theological and literary foundation to craft works that could approach the sublime beauty of Shakespeare or Milton or the Metaphysical Poets?

Unfortunately, I think the Elizabethan Age is where literary culture peaked.  In many ways the dominant philosophical views of the Western tradition in “Christendom” started going downhill after the humanist-rationalist insistence on the innate goodness of man, the very thing Confucianism stresses. The 1687 Latin translation of Confucian works reinforced that message in Europe.  We find this in the regressive Deist tradition of Descartes, Spinoza, Newton, Voltaire, Locke, Leibniz, Kant, etc., though here and there in the West were still to be found an elenctic non-conformist like Pascal or Kierkegaard, with that rare unity of heart and mind.


On God and the Silence of Heaven

The main shortcoming is in how Master Kong predicates his ethical philosophy.  There is no core, no framework of doctrine (i.e., teaching) that gives a meta-narrative to explain the world and why it is the way it is, let alone any attempt at uncovering the puzzles of ethical philosophy.  Here in Japan, much of people’s sense of societal roles and social obligations is bound up in the Confucian cultural background that lurks unconsciously behind their thinking.  The furthest thing from their mind are questions of the existence of God, the meaning of life, how to realize individuality, or of future the judgment to come.

To his credit, Master Kong’s was far from any mere sophist.  His chief concern centered around achieving a virtuous life, and therefore a virtuous society.  As a touchstone in his thought, his sayings often refer to the need for the superior man to be able to know the ordinances of Heaven, or roughly the equivalent to the Western idea of “Natural Law.”  But there’s a definite Deist undertone here - in practice, this basically boils down to respecting others and being careful to follow ritual ceremonies and traditions handed down, with no sense of divine immanence or participation in the governing of men or nations.  The Mandate of Heaven (天命) in Confucian thought is in practice little more than a check on the unrestrained tyrannies of emperors, whose sins threaten the prosperity of the whole nation.  It was the duty of the Confucian superior man/sage/virtuous gentleman (君子) to remind the emperor of such things.

–  “There are three things of which the superior man stands in awe. He stands in awe of the ordinances of Heaven. He stands in awe of great men. He stands in awe of the words of sages. The mean man does not know the ordinances of Heaven, and consequently does not stand in awe of them. He is disrespectful to great men. He makes sport of the words of sages” (Analects 16:8).

– “The Master said, ‘Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man’ ” (Analects 20:3).

– “The Master said, ‘Not so. He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray’ ” (Analects 3:13).

– “The way of Heaven and Earth may be completely declared in one sentence.-- They are without any doubleness, and so they produce things in a manner that is unfathomable” (Means 26:7).

– “Hence the sovereign may not neglect the cultivation of his own character. Wishing to cultivate his character, he may not neglect to serve his parents. In order to serve his parents, he may not neglect to acquire knowledge of men. In order to know men, he may not dispense with a knowledge of Heaven” (Means 20:7).

But always for Confucius, Heaven is an abstract concept.  Instead of the personal name/title “Shang Ti” that Chinese had used for Almighty God (sometimes mixing in the spirits of past emperors), Confucius substituted the general designation for the Heavens, “T’ien”, which is rather more akin to the idea of Fate.  The ordinances he mentions are largely just the proper ways to conduct ancestral worship ceremonies and the biannual great sacrifices, to speak the truth from a sincere heart, and act according to the station one has been assigned to.  Confucius no more knows the true name of God than the unlearned simpletons of his day.  So on the one hand he says it is imperative to first know the good and the true that comes from God, but exactly what that law contains he confesses to be a mystery. 

Socrates claimed a certain measure of inspiration from his “daemon” and the spurring of the oracle of Delphi – but these were intensely personal experiences and not something that stretched to universal principles. 

Later, Aristotle would reason out a little further the nature of God: “We say therefore that God is a living being, eternal, most good, so that life and duration continuous and eternal belong to God; for this is God” (Metaphysics, XII, 7, 1072b).  Though for him, this being, concerned not with action but consumed with contemplation, was still far away enough from our experience that he was essentially impersonal.

Confucius never went up the mountain to fast and sup with the Almighty.  He never received tablets of stone written upon by the finger of God.  At least he was honest.  He kept mum about what he didn’t know. 

– “Heaven does not speak; yet the four seasons run their course thereby, the hundred creatures, each after its kind, are born thereby. Heaven does no speaking!” (Analects 17:19).

There are times when Confucius implies that Heaven is more personal, knowing his heart.

– “The Master said, ‘Alas! there is no one that knows me.’
     Tsze-kung said, ‘What do you mean by thus saying – that no one knows you?’  The Master replied, ‘I do not murmur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men.  My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But there is Heaven;– that knows me!’” (Analects 14:35).

But generally speaking he remains quite hesitant to ascribe anything very definite to Heaven/God/Fate.

– “The Master said, ‘At the great sacrifice, after the pouring out of the libation, I have no wish to look on.’
     Some one asked the meaning of the great sacrifice. The Master said, ‘I do not know. He who knew its meaning would find it as easy to govern the kingdom as to look on this’ - pointing to his palm” (Analects 3:10-11).

– “By the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth they served God, and by the ceremonies of the ancestral temple they sacrificed to their ancestors. He who understands the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and the meaning of the several sacrifices to ancestors, would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm!” (Mean 20:6)

The great sacrifice here would refer to the biannual sacrifices to Heaven and Earth performed by the Emperor on Mount T’ai.  It would seem then that he admits that to try to govern the land without accurately knowing the way to honor God would be quite difficult.

– “Tsze-kung said, ‘The Master’s personal displays of his principles and ordinary descriptions of them may be heard. His discourses about man’s nature, and the way of Heaven, cannot be heard’ ” (Analects 5:12).

His students ask about the spiritual world or the afterlife, but he refrained from speaking on things he was ignorant of, choosing instead to focus exclusively on proper behavior in this life. 

– Chi Lu asked about serving the spirits of the dead. The Master said, “While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?” Chi Lu added, “I venture to ask about death?” He was answered, “While you do not know life, how can you know about death” (Analects 11:11)?

Here is a great fallacy.  Just because one does not know about how to live life, does not mean one ought to abandon study about the hereafter.  Rather, both questions are crucial and must be searched out.  In fact, how could one hope to have a proper perspective on living life without knowing the greater context of what comes before and after it?

This fuzziness continues today among people who give but the scantiest of thoughts to spiritual things, considering them to be too vague, too deep, too difficult to ever hope to understand.  So it is that one can ask a hundred Japanese what they think is their purpose for existence or what happens after death and most of them can blankly reply that they’ve never thought about it (nor are they likely to in the future).  Eternal things like heaven and hell are of little consideration to them compared to being sure that all their co-workers get along together.

Confucius did the Chinese a great disservice in relegating God to a scanty footnote as the source of the Way, as if the King of Heaven was barely worthy his consideration. 

A generation later, Mozi recognized this flaw and emphasized the Will of Heaven as a more active being, punishing evil and loving people regardless of their station or status, family or enemy.  The evidence for this can be found in general Providence; God causes the sun to shine on the good and the evil (Matthew 5:45).  God wants us to love each other in like fashion.

– “I know Heaven loves men dearly not without reason. Heaven ordered the sun, the moon, and the stars to enlighten and guide them. Heaven ordained the four seasons, Spring, Autumn, Winter, and Summer, to regulate them. Heaven sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew to grow the five grains and flax and silk that so the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and rivers, ravines and valleys, and arranged many things to minister to man's good or bring him evil. He appointed the dukes and lords to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked, and to gather metal and wood, birds and beasts, and to engage in cultivating the five grains and flax and silk to provide for the people's food and clothing. This has been so from antiquity to the present” (Will of Heaven, 27:6).

Of course, this all seems quite basic and elementary.  Paul begins his introductory remarks in like fashion to the Greeks in Acts 17.  There is much that he draws from the implications though, which we will examine at the end of this paper.


On Dealing With Our Fellow Man

Confucius’ ignorance of the true nature of God and his ways has far-reaching consequences.  This fuzziness plays itself out in his understanding of morality.  Lacking a sufficient theological grounding, Confucius was left to try to respond to ethical dilemmas with merely humanist reasoning.  One can find out a lot about someone in how their philosophy works out in the messy affairs of day-to-day living.

– “Some one said, ‘What do you say concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?’
     The Master said, ‘With what then will you recompense kindness?’
     ‘Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness’ ” (Analects 14:36).

On the contrary, returning kindness for kindness is nothing special.  On this matter the doctrine of Christ clearly supersedes Confucius, for Jesus taught that evil should be repaid with kindness (Matt. 5:38-48; also Rom. 12:17-21).

Jesus’ command to love one’s enemies has no place in the schema of Confucius.  If every magistrate were to act so, wouldn’t all the criminals run wild and chaos destroy society?  Well, yes, actually.  But Jesus wasn’t talking to civil government authorities, but to individuals in their daily affairs:

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”

Jesus: 1.  Confucius and pagans: 0.

Further on, Confucius relates hearsay about one of the five key reciprocal relationships that mark the virtue of the superior man.  (Spoiler: He never mentions the relationship of Creator to creature).

– “I have also heard that the superior man maintains a distant reserve towards his son” (Analects 16:13).

In his opinion, such an attitude seems fitting and proper to the dignity of a father for the culture of that time, but in reality distorts the healthy function of fatherhood, and fatherhood is vitally rooted in the nature of God Himself.  Compare this to the image of the Father we get from the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.

Confucius lost his own father at the age of three.  One would imagine that that would have left a painful hole in his heart.  We also know that his father divorced his first wife because she only bore daughters and a disfigured son.  Confucius later lost his mother when he was a young adult.  Though he focused his philosophy around the importance of family and filial piety, he had no experience in caring for parents.  He got married at a young age and they had a son and daughter, but later his wife either died or they divorced.  So when he went traveling around the country for fourteen years, he did so without family, just some disciples.  Confucius had an estranged relationship with his children.  Buddha abandoned his wife and child.  And we all know Socrates had a notoriously nagging wife – though perhaps that was due to the fact that he spent his time gadflying in the streets instead of getting a real job.


On Attaining Truth and Righteousness

Is it not striking that the very thing Confucius was practically indifferent to discussing, and which Socrates never conceived, was the subject of supreme important to Jesus? – the rule of God in the lives of men.  In his parables and his commands, Jesus constantly enjoined his hearers and disciples to make this their one overriding passion and to obtain it at all costs.  As the King come to earth, he continually reminded them that the kingdom of God was at hand, spreading over the earth, and it was the primary duty of man therefore to seek above to all else to enter and embrace that kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, he never implied a duality or some escapism like abandoning one’s focus on earthly relationships.  Instead, the heavenly perspective informs and guides out understanding of this world.  Loving God with all of one’s being and loving one’s neighbor was oneself is meant to be two sides of the same coin (Matthew 22:34-40).  Righteousness and the Kingdom are inseparable.

Jesus knew everything about this life as well as death.  Would one accuse Jesus of skimping on ritual or propriety?  Well, actually, yes, I suppose they often did so.  Nevertheless, there is no man who more fully understood knew the “Mandate of Heaven” (“My food is to do the will of Him who sent me”) and followed the heart of God’s law.  He did not slavishly conform to the traditions of man.

God is infinitely worthy of all our praise.  What is this insane injustice that His creation does not render to him the honor he deserves?  How is it that the man who claims to follow Christ does not fully yield his heart to the glory of Jesus?  How could we for a moment forget his bountiful blessings and focus instead on the fleeting and vain earthly pleasures, preferring video games or social media over and against the High King of Heaven?

Confucius was guilty of minimizing the glory of God.  For him, the goal to strive for was a virtuous life, but inwardly focused – like the man who stands at the podium to accept an award and devotes the majority of his speech to his own accomplishments with but a passing reference to the aid of Heaven. 

– “The Master said, ‘The superior man in everything considers righteousness to be essential. He performs it according to the rules of propriety. He brings it forth in humility. He completes it with sincerity. This is indeed a superior man’ ” (Analects 15:17).

– The Master said, “The object of the superior man is truth. Food is not his object. There is plowing - even in that there is sometimes want. So with learning - emolument may be found in it. The superior man is anxious lest he should not get truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him” (Analects 15:31).

A hearty amen.  Righteousness and truth are indeed worthy to be strived after, but outside of manners and mien, these values are left undefined.  For him, there is no transcendent standard from which to measure our definition of truth and righteousness.  This shortcoming leaves his ethical system open to interpretation. 

To hunger and thirst for wisdom and righteousness more than gold or silver or bread, like the Scriptures enjoin, is indeed of first importance, but unlike Confucius, the Scriptures set forth exactly what is meant and needed to be righteous and wise.  These are relational values.  For example, part of true righteousness is treating the poor well and not oppressing them.  But even more so, these abstract values are tied to our relationship with Creator God, walking with him and not resisting his word.  “To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Righteousness comes from entrusting our lives to His rule.

Confucius would have agreed that one should defer to one’s conscious rather than blindly follow the next fellow higher up the hierarchical chain.  And yet, we are never given the answer of what would happen should we violate our conscious, as we often do.  Is there any consequence to our moral actions beyond that of government jurisdiction?  Is there such a thing as divine reward and punishment for such a thing as envy or pride or greed or lust?  If not, how can we pretend there is such a thing as true justice?  How would any of us actually know if we have become “superior men” or are still “mean men”?  Though Confucius often praised some of his contemporaries, he also can cast a fairly negative opinion on the moral condition of man.

– “I for my part have never yet seen one who really cared for goodness, nor one who really abhorred wickedness” (Analects 4:6).

– “As to being a divine sage or even a good man, far be it from me to make any such claim” (Analects 7:33).

– “The master said, the ways of the true gentleman are three. I myself have met with success in none of them” (Analects 14:30).

But that did not mean he did not think it attainable. 

– “The Master said, ‘Is goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted goodness, we should find that it was at our side’” (Analects 7:9).

And yet, Confucius at other times seems to hint that goodness is not found in self-effort alone.  It is not something one attains (self-righteousness, if you will), but rather to be obtained from above. 

– “Heaven produced the virtue that is in me” (Analects 7:22). 

In short, a man of virtue is a rare thing to find, but not impossible.  To achieve it, one must have the help of Heaven.  But as for Confucius himself, he fell short of reaching such a standard. 

At any rate, Jesus in Matthew 19 (and Luke 18) responds that the only truly good teacher is divine.  Jesus proclaims that he alone is the good shepherd; all others are worthless and false teachers (John 10).

Elsewhere, Paul quotes the ancient psalms of King David to lay out,

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one […] and the way of peace they do not know.  There is no fear of God before their eyes.  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.  Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:10-12, 17-24).

It is strange and sad that Confucius could come no closer to realizing the truth of the matter than seeing that there was some element of personal responsibility that man had to own up to: 

– “The Master said, ‘In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself’” (Mean, 14:5).

But neither does this surprise us.  Any ethic without an eternal reference is no different from being stuck in the Matrix of one’s own best guess at reality and human nature.  Jesus though brings forth truth as one who has power and authority.  There is the thunder of majesty in his words when he declares what is so in heaven and on earth, in life and in death. 


Of Life and Death

When Confucius or Socrates speak of death, we are left with nothing substantial to hold on to.  Confucius acknowledges the baseline of theology, that Heaven/God is benevolent, and it is possible to offend against him to the point of punishment, but not much beyond that.  Presumably he would imagine himself good enough to escape such a punishment, but again we have precious little of his thoughts on that, so it would be better to turn back to Socrates’ thoughts at this point.

I’m a great admirer of Plato and love to read his stories of the snarky brilliance of Socrates.  Nevertheless, it’s clear that their understanding of a righteous life was largely confined to heeding one’s conscience (or in Socrates’ case the “prophetic voice”) and the norms of society, and not any sense of having to answer to a holy God.  In this way, Socrates greatly overestimates his standing in light of what he could expect after death.  In his ignorance, he is far too confident of what awaits him.

In Plato’s Apology he tells his jury, “Moreover, we may hence conclude that there is great hope that death is a blessing. For to die is one of two things: for either the dead may be annihilated and have no sensation of anything whatever; or, as it is said, there is a certain change and passage of the soul from one place to another. And if it is a privation of all sensation, as it were, a sleep in which the sleeper has no dream, death would be a wonderful gain. […] If, therefore, death is a thing of this kind, I say it is a gain; for thus all futurity appears to be nothing more than one night.

“But if, on the other hand, death is a removal from hence to another place, and what is said be true, that all the dead are there, what greater blessing can there be than this, my judges? For if, on arriving at Hades, released from these who pretend to be judges, one shall find those who are true judges, and who are said to judge there. Minos and Rhadamanthus, Æacus and Triptolemus, and such others of the demigods as were just during their own life, would this be a sad removal? At what price would you not estimate a conference with Orpheus and Musæus, Hesiod and Homer? I indeed should be willing to die often, if this be true. For to me the sojourn there would be admirable, when I should meet with Palamedes, and Ajax son of Telamon, and any other of the ancients who has died by an unjust sentence. The comparing my sufferings with theirs would, I think, be no unpleasing occupation.

“But the greatest pleasure would be to spend my time in questioning and examining the people there as I have done those here, and discovering who among them is wise, and who fancies himself to be so but is not. At what price, my judges, would not any one estimate the opportunity of questioning him who led that mighty army against Troy, or Ulysses, or Sisyphus, or ten thousand others, whom one might mention, both men and women? with whom to converse and associate, and to question them, would be an inconceivable happiness. Surely for that the judges there do not condemn to death; for in other respects those who live there are more happy than those that are here, and are henceforth immortal, if at least what is said be true.”

Of course, what he omits is the third option – that the bar to paradise is high and those who have any stain of guilt and shame must be condemned to Tartarus.  This excluded middle is naturally far from his mind.  To dwell on it would be to despair.  In the first chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul put it directly when he said that universally men know the truth that God is just and punishes sin.  Jesus also tells us they hate this idea since their deeds are evil and would rather hide in darkness.  Therefore people suppress this truth in unrighteous so that they can go about and live as they like.

Later, Socrates relaxes in his cell with his friends before downing his cup of hemlock.  There’s a great touch in Plato’s Phaedo when his friends are remonstrated for their emotional reaction to his impending death.

“Until then the majority of us had been able to keep ourselves from crying reasonably well, but when we saw him drinking and that he had finished it … no longer. And my own tears poured out of me with the force of a flood, and I hid myself in shame and cried for myself—for truly I was crying not for him but for my own misfortune, that I was being deprived of a man like this as my friend.

“Crito had turned away even before I did, when he was unable to restrain his tears. Apollodoros had been crying throughout the entire time, and when he howled with grief and anger at that moment in particular, nobody who was present could help breaking down, except Socrates himself.

“And he [Socrates] said, ‘What a way to behave, you remarkable men! I sent the women away mainly for this reason, so that they would not make such an offensive sound, because I have heard that one must meet one's end in calmed silence. So be quiet and collect yourselves.’

“And when we heard this we were ashamed and ceased crying.”

Finally, to complete the picture, Socrates further gives his reasoning on why he can go calmly to his grave.  In Crito, he tells his friend that he is comforted by the guiding voice that whispers in his head.  He says that he knew what consequences to expect from his actions long ago and that his conscience is clear - he had made his bed and now he had no choice but to lie in it.  It’s very interesting too that here he explicitly mentions some sort of accountability to or opinions of “the princes of the world below”, presumably the great men (now judges) of the past.

Crito wishes Socrates to escape while he could and flee to another country that had a non-extradition treaty.  Thessaly perhaps.  Socrates retorts that such is the path of cowardice.

A true friend, Socrates says, would offer the following deathbed advice: “Think not of life and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first, that you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws, but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us, and wronging those whom you ought least to wrong, that is to say, yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito.”

It was common for Greek thought to imagine the Underworld as a rather bland state of existence, the way Homer described it.  Most ordinary people and quite a few notable figures generally just moped around by themselves emo-style, while the exceptional folk were able to enjoy a more conscious state of awareness and fellowship.  If Socrates imagined himself good enough to make it to Elysium Fields or the Isles of the Blessed, then of course he had no need to fear death.  Worse case scenario, he would just be assigned a space with average folk and amble about Asphodel Meadows.  No big deal.  Although what Socrates called “the laws of the world below” are apparently none to friendly to promise-breakers. 

Before Confucius or Socrates, the Prophet Daniel spoke to the actual nature of the realm of the dead.  “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (12:2).

Paul of Tarsus even went to heaven (either physically or in a vision), and received from Christ firsthand knowledge of the afterlife. 

When staying with Phillip the Evangelist in Caesarea, a prophet named Agabus visited him.  He prophesied that if Paul continued in his mission to return to Jerusalem that he would be arrested by the Jewish leaders and given over to the Roman authorities so that they could put him to death.  Paul’s friends then urged him to stay away.

“Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’  When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’  After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem” (Acts 21:13-15).

So he could say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).


On the Words of God and Judgment to Come

Here is the conclusion to the matter.  A loving God is not silent, and we do not have to speculate about eternal things; the very Word of God came down to live among us. 

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Jesus was not shy to speak clearly and urgently about the Day of the Lord, also known as the Day of Judgment.  In fact, he spoke about hell more than any other topic.  This was no armchair speculation or philosophical musing for him.  Full of the love of God, he declared the truth in the boldest of terms and made dire pronouncements on who is allowed entrance and who is cast out.

His parables about the Kingdom are double-edged: they set forth the importance of entering the Kingdom as well as the warning about the dire consequences for those who persist in their own self-centered sinfulness.  Despite all of our excuses, at the end of the day, evil is evil and the Judge of all the earth will do what is right and just.  A good and holy God cannot and will not wink at sin.  Will any man, be he a Socrates or Confucius, pretend to justify himself before such a King?  

And so the writer of Hebrews warns, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment […] Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (9:27; 10:28-31).

More than a tenth of his teachings or half of Jesus’ parables are concerned with this warning.  Here are but a few examples.

“For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). 

“But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). 

“Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). 

“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:41-43).

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).

With these terrifying images, we are given a command to repent and an invitation to come and receive forgiveness. 

Like a firefighter rushing from room to room to wake people up before the flames could reach them, Jesus tirelessly sought to rescue men from damnation.  Then, to fulfil his mission, in the ultimate expression of love he gave his life in the place of sinners as a sin offering to the Father.  As a perfect sacrifice on the cross, he bore the righteous wrath of God.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:24-25).

If God is so evident, so forthright in his word to us, so loving in his bearing on his back the punishment for sinners, it is a great error to presume to try to live our life separate (or rather against) his ways. 

If Confucius says he is ignorant and silent about the ways of God, then let us hear Jesus as he speaks the very word of God.  It is neither wise nor safe to continue to shut our ears to his call.  He has gone to the trouble to explain to us the truth about our condition and has loved us so wonderfully to provide the cure.