Overdosing on the Bible?
By Claudia and Maurice Sullivan, Ottawa, ON
Recently one of our members in the National
Capital Region Corpus group proposed for various reasons the following
liturgical guideline: “My preference is that the dialogue at
our liturgical celebrations be more of a reflection on scripture rather
than a discussion group. There is a richness in scripture and a wealth
of prayerful experience in our group that, I feel, we are not tapping.
I know that I would welcome a more focused engagement around the scripture
of the day and the way it is speaking to each of us.”
Our reaction to what at first glance appears to be a very helpful
suggestion is that some Christians, including us, sometimes use the
Bible as a means of avoiding the most difficult issues facing the
human race today. We avoid these issues because they were not issues
at the time the Bible was written. The Bible focused on the religious
and moral issues that were central to that era and time.
As we would expect, the sacred writers of the past would not be able
to address the central issues of our day. Yet some of these are so
critical that in the near future they have the capacity to destroy
not only all spirituality, but the human race and thousands of other
species as well. Should we exclude such topics as these in Corpus
liturgies because "the scriptural readings" do not allude
to them? Or would the sacred writers judge us to be lost in our literalism
and missing the whole spirit of their work?
Here are four examples of topics not directly addressed in the scriptures
but important for our time:
1. Destruction of WATER - the destruction of the planet’s fresh
water supply is an example. Ninety-eight percent of all the water
on our planet is salt water and 80% of the rest is frozen up in the
glaciers. Nevertheless around the world we are poisoning the remaining
fresh water (less than 1% of the total) at an alarming rate. For example,
the aquifer of Long Island New York, one of the great fresh water
underground lakes of the world, is now poisonous. It is expected to
take 100,000 years for this aquifer to clean itself. What does the
Bible say about the destruction of fresh water on a planetary basis?
2. Destruction of SOIL - It takes the earth 1000 years to make an
inch of soil. It is estimated that we are eliminating 6 billion tons
of soil every year on the North American continent. In Asia the estimate
is 20 billion tons a year and this is occurring while millions of
people are undernourished or starving. How do we feed people when
we destroy the soil? And what does the Bible say about the destruction
of the soil on a global basis?
3. Destruction of SPECIES - Another level of our modern destruction
is biological. It is estimated that we are currently destroying more
species than at any previous time over the past 65 million years,
an average of 10,000 species per year. We are so unconscious of this
that our minds cannot grasp the magnitude of the problem. We become
upset over the death of an individual, but have not begun to grapple
with the significance of species destruction, which we are currently
doing almost unconsciously. What does the Bible have to say about
the destruction of various species on a global basis?
4. GENETIC destruction - We hear about people in Africa, who hunt
gorillas, kill them, saw of their hands and sell them to tourists
to be used as ashtrays. We are totally repulsed. But what about the
activities that destroy the gorillas’ genes? If we damage their
genes all their future offspring will be damaged. We fail to comprehend
the magnitude of the moral problems involved because nothing in the
Bible or in our Church or educational systems has prepared us for
the level of destruction in which we are involved. Predictions are
that the worst genetic damage won’t begin to show up for 20 years.
And what do the scriptures say about inflicting damage on animal DNA
in thousands of species around the globe?
Regarding moral issues such as the above, our scriptures and religious
traditions completely miss it. Awareness of these contemporary issues
and seriously addressing them may not afford us the comfort and security
that would come from always adhering to the familiar topics of scripture.
The sacred writers of the past were lucky enough not to be confronted
with these problems in their time. They had other problems, which
we do not have to face today.
Think of it this way. Without fresh water, soil, animal species and
DNA there will be no spirituality and no scriptures whatsoever. We
will all be dead and the scriptures will have turned to ashes. Perhaps
we will have died with the consolation that we were ever faithful
to reading and discussing our beloved scriptures.
The above four examples are taken from a lecture by physicist Brian
Swimme, entitled "A New Prosperity." He goes on in the lecture
to express his views and the views of Thomas Berry on the fact that
these issues must become part of the consciousness not only of every
Christian, but also of every human being in our time.
Reflecting on the relationship between the scriptures and our contemporary
world, Berry suggests (in Befriending the Earth) that our use of the
Bible may well be part of the problem. We are still so focused on
the Biblical issues of the past, (though many are still relevant for
the present, e.g. the equality of women) that many critical issues
of our time are being neglected and/or completely ignored.
Two thousand years ago Jesus tackled the issues of his day, but some
of the issues have significantly changed, and some are completely
new. If Jesus were preaching today, would he be addressing any of
these changed or new topics? Berry then suggests that we might go
so far as to put our Bibles on their bookshelves and leave them there
for the next twenty years. Why?
We are not suffering from lack of awareness of the scriptures. We
have spent a great portion of our lives reading and learning the scriptures.
They are so familiar to us that we derive great comfort and consolation
from rereading them. However we are suffering from a lack of awareness
of many of today’s major issues partly because most of the media
is also unconscious of them or does not find that they arouse reader/listener
interest (not good for profits). But these may well be the issues
which should be incorporated into our Corpus liturgies at every opportunity
even if they make us uncomfortable.
Our liturgical services and scriptural selections have been for many
centuries heavily oriented towards a theology of redemption. We like
to place a heavy emphasis on our future membership in a heavenly community.
But is our earthly community not also part of this picture? >From
the point of view of redemption theology and individual salvation,
our scriptural readings are more than adequate. But from the point
of view of contemporary life issues such as the destruction of the
planet’s ecology and the survival of the human race, traditional
scriptural readings are substantially less than adequate. So we believe
we should encourage great diversity of reflection during our liturgies.
These would include reflections that range far beyond the tight traditional
boundaries we have devised for ourselves. We also believe that by
striving to open up our focus and domain of concern in this way, we
will be truly following the spirit of Jesus’ ministry and teaching.
"Out of the self-knowledge gained by putting dreadful questions,
man achieves his final dignity." Loren Eiseley
For an extensive treatment of the important issues for all people
in our time, including Christians, and which issues require us to
move beyond the traditional boundaries of Biblical themes, see any
of Thomas Berry’s books such as:
The Great Work, Our Way Into The Future
Bell Tower, New York, 1999
Befriending the Earth
Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, Connecticut,1995
The Dream of the Earth
Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1990
