Destroying Dichotomies Is the Beginning of Understanding Peace

Post below originally lifted from my post on PoFo. 

One of the more important aspects of "peace" and "pacifism" is the idea that we are always ready to negotiate for a peaceful solution, even with people who we think of as evil. For the truth is that we all have something evil about us... The difference is whether we let it grow far out of our heart or whether we are able to put the sparks out before they become a fire or a conflagration. 

So, even when we see someone as nothing more than a gangster, we have to acknowledge that there is soemthing about them that is also worthwhile within them, and that they are someone that we can achieve a peace with. 

I am not saying that there are zero circumstances in which violence should ever be wielded, but rather I am suggesting that the true root of peace has to be in viewing every human as having the potentialities for peace... And this means connecting to them more profoundly. 

When we start calling people tyrants, we quickly learn that there is almost no limit to the number of people that we can call tyrants.

I think Christianity promotes a more "liberal" and "tolerant" worldview by suggesting we are all sinners...

That means engaging the practicing LGBTQ people who show no signs of repentance with dignity, respect, and kindness, not even in solely to "convert" them, but to legitimately honor the image of God within them and to also to love your neighbor sincerely...

That also means doing the same for people we truly believe are tyrants.

There's this great Kahlil Gibran poem -

A young man of strong body, weakened by hunger, sat on the walker's portion of the street stretching his hand toward all who passed, begging and repeating his hand toward all who passed, begging and repeating the sad song of his defeat in life, while suffering from hunger and from humiliation.

When night came, his lips and tongue were parched, while his hand was still as empty as his stomach.

He gathered himself and went out from the city, where he sat under a tree and wept bitterly. Then he lifted his puzzled eyes to heaven while hunger was eating his inside, and he said, 'Oh Lord, I went to the rich man and asked for employment, but he turned me away because of my shabbiness; I knocked at the school door, but was forbidden solace because I was empty- handed; I sought any occupation that would give me bread, but all to no avail. In desperation I asked alms, but They worshippers saw me and said 'He is strong and lazy, and he should not beg.'

'Oh Lord, it is Thy will that my mother gave birth unto me, and now the earth offers me back to You before the Ending.'

His expression then changed. He arose and his eyes now glittered in determination. He fashioned a thick and heavy stick from the branch of the tree, and pointed it toward the city, shouting, 'I asked for bread with all the strength of my voice, and was refused. Not I shall obtain it by the strength of my muscles! I asked for bread in the name of mercy and love, but humanity did not heed. I shall take it now in the name of evil! '

The passing years rendered the youth a robber, killer and destroyer of souls; he crushed all who opposed him; he amassed fabulous wealth with which he won himself over to those in power. He was admired by colleagues, envied by other thieves, and feared by the multitudes.

His riches and false position prevailed upon the Emir to appoint him deputy in that city - the sad process pursued by unwise governors. Thefts were then legalized; oppression was supported by authority; crushing of the weak became commonplace; the throngs curried and praised.

Thus does the first touch of humanity's selfishness make criminals of the humble, and make killers of the sons of peace; thus does the early greed of humanity grow and strike back at humanity a thousand fold!

Poem Hunter

This reminds me also of the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh writing his poem where he pities and sympathizes with the pirate who SA'd a young girl... This is, of course, just wild to think about - to sympathize with someone who does that to a defenseless girl...! But... This is the level of spiritual enlightenment that one ought to try to pursue...

From his poem Call Me By my True Names:

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time
to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to, my people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans.

This is the true spirit of peace....

One that sympathizes with every single sort of moral failure, and attempts to right the problem through such sympathy, for the sake of the benefit of all parties - including those who are morally wrong.

This sort of destruction of dichotomies... of connecting the sufferer with those who inflict suffering... Is exceedingly powerful, and I think once you can do that... You can talk about peace more meaningfully.

St. Justin Martyr on the Stoics & the Seed of Reason [Logos Spermatikos]

 And those of the Stoic school—since, so far as their moral teaching went, they were admirable, as were also the poets in some particulars, on account of the seed of reason [the Logos] implanted in every race of men—were, we know, hated and put to death,—Heraclitus for instance, and, among those of our own time, Musonius and others. For, as we intimated, the devils have always effected, that all those who anyhow live a reasonable and earnest life, and shun vice, be hated. And it is nothing wonderful; if the devils are proved to cause those to be much worse hated who live not according to a part only of the word diffused [among men] but by the knowledge and contemplation of the whole Word, which is Christ. And they, having been shut up in eternal fire, shall suffer their just punishment and penalty. For if they are even now overthrown by men through the name of Jesus Christ, this is an intimation of the punishment in eternal fire which is to be inflicted on themselves and those who serve them. For thus did both all the prophets foretell, and our own teacher Jesus teach.*

Martyr, Justin. The Writings of Justin Martyr (Annotated) (p. 83). Logia. Kindle Edition. 

There are actually two very remarkable things about this passage: 

First, that he freely grants that every race of man has within it the Logos, and he specifically acknowledges the Stoics of the Hellenic world as possessing Logos. Obviously, we can now consider that various Eastern masters like Confucius and Lao-tzu are potential bearers of the Logos, and we can further imagine that the Buddha himself and various Indian and Sikh masters had something of the Logos. 

Second, and perhaps more amazingly and seldom discussed, we see that the devils hate all who live reasonably and earnestly, shunning vice. 

The devils themselves are actively working to drive men to hatred of those who have any nobility to them to live a life according to good reason, and it is these men who literally put to death even Stoics out of their own madness. 

St. Just Martyr doesn't just imply that those who live in the light of proper virtue and rationality can be open to salvation even if they could not know Christ, but that they will be persecuted by the devils just like Christ. 

It is the nature of the demonic to tear down goodness wherever and however it can, and to mobilize and empower men to take over institutions so as to inflict moral & spiritual damage on the righteous. 

1.5 Sextillion Molecules & the Chemical Pregnancy

This is probably the "trippiest" thing I have ever written. Bear with me.  

According to thoughtco, there are 1.5 sextillion molecules in a drop of water (0.05 ml), which equals out to about 5 sextillion atoms per droplet. These are, of course, nonsense numbers. They hardly mean anything to us. But, it goes, of course, from million to billion to trillion to quadrillion to quintillion to sextillion. Technically, I think a 'sextillion' can qualify as a 'zillion.' 

Inside the drop of water, the molecular bonds are constantly breaking and reforming as they rush past one another. The lifetime of the bonds between molecules is short due to its constant movement. This means that water essentially is constantly breaking and reforming in its journeys, and the hydrogen and oxygen atoms even end up exchanging atoms as the molecules dissociate.

The kinetic energy of water is part of the process of dissolution.

When a crystal of sodium chloride is placed into water, the water's molecules collide with the crystal lattice. Recall that the crystal lattice is composed of alternating positive and negative ions. Water is attracted to the sodium chloride crystal because water is polar and has both a positive and a negative end. The positively charged sodium ions in the crystal attract the oxygen end of the water molecules because they are partially negative. The negatively charged chloride ions in the crystal attract the hydrogen end of the water molecules because they are partially positive. The action of the polar water molecules takes the crystal lattice apart (see image below).

 After coming apart from the crystal, the individual ions are then surrounded by solvent particles in a process called solvation.

 

 Libretexts

 Water is often called the 'universal solvent' because throughout nature and within our bodies it is constantly attracting and dissolving many different types of molecules. It acts as a solvent for  not for nonpolar ones. 

Regardless, it's easy to see that water is constantly at work, constantly forming and restrucuring... 

And these nonsense, giant number of water molecules in a single droplet are very meaningful... 

These little droplets form great bodies of water, and when the droplets enter, they form the teeming surge that is water. They constantly form new bonds with other molecules and flow, saying goodbye to one another and carrying on their long journey through the cosmos... 

And so what does it mean when a woman has a fertilized egg that fails to implant... and we have an ensouled life that does not "enter" the world? What does it mean for the baby in the womb that sadly perishes before it becomes a newborn? 

It means that they knew a microcosm within their mother, and through the interaction this interaction they leave behind their traces written in water, the recordless universal witness & interpenetrator. 

The Bible speaks of this:

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:6-8)

The tiny soul in the tiny body of the embyro was an Existent whose miniscule form is adequate, as its dissolution into the greater whole and experience upon earth is a powerful demonstration of the concept of life's interpenetration... 

For its mark dissolves and flows through the world, as the blood and the water in the arena of our struggles.  

Perhaps this cannot be seen easily from a materialistic perspective in terms of its significance, but it is indisputable that, on the molecular level, we are in a constant, shifting state of interbeing & interflowing, and it is this flowing through one another through commonality of substance and matter that illustrates the profundity of any form of life, no matter how temporary. 

Christian Hagiography & Human Rights

 Christianity divorced religion from the state apparatus in the Western world, and spoke of salvation as a largely individual phenomena. It also rather uniquely spoke about the necessity of loving one's enemies, and in viewing the sinner as having a second shot at life and not simply one who was born of poor constitution or character.

These things are quite vital in opposing the totalitarian urge in humanity, which is still very plain to see when you speak with East Asians who even in societies with modern political constitutions ruled by modern political philosophies often see the state, the culture, and the people functioning as a single unit.

What's funny is this idea we see returning in the West where people treat dissenters and people who disagree actively with the government narrative of events as agents of misinformation, which draws into question the inalienable rights that were at the basis of classical liberalism and even to lesser degrees of monarchy as distinguished from despotism.

Of course, other societies have always had concepts of justice and an awareness of tyranny, but it was Christianity that provided the basis and the lexicon for subsequent political theory that invested great worth in the individual.

Idiots like Stephen Pinker look at the 'age of enlightenment' for this and gush about literate men being touched by literature humanizing women because they are completely unaware of Christian hagiography that has always been obsessed with the stories of women, children, the downtrodden, etc., all handing themselves over to Christ, often facing martyrdom by powerful political forces, which are always ultimately millennia old stories about the righteous individual against the mob & the tyrant.

There are some prequels to this in other civilizations but nothing as extensive, and they often have within them ethnocentric and community identity as central themes, like with Esther and Daniel from the Old Testament who stood up against tyranny but were successful and did so as part of a greater struggle for ethnos. Christians record the singular deaths of young women at the hands of their own communities that provide no political change as edifying stories.

Galatians Four + Some Thoughts On Allegory & Exegesis from St. Gregory of Nyssa

 A common topic in debates is why did Christ come when He did? My whole life I've been ready to explain this, but I haven't quite had the passage at the tip of my tongue to base it correctly in theology.

Here it is: 

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Galatians 4 also provides us with another very important observation:

 8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

Which is a great reference back to the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

And even more succinctly here: 

Psalm 95:5: “For all the gods of the Gentiles are demons, but the Lord made the heavens.”

1 Corinthians 10:20: “No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.” 

Again, the pagan practices of foreign people are often directed towards that which is not just "not God," but that which is actually outright antagonistic to God. Reason being, those which are spiritual and have powers that are properly ordered will direct everything to God and not seek worship from others. 

The third and perhaps most important thing that Galatians Four gives to us is found in the last section of the chapter. 

I will post liberally from it and allow it space to breathe: 

19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

This really jumped out at me as it was being employed by St. Gregory of Nyssa in his Homilie on the Song of Songs. 

St. Gregory was writing about how allegory is a proper method for interpreting the scriptures, and he points to none other than St. Paul himself as referring back to a lesson from the Old Testament and ascribing it meaning that is exclusively within the context of the New Testament. 

 Let's hand it over to St. Gregory of Nyssa and his Preface to the Homilies on the Song of Solomon: 

    

    For the grand apostle, when he says that the law is spiritual ( Rom 7:14), is including the historical narratives too under the heading “law,” because the whole of the divinely inspired Scripture is law for those who read it. Not only through its explicit commands, but also through its historical narratives, Scripture affords a teaching that guides those who pay careful heed to it toward knowledge of the mysteries and toward a pure life. The apostle, moreover, does the work of interpretation in accordance with what gives him satisfaction in his search for what edifies, though he does not concern himself with the label that is to be assigned to a type of exegesis. Rather the contrary. At one point, when he is about to transpose the biblical narrative so as to unfold the economy of the covenants, he says that he is changing his manner of speech (Gal 4:20),3 | but then, aft er he has mentioned the two sons of Abraham, born to him of the maidservant and the free woman, Paul designates his way of understanding them an “allegory” (Gal 4:24). And again, when he has been recounting certain events of the biblical history, he says: “They happened to those people as types” but “were written for our admonition” (1 Cor 10:11). Or again, when he has said that the threshing ox should not be muzzled, he adds: “God’s concern is not for oxen,” but “these things were surely written for our sakes” (1 Cor 9:9–10). Also there is a place where he calls dimmer understanding and partial knowledge a “mirror” and an “enigma” (1 Cor 13:12), and again he says that the movement from corporeal to intelligible realities is a turning toward the Lord and the removal of a veil (2 Cor 3:16).

        By all these diff erent modes of speech and names for intellectual discernment, the apostle is pointing us to a single form of instruction: one ought not in every instance to remain with the letter (since the obvious sense of the words often does us harm when it comes to the virtuous life), but one ought to shift to an understanding that concerns the immaterial and intelligible, so that corporeal ideas may be transposed into intellect and thought when the fleshly sense of the | words has been shaken off like dust (cf. Matt 10:14).    

     

This moreover is why he says, “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6), for frequently the narrative, if we stop short at the mere events, does not furnish us with models of the good life. How does it profit the cause of a virtuous life to hear that the prophet Hosea got himself a child by sexual malfeasance (Hos 1:2) and that Isaiah went in to the prophetess (Isa 8:3), if one stops short at the literal sense? Or what do the stories about David, in which adultery and murder have agreed together in a single crime (cf. 2 Kingdoms 11), contribute to the virtuous life? But if an account is found that gives an incontestable indication of how these events fi t into the history of salvation, then the word of the apostle will be shown to be true: “Th e letter kills” (for it contains examples of evildoing), “but the Spirit gives life” (for it transposes a meaning that is incongruous and discordant into a more divine sense).

 Truly, profound words for us when we consider the interpretation of the Bible. 

There is plenty more that St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote concerning this topic, but I advise you to read it for yourself in this free PDF. 

Old Testament Interpretation & the Midianites

Understanding how to interpret the most controversial section of the Old Testament can be a challenge, but I think that once we get a good grip on how Orthodox Saints really look at the Old Testament, the issue of the Midianites can change a bit in our mind. 

This is actually another opportunity for us to observe that Orthodoxy has a great advantage over Protestantism who always insists on the Bible alone as a source for wisdom, and stands completely committed to interpreting things in their original OT context without expounding on it from the perspective of the Saints. 

The Saints are the key to interpreting anything, for men who live such holy lives and have an intense connection to God are the ones with insights on how to approach the totality of the Bible, not those who think they are qualified to do the whole thing by themselves. 

Art depicting the Midianites, taken from Free Bible Images dot org - this is actually in reference to Gideon pursuing the Midianite Army with his 300 men which would happen later, and not reference to the army of Phinehas. 

Let us go back to the 7th century theologian St. Maximos the Confessor:

Interpretation of the outward form of Scripture according to the norms of: sense-perception must be superseded, for it clearly promotes the passions as well as proclivity towards what is temporal and transient. That is to say, we must destroy the impassioned activity of the senses with regard to sensible objects, as if destroying the children and grandchildren of Saul (cf 2 Sam. 21:1-9); and we must do this by ascending to the heights of natural contemplation through a mystical interpretation of divine utterances, if in any way we desire to be filled with divine grace.

'The letter kills." says Scripture, 'but the Spirit gives life' (2 Cor. 3:6). Consequently, the letter whose nature it is to kill must be killed by the life-giving Spirit. For what is material in the Law and what is divine - namely, the letter and the Spirit - cannot coexist, nor can what destroys life be reconciled with that which by nature bestows life.

The Spirit bestows life, the letter destroys it. Thus the letter cannot function at the same time as the Spirit, just as what gives life cannot coexist with what destroys life and the prejudice from which he suffers as a result. This is to show

Uncircumcision is natural. Everything that is natural is the work of divine creation and is excellent: 'And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). But the Law, by demanding on the grounds of uncleanness that the foreskin should be cutaway by circumcision (cf. Gen. 17:10-14), presents God as amending His own work through human skill. This is a most blasphemous way of looking at things. He, then, who interprets the symbols whereby the Law is expressed in the light of knowledge attained through natural contemplation, knows that God does not set nature aright by means of human skill, but bids us circumcise the passible aspect of the soul so as to make it obedient to the intelligence. This is indicated figuratively in terms of the body, and means that we are to excise the flaws from our will by means of spiritual knowledge acquired through the courageous practice of the virtues. The circumcising priest signifies spiritual knowledge, and the knife he uses is the courageous practice of the virtues, which cuts away the passions. When the Spirit triumphs over the letter, the tradition of the Law is abolished.

from Various Texts on Theology, the Divine Economy, and Virtue & Vice, sections 40-42

Which shows us essentially that the surface interpretations of even basic commands concerning circumcision are wrong, and that the Old Testament must be read completely in the illumination of the coming of Christ.

This is also backed up by St. Ireneous:

If anyone, therefore, reads the scriptures this way, he will find in them the Word concerning Christ, and a foreshadowing of the new calling. For Christ is the “treasure which was hidden in the field” [Mat. 13:44] [a treasure] hidden in the scriptures, for he was indicated by means of types and parables, which could not be understood by human beings prior to the consummation of those things which had been predicted, that is, the advent of the Lord. And therefore it was said to Daniel the prophet, “Shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the consummation, until many learn and knowledge abounds. For, when the dispersion shall be accomplished, they shall know all these things” [Dan. 12:4, 7]. And Jeremiah also says, “In the last days they shall understand these things ” [Jer. 23:20]. For every prophecy, before its fulfillment, is nothing but an enigma and amibiguity to human beings; but when the time has arrived, and the prediction has come to pass, then it has an exact exposition [exegesis]. And for this reason, when at this present time the Law is read by the Jews, it is like a myth, for they do not possess the explanation [exegesis] of all things which pertain to the human advent of the Son of God: but when it is read by Christians, it is a treasure, hid in a field, but brought to light by the Cross of Christ, and explained, both enriching the understanding of humans, and showing forth the wisdom of God, and making known his dispensations with regard to human beings, and prefiguring the kingdom of Christ, and preaching in anticipation the good news of the inheritance of the holy Jerusalem, and proclaiming beforehand that the one who loves God shall advance so far as even to see God, and hear his Word, and be glorified, from hearing his speech, to such an extent, that others will not be able to behold his glorious countenance [cf. 2 Cor. 3:7], as was said by Daniel, “Those who understand shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and many of the righteous as the stars for ever and ever” [Dan. 12:3]. In this manner, then, I have show it to be, if anyone read the scriptures.

St. Irenaeus, The Treasure Hid in the Scriptures is Christ

So, we are left with the concept of circumcision itself being interpreted radically different, in light of Christ, by St. Maximos the Confessor, which completely changes the way we view the traditions and culture of the Hebrews. Christ has unlocked the meaning.

St. Maximos is constantly referring to Old Testament passages in this way. And so do other saints...

Another example people who criticize the Bible like to bring up is the famous Psalm that talks about bashing in the heads of children (137:9 - happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks!).

4th century monastic St. John Cassian has a completely different way of interpreting this:

The way to keep guard over our heart is immediately to expel from the mind every demon-inspired recollection of women - even of mother or sister or any other devout woman - lest by dwelling on it for too long the mind is thrown headlong by the deceiver into debased and pernicious thoughts. The commandment given by God to the first man, Adam, told him to keep watch over the head of the serpent (cf. Gen. 3:15. LXX), that is, over the first inklings of the pernicious thoughts by means of which the serpent tries to creep into our souls. If we do not admit the serpent's head, which is the provocation of the thought, we will not admit the rest of its body - that is, the assent to the sensual pleasure which the thought suggests - and so debase the mind towards the illicit act itself. As it is written, we should 'early in the morning destroy all the wicked of the earth' (Ps. 101:8), distinguishing in the light of divine knowledge' our sinful thoughts and then eradicating them completely from the earth - our hearts - in accordance with the teaching of the Lord. While the children of Babylon - by which I mean our wicked thoughts - are still young, we should dash them to the ground and crush them against the rock, which is Christ (cf Ps. 137:9; 1 Cor. 16:4). If these thoughts grow stronger because we assent to them, we will not be able to overcome them without much pain and labour. On the Eight Vices

So the tradition of Christians is to actually look at the Old Testament in the light of Christ, and to offer radical interpretations of what had occurred.

We can go back to these moments and instead of interpreting them with total literalism, see them as true stories but with extra layers in them for us to interpret in our own time in the light of Christ. The destruction of all but the virgins is then a different kind of symbol...

Just as how the Midianites were interpreted by St. Neilos the Ascetic:

The Midiamtes symbolize the passions of unchastity, because it was they who introduced this vice into Israel and deceived a great number of the young people (cf. Num. 31 :9). Scripture aptly says that the Midianites had tents while Jerusalem had a wall; for all the things that contain virtue are well-founded and firm, whereas those that contain vice are an external appearance - a tent - and are no different from fantasy. Ascetic Discourse

(All of the above texts with the exception of St. Irenaeus can be found in the Philokalia)

In this we have the real means of interpreting these difficult passages in the context of Christ. Once upon a time, political realities made it so that these sorts of actions were inevitabilities for survival, and were absolute norms, but it is in the retrospective of Christ we see the real purpose for these things having occurred, and the actual symbolism behind them. We can refer to the typical answers you read at places like Got Questions for understanding them in the original context. 

Let us also keep in mind: the Midianites appear again in Joshua 6-8, implying that not all Midianite men were put to the sword. Some survived to come back, at which point Gideon would go to battle with them again. At this point, there is no such command to kill all, or any instructions concerning virgins at all. Critics would say that this is God's will changing again... But this is not pointed out because it shows a fundamental shift towards what moderns would think is a more enlightened position. 

Earthly, Sensual, Demonic

[taken from the readings for the day]

James 3:13-4:4:

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.

16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

An important idea here is that the knowledge of the world is earthly, sensual, demonic.

In Christianity, everything can be divided into that which is heavenly and is reflective of God’s will, and that which is earthly and is a corruption or perversion of the heavenly will. This is not to say that the Earth itself is a bad, corrupt thing – on the contrary, we have extensive quotations which show Creation is a reflection of God, and that our proximity to the natural world and animals is enlightening and wonderful. Many great Christian saints like St. Porphyrios, St. Maximos the Confessor, and St. Silouan the Athonite talk about all of creation as being a reflection of God’s will and that it is impossible to be a Christian who does not esteem the created. St. Porphyrios went so far as to say that all creatures sing blessings to God… Catholics believe something similar to the Orthodox here, where they say that the Priest’s (nearly always) daily celebration of the Eucharist involves prayers said on behalf of the animals.

What is meant by earthly is that which is fallen and reflective of man’s corrupt state…

This is also regarded as being partly demonic.

We see also in passage 4:1 the implication that the origin of all violence is selfishness. Selfishness itself can be regarded as demonic.

This leads to the climax of the whole passage for the day of January 25^th: whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Which is to say, following the very obvious path of worldly people, which is selfish, is to put yourself in alignment with the demonic, who are the enemies of God. The name of Satan himself famously meaning ‘the opposition’ to God.

The takeaway from this may simply be that Christianity, at its heart, seeks to reject selfishness and bitterness (James 3:15), envy and self-seeking (3:16), desire for pleasure (4:1), and worldliness (4:4), which can be characterized as ‘earthly, sensual, demonic’ (3:15), and views it as the ultimate source of discord and violence on earth (4:1).

There is also the lesson that prayer must be oriented towards what is needed for the self and others – not for fulfilment of our sensuality (4:3).