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Biblical Perspectives for

Ecumenical Student Ministry

Today's Gods and Idols of Clay

By Monica J. Melanchthon

Introduction

The wisdom books of the Old Testament are not systematic studies or scholarly treatises in speculative philosophy or theology, but rather collections of moral and religious guidelines, gathered together in the course of time, to guide the people in the ways of God, in righteous living. They reflect the practical moral and religious ideas and ideals of God's chosen people at the time. They express the practical philosophy of a holy God-centered life as it was developed among the people of God before the coming of Christ.

The Jews of Alexandria felt the need to preserve and spread their belief in one God along with the ancient Jewish wisdom of the past, living as they did in the midst of a so-called idolatrous Greek and Roman culture, not to speak of the idolatry of the Egyptians. The Jews were much concerned about the faith and trust in God and in God's divine providence, righteous living by keeping God's commandments, the life of man, the problem of evil, the mystery of happiness, the rewards of the just and the punishment of the wicked. They were concerned about the bad influence, which pagan philosophy and idolatry might have on the Jewish people in Alexandria, lest they lose their faith in God and no longer look up

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to God as the mighty and powerful creator and provider of the world; lest they fail to see the hand of God in the life of humankind and the destiny of nations and the peoples; lest the law of God be neglected, and the like.

The Book of Wisdom therefore represented their special attempt at the time to preserve their ancient values and religious beliefs, and to let the non-Jewish world around them know about their God. And the Book of Wisdom does this with a style and language and thought-content that would appeal to Greek-speaking non-believers of Egypt at the time.

The Book of Wisdom is rather convincing in its appeal that we center our whole life in wisdom, not in mere human wisdom, but in divine wisdom. This is what makes life worthwhile. All human wisdom is mere folly if it is not subject to and in accord with the wisdom of God. All human wisdom is vain unless it is guided and disciplined by divine wisdom, the wisdom by which human beings live for God alone and are faithful to the laws of God, especially by reaching out to help the poor and the needy.

The original Greek title, Solomon's Wisdom, does not necessarily mean that king Solomon wrote it. In fact, the book was written long after the time of Solomon, who was king of Israel from 972 to 932 BCE. But the Book of Wisdom, as the early fathers of the Church called it, was written sometime after 200 BCE, and more probably between 100 and 30 BCE.

We do not know the name of the author, but scholars are agreed that he / she was a learned Jew, living in Alexandria, Egypt, with many other exiled Jews there. The language and culture of Alexandria was chiefly Greek at the time due to the earlier conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE). The Jewish scholars therefore translated the Hebrew books of the Bible into Greek. This was done for supplying the

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Greek-speaking Jews with a text of the scriptures, which they could read. One, or perhaps even several Jewish scholars, later set about writing the Book of Wisdom in Solomon's name. They wanted the book to have some authority, so they named it the Wisdom of Solomon. It was then included among the other books of the Old Testament, the entire collection being known as the Septuagint Greek version.

Because the Book of Wisdom was originally written in Greek and in Alexandria, the Palestinian Jews later on refused to accept this non-Hebrew book of Wisdom, and a number of others, as part of their Holy Scripture. Later, the Protestants also accepted only the Hebrew collection of Old Testament books as determined by the Palestinian Jews at Jamnia, and therefore rejected the Book of Wisdom as well. But the early fathers of the Church did accept it as Scripture and it has thus been included in all versions of the Catholic Bible.

The text is found within the section that is a scorching polemic against idolatry in general and Egyptian paganism in particular (Wisdom 13-15). Let us take a sample-using chapter 15:7-13:

For the potter, laboriously tempering soft clay, molds each single article for our service, but out of the selfsame clay he fashions those vessels for clean purposes and the contrary sort, all alike; but what shall be the use of each vessel of either class, the worker in clay decides. With misspent toil he molds a nothing-god out of the same clay, he who shortly before came into being out of the earth and shortly after returns whence he was taken, when the life that was lent him is demanded back. But his concern is not that his health is likely to fail or that his life will shortly end, but he views with goldsmiths and silversmiths, and emulates molders of bronze and considers it high honor to fashion counterfeits.

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His heart is ashes, his hope meaner than dirt, and life more ignoble than clay, because he knew not the one who fashioned him, infused him with an active soul, and breathed into him a vital spirit. He rather counts our existence a game, and our life a holiday bargain fair, for one must earn a living, he says, from whatever source, however foul. For this man knows more than any other that he is doing wrong, fabricating from earthen stuff frail vessels and carved images.

Interpretation

The author presents the image of the potter who manufactures vessels of two kinds from the same lump of clay. One kind is put to good use while the other from the same original source is used for not so good purposes. Romans 9:21 carries a similar thought: Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? The spotter is contemptuously presented as a mere mercenary and vehemently denounced as one who maliciously decides what use a particular vessel will serve.

With misdirected zeal, the potter toils to make a god, an idol of lowly clay. The same clay with which vessels for good use were made. This potter who was himself / herself made from clay, shapes and forms a god of clay, a god of useless, lifeless clay, a senseless idol of clay.

But then, the potter's real concern is not certainly that he / she someday might fall sick, lose all physical strength, fail in health and die, or that the span of life is short, or that life will have an end. The potter's concern is rather that he / she competes with

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other people, with goldsmiths and with silversmiths, with artisans who work in bronze. The potter thus takes pride in copying works, in making perfect counterfeits of works of other artisans. Thus, the potter's work is doubly false. Not only are the designs stolen, but also the result is the making of lifeless gods, false gods and idols made of clay.

The potter fails to know and recognize that his / her heart is worth no more than dust and ashes on the floor. The trust placed in idols has no worth, no more than trust in common earth, his / her life less noble than clay with which the gods are formed and shaped. The potter has failed to recognize the One who has made him / her. The One who gave to him / her the gift of life that he / she might think, act, and be.

But the potter regarded human life a sort of fair or market place or as one who looks upon a game, a time for playful sport or fun. He / She considered that the life spent on this earth should be a time for personal gain, for gain of wealth and property, for profit in whatever way that it can possibly be gained, even if it was through some evil deeds for he/she believes that we must live, by fair or any other means. But the potter, more than anyone, knows well that he / she is doing wrong by making images or gods and idols of clay.

Contemporary Idols of Clay

It remains for us to ask about how Wisdom of Solomon 15:7-13 and the theme of idolatry allow possibility for our own situation. In the context of the CCA-WSCF Joint Program '95, I understand this text to speak to the manner in which an individual uses his / her education. For the good of humankind or for the advancement and gain of the individual. Knowledge is power, and how one uses the knowledge gained is crucial. To cite just a few examples, does a person with an advanced degree in

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chemistry create drugs that are healing or for the love of gain create drugs that are pleasure – giving and yet harmful to the human body? Does an individual use the knowledge gained from the study of social sciences to find newer models of social structure that would lend towards a more egalitarian society and a better distribution of resources; or continue to emphasize and support the existing structures that demean and suppress those with less power. The question therefore is what is the underlying ideology that decides how an individual employs the knowledge attained.

In the dossiers that have been circulated for the CCA-WSCF Joint Program '95, in our creative presentations during orientation, in the many recent resource books published by the WSCF A-P, I noticed how often the issues of materialism and consumerism were mentioned, suggesting therefore the importance accorded to them by the modem world.

We may have difficulty imagining ourselves bowing down to a statue of wood or clay, but we surely know the kind of idolatry, which fears, loves and trusts in something or someone other than God. Such other gods we know well. By analogy, I suggest that materialism and consumerism are today's gods and they have become the reality of the day, the dominant feature of our cultures. Not only does such a dominant system then come to appear as normative and beyond fundamental criticism, it seems ordained and authorized to be enduring, so that we cannot think apart from it, cannot remember a time without it, and cannot imagine a future time when life should be shaped differently. By making it the dominant definition of reality and absolutizing it with such seriousness in today's world, we begin to understand it as representing God's will for us.

That this is the agenda of the State is quite clear, but it is equally the case in a more personal way. Not only does materialism and consumerism shape public policy, but also goes far to shape personal identity and personal self – understanding. The values resulting from such an ideology are personally appropriated lending to an intense narcissism and an expectation of self – gratification. If one should ask a young person in church, what should be an individual’s chief concern? The honest spirituality is therefore very individualistic. In the context of faith, materialism,

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consumerism and individualism have become the normative prism for our faith. As the text suggests, such an ideology or spirituality is not rooted in God the creator, but in the self.

I have offered one among many possible interpretations of this text and its relevance for us today. The criticisms cited above could be debated, I suppose. My hope in citing them was to use them primarily as symptoms of idolatry (fill in your own symptoms if you will).

Resources:

Denton, R. C. The Apocrypha, Bridge of the Testaments.

Connecticut:

Seabury, 1954

Nickelsburg, G.W.E. Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah.

Philadelphia:

Fortress, 1981.

Winston, D. The Wisdom of Solomon

AB 43. New York:

Doubleday, 1979

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Questions for Group Study

1. Characterize the potter, and identify other idols or symptoms of idolatry made manifest in the creations of the modern day potter.

2. Discuss the idea of education as a source of power.

3. What does a God-centered wisdom or ideology involve?

4. What practical things can we do within the church or the SCM to change the existing ideology and model of spirituality?

The Korean Student Christian Federation doing their campaign in 1994 for a Holy Christmas -with neighbors by calling on people to share the joy with our friends— the poor and oppressed people.