The Law of God: Exploring God and Civilization PDF
Preview The Law of God: Exploring God and Civilization
i TheLawofGod © koninklijkebrillnv,leiden,2014 | doi10.1163/9789004281844_001 ii Studies in Reformed Theology Editor-in-chief EddyVanderBorght(Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Editorial Board AbrahamvandeBeek(Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) MartienBrinkman(Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) DirkvanKeulen(Theological University, Kampen) DanielMigliore(Princeton Theological Seminary) RichardMouw(Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena) EmanuelGerritSinggih(Duta Wacana Christian University, Yogjakarta) PieterVos(Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam) ConradWethmar(University of Pretoria) VOLUME28 Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedat brill.com/srt iii The Law of God Exploring God and Civilization Edited by PieterVosandOnnoZijlstra LEIDEN|BOSTON iv Coverillustration:CourtesyoftheUffiziGallery,Florence. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData ThelawofGod:exploringGodandcivilization/editedbyPieterVosandOnnoZijlstra. pagescm.--(StudiesinReformedtheology,ISSN1571-4799;VOLUME28) Includesindex. ISBN978-90-04-28183-7(hardback:alk.paper)--ISBN978-90-04-28184-4(e-book)1.Religion andcivilization.2.God.I.Vos,Pieter,1970-editor. BL55.L282014 201’.7--dc23 2014028945 Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual‘Brill’typeface.Withover5,100characterscovering Latin,ipa,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitableforuseinthehumanities. Formoreinformation,pleaseseebrill.com/brill-typeface. issn1571-4799 isbn978-90-04-28183-7(paperback) isbn978-90-04-28184-4(e-book) Copyright2014byKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands. KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillNijhoff,GlobalOriental,HoteiPublishing. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedinaretrievalsystem, or transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise, withoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher. AuthorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluseisgrantedbyKoninklijkeBrillnvprovided thattheappropriatefeesarepaiddirectlytoTheCopyrightClearanceCenter,222RosewoodDrive, Suite 910,Danvers,ma01923,usa.Feesaresubjecttochange. Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper. ContentsContents v Contents Introduction 1 Pieter Vos and Onno Zijlstra part1 Secularity The Law of God in a Secular State Claiming Space in the Public Domain 23 Gé Speelman Multiculturalism, Religion and Public Justice 44 Jonathan Chaplin The Natural Law and Liberal Traditions Heritage (and Hope?) of Western Civilization 64 David VanDrunen The Empire and the Desert Eastern Orthodox Theologians about Church and Civilization 84 Alfons Brüning Whose Civilization is Europe Today? Encounters between Hungarian Reformed Faith and Secular Worldviews 105 Ábrahám Kovács part2 Monotheism The Aniconic God in Isaiah 43:10 and the Contemporary Discourse on Monotheism 135 Emanuel Gerrit Singgih vi Contents Is Christ Among Us? Mystical Christology from the Perspective of Pseudo-Dionysius and Taoism 151 Jaeseung Cha A Violent God? Philosophical Reflections on Monotheism and Genesis 22 173 Renée van Riessen The Irreducibility of Religious Faith Kierkegaard on Civilization and the Aqedah 194 Pieter Vos part3 Transformation Civic Integration A Mission to Civilize Religious Believers? 217 Mechteld Jansen Prophecy and Democracy? Some Arguments in Favor of Prophetic Discourse in Civilizing Democratic Societies 239 Nico Koopman Mapping the Christian Character Calvin and Schleiermacher on Virtue, Law and Sanctification 256 Heleen Zorgdrager In Defense of Authenticity On Art, Religion and the Authentic Self 282 Onno Zijlstra Religious Transformations within Modernity Religion and the Modern Discourse about Human Dignity and Human Rights 300 Wilhelm Gräb LInisdte oxf Co3n23tributors 319 JTDTAWÁpMTEICIPpSTGMJARTPpTCMPNMHIORWLIoasnnneaaaiimrierhhhhhelboiéian e neeeesVoiuafct dvhaocCn llrlrrrDoeeeeevnnttstcSraoapenhuiilipaneoeeéh ien oghcttttotpoeo tNEALIendeplorrexhKhussiehris drat ne l flfcI uaZmetfo iVVneaá213i Vrnnvmeoeeae nBuor hnsuwCe elZiuatoomanoicglCntindjtrptrcelgumc ltdlsssonospy Gn etmtü ss yiitoAGC i o CrJ ru uKt sv anmteDTigraaGn raRafgnhhromemaheicänr rotr nnnialroldiarGoaniaea rnaita ebviduacrs Lobdfirinzdl tnásp goioe Cbnn aiianOi taAsG?sclnDsdonl eugdwehitSgm isfnunonn nieteto rii tonyUtnodrna i,mrh h sn ogrnR m ositeaes o g?nZdiefi naa sDSci li RhIL tnjitreElsegiieasic oacusCibtlcuoiienrireyhtagalnrosyr?ahiat pao rw ar l4 euanS iT3 csttTd:rh at1oF aeP0tiaddner uia a i t bMtnyhil?do io c ndt hJseu e rsn Ctiiotcyen temporary Discourse on Monotheism 46811v1211122223337390533158012444375915493620 IntroductIinotnroduction 1 Introduction Pieter Vos and Onno Zijlstra ThethemeofGodandcivilizationisbothfascinatingandcomplicated.With- outdoubtreligionhasbeenamajorfactorintheculturaldevelopmentofhu- manity.Westernculture,forinstance,isunthinkablewithoutChristianity. Throughtheagesreligionhascontributedtothegoodlifeandtolivingwell together.AdherencetoGodhasmotivatedbelieverstocontributetotheim- provementofeducation,care,communityformation,goodcitizenship,equal regardofwomenandmen,blackandwhite,homosexualsandheterosexuals, inshorttowhatmanyregardasprincipalcharacteristicsofcivilizedsociety. On the other hand, the combination ‘God and civilization’ immediately promptsseverecriticismofreligion.Fromapost-colonialperspective,forin- stance,theideaofChristianmissionasacivilizationprojecthasbeenseri- ouslycontestedbecauseofitsdestructiveandoppressiveeffects.Thesame holdsforthosecivilizingprojectsinwhichChristianfaithwasuncritically identifiedwithdecentmoralbehaviorastheoutcomeofdiscipliningandop- pressiveconducttowardschildren,strangers,lunaticsandprisoners.Some criticsconsidermonotheisticbeliefitselftobeinherentlyrepressiveandvio- lent,andinconflictwithwhatisseenashumaneandgood.Againstthiscon- tradictorybackground,onemayaskifitisstillpossibletoconnect‘God’and ‘civilization’inafruitfulway. Thepresentvolumetakesupthisquestionasatheologicalchallenge.Itcon- tainsacollectionofcontributions(doublypeer-reviewed)thatallfocuson clashesanddisclosuresof‘God’and‘civilization.’Theinitialinvestigationsof thethemetookplaceinagroupoftheologiansandphilosophersofthere- searchgroup‘Beliefs’attheProtestantTheologicalUniversity(Amsterdam/ Groningen).Duringtheprojectthescopewasbroadenedbyinvitingscholars fromotherEuropeancountriesandothercontinentstooffertheirreflections onthethemefromtheirowncontextsandperspectives.Mostofthefinaldrafts werepresentedataninternationalconferencethattookplacefrom19till21 May2014attheProtestantTheologicalUniversityinAmsterdam. Conceptualization Intoday’s‘secular’society,apositiverelationbetweenGodandcivilizationis bynomeansevident.IntheWest,religionisseenbymanyasathreatto © koninklijkebrillnv,leiden,2014 | doi10.1163/9789004281844_002 2 Introduction civilization.Religiousbelievers,wantingtolivetheirlivesinaccordancewith God’swill,thedivinelaw,areoftenconsideredtobeathreattoWesterncivili- zation.Fromthispointofviewsomeadmitforinstancethatthe‘Jewish-Chris- tiantradition’wasfoundationalforWesterncivilization,butmaintainthatthis traditionhasbeenovercomeinmoderntimes.Againstthisstandpointothers holdthatreligionremainsanecessaryoratleastdesirableelementinanycul- turethathighlyregardsvalueslikeloveandrighteousness,orthatcivilization isinneedofsomeformoftranscendencetokeepitopentoothersandthefu- ture.“IfChristianitygoes,thewholeofourculturegoes”(T.S.Eliot).1Inthis volumeweholdthatbothwaysofreasoningaretoomonolithic.Ontheone handreligionmayofferapositivecontributiontocivilization,e.g.byproviding themoralunderpinningsofasociety,andcivilizationmaycreatefreespacefor religiousness.Ontheotherhandreligiousconvictionsmayprovetobeathreat towhatisgenerallyseenascivilized. Whethertheconceptofcivilizationisputforwardasadisciplinaryproject ofChristianmissionaimedattransformingpeopleintotruebelieversorasan argumentagainstthe‘barbarismofreligion’ingeneral,ineachcase‘civiliza- tion’isusedasanormativeconceptthatservestodistinguishthecivilizedand thebarbarian,theculturedandtheuncivilized. Historically,theconceptofcivilizationgoesbacktoeighteenth-century thinkerswhodevelopedtheideaofcivilizationastheoppositeofbarbarism. Duringthatagethewordcivilisation wascoinedbothinFranceandinEng- land—byMirabeauin1757andFergusonin1767—todesignatethepracticeof goodmoralsandthemodernizationoflegislation.Beingcivilizedmeantto striveforahighstandardofmorality.InGermanyBildunginitiallyhadamean- ingparalleltocivilisation,designatingtheinnerformationofKultur. While GermanBildungstressedtheinner,spiritualformationofaperson,andFrench civilitéthesocietalqualities,Dutchbeschavinghadameaningsomewherein between,unitingtheconceptofinnerrefinementaswellaspolitesseorpolite- ness aspartoftheindividual’sbehavior,andthenotionofcivilisationaschar- acterizingtheprocessofsocietyasawhole.2 1 T.S.Eliot,“NotesTowardstheDefinitionofCulture,”inT.S.Eliot,Christianity and Culture(San Diego:HBJBook,1976),200. 2 PimdenBoer,“Vergelijkendebegripsgeschiedenis”(ComparativeHistoryofConcepts),in PimdenBoer(ed.),Beschaving: Een geschiedenis van de begrippen hoofsheid, heusheid, be- schaving en cultuur (Civilization: A History of the Concepts of Courtliness, Courtesy, Civilization and Culture) (Amsterdam:AmsterdamUniversityPress,2001),9,28;Cf.RemiegA.M.Aerts& W.E.Krul,“Vanhogebeschavingnaarbredecultuur,1780–1940”(FromHighCivilizationto- wardsBroadCulture),inDenBoer,Beschaving,213–254:216.Cf.TheoBoer&RinseReeling Introduction 3 Intheologicaldiscoursetheconceptofcivilizationfunctionedasaself-char- acterizationofChristendom.‘Civilization’wasconceivedasasecularsynonym forChristendom.3Moderntheologiansspokeofcivilizationasanongoingpro- cessoftrueenlightenment,stressingtheChristiancontributiontothisprocess asthebestguaranteeforprogress,butwithoutclaimingtheinherentChristian natureofthiscivilizationprocess.Partofcivilizationwasthenotionofforma- tionortraining,whichhadareligiousformindisciplina astheexpressionof rebirthorspiritualrenewal.4 Around1850themeaningandinterpretationoftheconceptaltered.Civili- zationwasgenerallyusedtodistinguishsettled,urbanandliteratesocieties fromprimitivesocieties.ThroughoutthenineteenthcenturyEuropeanintel- lectualsdevelopedcriteriabywhichnon-Europeansocietiescouldbejudged asmoreorless‘civilized.’Whereascivilizationinitiallywasregardedasapro- cessratherthanasagiventotality,5conceptslike civilisation,KulturandBil- dung were now objectified and defined in terms of results rather than processes.Hence,theologianstooregardedcivilizationastheresultofhistori- calformation,andChristianityasthedefinitepowerthattransformedhuman civilizationandculture.6Moreover,peoplebegantospeakofcivilizationsin theplural,assumingthatthereweremanycivilizations,eachofwhichwas civilizedinitsownway.Westernpeoplesawtheirowncivilizationasbetter andmorecivilizedthanothercivilizations.Theworldhadtobecivilizedinthe directionofWesternChristiancivilization. Againstthisbackground,GermanthinkerslikeOswaldSpenglerdrewa sharpdistinctionbetweenZivilization,whichinvolvestechnologyandmaterial factors,andKultur,whichinvolvesvalues,idealsandthehigherintellectual andmoralqualitiesofasociety.Zivilization wasnotonlyseenasthefinalstage ofKultur butalsoasitsdownfall(Untergang).However,moreimportantthan thevariousdistinctionsbetweenthetermsisthefactthatuptothetwentieth Brouwer,“HerstelvoorderelatietussenGodencivilisatie”(RestoringtheRelationbetween GodandCivilization),Theologisch debat 8:3(2011),25–32:26. 3 DenBoer,“Vergelijkendebegripsgeschiedenis,”21. 4 JorisvanEijnatten,“Protestantseschrijversoverbeschavingencultuur”(ProtestantWriters onCivilizationandCulture),inDenBoer, Beschaving,258–273,describesthiswayofthinking intheNetherlandsfromHieronymusvanAlphentoHofstededeGroot.Cf.alsoDenBoer, Beschaving,265;Boer&ReelingBrouwer,“Herstel,”26. 5 Wordslikebeschaving (civilization),verlichting (enlightenment), vorming (formation), op- voeding (upbringing)wereconstruedwiththesuffix‘-ing,’demonstratingtheprocessnature oftheseconcepts. 6 DenBoer,Beschaving, 218–225.
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