GOP Gospel: Judgment of the Nations
Mar. 8th, 2021 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinDay 16 of my Lent project. For background, please read this.
A reading from the Gospel according to the GOP:
Matthew 25:31-46
"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 he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or saw you thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and we visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to the last of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
This one was pretty much a total rewrite – most of the others I could just turn things 180°, but here I had to strip it right back to the underlying values: 'what do you think signifies righteousness?' Or, in the Republican sense, which policies they pursue from a pedestal of Christian rectitude and which they consider dishonourable amongst their opponents.
The Gospels were originally written in Greek, the lingua franca of the eastern Mediterranean at the time. The word that is translated as 'stranger' in English-language Bibles is originally xenos, which can mean both 'someone I don't know' and 'foreigner.' This is true for many languages, including French, from whose étranger we get stranger. I have made two considerations here in approaching it as meaning 'foreigner': For one, xenos has come down to us primarily in the word 'xenophobia' – fear of foreigners – so xenos in this passage conceivably ought to be translated in the same line. For another, the Hebrew Bible continually admonishes the people of Israel to be welcoming of foreigners* and to offer them the same rights and protections as the in-group. Jesus evidently believed himself to be continuing the work of the Prophets, and they cite injustice to foreigners among the causes for God's displeasure with Israel. So it seems perfectly reasonable to interpret xenos in this continuity. Of course, the same treatment can and should be offered to people you simply don't know, but explicitly extending it to foreigners is a bigger ask, and one that transcends human tribal instinct.
It may also be worth mentioning that in ancient times, clothing was vastly more expesnive, relative to one's income, than it is now. Clothing someone, in this context, isn't dropping $20 at WalMart, it's closer to giving them a smartphone.
*usually translated from the Hebrew as 'aliens', but Googling 'bible aliens' will get you into all sorts of trouble
A reading from the Gospel according to the GOP:
"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 he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for you have proven your righteousness upon earth. By your industry, you have created jobs, so those who are hungry, thirsty, and unclothed can work to feed and hydrate and clothe themselves. You have secured the borders of your nation and protected it from those who would take advantage of its wealth, so those resources can prosper your own people. You have established the finest health care system in the world, and reserved it for those who have worked hard and earned access to it, discouraging indolence with the threat of bankruptcy or death. You have imprisoned evildoers, rightly preserving society from their malign influence, and putting them to work so they can learn to make an honest living and thereby be saved. You have passed laws under which even the unbeliever is compelled to follow my way. And you did all this in my name, and so glorified me to the world.'
"Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for you fed those who did not work, you clothed those who spent their wages irresponsibly, you wasted the produce of your people's labour on foreigners and sinners, you offered health care to those who made poor life choices and diluted its energies by sharing it amongst too many, and you spoiled prisoners instead of punishing them. In so doing, you have taken from the deserving and given to the undeserving, to the lazy, the weak, and the criminal, and you are no better than thieves. You have undermined God's plans for his chosen ones, robbing them of the comfort and fruitfulness and power that was due them. And you have denied me and dishonoured my name to the world.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46
"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 he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or saw you thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and we visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to the last of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
This one was pretty much a total rewrite – most of the others I could just turn things 180°, but here I had to strip it right back to the underlying values: 'what do you think signifies righteousness?' Or, in the Republican sense, which policies they pursue from a pedestal of Christian rectitude and which they consider dishonourable amongst their opponents.
The Gospels were originally written in Greek, the lingua franca of the eastern Mediterranean at the time. The word that is translated as 'stranger' in English-language Bibles is originally xenos, which can mean both 'someone I don't know' and 'foreigner.' This is true for many languages, including French, from whose étranger we get stranger. I have made two considerations here in approaching it as meaning 'foreigner': For one, xenos has come down to us primarily in the word 'xenophobia' – fear of foreigners – so xenos in this passage conceivably ought to be translated in the same line. For another, the Hebrew Bible continually admonishes the people of Israel to be welcoming of foreigners* and to offer them the same rights and protections as the in-group. Jesus evidently believed himself to be continuing the work of the Prophets, and they cite injustice to foreigners among the causes for God's displeasure with Israel. So it seems perfectly reasonable to interpret xenos in this continuity. Of course, the same treatment can and should be offered to people you simply don't know, but explicitly extending it to foreigners is a bigger ask, and one that transcends human tribal instinct.
It may also be worth mentioning that in ancient times, clothing was vastly more expesnive, relative to one's income, than it is now. Clothing someone, in this context, isn't dropping $20 at WalMart, it's closer to giving them a smartphone.
*usually translated from the Hebrew as 'aliens', but Googling 'bible aliens' will get you into all sorts of trouble
