As for nearly everyone else, this year has not gone entirely as planned …
For a summary of our goings on for the first half of 2020, and pictures, read our July 2020 update.
July 2020 update
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Author Archives: joshuaruthbarron
What is “theology”?
As a missionary- and theological educator, I (Joshua) spend a lot of time in my study. Today I am spending some time with Prof. E. Bôlaji Idowu (1913-1993, Nigeria 🇳🇬). I was delighted to find this gem:
… a theologian who thinks that he is an intellectualist is only wasting his time. A theologian who is worthy of the name is first and foremost a man of prayer, waiting upon God for a message, God’s own message.
— E. Bôlaji Idowu, “God,” chapter 1 in Biblical Revelation and African Beliefs, 17-29, ed. Kwesi A. Dickson and Paul Ellingworth (Lutterworth Press / United Society for Christian Literature, 1969), p. 23.
I want to note this assertion, with which I agree:
A theologian who is worthy of the name
is first and foremost a man or woman of prayer.
As a historian, I am immediately struck by how much this echoes one of my favorite patristic quotations, Evagrios of Pontus defining what a theology is and what a theologian is. But I’ve written about that elsewhere.
So let me ask us: are we people of prayer?
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
«οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἠγέρθη γὰρ καθὼς εἶπεν·
δεῦτε ἴδετε τὸν τόπον ὅπου ἔκειτο.»
δεῦτε ἴδετε τὸν τόπον ὅπου ἔκειτο.»
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“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.
Come, see the place where He lay.”
Come, see the place where He lay.”
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Here’s this verse (Matthew 28:6) again in a number of other languages, chosen because we have (or have had) friends and co-workers who use these as a first or second language:
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MAA (Maasai):
“Metii ene amu etopiwuo ana enatejo ninye. Wootu eng’urai ewueji apa neirragieki.”
(There are some 2–2.5 million Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania. Most of our work is in Maasai communities. From 2010–2017, Joshua served as a translation consultant for The Bible Society of Kenya’s much needed revision/correction of the Maa bible. Our “Eating the Word of God” book was first published in Maa, Enkinosata Ororei Le Nkai. The Maa language is Nilotic, and belongs to the same branch of the family as ancient Nubian; Nubian is important for the study of the late patristic and medieval period of Christianity in North East Africa.)
“Metii ene amu etopiwuo ana enatejo ninye. Wootu eng’urai ewueji apa neirragieki.”
(There are some 2–2.5 million Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania. Most of our work is in Maasai communities. From 2010–2017, Joshua served as a translation consultant for The Bible Society of Kenya’s much needed revision/correction of the Maa bible. Our “Eating the Word of God” book was first published in Maa, Enkinosata Ororei Le Nkai. The Maa language is Nilotic, and belongs to the same branch of the family as ancient Nubian; Nubian is important for the study of the late patristic and medieval period of Christianity in North East Africa.)
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KISWAHILI:
“Hayupo hapa, kwa kuwa amefufuka, kama vile alivyosema. Njooni mpatazame mahali alipokuwa amelazwa.”
(There are about 1.8 million waSwahili people on the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. KiSwahili is spoken as a second language by 90–150 million throughout East and Central African countries, especially in Tanzania and here in Kenya. Swahili is a Bantu language with significant influence from Arabic. While English is the official language of Kenya’s government, Swahili is the language of business and commerce and the market. The second edition of “Eating the Word of God” book was published in Swahili, Kujilisha kwa Neno La Mungu; Joshua was one of the editors as well. We’re currently making progress in learning Swahili, in addition to Maa. Though let the record show that in our last Swahili test, our children scored higher than their father!)
“Hayupo hapa, kwa kuwa amefufuka, kama vile alivyosema. Njooni mpatazame mahali alipokuwa amelazwa.”
(There are about 1.8 million waSwahili people on the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. KiSwahili is spoken as a second language by 90–150 million throughout East and Central African countries, especially in Tanzania and here in Kenya. Swahili is a Bantu language with significant influence from Arabic. While English is the official language of Kenya’s government, Swahili is the language of business and commerce and the market. The second edition of “Eating the Word of God” book was published in Swahili, Kujilisha kwa Neno La Mungu; Joshua was one of the editors as well. We’re currently making progress in learning Swahili, in addition to Maa. Though let the record show that in our last Swahili test, our children scored higher than their father!)
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SAMPUR (Samburu):
“Meti ene amu, kitipiwua ana natejo apa. Wootu entodol ng’oji neiterperieki apa.”
(The are perhaps 350,00 Samburu in Kenya; they were once a subtribe of the Maasai, but the Sampur language and the majority Maa dialect, Purko Maa, currently have only a 70% linguistic overlap. We’ve trained some Samburu pastors and church planters at our Maasai Discipleship Training School. Some dear friends of ours from Finland, bible translators with Wycliff, prepared the Sampur NT. Whereas we have facility in Maa, we simply “get by” in Sampur.)
“Meti ene amu, kitipiwua ana natejo apa. Wootu entodol ng’oji neiterperieki apa.”
(The are perhaps 350,00 Samburu in Kenya; they were once a subtribe of the Maasai, but the Sampur language and the majority Maa dialect, Purko Maa, currently have only a 70% linguistic overlap. We’ve trained some Samburu pastors and church planters at our Maasai Discipleship Training School. Some dear friends of ours from Finland, bible translators with Wycliff, prepared the Sampur NT. Whereas we have facility in Maa, we simply “get by” in Sampur.)
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NGA TURKANA:
“Emam ngesi kane, ayaru ngesi loger lokolong alimuniotor. Potu kingolikisi ni ngoon aperio ngesi ne.”
(There are over 1 million Turkana in Kenya. There are also smaller groups in Uganda and Ethiopia. Most years since 2010 Joshua has spent 2-4 weeks each year teaching at the Turkana branch of CCBTI, Community Christian Bible Training Institute. The third edition of “Eating the Word of God” book was in Nga Turkana, Akinyam Akiroit a Akuj. Joshua ended up having to learn some Nga Turkana to help with the editing of the volume, though we make no claim to know the language … yet.)
“Emam ngesi kane, ayaru ngesi loger lokolong alimuniotor. Potu kingolikisi ni ngoon aperio ngesi ne.”
(There are over 1 million Turkana in Kenya. There are also smaller groups in Uganda and Ethiopia. Most years since 2010 Joshua has spent 2-4 weeks each year teaching at the Turkana branch of CCBTI, Community Christian Bible Training Institute. The third edition of “Eating the Word of God” book was in Nga Turkana, Akinyam Akiroit a Akuj. Joshua ended up having to learn some Nga Turkana to help with the editing of the volume, though we make no claim to know the language … yet.)
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GĨKŨYŨ (Kikuyu):
“Ndarĩ haaha; nĩariũkĩĩte o ta ũrĩa oigire. Tookaai muone harĩa araarĩ.”
(The Agĩkũyũ are a Bantu group of over 8 million here in Kenya. In English, “Kikuyu” derives from the Swahili name of the language, Gĩkũyũ, and refers to the language and the people. Many of our dearest friends are Kikuyu.)
“Ndarĩ haaha; nĩariũkĩĩte o ta ũrĩa oigire. Tookaai muone harĩa araarĩ.”
(The Agĩkũyũ are a Bantu group of over 8 million here in Kenya. In English, “Kikuyu” derives from the Swahili name of the language, Gĩkũyũ, and refers to the language and the people. Many of our dearest friends are Kikuyu.)
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KALENJIN (Nandi):
“Ma komi yu; amu kagong’eet, ko uu ye ki kamwa. Obwa, ogeer ole korue Kiptaiyat,”
(The Kalenjin are a group of ten tribes in Kenya numbering over 6 million together; their language is Nilotic. Sometimes the term in English refers specifically to the Nandi and Kipsigis tribes. We have a number of Kipsigis Kalenjin friends and Joshua has spent some time in Kipsigis villages. One of Joshua’s fellow students in his PhD cohort is a Pokot Kalenjin pastor. We found this translation, in the Nandi dialect, online.)
“Ma komi yu; amu kagong’eet, ko uu ye ki kamwa. Obwa, ogeer ole korue Kiptaiyat,”
(The Kalenjin are a group of ten tribes in Kenya numbering over 6 million together; their language is Nilotic. Sometimes the term in English refers specifically to the Nandi and Kipsigis tribes. We have a number of Kipsigis Kalenjin friends and Joshua has spent some time in Kipsigis villages. One of Joshua’s fellow students in his PhD cohort is a Pokot Kalenjin pastor. We found this translation, in the Nandi dialect, online.)
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DHOLUO (Luo):
“to oonge ka, nimar osechier mana kaka nowacho. Biuru une kama nende onindoe,”
(The Luo “proper”, or Joluo, live in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. They number approximately 7 million. More broadly speaking, “Luo” can refer to a Nilotic group of tribes spread from Tanzania to South Sudan to Congo. Ruth’s best friend is a Ugandan Luo living here in Kenya.)
“to oonge ka, nimar osechier mana kaka nowacho. Biuru une kama nende onindoe,”
(The Luo “proper”, or Joluo, live in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. They number approximately 7 million. More broadly speaking, “Luo” can refer to a Nilotic group of tribes spread from Tanzania to South Sudan to Congo. Ruth’s best friend is a Ugandan Luo living here in Kenya.)
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FRANÇAIS (French):
“Il n’est pas ici, car il est ressuscité comme il l’avait dit. Venez voir le lieu où il gisait,”
(There are about 430 million French speakers, including those who speak it as a second or third language) spread throughout 29 countries in Africa. We have good friends who are missionaries in Francophone West Africa — specifically Côte d’Ivoire and Burkino Faso. One of Joshua’s fellow PhD students is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; French is his second language … English is fourth or fifth. Joshua has some reading facility in French from his public school days.)
“Il n’est pas ici, car il est ressuscité comme il l’avait dit. Venez voir le lieu où il gisait,”
(There are about 430 million French speakers, including those who speak it as a second or third language) spread throughout 29 countries in Africa. We have good friends who are missionaries in Francophone West Africa — specifically Côte d’Ivoire and Burkino Faso. One of Joshua’s fellow PhD students is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; French is his second language … English is fourth or fifth. Joshua has some reading facility in French from his public school days.)
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ESPAÑOL (Spanish):
“No está aquí, pues ha resucitado, como dijo. Venid, ved el lugar donde fue puesto el Señor.”
(There are over 483 native speakers of Spanish around the world, second only to Mandarin Chinese. It is the fourth-most spoken language in the world, after English, Mandarin Chinese and Hindi. Ruth learned Spanish well enough in school that she could communicate with an Italian bus driver when she visited Italy. We have friends who minister in Spanish-speaking areas.)
“No está aquí, pues ha resucitado, como dijo. Venid, ved el lugar donde fue puesto el Señor.”
(There are over 483 native speakers of Spanish around the world, second only to Mandarin Chinese. It is the fourth-most spoken language in the world, after English, Mandarin Chinese and Hindi. Ruth learned Spanish well enough in school that she could communicate with an Italian bus driver when she visited Italy. We have friends who minister in Spanish-speaking areas.)
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AFRIKAANS:
“Hy is nie hier nie, want Hy is uit die dood opgewek, soos Hy gesê het. Kom nader en kyk: daar is die plek waar Hy gelê het.”
(There are 7.2 million native speakers — both white Afrikaners, descended from Dutch settlers, and “colored” — and an additional 10.3 million who speak Afrikaans as a second language, mostly in South Africa and Namibia but with smaller communities in Botswana and Zimbabwe as well. We taught at a small Bible college in South Africa in 2000–2001, and learned a little Afrikaans. A cute little three year old girl of an Afrikaans-speaking family “adopted” us as a second pair of parents, and so we learned the Afrikaans of a three year old! At one point, Joshua had memorized the Lord’s Prayer in Afrikaans, but now he only remembers the first phrase.)
“Hy is nie hier nie, want Hy is uit die dood opgewek, soos Hy gesê het. Kom nader en kyk: daar is die plek waar Hy gelê het.”
(There are 7.2 million native speakers — both white Afrikaners, descended from Dutch settlers, and “colored” — and an additional 10.3 million who speak Afrikaans as a second language, mostly in South Africa and Namibia but with smaller communities in Botswana and Zimbabwe as well. We taught at a small Bible college in South Africa in 2000–2001, and learned a little Afrikaans. A cute little three year old girl of an Afrikaans-speaking family “adopted” us as a second pair of parents, and so we learned the Afrikaans of a three year old! At one point, Joshua had memorized the Lord’s Prayer in Afrikaans, but now he only remembers the first phrase.)
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SETSWANA (Tswana):
“Ga a yo fa; gonne o tsogile, fela jaaka a buile. Tlaang lo bone felo fa o ne a letse teng.”
(Sestwana is the Bantu language spoken as a first by some 5.3 million people in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, and by another 7.7 million as a second language in South Africa. One of the two congregations we were involved with in South Africa was majority Sestwana-speaking. We learned some greetings; Ruth also learned greetings in Sesotho and isiZulu.)
“Ga a yo fa; gonne o tsogile, fela jaaka a buile. Tlaang lo bone felo fa o ne a letse teng.”
(Sestwana is the Bantu language spoken as a first by some 5.3 million people in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, and by another 7.7 million as a second language in South Africa. One of the two congregations we were involved with in South Africa was majority Sestwana-speaking. We learned some greetings; Ruth also learned greetings in Sesotho and isiZulu.)
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TOK PISIN:
“Em i no i stap hia. Em i kirap pinis, olsem bipo em i bin tok. Yutupela kam lukim ples em i bin slip long en.”
(Tok Pisin is one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea. While there are only about 120,000 native speakers, it is spoke as a second language by at least 4 million. I, Joshua, preached from Daniel in Tok Pisin in 1993, when I was in PNG for an internship with Pioneer Bible Translators. I wrote out a sermon manuscript, because I was terrified that I would reach into the “not English” part of my brain and either come up with nothing or French — that had already happened sometimes in conversations.)
“Em i no i stap hia. Em i kirap pinis, olsem bipo em i bin tok. Yutupela kam lukim ples em i bin slip long en.”
(Tok Pisin is one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea. While there are only about 120,000 native speakers, it is spoke as a second language by at least 4 million. I, Joshua, preached from Daniel in Tok Pisin in 1993, when I was in PNG for an internship with Pioneer Bible Translators. I wrote out a sermon manuscript, because I was terrified that I would reach into the “not English” part of my brain and either come up with nothing or French — that had already happened sometimes in conversations.)
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KHASI:
“Um don hangne; la pynmihpat ïa u, kumba u la ong. Ale hangne bad peit ïa ka jaka ha kaba u la thiah.”
(The Khasi language, with the Jaintia-Pñar dialect, is an Austroasiatic language spoken primarily in Meghalaya state in North East India, with smaller populations in Assam state and in Bangladesh. I spent two summers in Meghalaya, 1995 and 1998, the latter being for my MDiv internship. I composed some poetry and some choruses. I was told I spoke with a decided Pñar accent, rather than the “official” Khasi dialect — no bad thing, since most of my time was in the Jaintia area — and also that my syntax sounded more like that of the grandparents than of my peers. In doing some research on the 1905-1907 revival in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills for one of my PhD courses —”Dynamics of Global Revivals” with Prof. Mark Shaw — I stumbled upon some videos of Khasi worship choirs, and was pleased, though surprised, to still understand some of the language.)
“Um don hangne; la pynmihpat ïa u, kumba u la ong. Ale hangne bad peit ïa ka jaka ha kaba u la thiah.”
(The Khasi language, with the Jaintia-Pñar dialect, is an Austroasiatic language spoken primarily in Meghalaya state in North East India, with smaller populations in Assam state and in Bangladesh. I spent two summers in Meghalaya, 1995 and 1998, the latter being for my MDiv internship. I composed some poetry and some choruses. I was told I spoke with a decided Pñar accent, rather than the “official” Khasi dialect — no bad thing, since most of my time was in the Jaintia area — and also that my syntax sounded more like that of the grandparents than of my peers. In doing some research on the 1905-1907 revival in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills for one of my PhD courses —”Dynamics of Global Revivals” with Prof. Mark Shaw — I stumbled upon some videos of Khasi worship choirs, and was pleased, though surprised, to still understand some of the language.)
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Words of the Day
Ninataka kutoka
As a family, we’re making progress learning Swahili, which is becoming increasingly important to our ministry, in addition to Maa. Today’s word is kutoka. It means to go out, to leave, to exit or to be from a place. So we might say “Tunatoka Marekani” — we are from America.
But as we are having to focus on the office work side of curriculum development and ongoing language learning due to the current pandemic, and as the children’s HomeSchool co-op is not able to meet due to temporary government restrictions, we’re all thinking “ninataka kutoka!” — I want to go out!
Kutaka is the other word in today’s phrase. It means to want. A similarly sounding word is takataka — trash or garbage. Unataka takataka? Sitaki takataka! Do you want garbage? I don’t want garbage! It’s interesting how much kutaka (to want) sounds like takataka (garbage, is generally not wanted by anybody).
Our twelve year old’s favorite sentence in Swahili? So far, it’s Baba ni bata! — Daddy is a duck! Hmmm. Whence do you think she got that silliness?
Send Me
Last month (in February), I (Joshua) was able to spend a week in Oletukat, teaching my History of Christian Mission course at a missionary training school founded and run by our Maasai friend and colleague, James ole Sinkua. Last year, we all visited Oletukat as a family as Ruth and I had a planning and curriculum development meeting with James (for more, see our November newsletter).
As usual, when I teach I have just as much of a learning opportunity as my students. Besides learning new Maa vocabulary, my students taught me this wonderful song, Irriwayioki ! (or “Send me!”). In the Maa Bible, in Isaiah 6:8, the prophet answers God’s call: “Irriwayioki! Send me!” While this hymn has innumerable verses, I learned five of them plus the chorus.
The first verse is especially powerful: Send me to our Maasai people, Send me even to the Agĩkũyũ … . The first phrase is a call to evangelize and disciple one’s neighbors, kinfolk, and fellow countrymen. But the second phrase asks God to send the singer to the Kikuyu! This is significant because traditionally the Kikuyu and the Maasai are tribal rivals.
(Properly speaking, Agĩkũyũ is the name of the people and Gĩkũyũ is the name of the language. In Swahili, Kikuyu is the name of the Gĩkũyũ language spoken by the Agĩkũyũ. From this Swahili usage, “Kikuyu” is commonly used in English to refer to the Gĩkũyũ language and “the Kikuyu” is used to refer to the Agĩkũyũ people.)
While the two tribes sometimes intermarry, often the Maasai and the Agĩkũyũ are about as affectionate toward each other as are supporters of rival political factions in America. This song is a radical invitation, asking God to send us that we might join God in God’s mission in the world — not only to our friends but also even to our enemies.
Give it a listen, and scroll down for the lyrics and translation:
To those of you who saw our “Sing or Dance?” post from last month (20 February), accept my apologies for only having an audio file instead of a video file.
This recording has six verses. Here is the Maa translation, with English translation, of five of the verses plus the chorus. (When my students sang it for me to record, they added what is the fifth verse here, and for the life of me there are a couple of words that I just can’t hear. I didn’t have a chance to ask them to transcribe that verse for me. When I figure out that verse, I’ll edit this post.)
chorus
Irriwayioki, irriwayioki!
Irriwayioki, Enkai ai!
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me, send me!
Send me, my God!
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
verse 1
Irriwayioki ilmaasai lang,
Irriwayioki ata ikokoyok,
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me our own Maasai people,
Send me even to the Kikuyu,
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
verse 2
Irriwayioki Tanzania,
Irriwayioki ata Uganda,
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me Tanzania,
Send me even to Uganda,
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
verse 3
Irriwayioki Ingirisa,
Irriwayioki Iltalia,
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me to the English,
Send me to the Italians,
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
verse 4
Irriwayioki ata Asia,
Irriwayioki o Australia,
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me even to Asia,
Send me also to Australia,
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
verse 5
Irriwayioki ???,
Irriwayioki ???,
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me ???,
Send me ???,
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
verse 6
Irriwayioki iltamoyia,
Irriwayioki ilaing’okok,
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me to the sick,
Send me to the sinners,
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
(repeat chorus)
chorus with reprise
Irriwayioki, irriwayioki!
Irriwayioki, Enkai ai!
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
………. Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
(Papaai lai) Naa kalo, irriwayioki! ….. (O my Father)
………. Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Olchampa lino, irriwayioki!
……… Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
………. Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
(gradually slowing … )
Irriwayioki, irriwayioki!
Irriwayioki, Enkai ai!
Olchampa lino mashomo Yesu
Naa kalo, irriwayioki!
Send me, send me!
Send me, my God!
So that I may go to your field, Jesus,
and I will go, send me!
Sing or Dance?
Translation is fun.
The middle line of Psalm 149:1 in Maa reads
«Entaranyaki OLAITORIANI osinkolio ng’ejuk»
This translates «שִׁ֣ירוּ לַֽ֭יהוָה שִׁ֣יר חָדָ֑שׁ» (Hebrew) or «ᾌσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινό» (Greek). Some of y’all might know the King James: “Sing unto the LORD a new song!”
But the Maa phrase can translate into English as “Dance unto the LORD a new dance!”
Um, what?! How’s that?
If we’ve visited with you, you may remember the answer. The noun <osinkolio> means equally “song” and “dance.” The verb <arany> means equally “to sing” and “to dance.” Thus “arany osinkolio” can be translated four ways into English:
……. • I sing a song,
……. • I dance a dance,
……. • I sing a dance, or
……. • I dance a song.
In the Maasai cultural imagination, singing with the voice without also dancing with the body (or is that dancing with voice while singing with the body?) is unimaginable, except for the infirm or lame.
While other African languages have different words for singing and dancing, as does English, this lexical insight applies across many African cultures.
Application:
of COURSE we line dance during worship here. What else?
Word of the Day
Amesút
“to clean or remove charcoal
from the outside of the calabash gourd
after cleaning the interior of the gourd.”
The gourds — used as containers especially for milk and sour milk — are cleaned with a stick of wild olive wood (olóírién), the end of which is a live coal. This burns away any pathogens or other bad stuff and lines the interior of the gourd with charcoal, which has a filtering/purifying effect. It also gives your milk a smoky taste. So if you’re taking chai in the villages and your tea tastes a bit like smoked cheese, this is why.
So AMESÚT only refers to the removal of olive wood charcoal from the outside of a gourd that’s just been cleaned on the inside.
How’s that for specificity?
book review: Forgiveness and Justice
Forgiveness and Justice are incompatible, right? Forgiving someone means foregoing justice, doesn’t it? Isn’t it just cognitively impossible to think of pursuing justice and forgiving at the same time? That’s how the popular thinking goes … but that’s not biblical thinking at all.
Lamentation (and even anger) at injustice, the seeking of justice, and the practice of forgiveness are all closely intertwined. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) included in his
book Souls of Black Folk a chapter entitled “Songs of Sorrow.” In one place he astutely notes that such songs of sorrow (such as the “Negro Spirituals”) offer hope, “a faith in the ultimate justice of things.”
book Souls of Black Folk a chapter entitled “Songs of Sorrow.” In one place he astutely notes that such songs of sorrow (such as the “Negro Spirituals”) offer hope, “a faith in the ultimate justice of things.”Bryan Maier has written an excellent study that explores this relationship between lament for wrongs suffered and hope for justice. We can’t over-recommend his Forgiveness and Justice: A Christian Approach (2017). At just 160 pages, it’s a fairly quick read.
There’s nearly a cottage industry of books on forgiveness. Most contemporary teachings on forgiveness follow one of five models (though there are others) —
- therapeutic forgiveness (the victim should forgive for the sake of the victim’s well-being, the state of unforgiveness only causes further injury to the victim, and may cause the victim to risk damnation),
- forensic forgiveness (forgiveness as a transaction — the cancelling of debt, granting clemency from deserved punishment),
- relational forgiveness (transactional forgiveness plus possible reconciliation of a ruptured relationship),
- unilateral forgiveness (forgiveness is a one-sided action, all on the side of the victim, and it doesn’t matter whether the perpetrator repents), or
- dispositional forgiveness (having a forgiving or conciliatory spirit).
All of these have some merit but tend to either try to say too much or too little.
Offering an alternative (and more robustly biblical) course, Maier lays out three boundaries delimiting forgiveness.
- “Boundary #1: Forgiveness Is a Response to a Moral Violation”
- “Forgiveness, in order to make sense, must presuppose that an offense has been committed; otherwise there would be nothing to forgive.” Forgiveness is only required when there has been a moral violation, an offense that is inherently unrighteous/unjust.
- “Boundary #2: Forgiveness Is Not a Cognitive Reframe”
- This cognitive behaviorism may have its place, within appropriate limits, to offer a fresh perspective — life has handed me a bunch of lemons? No problem, I’ll just make lemonade! Clearly, perception does shape behavior. Changing our perception can help us not to get stuck in resentment.
- But forgiveness is something different. Defining forgiveness in this way can blur the lines of reality, foster gaslighting, and confuse such concepts as
- condoning, excusing, justifying, and showing mercy.
- Often cognitive reframing can ultimately call evil, good — see, God can bring good out of that situation, so what happened to you was really good after all!, and you should praise God for this abuse! (NB: We — Joshua and Ruth — have both, separately, heard this type of thing many times over the years.)
- As a result, this type of focus ultimately makes victims more vulnerable to future acts of injustice and harm.
- “Boundary #3: Forgiveness Is More Than Empathy”
- Maier notes that “many forgiveness authors suggest some kind of empathy with the perpetrator as a means of ameliorating the resentment” which a victim feels as a result of the moral violation he or she suffered. Of course we know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But we must also recognize that “that if the victim’s sin cancels out the sin of the perpetrator, then the whole basis for justice collapses. If we are always guilty in some kind of morally equivalent way, then we can never charge our offenders. If a victim must be totally free of any sinful behaviors or thoughts before the offender can be addressed, justice would never occur. In the classic passage on confronting a brother (Matt. 18:15–20), the victim’s sin (which we know is present from the rest of Scripture) is never mentioned.”
Maier then outlines “four contours of a Christian approach to forgiveness,” asking a series of questions that we must answer to reach a biblical definition of forgiveness on the foundation of the three boundaries listed above.
- “How does God forgive?”
- “How does healing relate to forgiveness?”
- “Is forgiveness primarily self-centered or other-centered?”
- “Is forgiveness active or passive?”
After examining (in chapter 3) the relationship between resentment and repentance, he explores each of those four questions. Reminiscent of Bonhoeffer’s discussion of “cheap grace” in The Cost of Discipleship, Maier explains the hidden costs of the “cheap forgiveness” that many in the Church insist upon. With cheap forgiveness, because the offender has neither confessed nor repented, “there is no agreement that what was done was wrong” and the victim remains unsafe, and true reconciliation is impossible. It is appropriate to address ongoing resentment harbored by a victim once the offender has confessed and demonstrated signs of repentance, including where necessary some type of restitution to restore justice. And so, because “trust is the basis of true unilateral healing for victims,” if such “resentment poses a barrier to genuine forgiveness,” this should be dealt with. But often “resentment is merely an appropriate emotional reaction to sin yet to be addressed.” In such circumstances, “healing can only come by means of some assurance that one day justice will be complete and final.” This is not a desire for revenge and vengeance borne out of bitterness and rancorous resentment, but a godly and natural desire for justice and righteousness.
Our scholar friends will recall that both the Old Testament Hebrew root צדק (tz-d-q) and the New Testament Greek root –δικ– (-dik-) are inclusive of our English ideas of “righteousness” and “justice.” There is no justice in the midst of unrighteousness, and no righteousness in injustice.
Of course, it is worth mentioning that it was after Israel named their daughters “Miriam”, or themselves “Mara” — names that mean “bitter” or “bitterness” — that God sent savior-redeemers (Moses, Boaz, and ultimately Jesus). God in God’s wisdom acted salvifically after God’s people recognized their bitter lot.
Maier has chapters on “authentic repentance”, “trusting God for justice”, “results of forgiveness”, and “forgiveness and justice in counseling.” Here is his exposition of what the simple statement “I forgive you” should mean:
Because of your repentance and the facts that the price for your sin has been paid (by God), the effects of your sin against me have been substantially healed, and your repentance has stopped the previously hostile messages to me, your sin can no longer damage me. Since you are taking responsibility for your sin, I no longer have to make up distorted reasons why it happened, and that is good for both of us. Finally, our relationship is now different and I agree to treat you in light of this new relationship.
We (Ruth and Joshua) recommend this book — Forgiveness and Justice: A Christian Approach — to any pastor, preacher, counselor, or missionary in any context. It’s practical, theologically robust but in everyday language, and firmly grounded in Scripture.
For that matter, we recommend it to anyone
- who struggles with forgiveness,
- who struggles with justice,
- who is passionate about justice, or
- or who is passionate about forgiveness.
We guess that covers most of us.
Note: We have this book in paper and in Kindle (it’s also available for Nook). We didn’t include page numbers as I (Joshua) was referring for the quotes to the digital copy, which sadly doesn’t include “real” page numbers. Bryan Maier’s Forgiveness and Justice is available from Christian Book Distributors, Joseph Beth, BooksAMillion, Barnes & Noble, or wherever fine books are sold.
love and action
Proverbs are delightful. They offer a window into a culture. I especially enjoy pairs of proverbs which seem contradictory. One of my favorite pairs is found in Proverbs 26.4-5. I’ll quote in Hebrew for our nerdy friends (and because Hebrew fonts just look cool) and in English.
אַל־תַּ֣עַן כְּ֭סִיל כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ פֶּֽן־תִּשְׁוֶה־לּ֥וֹ גַם־אָֽתָּה׃
עֲנֵ֣ה כְ֭סִיל כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ פֶּן־יִהְיֶ֖ה חָכָ֣ם בְּעֵינָֽיו׃
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
lest you yourself also be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own estimation. (NET)
A few months ago, I learned a similar pair of proverbs in Maa:
Ebaiki ninyor, nimiret.
Mebaiki ninyor, nimiret.
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For those interested in such things, here’s the IPA phonetic pronunciation:
Ɛbáɨ́kɨ nɨ́nyɔ̄r, nímīrēt.
Mɛbáɨ́kɨ nɨ́nyɔ̄r, nímīrēt.
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Perhaps you love him/her, yet you don’t help him/her.
It cannot happen that you love him/her and you don’t help him/her.
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(My list of Maa pronouns includes over 200. This, of course, does not count the innumerable constructions which are possible through the use of pronominal prefixes and infixes. But Maa doesn’t distinguish between he/she/it — “ninye” does triple duty. In these proverbs, ninye isn’t used. Instead, pronominal prefixes/infixes indicate both subject and object.)
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The initial verb in each of these proverbs is interesting; ɛbáɨ́kɨ / ebaiki is literally “it is reached” or “it is arrived at.” Idiomatically it is “maybe” or “perhaps”. The pronominal 3rd person prefix ɛ- is replaced with mɛ- in the second one. Depending on tone, this is either negative or subjunctive; here it is negative. Thus ɛbáɨ́kɨ / ebaiki introduces something that is conceivably possible whereas mɛbáɨ́kɨ / mebaiki indicates that what follows is inconceivable and impossible.
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Ebaiki ninyor, nimiret. Perhaps you love him/her, yet you don’t help him/her.
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Within human relationships, it is quite imaginable that we profess love for someone and yet there is no actual demonstration of love. We say “we love you” but don’t help the supposed beloved, and in fact we often harm instead (whether by sin of commission or sin of omission).
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Mebaiki ninyor, nimiret. It cannot happen that you love him/her and you don’t help him/her.
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Thus our actions (or inactions) will belie our words. “The proof is in the pudding,” as the old English proverb states.
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But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”
Show me your faith without works
and I will show you faith by my works.”
(James 2.18, NET)
Show me your faith without works
and I will show you faith by my works.”
(James 2.18, NET)
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Love does no harm to its neighbor.
Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
(Romans 13.10 NIV-1984)
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If we claim to love while either actively harming or simply refusing to assist, our actions prove that we do not, in fact love.
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Mebaiki ninyor, nimiret. It is not possible to love in merely word or sentiment. Love helps those who are loved.
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Beloved, let us love one another.
(1 John 4.7)
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November update
October was rough, but November was much better. To read more (and for pictures), here’s our November newsletter (pdf).
