THE MONEY ISSUE
The Logos YALE’S UNDERGRADUATE CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE
MISSION Named for the Greek term meaning “word,” “reason,” “principle,” and “logic,” The Logos seeks to stimulate discussion of a Christian worldview in a way that is relevant and engaging to the Yale community. INVOLVEMENT Interested in writing an article for The Logos or responding to one of the articles in this issue? We are seeking new writers and members. DISCLAIMER The Logos is published by Yale College students; neither Yale University nor its affiliates are responsible for the material herein. SUBSCRIPTIONS Your subscription will make future issues of The Logos possible. Contact emily. poirier@yale.edu for more information.
INFORMATION For more information, email the Executive Directors at april.koh@yale. edu or r.lee@yale.edu. You can also follow and contribute to our website – http://www.yalelogos.com THANKS This issue of The Logos has been made possible in part by the generous contributions and continuing support of the Cecil B. Day Foundation and Christian Union. EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS April Koh (TD ’14) Richard Lee (MC ’14) EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeanni Hwang (TD ’14)
BUSINESS MANAGER Emily Poirier (PC ’15) PRODUCTION MANAGERS Courtney McEachon (PC ’15) Adrian Kimmok (BK ’15) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Markus Boesl (TD ’14) BOARD OF CUSTODIANS Yena Lee (SY ’12) April Koh (TD ’14) Jeanni Hwang (TD ’14) Richard Lee (MC ’14) Rodney Evans (PC ’14) BOARD ADVISOR Gregory Ganssle, Ph.D. Lecturer of Philosophy
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GRAPHIC DESIGN João Doria (MFA ’14) STAFF Travis Reginal (BK ’16) Shelly Kim (PC ’15) Folake Ogunmonla (PC ’15) Rodney Evans (PC ’14) Evelyn Robertson (TC ’15) Sherlyn Galarza (PC ’15)
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ABUNDA Dear Readers,
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We encourage you to remove all notion that this issue intends to simplify money to pure evil, and lack of money to honest peasantry. Love for money is bound to spin humankind out of control, and anyone’s supposed hatred of it will be questioned when he or she pursues such basics as well-nourished children and a comprehensive education. Money is necessary to some extent. But to what extent? In this issue of Logos, we hope to explore biblical approaches to the relationship between man and money. For what purposes should we desire money? How do we give money? How much can we desire before material wealth blinds us from other, intangible “wealth” in life? Should we desire money at all? These questions have practical applications for us students as we continue to labor from day to day. We are, in the back of our minds, weighing future economic prospects as we select our majors and apply for summer internships (and no, not even humanities majors are exempt from these questions). We hope that through this issue you can investigate where you stand on the possession of and the desire for wealth in a world that is ceaselessly circulating money. Sincerely, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THE MONEY ISSUE Winter 2012 ROB DUNLOP
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The End of Money
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Christianity and Capitalism: Counterparts of Freedom
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14 15 17 19 21 25
MARK DIPLACIDO
FR. JORDAN SCHMIDT
On A Priest’s Vow Of Poverty — An Interview KATELYN CHAN
The Idolatry of Wealth and Reevaluation of Treasure SHELLY KIM
Money: God’s Blessing or Root of all Evil? ARMANDO GHINAGLIA
UBI CARITAS DAN BELL
WHAT IS A “CHRISTIAN” SOCIAL ETHICS? LAUREN DÍAZ MORGAN
Every Day LOGOS ASKED
“Is it wrong to desire money?” IRIS YANG
Food: Meant to be Good ANONYMOUS
26 Scientific Method: Anti-Depressants and God VIKTORIJA ALEKSEJEVA
29 From the Diary of V.A. 30 38
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LOGOS’ CREATIVE SELECTION
Artworks and poems KENNETH KIAMBATI
Bible Verses Revisited: What does the Bible have to say on the Danger of Wealth? APRIL KOH AND RICHARD LEE
Leavetaking
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Without Money we would all be rich. True False Winter 2012
On Topic
The End of Money Did Jesus pen a paean to ruthless capitalism? Few parables Jesus taught are as counter-cultural as the parable of the talents (cf. Matthew 25:14-30). There are three servants, each of differing abilities. The master gives them each a large sum of money, proportionate to their abilities. Two of them are smart and hard working; they earn a large profit and are rewarded accordingly. The third servant is less talented than the others. He tries to play things safe and—indeed—loses nothing that the master gave him. Nevertheless, he is cast out and rejected. In a verse that no modern would dare write, Jesus says, “for everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matthew 25:29). Occupy Wall Street, this is not. Before we enter a discussion on the ethics of money, we need to understand the purpose God has for our lives. Money is, after all, only a means to an end; the value of the stuff comes from what happens when you get rid of it. And this parable is all about proper ends— not simply what we should do with our money but what we should do with our lives; it touches on the end that God had in mind when He chose to create us. The parable of the talents, like several others in this section of Matthew, ends with a character cast out and rejected. Scary? Of course. But also exhilarating. Here is why: if Jesus is drawing a line between those who are rejected and those who are accepted, then he is talking about something that is essential to salvation, something that is core to the gospel. And the gospel, rightly understood, is always good news. So what good thing could Jesus be teaching here? The essence of the parable comes down to the contrast between one servant who tried to play things safe, and two others who earned such a large profit that we can only assume they risked everything, investing not only their money but also their lives, on behalf of their master. On the one hand, we have someone who valued his own security and did all he could to ensure that. On the other, we have two people who genuinely loved their master and thought nothing of themselves in their efforts to honor him. So we see two models of relationship here. The former is that of a contractual relationship: I will give to God exactly what I owe him and do all I can to secure my own standing in case he turns out not to be trustworthy. The later is a relationship of genuine and selfless love.
How does God respond to them? As for the one who wants to give God only what is owed, God finds him worthless. God, after all, doesn’t need anything we have to offer him; as he explains to the Psalmist, “If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Psalm 50:12). Even our ability to work hard is a gift from God (cf. Deuteronomy 8:18). But for the servants who loved their master, there is genuine affection. The key is not in the famous phrase, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”, but in what he says next: “Come and share your master’s happiness!” (cf. Matthew 25:21, 23). Jesus is teaching us that God’s desire is to share with us the things that give him the deepest joy. What brings joy to God? It will, no doubt, take all eternity to compile that list. But manifestly, God has few joys like the joy in showing mercy to others. This has two implications for money. First, there are lessons from the wicked and lazy servant. Money rarely comes easily; it is through “painful toil” that we earn our living. While we often (and rightly) associate money with the sin of greed, there are other sins equally pernicious. Prominent among those is the temptation to live without meekness. Meekness is best understood as the opposite of insisting on my rights. If I approach my possessions thinking “I worked for this, and I deserve it; others who didn’t work for this don’t deserve it,” then I will give to others exactly what they are due, and demand no less from them in return. I will try to find security in my possessions and worry endlessly if I cannot provide for myself, knowing that I have no recourse. The problem with this is that from a Christian perspective, a world of only justice is one in which we ourselves are condemned to hell. We rejoice that God is no less than just and longs for society to be like him in that. But justice is the least of God’s virtues: it is because God chose to go beyond the demands of his justice, because of his mercy and grace, that we have life, purpose, and a relationship with him. As Shakespeare put it, “Though justice be thy plea, consider this, that, in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation: we do pray for mercy” (Merchant of Venice, IV.1). So the lesson of the wicked servant is that a life without meekness will eviscerate all genuine relationships; it will empty our souls and leave us alone in a ruthless world, without God or friend.
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THE MONEY ISSUE
ROB DUNLOP Elder at Trinity Baptist Church
The Logos · Winter 2012
Rob Dunlop
UNKNOWN Prodigal son asking for his inheritance (detail) Image © Research Library at the Getty Research Institute
On the other hand, we have lessons from the two faithful servants. Their actions were motivated not by a concern for their own needs but by a concern for the master whom they loved. At this level, we have the basic lesson of stewardship: we best honor God when we treat our money not as our own but as belonging in full to God and to be used for his purposes. But there is far more to be learned than that. As we noted above, God can accomplish his purposes just fine without us. Why then does he bother to include us at all? If God’s desire is to share his pleasures with us, and if one of his greatest pleasures is in expressing mercy, then by trusting us with money he puts us in a position where we might—but don’t have to—express mercy towards others. It is because we don’t have to give that it is a matter of mercy and not justice: if God required us to spend money a certain way, then we would be merely doing our duty, like paying taxes. But if we are free and still choose to give, if our approach to money is defined by generosity, then we will live out a picture of the very meekness and mercy that characterized God when he chose to save us, a picture of a core part of the gospel
itself. We will very literally be emissaries from a Kingdom of Mercy to a world of indifference. More than that, we ourselves will be able to experience the same joy that God has and to relate to him in the very things that make God sublime. Rob Dunlop is an elder at Trinity Baptist Church, at Grove & State St. in New Haven, and he has worked in the hedge fund industry for ten years.
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On Topic
Christianity and Capitalism: Counterparts of Freedom Few would argue that wealth accumulation is something emphasized by Christianity. In fact, one might argue that Christianity condemns it. Jesus says in Matthew 19:24, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” We see this message reinforced by the lives of early church members and saints, as Christ’s disciples gave up all they had to follow Him and evangelize. We also see this reflected in the value of simplicity underscored by many church leaders today. While the message is clear, it is important to consider audience and context. When Jesus speaks to us through the Gospel, he speaks to us as individual members of his church. He guides us on our own path toward Salvation. What Christ does not do is provide a schematic for secular political and economic structures; for, later in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus states, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Surely there is more to Christ’s message than our individual relationship with God. One cannot neglect the role of the church and the broader Christian community in the faith of individuals. The church community not only gives strength to individual Christians through the sharing of mutual burdens but also trains us to act with Christ’s kindness toward others. There is a difference, however, between the ways a church and an economy operate. For much of the time Christianity has been around, being a member of this church community, or being a follower of Christ, has been a choice. This is how Christ intended it to be. Christianity’s emphasis on choice and individual agency—values that emanate from the larger, core tenet of free will—extends back to the story of Adam and Eve, who were given the freedom to choose to commit the first sin. Indeed, free will forms the basis for all of Christian morality. While social
pressures can certainly provide the support and atmosphere for Christian living, it is ultimately an individual’s choices that solidify his or her commitment to Christ. Engaging with an economy, on the contrary, is not usually a choice. We are born with wants and needs that we must acquire either through our own labor or the labor of others. While the imperatives of Christianity are moral (and therefore voluntary), the imperatives of an economy are utilitarian (and therefore don’t have to respect free will). Because an economy is inevitably utilitarian, as Christians we should support the economic system that best respects the path toward salvation. For most denominations, this path is found through faith and good works, both of which the free will is essential for. The Christian emphasis on individual agency and autonomy, then, is more compatible with some economic systems than others. In the middle ages, feudalism and knighthood (in some cases) reinforced hierarchy and other Christian values, but these systems are now clearly outdated. We presently live in the age of the nation-state, and in this age, we have a limited number of feasible economic systems. We cannot ignore the global expanse of trade, industry, and technology. What we do with the expanse of wealth and industry that arises from this system, both as individuals and as a society, is the question we are called to answer. The best we can do as individuals is to look at the teachings of Christ. Through prayer, scripture, and meditation, we can hopefully come to know how much we ought to sacrifice and how much we ought to keep for ourselves. This is how I believe we will be judged: not by the dollar amount we give, but by the amount of intention and sacrifice behind our donations. Capitalism is the most conducive to this framework because it places the burden of charity on individuals, who alone have the will to be charitable. For this reason, paying taxes
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MARK DIPLACIDO History, Berkeley ’15
Mark OnDiPlacido Topic
The Logos · Winter 2012
While social pressures can certainly provide the support and atmosphere for Christian living, it is ultimately an individual’s choices that solidify his or her commitment to Christ.
that are naturally targeted first, as religion offers an alternative system of morality. It has become apparent over the past few decades that even non-totalitarian countries reinforce my point that capitalism and morality go hand-in-hand. Faith is declining at a much faster rate in many western-European countries as Neo-liberalism and Socialism increase. While there are other factors that have contributed to this decline, the coinciding rise in secular “morality” of government is worth noting. Christianity and capitalism are different but in many ways remain compatible. Though Christianity has a moral framework and capitalism a utilitarian one, their mutual respect of individual choice and autonomy makes them reconcilable on a more fundamental level. Of course, the motivation for this respect is different—one is for salvation, the other for profit—but the profit motive can be sought at the same time as salvation if enough is given back to one’s community. Socialism and other restrictive economic systems, on the other hand, often have fundamentally different frameworks than Christianity. This is because these systems construct their own moral framework around the principle of utility and project it onto a larger community by force. While capitalism is not perfect and does not incentivize virtue, it also does not present a competing moral framework that Christianity must overcome.
can be patriotic, but not moral. When choice is not respected and intention is not the qualifying factor, all actions become utilitarian. More specifically, politicians and those who vote to expand welfare programs should not confuse redistributing the money of others with increasing their own charity. Enforcing equality is not the same as seeking charity, for the former emphasizes the aim of satiating hunger over the aim of moral human behavior. The preference of general utility over individual morality is textbook utilitarianism. For society’s or the government’s decisions on this matter, I think it is important to focus on preserving the separation between what is God’s and what is Caesar’s. Many would argue that untethered capitalism would be terrible for certain segments of our population. I do not dispute that claim or the claim that some regulations and safety nets are good. These good things simply should not be described as moral. I think in an ideal Christian world, individual communities or the church would care for the poor (as is still the case in many parts of America today). In addition to being less effective, government programs just are not conducive to a sense of community. It is easily understood that receiving a check in the mail from the government will not help an individual or a family as much as the structural support of a smaller, more caring, local community. Some may also argue that sometimes employers and businesses do not choose the moral action. While this is true and sometimes requires intervention, it is important to note that the action is still the fault of the individuals involved, not the fault of capitalism. To blame capitalism for greedy action rather than the individuals in this system is the equivalent of blaming red wine for dress stains or blaming marriage for adultery. History is also very telling on the relationship between Christianity and capitalism. Given the ideas I have stated above, I do not think it is a coincidence that countries with freer markets have remained more religious. One can point to the obvious examples of America and the Soviet Union. America, for the most part, because of capitalism (and the Liberal values that arose with it) has always respected religious freedom. For a long time it set up a system where capitalism led to the expansion of wealth and innovation while Christianity maintained a sense of community and morality. When countries have become more intrusive and utilitarian, it is religion and people of faith
Mark Diplacido is a sophomore History major in Berkeley College.
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an interview —
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on a priest’s vow of poverty
On Topic
Fr. Jordan Schmidt
The Logos · Winter 2012
On Topic
Poverty is a sign that we are serious about following Jesus Christ more closely. COULD YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT SPECIFIC VOWS YOU HAVE TAKEN? My name is Fr Jordan Schmidt, O.P., and I am the associate pastor at St Mary’s Catholic Church in New Haven. As a catholic priest, I am responsible for giving pastoral care to the members of our parish by celebrating the sacraments, visiting the sick, and offering spiritual counsel. As a Dominican friar, I live in a community that is wholly directed to the worship of God. This is a worship that takes many forms, from the sacrifice of the Mass to the prayers of the choral office to preaching to the people of God. The vows that each member of our community takes, also called the evangelical counsels, are threefold: obedience, chastity, and poverty. The vow of obedience is a promise to listen to the voice of Christ as spoken through my superiors. The vow of chastity is a means by which I become single-minded in devotion and service to God. The vow of poverty is taken so that I might become radically dependent upon God in my spiritual life, and upon the community in my day-to-day life.
WHAT DO YOUR VOWS LOOK LIKE PRACTICALLY? Practically speaking, the vow of obedience means that I do not live a self-directed life. For example, I did not choose to come to New Haven, and I don’t know how long I will stay. These are matters that my superior, whom we call the Provincial, decides. We believe the provincial to have the guidance of the Holy Spirit in his appraisal of the needs of the church, of each brother’s gifts, and of the way in which the latter might best meet the former. Thus, the vow of obedience means that I put my trust in the provincial’s decisions, and that I believe they are an indirect manifestation of the Holy Spirit working in my life. The vow of Chastity quite simply means that I will never marry and I will not raise a family. This is not only a means by which I can become single-minded in my service to God, but it is also a sign of my radical love for God. The vow of poverty is not a vow to live a life in a state of destitution. We have adequate food and clothing, and we do own property. This is a communal ownership, however. We own the priory at St Mary’s, but we own it as a community; thus, we take care of it as a
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community and we support it as a community. Anything I am given or earn, I will immediately give to the community, and it is a communal decision how we will use our resources. At the same time, we do not regard ourselves as cut off from the world; rather we must interact with it if we are to carry out our mission of preaching for the salvation of souls. This interaction, of course, includes an economic aspect so that, to the extent that it is necessary to fulfill our mission, we carry and use money.
In short, poverty is a means of becoming vulnerable. EVERY VOW HAS FOR ITS OBJECT THE WORSHIP OF GOD. HOW DO YOU SEE THE PRACTICE OF POVERTY AS BEING A FORM OF WORSHIP TO GOD? HOW HAS BEING UNDER THE VOW OF POVERTY CHANGED YOUR LIFE, LIKE IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD OR MONEY? As I mentioned before, as a Dominican friar, I see the vow of poverty as being a way of becoming more radically dependent upon God and my community. It is, in the Dominican tradition, a means to an end, not an end in itself. From the formation of our Order in 13th century France up until the present day it has always been a means of witnessing to the gospel; poverty is a sign that we are serious about following Jesus Christ more closely. As the world has modernized, the form of poverty, that is, the rules that govern its observance, have changed. For example, it is no longer so important that a friar refrain from riding a horse, though it is important that a friar refrain from driving and ostentatious automobile. It still remains a means of preaching the gospel, though; in a world dominated by materialism and professional success, it is essential to demonstrate to people that there are more important things than making money and being successful. But the vow of poverty also has significance in my own spiritual life.
On Topic
SHOULD ALL PEOPLE ASPIRE TO POVERTY? DID YOU FEEL A SPECIFIC CALL TO MAKE A VOW OF POVERTY? COULD YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU UNDERSTOOD AND ULTIMATELY AGREED TO THE VOW OF POVERTY? Poverty, it seems to me, is only possible in community. There is a distinction to be made between poverty and simplicity. It is possible to be simple in how one lives and to try to minimize one’s attachment to material things without making a vow of poverty. To iterate what I’ve said above, when I understood the vow of poverty to be a necessary means and a correlative of the life of a Dominican friar, I immediately agreed to it. I did not feel directly called to live a vow of poverty; I felt a call to become a Dominican friar and preach the word of God in season and out of season. Because the vow of poverty is a helpful and necessary part of that call, I have embraced it in my life. HOW DO YOU THINK LAYPEOPLE SHOULD PRACTICE VIRTUE WHEN IT COMES TO SPENDING AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MONEY? The simplicity of life I mentioned above is a good beginning point. It is important for one’s spiritual wellbeing to remain relatively unattached to material things. The drive to earn more money so as to be able to afford the better car,
the bigger house, the entertainment center, and nice vacations is ultimately a drive that can lead one away from the pursuit of God. Let me be clear, though, I am not advocating that everyone live like a friar, monk, or nun. Labor can be a good thing, and so too can the enjoyment of the fruits of labor. I think Qoheleth said it best: “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 8:15). But notice the mode of this enjoyment: eating and drinking and being joyful. This is a communal enjoyment, a way of embracing and enjoying the company of others.
Father Jordan Schmidt, O.P. is an Associate Pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Hillhouse Avenue.
Labor can be a good thing, and so too can the enjoyment of the fruits of labor. So what I would advocate is a virtue of liberality, as we would call it in the Catholic tradition. It is a virtue of spending one’s money prudently but generously. It is a matter of enjoying the fruits of one’s labor in the proper way; that is of spending money to enjoy the company of others, rather than to acquire more and better “stuff.” It is also a matter looking honestly at how much one has versus how much one needs, and finding the generosity to give from one’s abundance to meet the needs of others. In this way, it seems to me that one could actually draw closer to God through the spending and use of one’s money.
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It is a means of rejecting the desire to be self-sufficient and of embracing the reality that we are all dependent on each other and on God; in short, it is a means of becoming vulnerable. It is ultimately in that vulnerability and dependence on others that I more clearly see and understand that it is God who fills every need. It might happen that God fills my needs directly, that is, through spiritual consolation or through a deep and abiding sense of peace that only comes through the Holy Spirit. But it also happens that God fills my needs through the community; the fraternity that we have within the priory at St Mary’s is one that is animated by Holy Spirit, and it is through the relationships that I have with my brothers that I see the love of God at work in my life. The point is that the poverty that I live makes me open to these realities of God working in my life.
On Topic
The Idolatry of Wealth and Reevaluation of Treasure The Logos · Winter 2013
KATELYN CHAN Biomedical Engineering, Silliman ’15
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI Hieronymus Bosch
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Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
“Idolatry? Who can tell me what that word means?” A nine-year-old hand shot into the air. “It’s like what some people do with money—they make it more important than God.” The wisdom of these simple words reverberated through the Sunday school classroom. The complex and seemingly contradictory teachings on wealth in the New Testament were reconciled in this unassuming phrase; wealth is inherently amoral. It is only when individuals value wealth above their relationship with God does it become a corrupting force. In the New Testament, Christ never condemns the possession of material goods; instead, he asks that the world reevaluate the meaning of treasure. In the New Testament, Christ calls humanity to reject the idolatry of wealth and effectively redefine treasure as the gift of God’s saving grace, and wealth as the abundant possession of God’s compassion. One of the most potent arguments constructed against material wealth using the New Testament is grounded in the story of the young man who asks Christ what good deed he must do in order to have eternal life. After Christ tells the man to follow the commandments, he offers one final suggestion for the man’s perfection: “‘Go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions” (Matthew 19:21-22). The Gospel does not indicate whether or not the young man does in fact follow Christ’s direction, but rather focuses on the difficulty that the materially rich will face in their attempt to reach the Kingdom of God. Just as the condemnation of the young man does not derive from the fact of his owning many possessions, the difficulty of the rich to enter heaven stems instead from the restraining influence of the prominence of material wealth in their lives, depriving God of His rightful place of supreme importance.
“Idolatry? Who can tell me what that word means?” Unwittingly, the young man from Matthew’s gospel and the materially rich are committing idolatry of wealth. So long as individuals maintain a greater attachment to worldly possessions than to God, they will find it harder to enter the kingdom of heaven than a camel to pass through the eye of the needle. The disciples echo the thoughts of all Christendom upon hearing these words, wondering who then can be saved considering the importance humanity places upon material possessions. In this sense, all humanity is embodied in the wealthy young man grieving for his possessions. Christ’s answer simultaneously provides a challenge and reassurance, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). In this, mortals are bound by the strictures of their very materiality
and only through God can humanity successfully reject the bonds inherent to its nature. The all-consuming desire to possess riches and temporal material comfort is a barrier between humanity and God, for you cannot serve both God and wealth (Matthew 6:24). The comforts of this world can all too easily distract from God’s call, and the acquisition of material wealth can blind humanity to the awareness of its need for God. The wealthy often fall prey to the earthly constraints of riches and are comparable to seed that fall among thorns in Luke’s Gospel, “choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature”(Luke 8:14). Although these individuals initially seek the saving grace of God, earthly concerns and pleasures distract them from fulfilling their potential as fruitful members of Christ’s body in the church. It is the desire to be rich that “plunge[s] men into [spiritual] ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (I Timothy 6:9-10). It is thus the desire to be rich, rather than the existence of wealth that corrupts humanity’s relationship with God. This distracting force pulls from the “godliness with contentment [which] is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that”(I Timothy 6:6-8). The basic appreciation for the simple necessities of life grounds humanity once again in the understanding that all goodness is derived from God rather than from material gain. So long as God is kept central in the lives of the faithful, and their lives are kept “free from the love of money, and [they are] content with what [they] have” (Hebrews 13:5). Accordingly, contentment results from simplicity and the awareness of what is truly important in the lives of believers: “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position “for the simple and humble shall be exalted for their life in Christ and the humbling of the rich will remove the trappings of a busy life in which they wither for the lack of Christ’s presence” (James 1:9-11). Christians are called to subordinate the desires of this world to the will of God and reject the pursuit of earthly riches in favor of a life with Christ. To love the passing material goods of this world is to raise them up in an idolatrous relationship, subverting the will of God. Instead, he who rejects the “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does” and “does the will of God lives forever,” attaining the eternal life sought by the wealthy young man (I John 2:16-17). The New Testament glorifies those who reject the idolatry of wealth and maintain God’s central position in their lives. The poor widow who contributed two small copper coins to the temple treasury is praised in Mark’s Gospel for “she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on”(Mark 12:44). It is not her material donation which impresses Christ—indeed the rich are witnessed contributing large sums—it is her readiness to, in essence, donate her life to her faith in God. There is no material barrier between this woman and God, for she
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On Topic
Katelyn Chan
The Logos · Winter 2012
“There is no material barrier between this woman and God, for she has removed the desire for material riches from her life, turning away completely from any idolatry of wealth.” has removed the desire for material riches from her life, turning away completely from any idolatry of wealth. She is the blessed poor spoken of in the beatitudes, poised to inherit the kingdom of God. By possessing the eagerness to give a “gift…acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have,” she demonstrates that “he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little” (II Corinthians 8:12, 15). The widow’s act of giving, willingly and eagerly relinquishing material wealth in a way that the wealthy young man was unable to, reflects the call of the New Testament to a Christocentric life. The call to a quest for righteousness and rejection of the importance placed on material wealth becomes a call for the rejection of prejudice based on economic disparity. Beyond the idolatry of material goods, Christians are called to reject the prejudice in favor of those in possession of material wealth. To make distinctions among a faith community based upon material appearance, honoring the wealthy and richly clothed above the poor is to become “judges with evil thoughts.” By removing the obstacle of material wealth from the poor, God has chosen “those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him” (James 2:5). When one dishonors the poor and favors the wealthy, one places a relationship with material wealth above a positive relationship with God. Indeed, those who utilize their material wealth for the good of others further their relationship with God. For in every individual in need of food, drink, clothing, shelter, or comfort, there is God (Matthew 25:34-40). In doing good works, a Christian’s faith comes alive, for what good is it if “a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food [and] if one of you says to him ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs” (James 2:1516)? It then naturally follows to reject the acquisition of wealth for personal gain, and rather utilize the material goods for the benefit of others and the glorification of God. Ultimate victory is then to force the temptations of wealth into the service of God’s work. Christians are called to “give to everyone who asks you,” as withholding wealth from those who ask would place Christians back in an idolatrous relationship with wealth (Luke 6:30). The parable of the rich man and the beggar highlights the consequences of dismissing the call to works. The rich man spends his days carousing while the poor
MEDALLIONS FROM AN ICON FRAME (FRONT) Late 11th-early 12th century Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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man sits outside his gates and begs. In the afterlife, however, the poor man is exalted at the heavenly banquet while the rich man is an outcast, yearning even for a drop of water (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man is not punished for his earthly possession of riches, but rather for the vicious neglect of the opportunities provided to him to do good works in the life of the poor man. The call to the practiced, concrete removal and gifting of material goods from the Christian’s possession to those in need cements the value of human life and a relationship with God above any temporal wealth. Truly, the riches which are not used towards Christ’s ends will rot, and the gold and silver not dedicated to good works will rust for lack of use. The treasure laid up for the last days will serve no purpose, for it cannot be brought from this world into the next, and the life on earth, lived in luxury and pleasure at the expense of the poor either through fraud or neglect, will reap only miseries in the world to come (James 5:1-6). This developed understanding of the transience of material wealth facilitates the understanding of the need to make use of it while on earth. Perhaps this is why the widow so willingly gives her last coins to the temple treasury, because of her loss she understands the ephemerality of this life in a way the young man cannot. In the life of one who has experienced loss, the fleeting materiality of this world is evident and the goodness of works is revealed.
“For in every individual in need of food, drink, clothing, shelter, or comfort, there is God (Matthew 25:34-40)”
The treasure of heaven is far greater than any temporal wealth, and the abundance of grace which flows from Christ’s life far surpasses any earthly comfort. For “the grace of [the] Lord Jesus Christ” is known, “that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so you through his poverty might become rich” (II Corinthians 8:9-10). Here, ‘rich’ refers not to monetary wealth, but to the richness in love and mercy that can only derive from God. Christians are thus charged to “guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in [you]” (II Timothy 1:14). To guard this redefined treasure, humanity must be careful to prize it above all temporally praised treasure, and “show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (II Corinthians 4:7). In this, Christians are to be regarded as ”poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (II Corinthians 6:8-10). For when temporal wealth fades away, Christians are rich in the promise of their salvation and wealthy in the abundance of God’s compassion for them. With this blessing, Christians are called to share these blessings with others through their material ministries. Christians are called to reject the idolization of wealth in the modern consumerist society. Instead, they are invited to make productive use of material wealth for the ministries of God. In maintaining a Christocentric life, believers are able to realize the importance of the heavenly treasure only attainable through a belief in Christ and the devoted and responsible stewardship of his blessings. Ultimately, Christians are called to hear God’s voice in their lives and willingly relinquish their material good for the furtherance of the glory of God. For only through the recognition of the ultimate worthlessness of material treasure are the true treasure of God’s mercy and the true wealth of God’s compassion attained. Katelyn Chan is a sophomore Biomedical Engineering major in Silliman College.
Christians are called to be good stewards rather than owners of their material blessings, multiplying them in accordance to their ability. A lively faith requires the investment of both material goods and ability for the benefit of God. When humanity is entrusted with the material and spiritual gifts of God, it is called to use its material wealth for the glory of God, and like the servants of the Parable of the Talents, Christians are called to freely and willingly return the talents to God upon His request, and for this careful stewardship, they will be richly rewarded in heaven. It is the careful investment and eager return of material and spiritual blessings to God which explicate Christ’s teachings on riches and wealth, for humanity is called to “store up… treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20-21). When a believer’s heart is with God in heaven, free from threats of the material world, the Christian will find the abundance of spiritual treasure and their life will be in accordance with God’s will.
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THE MONEY ISSUE
On Topic
On Topic
Money: God’s Blessing or Root of all Evil? The Logos · Winter 2012
SHELLY KIM History, Pierson ’15 Scripture states that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,” and I cannot argue with (I Timothy 6:10). Yet, for so long, I have struggled with a strong discord between the knowledge of God as the great provider, and an intense hatred for money and all the problems it (and lack of it) causes. The latter prompts me to say not only that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil but also that money itself is inherently a root of evil things. However, after wrestling with this aversion towards money as well as memories of all the times the Lord has shown me His sovereignty and faithfulness through monetary provisions, I conclude: money, inherently, is neither solely God’s blessing nor the root of all kinds of evil. I have hated money for as long as I can remember and when I think about why, I think of my dad. He works 365 days a year, doing what he probably considers to be meaningless work, and comes home late at night just so that he can pay the bills and send me to a good school. When I think about how much I hate money, I vividly remember a specific night a few years ago when my dad came home from an exceptionally difficult day. To see such a gregarious man look so defeated and lifeless in the face of money problems filled me with a disgust of money. If money didn’t exist, I thought, my parents wouldn’t be so stressed. If money didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have to factor in financial aid when picking which college I would attend. If money didn’t exist, there would be no financial scams or families declaring bankruptcy. The reality that we need money in order to live is a cause of so many things in this world that break my heart: broken families, untapped potential, false perceptions of self-sufficiency, socio-economic injustices. But despite my anger, money continues to exist, and we do need it, so I vowed to myself that day that I would become rich enough to never have to worry about money. In this way, what began as a hatred of money transformed into a love and worship of it. For most of my high school life, I lived by the mantra, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can rent it.” It did not help that I went to a prep school where this motto seemed to be quite true.
Granted, I’m 19 years old and I don’t encounter pressing money problems in my daily life, and I am blessed with more material pleasures than I need. Within the past several years, however, I have become a bit more aware of the way money (or lack thereof ) affects my life. Specific moments come to mind, like when I was waiting on financial aid decisions from colleges, when I had less than $50 in my bank account with which I was somehow supposed to buy textbooks for the semester, and when I had to raise near $5,000 in financial support for a missions trip. In all of these instances and more, two things remained consistent: God provided, and, despite his unfailing provision, I continued to become anxious and angry every time I was in need of money. The only reason I can think of as to why I do this is that the reality of money and present problems sometimes seem more real to me than what I know to be God’s character. In the midst of this, however, I am reminded of the popular passage in Matthew 6: So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31-33)
God, too, is aware of the reality of money. Even though he is better than this world, he is not unconscious of it. He knows what I need, when I need it, and how much of it I need. My hatred of money has many selfish reasons, but it could also be because the discrepancy between the fact that my spirit is not supposed to need it and that my physical existence is so dependent on it. I still hate money, but what I hate more is that it is a tangible example of how easily I can put something above my trust in God. This leads me to conclude that money is neutral territory. God can make blessings of it, and the Devil can tempt me to idolize it. What I need is discernment, which God also knows I need and provides accordingly; I need only to ask.
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UBI CARITAS ARMANDO GHINAGLIA Political Science, Ezra Stiles ’14
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THE MONEY ISSUE
Off Topic
The Logos · Winter 2012
Off Topic
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. An old Latin hymn I learned in middle school begins with those words: where charity and love are, God is there. In the Catholic Church, the hymn traditionally accompanies the Washing of the Feet. On Maundy Thursday, as the Mass approaches Communion, the priest kneels before members of the congregation and, in the same way as Jesus washed his disciples’ feet before the Last Supper, pours water on their feet and dries them. The first verse in this chant ends with a hopeful prayer: Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero—And may we love each other with a sincere heart. When I was younger, the chant captivated me with its mystery, written in a language so far removed from our daily experiences, recited in a way that evoked a solemn and contemplative past, even if I couldn’t quite grasp its meaning. In 2011, during the summer after my freshman year, Alabama passed HB 56, the widest-reaching and strictest law against undocumented immigrants in the country. Among other provisions, the law criminalized transporting or harboring undocumented immigrants, renting them property, and applying for work as an undocumented immigrant. It also prohibited undocumented immigrants from entering into contracts or business with state agencies and required them to provide evidence of legal status for their children when enrolling them in public schools. Countries have legitimate reasons to control their borders and regulate who enters and remains in the national territory. Although no borders would exist in a perfect world, we live in a world where both those capital and labor market boundaries cannot disappear overnight. This is why we regulate them by instituting and executing immigration laws. As both Christians and citizens, we have duties to our polity, duties that include promoting laws that are founded in love and justice. Sitting in my home after my freshman year, I watched the debate over HB 56 with intense curiosity and sadness, listening to the Governor and others boasting about their faith while disparaging undocumented immigrants in other forums. I had never felt my heart beat so strongly against the injustices that people were facing in Alabama. Families fled the state for others or were too scared to enroll their kids in school; state agencies refused to renew or open contracts for water and utilities for undocumented immigrants and their households. While the state bragged about how its approach was working marvels, it thrust over 100,000 people into the shadows, leaving them vulnerable to even more abuse and exploitation. As I watched in disbelief, I felt increasingly sympathetic to activists and immigrants fighting against the law. How can we claim to love one another with a sincere heart when we cannot bear the thought that a poor
immigrant could provide his family with a dignified life? How can we claim God’s rule in our lives when we inflict harm upon the stranger amongst us simply because he felt that his life mattered more than our laws?
“AS BOTH CHRISTIANS AND CITIZENS, WE HAVE DUTIES TO OUR POLITY, DUTIES THAT INCLUDE PROMOTING LAWS THAT ARE FOUNDED IN LOVE AND JUSTICE.” When the Bible speaks about false idols, it doesn’t just talk about lust and greed. It refers to anything, any idea, any object—even if that thing is generally good— that turns us away from God. Laws play a crucial role in maintaining society and promoting the common good, but when we hold laws, rules passed and enforced by fallible men and women, supreme above our duties to others, those laws become idols. As Paul explains in I Corinthians 10:23, “‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’—-but not everything is constructive.’” Our Constitution may very well allow for harsh measures against undocumented immigrants that strip them of their decency and force them into destitution. But for Christians, when laws direct us to violate the inherent dignity that exists within each human being, whether directly or indirectly, the laws should become null and void. Christian charity and Christian love call us to disobey laws that violate human dignity, and— more importantly—charity calls us to tell the world why we oppose those laws. I believe that as Christians, we have a moral duty to reject laws like Alabama’s HB 56 and to refuse to comply when they interfere with charity. And some day, we will make that last line in that old Latin hymn come true, and we will love each other with a sincere heart. Armando is a junior Political Science major in Ezra Stiles College.
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Off Topic
WHAT IS A “CHRISTIAN” SOCIAL ETHICS? In order to properly deal with the question of what makes a social ethic “Christian,” one must first ask what makes anything Christian. Although Christianity can be defined in multiple ways (e.g. historically, doctrinally, philosophically), for something to be ultimately characterized as “Christian,” it must be essentially related to the person and work of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the New Testament (Recognizing that no text, biblical or otherwise, can be interpreted with complete objectivity, I think that it is appropriate to disclose my own religious background. I am an Episcopalian whose theological and spiritual outlook has been strongly shaped by Evangelicalism and, to a lesser extent, the Reformed tradition). This assertion by no means makes the task before us of defining the Christian character of a social ethic any less complicated. In the New Testament, we are presented with multiple representations of Jesus (charismatic prophet, wise teacher, miracle worker, suffering victim, risen Messiah, divine Logos, etc.). In order to have an accurate understanding of Jesus for defining Christian social ethics, none of these accounts should be disregarded. However, the image of Jesus as a marginalized Jew, presented to us by Howard Thurman in his work Jesus and the Disinherited must be emphasized, particularly given our present North American context. At the same time, a fully authentic Christian social ethic requires that Thurman’s presentation of Jesus be supplemented by a greater focus on the work of God in and through Christ and His followers. This can be accomplished in two ways: by looking at the significance of the Incarnation and by affirming the importance of the Christian community. Early on in his book, Thurman focuses on the fact that “Jesus was a poor Jew” who belonged to an oppressed minority group (1996, 17). Accordingly, Christians who have a concern for ethical issues in today’s society must reflect on Christ’s marginalized status in his own social context. Such a reflection should then move on to considering the perspectives and experiences of marginalized individuals today, and what bearing Christ’s gospel has for them and the rest of society. Thus, REMBRANDT Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (detail) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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THE MONEY ISSUE
DAN BELL Yale Divinity School
Dan Bell
can only be approximately labeled “Christian” in its content. St. Paul writes that God reconciled “the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:19). A Christian is someone who has been reconciled to God and is called to be an agent of reconciliation in the world by following the radical ethic of love taught by Jesus. One does so, as Thurman concludes, with a great deal of dedication and discipline, but also having the faith that God’s Spirit is at work in helping one to “live effectively in the chaos of the present” (109). Hence, the supernatural aspects of Christian belief are vitally connected to the moral dimensions of a Christian social ethic. The communal nature of Jesus’ life and work must be considered when attempting to define the Christian character of a social ethic. Christ’s teachings in the Gospels do not appear to be as concerned about individual piety as they are in establishing a community of servants dedicated to the vision of a peaceable kingdom on earth. Illustrative of this is Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats. In this passage, Jesus teaches that the standard by which humanity will be ultimately judged pertains to how willing one is to serve God in one’s neighbor, particularly “the least of these” (v. 40). This call to discipleship through service to others, especially the underprivileged, is a call made in the community that Jesus has created, not in a vacuum of personal religiosity. Therefore, with Stanley Hauerwas, one can affirm that the ground of Christian social ethics is the Church. Hauerwas writes in “The Servant Community” that the Church “must be the clear manifestation of a people who have learned to be at peace with themselves, one another, the stranger, and of course, most of all, God” (372, The Hauerwas Reader). Its exemplar in doing so is, of course, Jesus Christ. “The truthfulness of Jesus,” Hauerwas explains, “creates and is known by the kind of community his story should form.” (37). In this way, Christology and ecclesiology are intimated connected and both are foundational to a Christian social ethic. Jesus Christ, as revealed in Scripture and known to the world today through His Church, is what makes a social ethic “Christian” in the fullest sense of the word.
The Logos · Winter 2012
“IN ORDER TO HAVE AN ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS FOR DEFINING CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ETHICS, NONE OF THESE ACCOUNTS SHOULD BE DISREGARDED.” for example, a Christian social ethic cannot legitimately apply Jesus’ command to love one’s enemy to contemporary circumstances until it explores what it means for the underprivileged to experience oppression. As Thurman discusses, Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness was originally directed toward the disinherited and the poor. Moreover, it is people in such conditions who make up a high percentage of the human population today. Consequently, their life experience (characterized by material want and social marginalization) ought to serve as a normative basis for a Christian conception of social ethics. Even so, one would certainly want to affirm, with Thurman, that the “ethical demand upon the more privileged and the underprivileged is the same” (106). According to Christianity, all people have been created in the image of God and therefore must be respected as having equal worth and potential. This belief in humanity’s universal equality and worth is intensified by the doctrine of the Incarnation. Since God assumed human form in the Person of Christ, all of humanity has been raised up and given the opportunity to participate in the divine nature (cf. II Peter 1:4). In short, all people bear an equal worth and spiritual dignity as human beings and everyone is called to a common sharing in mutual reverence and love of neighbor. My reference to the Incarnation in the present discussion is perhaps a departure from Thurman’s general approach in Jesus and the Disinherited, in which he is primarily focused on the implications of Christ’s particular social conditions as a marginalized Jew. Yet I believe that a social ethic that fails to account for this doctrine
Daniel Bell is a second-year student at Yale Divinity School.
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Testimonies
Every Day I had come for the cookies. A Christian group on campus was having their weekly largegroup meeting. I didn’t really know what that meant, but my roommate had told me there’d be cookies, so I was all in. It made sense to go, I figured, since I was a Christian. Back home in the Midwest, my family would go to church every Sunday. We’d sit and recite prayers and maybe light a candle before leaving. Then on Monday I’d have choir rehearsal, and on Tuesday I’d have piano lessons. On Wednesday, I’d study for AP Bio problem sets; Thursdays were Ultimate Frisbee gamedays. Sunday came around again. In the spring, I’d audition for the musical that would take over my life for weeks. It’s a common Yale-ism to say that someone “did everything in high school.” I was one of those someones. But the summer before freshman year, I began to worry. I had nightmares of walking into the dining hall, surrounded by faceless peers discussing Socrates or phalanges — erudite discussions that I would find myself unable to participate in. For the first time in my life, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be smart enough. For the millionth time in my life, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be good enough. Though these initial fears were assuaged upon my arrival at a Yale that was tamer than the one in my nightmares, I still struggled. I was working twice as hard in my classes as I did in high school but was still falling short of the grades I used to get. I found myself terrified by a cappella rush, musical auditions,
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THE MONEY ISSUE
LAUREN DÍAZ MORGAN English, Calhoun ’13
The Logos · Winter 2012
Lauren Díaz Morgan
and a break-up with my high school boyfriend. It felt like everything that had once defined me was crumbling beneath my feet. I no longer knew who I was, or what I could put my trust in. I woke up each morning wondering if I’d make friends, make the grades, make the cut. So one night, I went to this large-group meeting. They hadn’t turned me away from church — I figured I could still count this, at least, as a piece of my identity. As I chomped away on my cookie in the back, I listened to a senior boy talk about how he had become a Christian at Yale. Something struck me as I listened: there were people who really became Christian. I had thought that Christianity was more of a family tradition, a cultural thing. I’d heard that most kids went off to college and stopped going to church. It had never occurred to me that someone might start going. As he continued to speak, I realized there was more to his story than simply “going to church.” He spoke about the security and certainty he found in Jesus. Jesus — A name I never would have said aloud the way he did. This boy talked about Jesus (it seemed weird to me to use that name so casually) like he was a close friend, someone we could come to and count on. I guess I’d always thought of Jesus as more of a figure, an idea. In my head, he was more like a storybook character, or at best, some remote historical figure. Not a real, living person. And certainly not present in my everyday life. But I can’t explain to you how this boy’s eyes lit up as he talked about the love of Jesus. Also, this guy was a bro — not your typical idea of a “Christian.” It would have weirded me out, I think, if it weren’t for the honest joy that swept across his face as he spoke. He said that times at Yale were
rough, that he couldn’t always count on classes or extracurriculars or even friends for stability, but that every day, every minute, he could count on Jesus. Because Jesus loves us every day, no matter if we’re smart or funny or talented. Jesus loves us, and he’ll walk with us even in the bad times. We just need to come to him; he’s already there, waiting for us. Afterwards, a band came up and started playing some contemporary Christian music. I’d never heard this kind of music before — all we ever sang in my church were slow hymns with biblical-sounding words I didn’t understand. I’d always been a musical person growing up; I’d always felt moved while making or enjoying music. Still, music had never touched me the way it did that night. They began singing words to a song I’d never heard: How lovely is Your dwelling place, Oh Lord Almighty My soul longs and even faints for You For here my heart is satisfied, within Your presence.
As the lyrics washed over me, tears began to stream down my face. I wasn’t embarrassed because in that moment, I knew that Jesus did love me, that my soul did long for him. I’d lived my life longing for affirmation; I had thought that if my grades were good enough, if I were accepted into enough clubs, or if my friends loved me enough, then I would be a good person. I would be fulfilled. But in that moment, listening to that song, something nameless clicked inside my heart — a satisfaction, a fulfillment that I knew I could only find in Jesus’ love. In that same moment, I chose to become a Christian. Before this, I had always
thought that going to church made me Christian. But it was only an activity, another extracurricular on my résumé. I hadn’t made the decision in my heart to turn to God. That night, because I felt how much I needed God’s love in my life, I made this decision. I began attending my first-ever Bible study and staying up late on weeknights to talk with my Christian roommate. I began to sort through my questions and learn the basics of Christianity. The more I learned, the more excited I became about God’s love for me. Though my life didn’t become magically perfect after that night, it opened the doors to understanding that God was not just a “Sunday thing.” It wasn’t like I was alone for the week, and then I’d come to Him to pray on one day. Instead, I learned that God permeated all of my life, that He was there with me every step of the way, from my classes to my activities. When other things fell apart, when anxiety and depression started grabbing the reins to my life, I knew that God was still there with me, holding me in my tears. While it wasn’t easy, it would have been a lot harder without Him to count on. The years since then have had their ups and downs. At Yale, we tend to have moments where we feel like we’re drowning. Classes and stress and commitments well up over our heads, and as many students know, depression can creep up at any time. But I’ve been steadily growing since my first year, learning to become more and more confident in the fact that my life is not about what I do, but about what Jesus did for me on the cross. Grades, activities, and relationships were never certain, but I found that if I rooted my identity in Jesus, he would never fail me. This past spring, when I went through a rough breakup, it felt really
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easy to fall back into the shadows again. It felt really easy to tell myself that I had nothing left, that I was alone. But like a best friend, Jesus was there for me. As I prayed and read his words in the Bible, I knew that these kinds of thoughts were lies. Here I am, a senior now, facing new uncertainties about the future. I have no idea where I’m going to be next year, whether or not I’ll find “success.” And while it would be easy to give in to fear and anxiety, I instead find myself standing strong in Jesus, who is here to love me and guide my every step into the future. Lauren is a senior English major in Calhoun College.
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THE MONEY ISSUE
“IS IT WRONG TO DESIRE MONEY?”
I don’t think so. I think it all depends on what you want to do with that money.
money is but a intermediary for the desire for building the Kingdom, it is very right indeed.
Sarah Park, DC ’13
Bill Drexel, MC ’16
I don’t think so. I think it’s only wrong when the desire for money is prioritized above things it shouldn’t be, but I don’t think the desire for money is inherently bad.
Not so long as that desire is not the primary desire or treasure of a person’s life. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The Logos · Winter 2012
Soonwook Hong, DC ’13
No, it’s not wrong to desire money. If we look at money as any other objective aspect of our lives (food, shelter, etc.) we see that God created these things for us to enjoy. However, we must monitor our desire for money and the other material things of life. We should never desire money more than we desire a relationship with Christ.
Iyob Gebremariam, JE ’14
Victor Hicks, BR ’15
When money is the end of the desire, it is wrong. When the desire for 22
Well, it certainly depends. In my belief it is wrong to treat money as the highest value in our life or to earn it in an immoral way. At the same time, I see nothing wrong in desiring money as a reward for our
hard work and means to live a decent life.
dulge themselves and that’s unhealthy. We need money for things that are higher on the desirability scale. My parents came to America for the American Dream. You need money to have the American Dream— which is a comfortable lifestyle.
Wojciech Osowiecki, MC ’14
It depends. Why are you desiring money? For yourself? Jonathan Chang, CC ’16
I don’t think so. As long as you aren’t harming others in the process, money by itself isn’t wrong.
No. We can desire everything else. Why can’t we desire money?
Juli Cho, PC ’15
I think if that’s your main desire there could be something wrong, like if money becomes your master.
Shirley Guo, BK ’15
Absolutely not. Money is necessary for survival and pleasure. Okay not pleasure, just survival. But there’s a limit—a point where desire becomes greed.
Naicheng Wangyu, BR ’14
No. But money is a means to an end. Money is a good servant, not a good master.
Maneesh Vij, PC ’15
No. Money is the medium for other things. Money offers possibility and convenience. Money is not evil on it’s own. It’s not inherently good or bad.
Pujan Patel, TC ’15
No. You need money to live—buy things like food and clothes. There’s nothing wrong with having a relaxing lifestyle. But people do overin-
Hyun Lee, PC ’15
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THE MONEY ISSUE
Andrew Chun, PC ’15
The Logos · Winter 2012
“$$ $$ $$$$$ $$ $$$$$$ $$$$$?” 24
Testimonies
IRIS YANG Religious Studies, Calhoun ’14 This testimony was originally given at a large group meeting for Yale Students for Christ. The following is a transcript. Dear God, I thank you for this opportunity to testify to your sufficient grace and unfailing love. I stand here and boast about my weakness because I know that in my weakness your power is shown, and made perfect. I pray that at this time, Jesus Christ my Lord will be preached. In Your Son’s name I pray. Amen. I am probably the oldest person in the class of 2014 you will ever meet. That is because I was away from Yale for three semesters, fighting a battle that nearly killed me. September of 2010, a few weeks into my sophomore year, I was diagnosed with anorexia. I believe it all began my freshman year. I was determined to make my mark here at Yale, and this is when my perfectionism took a dangerous and twisted turn. I thought that of the many ways a woman could be perfect, one was that she could have a “perfect” body. I began to seek validation from my relationship with food. Self-worth went up and down according to my ability to restrict. Slowly but surely, food and body-image became my god and idol. Anorexia was idol worship, a sin indeed. And this sin, as do all other sins, chained me to itself, pulled me down, and alienated me from God. As it says in Jonah 2:8, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” I traded the Lord’s grace that could have been mine for satisfaction and validation in my
thinness. During that time of complete infatuation with food, I walked in utter darkness and despair. My thoughts were held captive by food. One, two, three thoughts about food became ten, twenty, thirty, until I constantly thought about food—what I could eat, and couldn’t eat; what was “good” food and “bad” food; what was highly caloric and what was not. With each and every thought surrendered to my idol, there was no room to worship my Creator. I continued to sin, betray the Lord, and engage in destructive behavior until I lost a quarter of my weight. I went in and out of rehabs and hospitals until finally, I was asked to withdraw from Yale. I still remember the morning when I was told that there was a visitor from the Office of Student Affairs. I sat across a spokesperson for Yale College in a conference room of Yale-New Haven Hospital. He told me in a matter-of-fact manner, “The dean and your team of doctors have decided that you need to leave Yale and focus all your time and efforts onto recovery.” I protested. Resentment, anger and bitterness fired up within me. Who do you think you are, telling me to take time off? Telling me to be gone for a year? Telling me to gain twenty pounds before I can come back to school? Who do you think you all are? The next morning, my father flew in from California and took me home.
This was the tragic end I faced after a year of clinging to an idol—stripped of my education, debilitated physically and mentally, and far from God. My wandering had begun with a desire to be seen as perfect, but I couldn’t be farther from what was perfect— that is God and His ways. But the Lord was merciful. He did not abandon me to fight this alone, which would have surely destroyed me and taken my life away, had it progressed any further. In Hosea, God pleads with Israel to return to Him despite their repeated unfaith-
my god or enemy. And finally after three years of wandering astray from the Lord, resisting His call to return, confessing my sin before Him and clinging to the Cross for help, I can say that this idol has been abolished from my life. It says in I John 1:8 that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us. The Lord’s been so faithful in delivering me from my sin. Not only that, He has given me a new life and freedom to enjoy food as what it is, a gift that I could not have foreseen myself enjoy just a few years ago.
“I finally confessed my sin before the Lord and pleaded for his forgiveness. I sought out the Lord in the depths, and He met me there.” fulness to Him. He says, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah?...For I am God, and not man—the Holy one among you. I will not come in wrath” (Hosea 11:8, 10). I finally confessed my sin before the Lord and pleaded for his forgiveness and deliverance. I sought out the Lord in the depths, and He met me there. After my confession, there was tremendous amount of work to be done towards recovery. My idol called me back to itself promising significance, security and safety in restriction of food and thinness. Daily, hourly, during every meal, and during every encounter with food, I revoked those claims in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ. I had to learn how to eat again, how to interact with food again without making it
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As I close, I give God all glory and praise. And my heart for all my brothers and sisters in Christ who have erected idols in their lives, whether that be food or not, is that they will lay down their idols for the greater good of knowing the Lord. You can do this because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (I John 4:4). Finally, I want to remind us that He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that there is no more victory or sting in death (I Corinthians 15:55-57). In the famous words of our Lord Jesus Christ, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Iris is a junior Religious Studies major in Calhoun College.
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Food: Meant to be Good
Testimonies
The Logos 路 Winter 2012
PURPOSE: To be happy again.
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Strange, these days. Worth is something I must recreate every day. It then burns slowly during the night. And so Hamlet’s famous question persists, watching as Worth burns like a candlewick into hot pools of wax. The dark thoughts started mid-summer. It became more and more difficult to remain positive when I realized that all of the concrete goals I set for my Summer 2012 were unmet or, more accurately, came alive and bit me right in the butt. I look back on the colorful variety of failures I encountered this summer much like one looks back on a failed relationship—you say if you could go back in time, you would surely do it all over again, because you’ve learned so much from it and grown so much from it, and you wouldn’t be this grownup, mature, strong person today without it, but Lord knows that that is just a load of bullcrap, because people end up falling in love and doing the same crazy, drugged-up lovers’ sh** all over again anyway. Maybe with a little more caution at first, but falling is falling is falling, no matter how long it takes for you to slip off that cliff of dignity—or rather, sanity. Trust me, I wouldn’t say that I would do all of this over again. Now look at all of these pathetic broken dreams at my feet. I feel like God observing Sodom and Gomorrah. Here, I’ll flood my world with my tears. Will it then go away and give way to a new world that comes with a rainbow-colored ribbon on top? There’s something redeemable here, the earnest Abraham of my brain insists. Where? I ask lazily, the balls of fire ready in my hands. You did meet a few interesting people.
Yes, I am thankful for the people I met or grew closer to this summer; I think that summer days are good for building relationships. I made a few new friends, each with a unique complexity—which, of course, I selfishly and gleefully picked apart with my incessant questions and conversations dripping with intent. But I have to say—those complexities, no matter how diligently I probed them, poking small holes in the Styrofoam walls of small-talk, I could not be unconvinced of their absolute, salubrious saneness, against which my own insanity—which I think I truly discovered this summer— seemed to gleam all the more dangerously. And with that realization I only feel more separated from the rest of the world, my loneliness no longer a penetrable cloud that vaguely shrouds me but a grand, indestructible bastion that both protects and imprisons me. It’s like the more I understand individuals the less I understand society and the less I feel convinced that I belong here, now. In my most recent conversation with my mother, she reminded me that one’s college days are one’s happiest. They always say it in the most ominous way, my parents. As though the day-to-day stress of Yale doesn’t compare with the impending doom of graduation and beyond. I agree and assure my mom that I will try my best to enjoy these two years I have left. I agree—to try—to enjoy these years. So many words separating the “I” and “enjoy.” I wish I could tell her I think about suicide daily, hourly.
necessary.) I’m assuming it’s not madness that’s hindering me from joy, though I don’t completely trust my psychiatrist. Then what is it? The Bible, with its randomly surprising verses, still speaks to me:
RESEARCH: I take my psychiatrist at Mental Health and the Bible as my authoritative sources.
HYPOTHESIS: I either need God or anti-depressants, or both.
My psychiatrist assures me that I’m not crazy. (I’m assuming that in medical school they teach you to use only negations, and only when
longer had it in me to be the bubbly caricature of myself that I had created for them. My face felt exhausted from smiling and even just from living. It hit me that I needed those meds. The feeling wasn’t new or revelatory. I knew I needed meds because this conviction Above all else, guard your was familiar—I had felt it last heart, for it is the wellspring of semester when forcing mylife. (Proverbs 4:23) self to wake up after thirteen hours of sleep in one night, in I suppose I was a bit imevery fragile moment walking pressed, like, “Huh,” when to and from class, in my fits of I read this verse, as though I loneliness sitting immobile was surprised that God does in my room with not a social care about the conditions of bone in my body. our hearts after all, an organ I cannot go on like this. My I thought was an overempha- sadness is reasonless and sized modern obsession. It seems to follow me everymakes sense that your heart where. It turns every possible is the wellspring of life—not positive thought into a negayour brain or your limbs or tive one. your lips. That is why I experiBut really, I want the anenced little life in the past few ti-depressants perhaps less for months: my heart was rotten my sadness and more for the and decaying. unbearable nostalgia for my happy days. Happiness had a If I say, “Surely the darkness lot of friends: productivity, enshall cover me, and the light ergy, discipline, hope. I know about me be night,” even the who I can be if I am just happy. darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Proverbs 139:11-12)
“Surely the darkness shall cover me,” is simply King David’s version of my “I am depressed and want to die.” Depressed saint, doesn’t that have an oxymoronic ring? Yet here it is, plain and simple—David sounds pretty depressed. I’m not alone. Depression is real and biblical. It’s comforting to know that God, for whom “the night is bright as the day,” can still see through my darkness.
It hit me, while I sat in the middle of a conversation among three guys at a sushi restaurant. I was thoroughly zoned out for a good two minutes. I no
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EXPERIMENT: Take some anti-depressants. So I called my psychiatrist and finally asked for that prescription she’s been itching to write. A blood test and a few minutes in Yale Pharmacy later, I clutched in my hand a small source of hope for a better junior year. ANALYSIS: I was not the only one reacting strangely to the drugs. People around me reacted even more strangely. People have the strangest reactions to anti-depressants. Some look shocked, pause appropriately, and nod, telling me that anti-depressants are like a bandage to a physical wound. Though they can’t see it, they trust that something’s either bleeding or heavily screwed up in there, in my head.
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Testimonies
The Logos · Winter 2012
Testimonies
Image © Rich Griffith
But others, after staring at you in disbelief, don’t stop shaking their heads. Case in point, one of my best friends just shook his head when I told him I was on pills, as though it was a choice to be depressed, as though I didn’t really need anything to get me out of this black hole. Just... God, maybe. I’m sure that’s what he was thinking. That I could pray myself out of this one. There must have been a part of me that agreed with him, though, because I had put off taking anti-depressants for a while and had continued simply to struggle and struggle. Ironically, this nobly organic struggle had led me through the most morally questionable period of my life. I learned the hard way that melancholy is not romantic or deep—it is cold and paralyzing—that it is not healed by a simple enthusiasm for happiness. And depression, when it grows large enough, insists on
revealing itself physically, using your body as a canvas for the devil’s propaganda: my health was deteriorating—no, not deteriorating, like waste naturally does in those landfills, but rather wheezing and screaming its way into death as depression actively hacked away at it. Anti-depressants—more specifically, SSRIs—make me feel tired and numb all the time. It is like an anesthesia of the soul, except the anesthesia fails at times and lets slip pulses of suicidal thinking. In general, my mind feels hollow— and when your mind is hollow, the words that do manage to squeeze in between your eyes tend to echo in a loud, ghostly way. Sometimes I literally hear “Suicide, suicide, suicide” singing in my ears, sometimes as a fading echo and sometimes as a diabolical jingle, incessantly on repeat. But they help me more than harm me. The SSRIs diminish the impulsivity and the energy
that—when combined in full force—could push me to kill myself. And they buy me some time to slowly find my way back to my Lord. CONCLUSION: Anti-depressants are glasses that help one see clearly when darkness—and I would say, the Enemy—severely clouds your vision. They help you find God and His glory, but they are not God. They will not save you. I came off the pills recently, because I began to feel supernaturally joyful. I dislike narrative testimonies—stories with a beginning, middle, and end, because there are no definitive denouements in life. I’m sure I will continue to fight my sinful, melancholy nature. But I do think that there is an end to my story of depression, because I feel so different from how I did before. On SSRIs, I began to read the Bible without anger (some important
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passages were Matthew 8:28– 9:1, Micah 7:8). I opened my heart to God again, felt the cold stone material of my idols, and slowly turned back to Him. Once I began to re-experience the joys of obedience and surrender, the pulses of suicidal thinking disappeared. The desire to stay in bed and sleep all day disappeared. I was anxious about coming off the anti-depressants. I suspected that the drugs were inducing an artificial state of bliss that I was wrongly attributing to my Lord. But ironically and fortunately, I became even happier when I stopped taking medication. I realize that this story is too neat and tidy to be thoroughly convincing. Depression, you might say, can’t be resolved through the simple scientific method of a helplessly inadequate non-science major. But it’s true. I am healed—and I’ve achieved, supra-scientifically, my opening purpose, to be happy again.
From the Diary of V.A. VIKTORIJA ALEKSEJEVA Political Science, Timothy Dwight’14 What friends back home are telling me about their college life sounds so different from what I am experiencing here at Yale. Every September, the president of the University of Latvia reminds a new freshman class that being a student is a calling, that they are called to be of service to others, that college is meant to feed this calling as intellectuals. This is so different from the Yale that I have seen so far. The majority here seems to think that being educated and intelligent almost implies being skeptical about the existence of God. I often feel like academic achievements are the only standard by
which kids at Yale judge one another’s worth. I once, too, heavily admired such fancy academic awards, impressive resumes, and strong ambition in others, but that was long ago. Now, in a place where the brightest young people have been brought together from all corners of the world, I find that cum laude is no longer a detail that impresses me. A high IQ is no substitute for moral integrity, and intelligence cannot replace kindness. You do not need a college degree to serve; you only need a heart full of grace. A heartfelt commitment to serve—that’s what is truly worthy of admiration!
In the movie Rocky, the main character’s girlfriends ask him why it is so crucial for him to “go the distance” in a final boxing match. “Then I’ll know I am not a bum,” he says in response. A typical routine on the balance beam is about a minute and a half long. Before every competition my gymnastics coach used to say: “You train three to five hours a day, six days a week, and then you have 90 seconds to show them what you’re worth. Make it count and make me proud.” That is probably why we had so many disagreements. He thought I had to seek my identity in the sport. I, in turn, believed that athletic achievements would never be the force that gives meaning to my life. Everyone is building his or her own identity on something. There are an infinite variety of identity-bases. Some get their sense of “self ” from gaining power, some from social approval, others from
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self-discipline and control. Every person is looking for a way to “justify” his or her existence, to overcome the fear of being “a bum.” In some cultures, this sense of worth comes from fulfilling familial duties and providing service to society. In more individualistic cultures, people tend to seek this in their social status, talents, romantic and professional success. Our need for worth is so powerful that we essentially “deify” whatever we base our identity and value on. Even those who consider themselves highly irreligious will look to these with all the passion and intensity of worship and devotion. Everyone is building his or her identity on something. Whatever that “something” is becomes a lord over your life, whether you think of it that way or not. Jesus is the only Lord who, if you receive, will fulfill you completely and who, if you fail, will forgive you eternally.
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Testimonies
TRAVIS REGINAL Economics, Berkeley ’16
A Bag of Conviction
The Logos · Winter 2012
I walk in a hurried pace, eyes heavy with sleepiness but feet excited by fear Dodging any shady characters in my path But somehow you snuck up on me. Arm outstretched with that ancient tin can That hasn’t had any visitors in a month And before I could even think about it I let loose that white lie that burned through my mouth as it rolled off my tongue And I told you in a voice that wasn’t mine: I’m struggling just as you are And I plugged my ears so I wouldn’t let the golden rule enter the conversation Glanced back one last time in hesitation Hoping to never see you again So the next day when I was at the grocery store and I picked up a bag of chips that I didn’t need I fingered the dollar bill in my pocket that I thought was too important to give to you And it felt like sandpaper, staining the palms of my hands green with hypocrisy I saw your face in every weird misshapen chip They were so stale that I couldn’t taste the flavor So I bought a drink to wash you out of my memory, But it bubbled in my stomach I puked it right onto the sidewalk As God told me: don’t you ever turn your back on my people You’re a better man than that. So I search for you on every street corner Looking for those sunken-in eyes That hold the tiniest flame of hope In the desire to reignite your belief That someone still cares for you, That Even if your family has given you up to die in the streets Someone like me could place down those outdated stereotypes Of those that simply struggle to survive Through pride-robbing begging And pick up a smile and don attentive ears. But if I ever see you again I swear I’ll do whatever I can to help you Because I know all too well the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night Mind barely able to operate because the hunger pains are so great Feet blistering because they’re the only mode of transportation you have. I swear, next time when I see you, I’ll be a testimony instead of a hypocrite.
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MADELEINE WITT Art and English, Silliman ’15
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The Logos · Winter 2012
MADELEINE WITT Art and English, Silliman ’15
Not By Sight
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THE MONEY ISSUE
ADRIAN KIMMOK Economics, Berkeley ’15
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The Logos · Winter 2012
ADRIAN KIMMOK Economics, Berkeley ’15
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THE MONEY ISSUE
ADRIAN KIMMOK Economics, Berkeley ’15
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APRIL KOH English and Sociology, Timothy Dwight ’14
To Sleep Some say the fall began with her fruit: That strange clash of teeth against skin, And juice runs forbidden, and by accident: That sweet stain—licked but obstinate. (A sin of gluttony.) Adam grabs her sticky fingers and with Desperation Sucks Hard Until her fingers bleed. A strange clash of teeth against skin.
The Logos · Winter 2012
Fall is Time Incarnate Fall is Time incarnate— it covers all things, like grace with its wine-colored leaves from passionless trees, and even Mother’s dried roses are lost in piles of gold and scarlet. Death, everywhere, shimmers to rival the sun.
But I say the fall began with his rib. Spirit, most violent anesthetic, Tore it in two. And to sleep was no longer To sleep but became complicated As his heart leaked in its cage Incomplete.
Fall is Time awaken from Summer, Time’s deep slumber, through which we pant statically; the luxury of the sun does not move us but toasts us until we are darker than itself. Time is asleep, or dead. No— don’t see. Just leave it be. Time will awake to fall again, deep, deep, into sleep.
And then “Eve,” You grieve. As he sleeps, she fingers Each rib, the space in between Swelling in beats. She strums those bones And finds missing string. And as he dreams, She daydreams of one Day fitting right There, Again, Fixed, Rested, Against his beating heart.
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The Logos 路 Winter 2012
Bible Verses
Revisited THE MALERMI BIBLE, VOL. II published: Italy, Venice, 1940
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Image 漏 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” –LUKE 12:13-21
What does the Bible have to say on the Danger of Wealth? KENNETH KIAMBATI Berkeley ’15
Christ rebukes a man who rejoices in his immense wealth and secure future, forgetting that his soul is in danger. CHRIST ENCOURAGES THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” –REVELATION 2:9
CHRIST REBUKES THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. –REVELATION 3:17-18
WHAT IS THE “ROOT OF ALL EVIL?” But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. –I TIMOTHY 6:6-10
Paul says that the love of money is the root of all evil.
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JAMES ON THE PROPER ATTITUDE OF RICH BELIEVERS TOWARD WEALTH Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. – JAMES 1:9-11
It is difficult to concur with the view that wealth is a sign of blessing and faithful living in Christian life. FAVORITISM FORBIDDEN My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? –JAMES 2:2-7
James challenges church’s differential treatment of the rich and poor. Favoritism based on wealth is rejected in the Christian church. I TIMOTHY 6 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. n this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. –I TIMOTHY 6:17-19
Paul writes to Timothy regarding the rich believers. It is clearly possible for a rich man to be a Christian though there is danger in wealth and in being rich.
THE MONEY ISSUE
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL
The Logos · Winter 2012
Richard Lee Economics and History, Morse ’14 H. L. Mencken once said, “When somebody says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.” In our materialist culture that values profit and utility maximization above all else (as an Economics major, I know this only too well), this saying has become almost a kind of truism. Knowing this sentiment, we at the Logos magazine make no pretense by calling this issue “The Money Issue.” Isn’t it all about money anyway? Maybe it is. The textbook definition of money is (1) a medium of exchange, (2) a unit of account, and (3) a storage of value. They are very important functions without which modern society cannot function. We see people use money to fund worthy causes. However, money can lead many people to destruction. We see people who are driven by greed to deceive and hurt those around them. How can something so innocuous (even good!) become so corrupted and dangerous? The problem is not money, but the love of money, which is a symptom of the sin that entered the world with the Fall. All of
us have exchanged the glory of God, our rightful relationship to serve Creator and rule over the creation, for idols of the created world (cf. Genesis 1:20-30, 3:6; Jeremiah 2:5-17; Romans 1:18-22). G. K. Chesterton expressed this sentiment when he said, “When a man ceases to worship God, he does not worship nothing—he worships anything.” Maybe it is not really all about money, because it is only one of many idols. In this magazine, you have read articles on money, capitalism, poverty, social justice, etc. Coming from different perspectives, our writers nonetheless agree that wealth can be dangerous for “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10), but money is certainly a fact of life and meant for good ends. We neither worship money nor are we radicals for its abolition. Here are some conclusions we can draw: First, a Christian should not be enamored with money and make it the end goal. For Christ warned us, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).
Second, money can and should be used toward good ends. Jesus had a financial officer (though later disgraced) for His ministry. Believers contributed money to fund Christian ministry since the very beginning of Church history (cf. Acts 2:45, I Corinthians 16:2). The wealth of philanthropists helped to open many hospitals and schools. Alumni donors and the brilliant minds behind the Yale Investment Office made our education and the need-blind financial aid policy a reality. Even this small magazine cannot exist without generous donors. Finally, we must redirect our worship to God, to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all of our might. Is this what we do? We should put money and other idols to their rightful place. We must serve God and rule over the creation. Whom do we serve? We ought to use our different talents and gifts for the good purposes God intended. Have we considered what God wants us to do with our life and everything He has given us? They are some questions to ponder. And I pray that God would give us grace so we may honor Him with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, we would be faithful stewards of His bounty. Amen.
L e a v e t a k i n g April Koh English and Sociology, Timothy Dwight ’14 This issue is not just for Economics majors. (I hope this is very clear after having flipped through this issue’s pages.) To be honest, I chose my majors in part out of conscious rebellion against the tyranny of money. I am an English and Sociology double major—and nope, not Sociology of Economics, but Sociology of Film and Culture. You would think I have placed myself in academic concentrations that are safe from any looming thoughts of money. But you—and I—are wrong. It appears that money remains an issue even in the most humanities of humanities, and not just a peripheral issue but a central issue. I am taking the pre-requisite classes for both of my majors this semester, and I haven’t thought about money this much since my Microeconomics class freshman year. In English, I have had a rather didactic encounter with the money issue: The Pardoner’s Tale in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales quotes the Bible verse that was central to our issue: “Radix malorum est Cupiditas,” or “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10). The Pardoner’s Tale is
ultimately a long meditation on this biblical truth. In Foundations of Modern Social Theory, a pre-requisite class for Sociology majors, I read Karl Marx (who throws everything in an economic light), and the venerable Adam Smith, who championed capitalism and introduced us to the monumental concept of the “invisible hand.” I don’t think it is mere coincidence that the foundational syllabi to my two disciplines grapple with money. Money is just as much of an issue in the heads of novelists, poets, and sociologists as it is for economists. Money is everywhere. This realization came a little late for my naïve self. I had proudly thought I was above the pursuit of money—as an English and Sociology major, I thought of myself as setting my sights on loftier aspirations. To be honest, I thought practical majors—Economics, Engineering, Pre-Med—entailed groveling in the meanness of everyday practicalities. I thought—if everyone would stop idolizing money, everyone would be English, Literature, and Art majors. My summer broke that silly simplistic assumption. Working for Yale’s Development Office, I developed a newfound appreciation and veneration for those whose careers centered directly around
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money—like those in finance. Usually the largest donors were those with backgrounds in finance; these were the people who were funding my college education, allowing me to study English and the “lofty” humanities. Without their generous contributions, perhaps I wouldn’t be at Yale, or perhaps I wouldn’t be indulging in these luxurious facilities. (Yes, I said “luxurious.”) Perhaps this is an obvious truth to some, but for my out-of-touch self, it is a solemn realization: money makes the world go round. Practically speaking. But I also recognize that money can make the world go—mad. And so Logos, in this fall issue, seeks to understand: how and when does money lead to evil? How can money be used for God’s glory? In crafting this issue, we sought to avoid de-contextualized Bible verses on money and rather sought to examine money through different perspectives: money as a potential idol, money in capitalism, money in giving (Travis Reginal’s poem). We accept Paul’s claim that the love of money is the root of all evil, but we know that that verse does not entail us to shun money itself as an evil. Money, at the end of the day, is also part of His Creation, and all things were created for His glory.
Allegra Ad