Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "tower-of-babel"

In June 2018, my family had the opportunity to visit the bustling city of Strasbourg, France. Just as with many of the old cities of Europe, there is an "old town" in Strasbourg with narrow streets and wonderfully preserved half-timbered buildings. And, like most European cities and towns, Strasbourg's old town is anchored by a beautifully ornate cathedral; the 1439 Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. It is truly beautiful.

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg

Also while in Strasbourg, we visited the European Union's Parliament building as Strasbourg is the capital of the Union. And, just as with the cathedral, we were allowed inside free of charge. However, there is much more security at the Parliament building, which is to be expected, as we had to display our passports and then pass through metal detectors in order to be allowed access. Once inside, we were even allowed to observe parliament in session. On that particular day they were discussing the regulation of drones.

The European Parliament

The building, which was completed in 1999, somewhat resembles the 1563 depiction of the never-finished Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. I was actually aware of this prior to our visit after our wise and insightful pastor, Dennis Miller, pointed it out to our congregation last year. You may recall the Tower of Babel as described by Moses in the book of Genesis:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. Then (the people) said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel — because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. Genesis 11-1, 4, 6-9a, (NIV)

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563

One could be forgiven if they didn't immediately see the resemblance or thought it only a coincidence. However, no one can miss the connection in the 1992 European Union poster that was produced during the planning phases of the Parliament building. The poster includes an unmistakable image of Bruegel's Tower of Babel with the motto, "Europe: Many Tongues, One Voice." This motto on a poster with the Tower of Babel is a blatant challenge to God's authority over the Earth. This is especially true since He ended construction of the original tower precisely because the people were attempting to do exactly what the European Union is doing; bringing together many cultures (and languages) under one government in order to be more competitive (making a name for themselves). For a government to make such a challenge can only mean that they not only don't recognize God's authority, but they don't even believe He exists. Otherwise, they would not be brave enough to make such a bold rejection of Him. But, what makes this worse than all the previous blasphemies over the eons, is that the European Union did this in the name of all 510 million people in the 28 nations it governs. And, very few have objected or even noticed.

European Union poster, 1992

We've become accustomed to people and their governments routinely proclaiming themselves while disregarding God's sovereignty, just as they did over 4,000 years ago in Babel. In fact, in this day and age, when we show any kind of respect for God, we're labeled as "extremists" while those who actively encourage or, in the case of some governments, mandate adherence to a false religion, are seen as "tolerant." I don't know how that makes since to anyone.

As for my visit, I observed a glaring difference between the old cathedral, though still a functioning church, and the relatively new Parliament building. The cathedral, which is itself a man-made tower that was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874, now seems to be but a beautiful old relic; seemingly only worthy of our admiration because of its age and grandeur and not because it is the House of God. In contrast, the Parliament building appeared to be much more relevant to the people of modern, secular Europe. In other words, there is much more function in the Parliament building and much more tourism in the cathedral and that's sad.

I realize millions of euros have been spent on this modern Tower making the abandonment of it extremely unlikely. So, short of that, it seems the prudent thing to do would be to acknowledge that it was a mistake to proclaim Europe's "one voice" to God's face while building the Tower and instead commit to a recognition of, and submission to, God's authority. I know that won't happen, either.

Photo of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg by David Iliff. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0"