“How to Vote like Jesus”

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In anticipation of All Saints and Election Day, I have been revisiting some of the “political” writing from the church’s cloud of witnesses. If, as Stanley Hauerwas insists, the church does not have a politics but is a politics, then much of the church’s political theology will appear in this partisan age as insufficiently political. Nevertheless, as Jesus says, “Let those with ears hear.” Take the passage below entitled— a-politically— “How One Must Read and Understand the Scriptures.”

Origen of Alexandria is one of the “ante-Nicene” church fathers, meaning he worked before the fourth century ecumenical council which gave the church the Nicene Creed. Diarmaid MacCulloch has written that reading Origen is like an exuberant adventure of the imagination. Origen wrote in the early third century and argued for, among other items of dogma, the eventual return of everything to God’s glory, even Gehenna and the devil— that is, he preached a cosmic, universal salvation.

In writing on the mysteries of the divinely inspired scriptures, Origen exhorts readers and believers to a posture of humility that is in markedly short supply this election cycle. For instance, Origen is the opposite of this Texas pastor who recently “preached” to his congregation about How to Vote like Jesus.

In case you only skimmed the article, 20,000 received this “sermon.” And applauded it. This “preacher” alleged that the ways and judgments of God are easy to discern and so to act upon by his hearers. And it would not take long on a search engine to find a pastor preaching with similar certainty from the other side of our partisan divide. By contrast, Origen teaches that not only is the parallel between our age and the history of the scriptures elusive to discern, historical figures in scripture like King Josiah or Darius must be read according to the spirit and not the letter of the text.

Origen, whose father was martyred for the faith, writes in On First Principles:

“But let it be sufficient for us in all matters to conform our mind to the rule of piety and to think of the words of the Holy Spirit in this way, that the text shines not because composed according to the eloquence of human fragility, but because, as it is written, “all the glory of the King is within.” Yet Paul, scrutinizing by the Holy Spirit, searches out the deep things of God only to exclaim in despair and amazement, “O depth of the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of God!” And that it was from despair of attaining a perfect understanding that he uttered this, listen to him saying, “How unsearchable are the judgments of God and his ways past understanding!”

For Paul did not say that it is difficult for the judgments of God to be discerned, but that they cannot be searched out at all. Paul did not say that it is difficult for his ways to be traced out, but that they cannot be traced out.

For however far one may advance in the search and make progress by intense study, assisted even by the grace of God and an enlightened mind, he will not be able to arrive at the final goal of those things that are investigated. Nor can any mind, which is created, have the possibility to comprehend everything, but as soon as it has discovered a small piece of things which it seeks, it again sees others which are to be sought; and even if it arrives at these, it will again see many others succeeding them that must be examined.

Because of this, therefore, the most wise Solomon, beholding by wisdom the nature of things, says;

“I said, I will become wise; and wisdom herself was removed far from me, further than it was; and a profound depth, who shall find it?”

Isaiah also— knowing that the beginnings of things could not not be discovered by a mortal nature, and not even by those natures which, although more divine than human, were nevertheless themselves either created or formed, knowing then, that by none of these could either the beginning or end be found— says, “Tell me the former things which have been, and we will know that you are gods; or announce what the last things are, and then we will see that you are gods.”

For my Hebrew teacher also used to teach thus: that at the beginning or end of all things could not be comprehended by anyone except only the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, Isaiah, speaking in the form of a vision, spoke of there being only two seraphim, who with two wings cover the face of God, and with two his feet, and with two they fly, calling one to the other saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of your glory.” Therefore, as the seraphim alone have both their wings over the face of God and over his feet, it may be ventured to declare that neither the armies of holy angels, nor the holy thrones, nor the dominions, nor the principalities, nor the powers…

None are able to understand fully the judgments and ways of God.”

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