Sunday 28 March 2010

An Easter Thought...

...with Easter fast approaching I've decided to provide (in typical Radio 4 fashion) a 'thought for the day'. Easter is my favourite time of year - cute lambs, warmer days (hopefully!), too much chocolate. It became even nicer when, ten years ago this month, I decided that all this Christian stuff had a bit of truth to it. So, with it being Palm Sunday and all that, I guess I could write a bit about waving branches or look forward to the Resurrection. But, in typical contrary Warden stylee, I won't. Instead I thought I'd write a bit about Pontius Pilate.

A strange choice perhaps? But, for me, Pilate's dilemma is the really applicable bit. As I teach at university I (and, of course, my students) are confronted every day by philosophies and theories, and it can be easy to think that these are new ways of thinking. So we tend to put the Bible to one side, try and grapple with them ourselves and end up getting progressively more confused. As I've gone on, I've tried to see what the Bible has to say about all the 'isms' of academia. Surely such an old dusty text has nothing to add?

Well I reckon the best place to start is back in Ecclesiastes. If Solomon says there is 'nothing new under the sun' then that goes for everything. There are no new challenges, no new problems, no new intellectual dilemmas. There are new versions but at their heart the latest theories have their basis in old assumptions and ideas. Now trusting the Word of God is all very well but didn't Solomon get it wrong? In our moments of nostalgia we imagine that the 21st century is full to the brim with new theories that previous generations never had to confront. Nonsense, of course. And Pilate's response to Jesus is a rather brilliant example.

I'm currently teaching a course in Postmodern British Drama. So, what does the Bible say about postmodernism? Well, nothing directly, of course. The guy who coined the phrase in the 1970s, Jean-Francois Lyotard, suggested that postmodernism is an 'incredulity towards metanarratives'. He admitted himself that this was a generalisation, but his central point was that in our modern (or indeed postmodern world) we no longer believe in those big stories that human beings use to make sense of the world. You know the sort of things - Marxism, Gender roles, Morality, Faith etc. That leaves the very notion of 'truth' as an unstable concept.

So back to our Easter story. Pilate's first response to Jesus is to ask a question, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus' reply? 'Do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me?' Whenever I teach any of these 'isms' I always encourage my students to make up their own mind, and I think this is what Jesus is getting it. Pilate is obviously susceptible to peer pressure and here he seems to have just adopted the words of others and passed them off as his own. Whenever I am told in all sincerity that 'we live in a postmodern world' or 'no-one believes in truth anymore' I begin to doubt the thought processes behind these statements. Perhaps the speaker has thought long and hard (in which case, in my best street language, nuff respec') but 9 times out of 10 I feel that they are quoting from their favourite blog/newspaper/mate.

Jesus says that he 'came into the world to bear witness to the truth'. Pilate's response? 'What is truth?' Our society's continual dismissal of truth is not a new development and Jesus himself had to confront it. The irony, of course, is such apparent flexibility and open-mindedness led to a horrific act of barbarism - the crucifixion. Pilate washes his hands of justice (another metanarrative for you there) and evil triumphs. Lyotard is well aware of this problem and says directly that postmodern thought does not necessarily lead to barbarism. He's right of course and I wouldn't want to be so crass as to suggest that horror is the necessary outcome of such thinking. Nor would I want to make the ridiculous claim that Pilate is postmodern. But it is interesting to make the connection. The notion of truth has been under attack since the snake told Eve that God was telling big fat lies.

Anyways that is my Easter message. Make of it what you will. The new week brings a bit of holiday and a lot of teaching prep. I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet...and a clean house!
CSW

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