An interesting analysis
In a letter to the editor in today's New York Times, Rev. Thomas W. Goodhue, executive director fo the Long Island Council of Churches (No One Goes to Anymore) has an interesting take on Matthew 25.
To the Editor:
Garry Wills is a fine writer, but he needs to read the Bible a little more closely.
The parable Jesus tells in Matthew 25 describes how nations or cultures will be judged, not individuals. The Hebrew prophets called repeatedly for the protection of "the widow, the orphan and the immigrant among you" — in other words, our most vulnerable neighbors.
Jesus said nations would be judged on the basis of how we treated the least of these, whom he calls not only his neighbors but also his "brethren" — his brothers and sisters.
Mr. Wills argues that "no government can propose that as its program." Jesus, though, seems to have longed for just such a program.
(Rev.) Thomas W. Goodhue
Hempstead, N.Y., April 11, 2006
The writer is executive director, Long Island Council of Churches.
And the verses in question: Matthew 25:31-46:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Now, I don't have a degree in theology or divinity or the book-learning that the good reverend boasts -- but his interpretation of these verses is most curious.
And by "curious" I mean wrong.
The good reverend seems to say (and I can't think of a more charitable way to read it) that it doesn't matter what you do with your life when judgement day comes, but only whether you happen to live in a "lamb" nation or a "goat" nation at the day of reckoning.
I'd be very curious to know which nations Rev. Goodhue believes are the lambs and which are the goats. What exactly is the percentage of GDP going to feed and clothe the poor required to become a "lamb" nation? Ten percent? Twenty? What accounting method is Jesus Christ using? Is the judgment figure just for the previous year? An average of the past twenty? Or is it the percentage for the entire "life" of the nation?
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When this comes up I always ask the question: What would Jesus think of the idea of asking Cesear to collect the church's tithe for him using Roman soliders swords?
Kings of 200 years ago did not have what the poor in America have today. We pay fairly hefty taxes to make it so. In fact, the youngest and poorest subsidize the elderly. We send our soldiers to far corners of the globe to preserve the peace, at great expense to ourselves. When disasters strike, like the tsunami in Asia, we give generously.
Where does this bozo get off?
Goodhue's idea of how nations will be judged is more consistent with how judaism viewed judgement in ancient times (read Jeremiah and almost all the other prophets) - there was no concept of individual salvation as we know it today, it was a collective salvation. I agree with you that this passage is more correctly understood in light of our personal actions and our own personal salvation, which is the basis Christianity has always used. It's really quite interesting how the concepts of hell, heaven and salvation have evolved over time.
I've been thinking about this. Goodhue's interpretation is either (1) dadblasted stupid or (2) appallingly primitive or (3) dishonest.
The word employed in the original is the Greek ethnos. The word occurs 163 times in the New Testament. It is just as often, if not more often, translated people(s) or pagans.
The (Catholic) Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1968, notes that "the nations" here means "all mankind". That sounds right to me.
Goodhue is doing some very, very sloppy thinking. At best. He is equating "nation" with "country" rather than with people(s), and he is further equating "country" with "government".
Just like a good little Marxoid would.