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Reflections on the Soon to Be Released New American Bible (Revised Edition)

We have talked before here about some concerns in regard to the New American Bible. Both the translations, and especially the footnotes, are matters of concern. Now comes the news that a revised version is being issued March 9. Here are excerpts of  the press release:

The New American Bible, revised edition (NABRE), the first major update to the New American Bible (NAB) translation in 20 years, has been approved for publication…..The NABRE will be available in a variety of print, audio and electronic formats on March 9, Ash Wednesday.

            The new translation takes into account advances in linguistics of the biblical languages, as well as changes in vocabulary and the cultural background of English, in order to ensure a more accurate translation. This issue is addressed in the apostolic exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, in which the pope says, “The inculturation of God’s word is an integral part of the Church’s mission in the world, and a  decisive moment in this process is the diffusion of the Bible through the precious work of translation into different languages.”

            The new translation also takes into account the discovery of new and better ancient manuscripts so that the best possible textual tradition is followed. The NABRE includes the first revised translation of the Old Testament since 1970 and a complete revision of the Psalter. It retains the 1986 edition of the New Testament. Work on most books of the Old Testament began in 1994 and was completed in 2001. The 1991 revision of the Psalter was further revised between 2009 and 2010.

More here: http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2011/11-003.shtml

I have seen a few samples of the text and there are things to affirm.

1.  The dreadful 1991 Psalter is gone. So significant were the problems with the 1991 Psalter that the Vatican rescinded approval for its use in the liturgy. Among the problems with the older Psalter was  an excessive use of “inclusive” language. One of the main problems with this is approach is that it shreds the messianic psalms of their reference directly to Christ. For example, in certain Psalms the text, “Blessed is the man” is often a reference to Christ who alone fulfills the psalm perfectly. Man,  in such cases, does not merely mean, “the person who.”  However, the 1991 Psalter in current NAB versions renders this phrase,  Blessed is the Man as Happy those. In so doing, they  lose, not only the gender, (for Christ is male), but they also make the reference plural. Hence a reference to Christ is wholly obscured.

The new Psalter looks to have resolved this problem. I do not have access to the whole new Psalter so I cannot say if it will wholly resolve things. However, one psalm in the sample set  is psalm 8. The 1991 version crudely rendered verse 5-6 as What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor. The new text says, What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor.

2.  As for inclusive language in general the press backgrounder (found HERE) states the following:

Does this Bible use inclusive language?  This edition reflects the original meaning of the texts. Much of the original material, especially in thee narrative books, was gender specific and remains so. All references to God retain the traditional use of masculine pronouns. Where the original reference was gender neutral, the translation reflects that.

This is hopeful, for although some support “inclusive” language, we must remember that we are dealing with a sacred text. It is dangerous to claim to be “more enlightened” than the sacred texts, and then set about editing the text. Hebrew and Greek make greater use of nuance in grammatical gender than English and we ought to respect that fact since,  it was in these languages that God chose to set forth his relevation. We conform to the text, we do not merely conform it to us.

3.  It’s time for a new translation. A lot has happened since 1970, to which most of the current NAB Old Testament translation dates. Biblical scholarship has clarified texts. In English usage certain usages have change.  Of this last point the press release gives a few examples:

Samples of longer text changes are at the end of this document, but some words that no longer appear include “booty” (replaced with “plunder”), “cereal” (replaced with “grain”), and “holocaust” (replaced with “burnt offering”). That is because they have taken on new meanings for modern readers and could distract from the original intent of the Scripture. [1]

All this said, there remain some on-going concerns remain.

1.  The 1986 New Testament remains unchanged. There are significant issues in regard to that translation. For example, it renders Gabriel’s salutation to Mary as Hail favored one! (Lk  1:26) instead of the usual and traditional (and probably more accurate) Hail full of grace!  There is also the tendency to render the Greek word porneia (sexual immorality) as merely “immorality” (which could mean anything). This is a consistent problem in the Pauline corpus. We have discussed more on these issues here:  http://blog.adw.org/2010/08/puzzlement-over-porneia-and-a-pet-peeve/

2. There may be an interpretive key in the new translation of the Old Testament that many do not favor. In a text I was not given access to it would appear that a historicist approach is being taken. Here is an excerpt from the USA Today article that describes the problem:

One change may set off alarms with traditionalists, in a passage many Christians believe foreshadows the coming of Christ and his birth to a virgin. The 1970 version of Isaiah 7:14 says “the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” The 2011 text refers to “the young woman” instead. It elaborates that the original Hebrew word, almah, may, or may not, signify a virgin.[2]

Now what this seems to indicate is what I call here a historicist approach. In this approach the interpretive key seeks to answer the question “How would a Jew of the 8th Century BC (in this case) understand this verse?” It is possible, and even probable, that a Jew of that era would think merely that a young girl would grow up, get married and have a baby.

But, frankly, I am not all that concerned with how a Jew of the 8th Century BC would understand it. For, as a Christian, I read the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament. And this text is clearly a reference to Mary and Christ. Almah signifies virgin, or young woman in Hebrew because, in that culture, young women were virgins (imagine that!).

New Testament Christians have rightly translated this verse as virgin because its reference to Mary is clearer and virgin is a perfectly acceptable way to translate Almah. But it looks like the editors of the NABRE want us to see it more as a Jew of the 8th Century BC would see it.

Catholic principles allow this interpretation but many do not prefer it since allusions are lost. St. Paul said regarding the Old Testament, these things were written for our instruction (Rom 15:4; cf 1 Cor 10:11). Jesus told the Jewish people of his day regarding the Old Testament: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me (Jn 5:39).

Hence it seems more proper to read the scriptures not in an historicist sense, but as historical texts fulfilled in the New Testament, and understood in the light of the New Testament. I wish the NABRE would have used this approach which, at least according to this text, it did not.

3. The Footnotes of the New Testament are extremely problematic in places. At times they seem to directly question Catholic doctrine and the scriptural roots of it. We have talked more about that here: http://blog.adw.org/2010/09/new-american-bible-problems-on-purgatory/  I raised one problem, and commenters raised many other issues in the footnotes of the NAB New Testament.

It is my presumption that these bad footnotes will remain in the NT, even though the OT has been revised. Let us hope that the bishops will choose to pull the bad notes and replace them with better ones. Then the NAB will be “safer” for use by the inquiring faithful. Frankly, I struggle to hand it to the faithful with those footnotes. I have not seen the footnotes for the Old Testament in the NABRE and hope they will better annunciate the roots of Catholic teaching.

In the end, there is hope for this new translation. More will be known to us of this new translation next Wednesday when it goes live at the USCCCB website: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.shtml

The NAB remains the most widely used Catholic Bible and is tied to the liturgy. This new version will require further review at the Vatican before it is approved for liturgical use,  but it is likely to take its place in the Catholic liturgy in the next few years. I look forward with hope to on-going improvements in the New Testament sections and will receive the revised Old Testament with great and hopeful expectation this Wednesday.

Photo Credit: USCCB (right click for poperties)

 

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How to Approach Jesus

After losing an important battle, King Louis XIV of France complained, “Has God forgotten how much I’ve done for him?” That’s a deeply arrogant statement! But let’s not cast any stones. It’s easy to conclude that God owes us something.

That’s what James and John did in yesterday’s gospel. Because they were disciples, they assumed they were entitled to special favors, and approached Jesus with a demand: “We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

In today’s gospel, Bartimaeus also approached Jesus. But he didn’t make any demands. Instead, he offered a humble plea: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”

These two different approaches were met with two different responses from Jesus. James and John’s request was denied, and Jesus actually took them down a notch. But Bartimaeus’ prayer was granted. His sight was restored, and he was praised for his faith.

Maybe it’s significant that Bartimaeus is described as a beggar. As St. Augustine wrote, “Man is a beggar before God,” because it’s as a beggar that we should approach God in prayer. If our prayer is “Give me what I deserve,” we’ll likely wind up disappointed. But if we pray, “O Lord, please give me what I need,” we’ll find, like Bartimaeus, that God always does.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/030311.shtml

Photo credit: Zoetnet via Creative Commons

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The Moral Threats Of College Life – What are We Doing To Protect Our Young People?

Colleges and Universities are usually thought to be a place where knowledge is conferred. But one is justified; it seems, in questioning whether knowledge can be conferred in settings where common sense and prudence are so gravely lacking. Here are excerpts from an article today in the Washington Examiner:

New Jersey’s flagship state university has decided to allow male and female students to share rooms in three dorms in an effort to make the Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus more inclusive for gay students after a highly publicized suicide last year.

Starting this fall, all students — whether gay, lesbian, transgender or heterosexual — can choose either male or female roommates under the pilot program. Men and women will share bathrooms.

A similar, but smaller, pilot program is being launched at the Newark campus.

A number of other schools, including the University of Maryland, New York’s Columbia University and Washington’s George Washington University, offer similar housing options….

Rutgers got wide attention last year after freshman Tyler Clementi killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River. Authorities say that days before, his roommate in a dorm used a webcam to capture Clementi during an intimate encounter with another man…..[Following] there was increased scrutiny of the way gay, lesbian and transgender students are sometimes treated on campus….

These are excerpts full article is here: Rutgers Allows….

The absurdity and imprudence of campus life grows graver with each decade. College Campuses, as a general rule, are a grave threat to the moral life of the students who attend. Students, who need clear guidance on moral issues, are thrown by faculty and parents into a moral cesspool of drugs, alcohol, and illicit sexual union. The irresponsibility of college faculty and administrators is nothing short of horrifying.

Of course we have journeyed to this latest absurdity of males and females sharing dorm rooms in stages.

Many years ago many colleges were not even co-ed, due to the reasonable premise that sexual temptation and distractions were problematic in a learning environment. Those colleges that were co-ed carefully segregated the young men and women in separate dorm buildings altogether. Women’s dorms were carefully protected. A guard in the front lobby limited access, and if a young woman had a male visitor she would come down to the lobby and meet him there. Men were not allowed beyond the lobby.

Now I was not born yesterday, and I surely know that there may have been some sneaking around and use of back entrances and fire escapes. But in the end, colleges had strict policies that both discouraged fornication and limited opportunities for the behavior. This was prudent and responsible.

By the late sixties boundaries began to disappear and faculty and college administrators began to shed their sense of responsibility for the moral life of the students. This, of course, is one of the more serious problems of the modern age wherein we no longer share a moral vision and/or have a care for the moral condition of one another. Never mind the terrible toll that all the drinking, drugs and sex has on the young men and women. The dangerous behaviors, the STDs, pregnancy, abortion and moral confusion, never mind all that. That is “none of our business.”

It is a malfeasance due to the utter neglect shown by those who ought to have greater care for the overall well-being of the students. To them the Lord has this to say, It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin (Luke 17:2)

Through the 1970s and into the 80s common dorm buildings for men and women become more the norm. There was the fiction of separate floors, but what is a staircase to desirous tweens and twenty-somes.

The next absurdity was common bathroom facilities on mixed floors. Why did the women even tolerate such an indignity? Even as a male, I would never have gone to a college where they would suggest to me the absurdity of shared toilet stalls and showers for men and women together.

And now the final blow: “Just let ‘em shack up openly,”  as an officially sanctioned university policy. After all, who really cares about their moral life? Who’s really to say anyway? Or so the stinking thinking seems to be.

And then, just to add more absurdity, the leap is made that somehow all of this is really meant to be “gay-friendly.” What young college men and women shacking up has to do with affirming the gay lifestyle is surely opaque to me. To someone such as me, uninitiated in the sexual revolution, the explanation the university gives about this connection still makes no sense, even once it is offered. Living in the same dorm room says only one thing to me: fornication is fine. Of course it isn’t fine and colleges ought not encourage such imprudent and, I would add, sinful behavior.

I don’t know what I would do if I were a parent today. I don’t think I could send my kids off to most colleges or universities. I’d have to look carefully for a traditional Catholic College.

Some argue we have to send them off to the big name places so they can get a good career. To this Jesus has something to say, What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose his soul? (Mark 8:36). We need to re-examine our priorities. What is more important, the degree and career, or one’s soul? Parents usually want to know something of the tuition costs of college and will often go up with their kid to orientation. But do they ask to meet with the Catholic Chaplain? Do they assess the moral climate? Do they insist on proper housing and reasonable moral safeguards for their children?

And we clergy too have to think about this. For it often happens that someone will say, “Great News!, My Kid just got a full scholarship to Harvard or Columbia or whatever.” And we clergy say, “Great!” when what we should say is, “Ok, now who is going to preach the Gospel to your kid up there so he stands a chance of not losing his soul?” For it is quite possible, in the current moral climate of college, for a reasonably decent kid to go in, come out a Harvard lawyer,  but be headed straight for hell. How serious are we clergy in speaking to our departing college kids about the moral climate and the need to resist it? Even before they pick a college, how insistent are we that they look for a moral climate better that Rutgers et al.?

As for me, I do gather my departing college students and give them the “stay with Jesus talk.” We do try and connect them with the local Catholic parish or Newman center. I want them to enter the college scene with sobriety (pardon the pun), and realizing that they are often heading for a real moral swamp, that they had better not wade in. But I need to do more. I need a small cadre of volunteers to call our students regularly and make sure they are getting to Mass, going to confession and avoiding sin.

We have to do better by our children than to send them to moral swamps. Where are the outraged parents and alumni of these colleges? Places like Rutgers can only get away with this sort of absurd plan because parents and alumni either don’t care, or are silent. We too, if we remain silent are part of the problem. I told a certain college I once did some studies with, that they would never get a dime or a recommendation from me as an alumnus until they cleaned up their moral act.

To end on a positive note, there ARE some very good Catholic colleges out there that still care for the moral life of the young people entrusted to their care. The Cardinal Newman Society keeps a pretty good watch on the health of Catholic Colleges and has issued a guide “Choosing a Catholic College”  to assist parents and college bound students in seeking a healthy moral and academic environment that is in conformity with Catholic teaching.

We need to be serious. Many colleges are a serious threat out children’s moral welfare and eternal salvation. Orate et vigilate! (pray and be watchful!)

Photo Credit: New Brunswick City, NJ (Right Click for Properties).

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Love for Love’s Sake

In a letter, a woman complained bitterly to an advice columnist that a homeless person hadn’t thanked her for the pocket change she’d given him. The columnist explained to her that we don’t always get recognized for the good we do. Today’s gospel reminds us that we shouldn’t expect to.

Yet that’s exactly what James and John did. They assumed that because they followed Jesus, they deserved special positions of honor and prestige. Jesus had to teach them that to follow him is to be a servant, and servants don’t go looking for recognition or reward. True service is selfless. It’s concerned with others’ needs, not our own.

This is something we often need to be reminded of, especially in our relationships. So often, we’ll try to love others…if they’re loving to us. Or we’ll try to love them… because we want them to love us in return. Or we’ll try to love them… because we want to feel good about ourselves.

But how often do we love others just for love’s sake? Probably not as often as we should. Maybe not as often as we think. Yet that is what Jesus does for us; this is what Jesus calls us to do. The world needs the love we have to share. And this love doesn’t seek rewards. Because true love is reward enough in itself.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/030211.shtml

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon via Creative Commons

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Name it and claim it!

“Name it and claim it” is a common refrain in historically African American churches. It refers to any one the many blessings God has in store for us every day.  It also refers to the type of attitude a faithful one must have in order to receive a blessing from the Lord.  The Holy Scripture says that, “If any of your lacks wisdom, ask it of the Lord who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly.  But, that person must ask in faith. For the person without faith is like the wave, tossed and driven by the wind, erratic in all things. Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” – James 1:3

“Prosperity Gospel”

I have heard this refrain used poorly, especially by a few preachers that appear on television.  They have a theology, often referred to as “prosperity gospel” that suggests that this refrain can be used for material gain – Claim a luxury car and God will give it to you.  I have never been motivated by the refrain for material reasons.  Furthermore, a humble Christian does not order God around.  Rather, like Christ taught, we say, “Your will be done.”  “Name it and claim it” should help me focus on the spiritual blessings of God such as wisdom, faith, hope and charity.  My material needs will take care of themselves – And I don’t NEED a luxury car!

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

At my school we use this refrain and this scripture to encourage each other and to help one another focus on Christ.  For example, when I am dreading a certain meeting or a possible negative encounter, I am tempted to say to myself, “This is going to be a horrible day!”. It is at this moment that I must remember to “Name it, then claim it!” If I name my blessing as “This is a day that the Lord has made” then I can claim it.  In other words, God’s blessings are always before us.  It is just that sometimes, we cannot see the blessing and thus, we fail to claim it.

Name it and claim it!

As you read this, name and claim a blessing.  If nothing more, you have the blessing seeking a relationship with God.  Sometimes, that alone is enough!

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When Words Get in the Way – A Meditation on the Value and Limits of Language

Language is one our greatest gifts. Our capacity to symbolize reality by sounds and words is nothing short of astonishing. The fact that you are able to decode these letters, words and sentences, and have an echo in your mind of what I am thinking, is a miraculous gift. It is a gift that we often take for granted.

But, I have often wondered if one of our greatest gifts also imposes on us a significant limitation. For, words distinguish as they must:  a tree is not a horse, is not a star. And yet, even while we distinguish, as we must, it is possible for us to miss the great and mystical unity of all things. Perhaps a tree, a horse and a star have more in common than we might imagine. As we use words and make necessary distinctions, it is possible that we stop reflecting on the ultimate mystery of all things. We learn early on to call this a “tree,” that a “horse,” and the points of light above “stars.”  But then, the danger is,  we just file these notions away and stop reflecting on “star-ness” and how it relates to “tree-ness” and so forth.

You may think I am being absurd but I’d like to illustrate how words can sometimes get in the way and that silence can have an important value. Consider some examples:

1. It is widely attested that Albert Einstein did not talk until he was three or four years of age. Thomas Sowell even wrote a book called The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late.   Some biographers think it was just that he was shy and thoughtful, others wonder at a mild autism. But in the end, Einstein spent a longer period observing the “is-ness” of things before “reducing” them to words.

I have often wondered if this is how he was able to think past the usual categories and see the ultimate inter-relatedness of things. Who would have thought that matter is really frozen energy and also be able to relate its quantity to the speed of light!?  E=MC2 is a bolt out of the blue! The amount of energy in something is its mass, multiplied by the speed of light squared?!?  Who would have thunk it? And yet, there it is. It is almost as though an angel must have whispered this great secret to Einstein. And yet again, how could he grasp that time and space were really a continuum?  How could he abstract that, as we approach the speed of light, time would slow down?  Where did he get this insight which is far from obvious or easily tested by experience?

My own theory is that Einstein, in addition to his intellectual gifts, had spent more time in silence than most of us. Words didn’t “get in the way” too soon for him and he thus spent more time in an enchanted world where things were all aspects of some “One great thing” that caused them all to be inter-related and, ultimately one. I am not saying it was necessarily a conscious awareness he had as an adult. Perhaps it was just that this intuition of the oneness of things had deeper roots in him because he did not “too early” sort things out and file them all away in separate boxes.

2. In terms of our faith, it makes sense that, ultimately all things are one. Scripture says that Jesus holds all creation together within himself (Col 1:17). Scripture also asserts that God spoke all creation into existence through his WORD. Notice it is “Word” not “Words.” The Gospel of John says it is though this one Word, (Jesus), that all things are: Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:3). Hence there is a unity at the heart of all things, Jesus. St. Augustine says, that in the end there will be unus Christus, amans seipsum (one Christ, loving himself).

3. Hence, our many words, necessary though they be for us, ultimately lead to one Word, Jesus, through who all things are and are held together. For me, as a man of faith, it would seem clear that the enchanted world Einstein experienced before “words got in the way,” the world where all things were aspects ultimately of one great thing, was ultimately a glimpse into Christ, the mystical unifier and cause of all things. The one Word uttered by the Father.

4. St. Thomas Aquinas had and “Einstein moment” at the opposite end of his life. Aquinas was the great distinguisher and no one could articulate and classify like he could. His work is beyond compare and has been an enormous gift to the Church and mankind. And yet, at the end of his life he seems to have had a mystical experience which confirmed powerfully what he already knew, that words were inadequate to express the true mystery of things. It is reported that he said to his secretary: ‘Reginald, my son, I will tell you a secret which you must not repeat to anyone while I remain alive.  All my writing is now at an end; for such things have been revealed to me that all I have taught and written seems quite trivial to me now.  The only thing I want now is that as God has put an end to my writing, He may quickly end my life also’ (Bernard Gui, Vita 27, trans. Foster (p. 46)). Aquinas died three months later.

The apostrophe of silence at the end of his life is probably the most important thing he ever “said.” God is other, and our words, necessary though they are fall far short of the glory of God and the mystery of his creation. Unless we grasp this, as Aquinas always did, words get in the way and cause us to over-simplify. Words necessarily distinguish, but reality is ultimately more mystical than we can ever express.

5. A parable- Abba Moses stood before his students in the desert one day and gave this teaching: “Every word or image of God is more a distortion than a description!”  The students were shocked and said, “But Abba, when you teach us of God you use words!” At this he laughed and said, “When I speak of God, listen less to the words, and ponder more the silence between the words.”  Now this parable exaggerates to make a point. Namely that words are necessary, but silence is even more necessary because of the limits of words.

6. The Gift of contemplative prayer as St. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross describe it is the gift to pray and experience God beyond words, or images. It is the experience of God as other, as beyond. Those gifted with this prayer cannot reduce it to words, it is ineffable, unsayable, beyond words.

In the end, words do fall short. They are our greatest blessings, but if we do not understand their limits they also curse us to a reductionist understanding of the world. A tree is not a horse, and neither is a star, but mystically they all come from one Word and have a unity far greater than we know.

(Image above  taken from http://www.britannica.com/blogs )

OK, this post has been a little heavy. Time for some humor. Imagine you and I are having a conversation. Here is what my cat hears:

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Not Counting the Cost

When facing a big decision, we often ask questions like, “What would be the return on my investment? What’s the value added?” Such questions are fine when considering going back to school or making improvements to our home. We don’t, however, want to take this approach to our faith.

Yet that’s exactly what Peter did in today’s gospel. When he told Jesus, “Lord, we have given up everything and followed you!” he wasn’t complaining, he was boasting. He was expecting –even demanding- something from Jesus in return for the sacrifices he’d made.

Jesus acknowledged that Christian discipleship does reap great rewards- rich blessings in the present age, and eternal life in the next. But Jesus also offered a caution: “The first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Jesus’ point is that we shouldn’t approach discipleship as an effort to get something in return. Our motivation shouldn’t be about earning rewards or gaining entitlements. Instead, authentic discipleship is a faithful and loving response to all the graces and love we’ve been given. In short: Jesus invites us to seek him, not for personal gain, but out of humble gratitude.

A sneering passerby said to a Catholic caring for a dying AIDS patient, “I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world!” The reply? “Neither would I.”

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/030111.shtml

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On the Dying of Europe and the Questions We Cannot Fail To Ask

In this post I would like to ponder the apparent dying of Europe and what God might be teaching us. I would first like to present some information and then reflect as to what God might be teaching us.

We have pondered before on this blog that Christian Europe as we have known it is slowly dying away. The Pope has remarked that the lights are going out in Europe. The Christian faith has largely been forsaken by Europeans (only about 10% go to Mass and in many places over 60% describe themselves as atheists). Birth rates have plummeted to death-wish levels, and Europeans are slowly being replaced by Muslim immigrants who have a much higher birth rate. It is unlikely there will be any huge war that will usher in a Muslim Europe, just a slow and seemingly inexorable replacement as Europeans die out and Muslims from North Africa and other areas replace them.

There is already some evidence of Europe slowly giving way to its new identity as enclaves of Muslims become increasingly insistent on replacing European Law with Shariah based law and observance. Slowly these enclaves are growing. They have met some resistance to be sure, but their growth is undeniable. (See the map of France at the upper right. The darker shades of purple indicate a larger numbers of Muslim enclaves or “no-go” areas discussed below).

There is an increasingly common thing in European cities often referred to as  the “no-go zone or area.” They are Muslim sections of towns where the police, medical rescue crews, and other government agents will not venture. Some of these areas are “governed” by Muslim gangs. The areas are viewed as just too violent and/or risky to enforce laws. Other areas or zones have enacted Sharia Law, and community leaders enforce it. Local government officials are discouraged from, or no longer attempt to enter these “no-go zones” even to put out fires, enforce law or make infrastructure repairs for they are unwelcome and often meet with resistance and violence. In effect the no-go zones become a microstate.

In France no-go zones are referred to as Zones Urbaines Sensibles (Sensitive Urban Zones). Approximately 12 percent of all French in France live in a Sensitive Urban Zones. Many of the zones are governed under Islamic Sharia law and Islamic militants strongly resist any presence of the French police.

The rest of Europe is going down a similar path. England, for example,  is struggling with many immigrants who insist on living under non-English Law. All this means that political unity is threatened.  Europe, with a dying population and hostile minority groups, faces a bleak future. It seems clear that Europe is simply being replaced. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Now, to be sure, there are some who dispute this picture and insist it isn’t that bad. But, even if the seriousness of the current situation is disputed, the trajectory seems rather clear, and Europe’s future as increasingly Muslim is hard to deny.

It will surely be harder for the Church as well since religious tolerance is not widely appreciated in the Muslim world. Much will depend on how radical the brand of Islam that sets up will be. If Sharia is largely insisted upon and enforced things could get very difficult.

Sharia Law is the religious law of Islam. It comes from the Quran and also the known practices of the Prophet Muhammad. All Muslims believe that Sharia is God’s law but they have many different interpretations of it. It is not necessarily fair to simply condemn the wish for it outright since not all Muslims hold to or wish to see enforced its more odious components. Nevertheless, with Muslim extremism on the rise many rightly fear its wider imposition throughout Europe. Some of the more extreme tenets of Sharia include:

  1. Jihad, is defined as “to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion.” It is the duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of state (Caliph). Muslim Caliphs who refuse jihad are in violation of Sharia and unfit to rule.
  2. A Caliph (head of state) is exempt from being charged with serious crimes such as murder, adultery, robbery, theft, drinking and in some cases of rape.
  3. A caliph must be a Muslim, a non-slave and a male.
  4. A Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed immediately.
  5. A Muslim will be forgiven for murder of: 1) an apostate 2) an adulterer 3) a highway robber. Vigilante street justice and honor killing is acceptable.
  6. Sharia dictates death by stoning, beheading, amputation of limbs, flogging even for crimes of sin such as adultery.
  7. Non-Muslims are not equal to Muslims under the law. They must comply to Islamic law if they are to remain safe. They are forbidden to marry Muslim women….recite their scriptures or openly celebrate their religious holidays or funerals.
  8. A non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim.
  9. Banks must be Sharia compliant and interest is not allowed.
  10. Homosexuality is punishable by death.
  11. There is no age limit for marriage of girls. The marriage contract can take place anytime after birth and can be consummated at age 8 or 9.
  12. Rebelliousness on the part of the wife nullifies the husband’s obligation to support her, gives him permission to beat her and keep her from leaving the home.
  13. Divorce is only in the hands of the husband.
  14. A man has the right to have up to 4 wives and none of them have a right to divorce him.
  15. The testimony of a woman in court is half the value of a man.
  16. To prove rape, a woman must have 4 male witnesses.
  17. A rapist may only be required to pay the bride-money (dowry) without marrying the rape victim.
  18. A Muslim woman must cover every inch of her body, which is considered “Awrah,” a sexual organ. Not all Sharia schools allow the face of a woman exposed.
  19. It is obligatory for a Muslim to lie if the purpose is abiding with Islam’s commandments, such as jihad, a Muslim is obliged to lie and should not have any feelings of guilt or shame associated with this kind of lying.
  20. The points are from Nonie Darwish in  “Cruel and Usual Punishment; The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law”

Again, not every Muslim seeks to impose or enforce all of this. But, who is to say what will actually come to be when such a sweeping law is increasingly imposed in Europe? Who will limit the extremists? It is currently a very dangerous scenario that enclaves (no-go areas) are springing up on their own. Without any central authority or constitution to oversee the whole, “justice” comes down to what the local sheriff (er… Caliph) says.  No one can really say that the most extreme forms of Sharia will not become the law in the “wild west” that Europe may become.

Can’t happen here? In the United States, the dynamics are very different and Christians are not simply being replaced. However, there are already some attempts at insisting on Sharia zones in places like Baltimore, and Detroit. There are also increasing demands for “Sharia Compliant” banks, legal practices and the like. Yes, it may happen here but not likely in the way Europe is going. [5]

Some soul-searching. What must we learn?  – It is easy to lament where things may be headed. Indeed there are likely difficult days ahead. But we cannot miss the painful lesson that Europe shows forth, and to some extent America and the whole western world experiences.

First, Europe has lost the source of its strength. It simply does not pertain to strong, unified and cohesive cultures to simply be replaced. Obviously the West, especially Europe, has lost its strength. How has this happened? Europe’s fate was sealed long ago when the faith was largely abandoned and Europeans, as most of the West, set on a path of contracepting and aborting  themselves right out of existence.  Further, in the western world, as natural law and biblical morality have been largely set aside a cascade of deleterious effects have set in: Abortion, divorce, fornication, STDs, AIDS, teenage pregnancy, violence, broken families, poorly raised children, immodesty, pornography, sexual abuse, materialism, greed, individualism, relativism, egotism, and a whole plethora of crude, base and just plain bad behavior. All of this has dramatically weakened Western Culture.

Second, no culture can survive without something higher and outside itself to unite it. The word culture has at its root the word cultus. This is the Latin word for a religious system of beliefs and practices (and not the pejorative sense of “cult” that has come into English). Cultus is the totality of  religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is a very dangerous thing.

Clearly in the West, there has been a misguided experiment to see if we could take the “Cultus” out of Culture, and still have culture.  It is clear we cannot. Without a unifying set of beliefs and understandings that set forth our priorities, moral vision, and ultimate values and goals, we are doomed.

As God was kicked to the curb, first in the academy during the “enlightenment” and then by successive stages  in the wider populace, our fate was sealed. The center cannot hold without the cultus, which is the religious and transcendent basis of culture. A culture must have something outside and above it to knit it together.  The Lord says,

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Is Israel a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder?… Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way?  (Jer 2:13,14,17)

Here in America we have struggled in similar ways. We are still far more religious than Europe, but rampant secularism threatens us as does the setting aside of Biblical morality and Natural Law. We are on a path similar to Europe and very foolish to stay on it.

Tragic Loss – Europe does not even have the dignity of being conquered by an Army. At least then it could go down fighting. No indeed, it is simply fading away by a kind of suicidal death-wish. Despite years of warnings the birth rate continues to drop. The lights are indeed going out in Europe. And it is a tragic loss, for Europe has a great intellectual, artistic and cultural legacy. I cannot claim the mantle of prophet, but barring a miracle, Europe as we knew it is passing away.

The Question we cannot fail to ask – It is one thing to lament the possible coming of a tough, intolerant form of Sharia. It ought to be resisted. Religious Liberty is strongly threatened by a radical form of Islam which may ascend from Europe’s ashes. But we cannot fail to ask, How did we get here? What can we in America and the rest of the West learn? What is God saying to us?

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I am not entirely sure I like the tone of this video. But it does help paint a picture of what is going on in France and Europe.