When I was at university, I learned a lot about 17th century French literature, particularly the plays of Racine and Corneille. My tutor was an expert on that period, and it was a culture shock for a 20th century teenager. Concepts such as honour and virtue featured highly in these plays which were often a contemporary (at the time!) re-telling of classical and biblical stories.
I found it difficult to engage with this kind of literature. Plots often seemed ridiculour and contrived, emotions volatile, and solutions to problems tightly constructed with little bearing to reality, despite the French obsession with ‘vraisemblance’ (making something intelligible or true to reallity!) Duty, nobility and honour all seemed very odd concepts to a 20th century teenager.
As I have grown older, however, I have understood more the complex interplay between emotions and actions, and the effect of principles and beliefs upon behaviour. Our worldview shapes us in more ways than we realise, and although I will never feel comfortable in a 17th century worldview, I have also come to understand that a Christian never feels entirely comfortable in any secular worldview, because every secular worldview will clash with God’s principles and ideas. Every -ism (communism, fascism, totalitarianism etc.) and every solution to the world’s ills (including democracy) will fall short of the kingdom of God. We are all strangers and pilgrims passing through this world, destined for heavenly citizenship and therefore struggling to fit into a society which neither acknowledges or understands the life of faith. The sooner we realise this, the better, as we save ourselves from the bewilderment I felt as a teenager studying French literature! We can stop trying to make sense of the world’s ideologies and learn to live with the tension of having two homes, one a temporary home and the other our ultimate destination. (1 Pet 2:10-12, Heb 11:13-16, Phil 3:20)
