2024-04-28 12:55:51
Our hopeless times, in need of salvation, suggest that we turn to the great texts of tradition for advice, regardless of their origin. Philosophy, literature, religion – in the canon of tradition there must be found, if not a solution, then at least an explanation for the crises of the present.
But the Old Testament of all things has a bad image – the Old Testament God, who is anything but squeamish about his disobedient creatures and follows the motto “As you are to me, so I to you”, seems to represent a very authoritarian strategy of retaliation – and to be more part of the problem than the solution.
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Marilynne Robinsons „Jack“
Marilynne Robinson In her acclaimed novels, she repeatedly tells of the mysterious work of God in the world and of the inner struggles of people who should and want to be merciful and yet can always be a small, decisive step too little.
In her books, Robinson turns the small fictional town of Gilead in Iowa into the stage on which the great eternal human drama of guilt, forgiveness, wrongdoing and redemption is played out, a wicked, fallen world to which God’s grace yet strangely steadfastly clings. Robinson, born in 1943, is herself a member and preacher of the Congregational Church (a variant of Calvinism) and a theological thinker, widely honored academically.
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Marilynne Robinson’s “Home”
In her new book It is dedicated to the book of Genesis, which has always fascinated artists and writers with its dramatic stories of the fall of man and the expulsion from paradise, Cain and Abel, the flood, Abraham and Isaac. An original book, not only for Judaism and Christianity, but for cultural history as such, which, like the Homeric epics or the Greek tragedies, provides mythical constellations in which people have repeatedly interpreted themselves.
Cain as ancestor
Robinson subjects the book of Genesis to a close reading, always with an eye on the entire salvation history of the people of Israel, which always stands for humanity as a whole. She reads the story of Cain and Abel, which is often understood as the beginning of a fatal chain of violence, from its conclusion: the perfidious fratricide out of envy – God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s – is not only not avenged, but Cain is killed by God even placed under special protection through the proverbial Mark of Cain, which does not mean a stigma, but rather a distinction. And not only that, Cain is also richly blessed with descendants; as an ancestor he has his own role in world historical progress.
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Robinson finds two inextricably linked attributes of the Hebrew God exemplified here: justice and Pity. The fact that God does not cast Cain out or even kill him despite his actions proves his loyalty to people, even and especially when they go wrong.
A very similar dynamic is at work later in the story of Joseph and his brothers. The brothers are not punished for their reprehensible murder attempt, but are viewed as instruments of providence, which ultimately brings them back together with Joseph in Egypt during the time of famine. For Robinson, who knows as much about theology as she does about narrative, this is a framework that shows God as a merciful and loving God, a faithful ally.
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Poet Christian Lehnert
In the story of Noah and the Ark, Robinson emphasizes less the angry destruction of almost the entire living world than the opportunity it offers for a new beginning with the saved core. In comparison to the Babylonian model, the flood story of the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is always about people. Noah, Adam’s doppelganger, retains his autonomy even after the great reset; the original creation is therefore not negated or corrected. Man remains free even after his moral failure – as the image of God, not as his subject.
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Robinson writes as a devout Christian, but at the same time as a passionate and precise reader who wants to get to know her God better in the biblical texts. This curiosity gives the book an underlying energy and a tone full of confidence, unusual enough for the present, which sees itself walking close to the abyss.
The Bible stories are not the past, they are not even really finished. The readers of the Bible are themselves a part of its history. From Robinson’s point of view, we continue to be tested as to whether we prove ourselves worthy of the advance of trust that this God, against all experience, continually shows people.
Marilynne Robinson: „Reading Genesis“. Virago, 31 Euro.
Here you will find content from third parties
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.
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