Thorin Oakenshield: "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world"

Thorin upon his deathbed, praising the Hobbit Bilbo.. (The Hobbit p. 260)

The City and the Bible - Part 3

Introduction
In this final session I want to ask: “What do we do with what we have learned about the city?”
We could take a radically “pro-city” turn and be lovers all things urban. But that would be to miss a point: God promises to bless us in the city and in the field (Deut 28), as we have seen.

That means there are blessing particular to both and each needs to eye each other appropriately and learn:

What are the temptations of the city? i.e., what are we in danger of losing, undervaluing or neglecting? What are the positive challenges of city life? What are some of the strengths of rural, agrarian, country life that are needed to supplement urban life?


Aspects of Christian Culture in Urban Life

1. 2 Challenges:

There are a set of things that the city might lead us away from:-

1. Pace of life.
The pace of life in the city works against some of the disciplines of the Christian Life, so we have to work extra hard at cultivating them there:-

a. The blessing of slow. Slow is good for many things, slow meals, long conversations, slow reads, time to think. Maggie Jackson in her book “Distracted” she picks up on the shear volume of in puts, bombarded by email, IM, phones, PCs, TV etc.
Tolkein makes this point through Treebeard, “let us not be too hasty”..

b. Thinking. Time to think. The Bible tells us to read, to “consider”, “meditate” “think”..
Meditate
Josh 1:8. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.”
Ps 104:34. “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.”
Ps 119:15, 48, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” And “I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.”
Ps 143:5. “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”
Consider:
Job 37:14. “Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.”
Ps 107:43. “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.”
Lk 12:27. “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin…”

c. Blaise Pascal: “All of man’s misfortune comes from one thing, which is not knowing how to sit quietly in a room” and “But take away their distractions and you will see them wither from boredom. Then they feel their hollowness without understanding it, because it is indeed depressing to be in a state of unbearable sadness as soon as you are reduced to contemplating yourself, and without distraction from doing so.(III. 70)”

Note: the rate of change in our culture is the greatest in history – so this is a new challenge, but one given by God.

2. Humility and Reliance on Nature/Creation;
We know the temptation of city culture: “ let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4). Living so close to human achievements, is a temptation to pride and self-reliance.
Hence people “burn out” in the city.

We are face to face with beauty and God’s creation – Ps 19:1f. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” We are closer to the earth, the soil and the means of our sustaining.
We are nearer to the seasons and the natural patterns and rhythms of created life.

Surrounded by the concrete, the world that man has made we might be tempted to a false security and loss of humility.

The Market gets into everything, in the wrong way…


2. The Positive Challenge of the City:

1. Centres of Civilisation and Global Impact.
The end of history, according to Scripture, is not a garden, but the city of God – the new Jerusalem - a civilisation with all the kings of the earth bringing their treasures into it (Rev 21:24. “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,”).
Cities are places of leadership and direction-setting for whole nations and cultures. Cities are centres of government and culture, commerce and the arts. God has placed us in a place of leadership.

In the city you are living at the edge of innovation and leadership. Challenge: In the city there are more people like “me”, and therefore there is more of a challenge to excel and improve etc. The city is inherently challenging.

In the city people are open to new ideas and to change – because they are constantly confronted with such things. This is an opportunity of the gospel. Whereas in the village where little changes,,,,

It’s where the people are… UNPF (UN Population Fund) “The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities. By 2030 this number will swell to almost 5 billion, with urban growth concentrated in Africa and Asia.”

More than that, London is a place of world impact – the world comes to the city, and cities touch the world. Change London and you have global impact.

New groups, immigrants, new trends start in the city. They can be reached in the cities.


2. Parish and neighbourhood.
The very density of the city means that “parish” is real possibility. It’s hard to be a parish if you are miles for anyone else.

It is the impersonalism of the city that is our opportunity;
a. Being together, eating together…
b. Family life
c. Creating a parish.


Conclusions
Just as we are to love sinners and aim to win them, so we must love London and strive to win it for Christ! How do I love a drowning rebel? Christ does. How do I love a dirty, crowded city, Christ wept over one!

What are the new patterns and habits we need to preserve? How do we become more city+.

Every weakness of the city is our opportunity – an opportunity make it work and grow.

Steve Jeffery on the New Atheism from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

O Sing a New Song to the Lord from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

The Son of God goes Forth to War - Psalm Sing from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

O Twas a Joyful Sound to Hear - Psalm Sing from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Psalm Sing - Christ Church, Moscow, ID from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Psalm 149 - Psalm Sing, Christ Church from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Before Thee Let My Cry Come Near from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Vittorino Da Feltre and Other Humanist Educators by William Harrison Woodward

Vittorino was a pioneer humanist educator, a true renaissance man, committed to Christian faith and classical education. Vittorino's humanism was not a faith in man, a slant towards unbelief, but the application of the humanities within a Christian world and life view.

For the twenty-two years that he taught in Mantua, Italy, he took in a mix of students: the children of the rich and wealthy, whom he charged high fees for the privilege, as well as the poor, but capable.

Vittorino believed that the life and example of the teacher were central to a sound education. Moreover, he developed close and loyal relationships, whilst maintaining a rigorous scholarship and discipline.

He collected books when books were scarce and expensive. He loaned and shared freely.

He denied himself for his students, becoming like a father to them.

This book, published in the late 19th century is in three sections: a biography of Vittorino, an insight into christian classical education. Then is the text of several renaissance educators, describing their methods and worldview; and finally Woodward summarises the key principles and emphasesof these men.

The City and the Bible - Part 2

Introduction
As a church in a city, London, we want to understand what it means to be the City of God in a city of the world. So we have explored the City of God as where it is all heading in God’s purpose for the world. Now I want to fill in the middle.

What was life in an ancient city like?

Ancient cities, whilst smaller than modern cities, were densely populated and crowded, urban areas:
Rodney Stark says in “Cities of God”,
“Greco-Roman cities were small, extremely crowded, filthy beyond imagining, disorderly, filled with strangers, and afflicted with frequent catastrophes – fires, plagues, conquests and earthquakes…
Great density was reflected in the extremely narrow streets of Greco-Roman cities. Even the famous roads leading out of Rome, such as the Via Appia and Via Latina, were little more than paths, being about 16 feet wide. Within the city, Roman law required streets to be 9.5 feet wide, but many were narrower than that”. (p.26-27)


2. From the Garden to the City – the Story of Jerusalem.

Abraham
We know that Abraham was given the land but did not possess it. Instead he sets up altars throughout the land.

1. Abraham and Melchizedek – Gen 14:17f. Abraham defeats Lot’s captors and the Priest-King of Salem (Ps 76:2) comes out to meet Abraham. He blesses Abraham and feeds him with bread and wine. Abram tithes the plunder to Melchizedek. This is already pointing to where Jerusalem’s purpose lies – but not yet.
2. Abraham is told to sacrifice his only son on Mt. Moriah (Gen 22:2) – which becomes Zion and the Temple Mt. (2 Chron 3:1). Everything is being prepared and marked out.

Joshua
Joshua is able to take the city (Jud 1:8) but is unable to drive out the Jebusites who live there (Josh 15:63). Joshua is not completely successful.
By David’s time the Jebusites have firm control of the city again.

David and Jerusalem
2 Sam 5:4-6 – David is crowned in Hebron from which he rules for 7 years. Then once Jerusalem is taken he rules there for 33 years – total 40 years. This is the story of the Hebron-Jerusalem transition.

i. David takes the impregnable city: 5:6-10 the Jebusites (Canaanites) occupied the city. They think it is impregnable. They are proud. David takes the city where Joshua had failed. David is the new Joshua. It’s called the “stronghold of Zion”, “city of David”
ii. David builds it out. David takes the stronghold, occupies and builds it out…How? See:5:11-12 a gentile king, Hiram King of Tyre, sends cedar and workmen to help David build His home.
iii. 5:12. David is established.
iv. David defeats his enemies; From there David defeats the Philistines (5:17-25)
v. The Ark is restored and placed in Jerusalem (6:1ff) and established in its tent (6:17);
vi. Rest: see:7:1ff David has rest from his enemies: 8:1ff Philistines, Moab, the Syrians (Hadadezer) and more v12.

Note this is about the maturity of David’s life and reign: consolidation in Jerusalem. City-building is a maturity theme – it forms the basis for a world-influence.

But, David temporarily loses the city to Absalom -
2 Sam 15. and David has to flee the city and goes to the wilderness (15:23) – a sort of reversal of the conquest.
David defeats Absalom
19:9ff. David returns to the city. Why? Because David is not Christ – the old covenant antecedents always leave us looking for more… there is an incompleteness.

Solomon
Solomon establishes the Kingdom on a more global level and the Temple is built. Zion is a temple-centre.
The Psalms form this period and after suggest a world-significance for Zion and the worship-centre:

What do these psalms says about the city of God: Ps. 46, 48, and 87.
Look at the exalted language:
• God is there (48:1) – so admire Zion is to admire the Lord (48:12-14)!
• It’s identified with the people, “Mt Zion rejoice!” (48:11a)
• So that when the people rebel it is the city and temple that are destroyed…

Exile and Restoration
The city is destroyed and the people are taken into Exile. Read Lamentations , “How lonely sits the city that was full of people..”
The Restoration involves the rebuilding of the city (Nehemiah) and the Temple (Ezra, Haggai etc). Restore the covenant = rebuild the Jerusalem.

Jesus and the City
What does Jesus do?
His ministry cycles in and out of the city culminating in:

1. Jesus triumphantly enters the City of Jerusalem and then cleanses the temple (Mk 11:1-19)

2. Condemnation and Prediction of its Destruction within a generation – fulfilled in AD70 (Matt 23-24). Again that when the people rebel it is the city and temple that are destroyed…

3. Jesus is crucified outside the city

Acts and the Apostles
The Apostles go from Jerusalem to the rest of the cities of the world (Acts 1:7-8). They go to the cities. Meanwhile later Jerusalem is sacked by the Romans, the Temple destroyed, but the new Covenant people of God are the new Zion, the City of God (Heb 12:2ff).


Conclusion: What do we learn?

(1). The history of the covenant is a story of the City Of God.

(2). This sets us up for working out what it means to be the City of God in a city of the world. Next time we explore how to live in the city. What are its challenges, temptations and blessings.

Rora House Home Educator's Camp Talks 2009

POETIC LIVES: 2. Story

Introduction
How much of the Bible is story or narrative? Ans: the whole book is a narrative, a story.
Even though it is a collection of histories, poetry, prophecy, it is a single unfolding story. Being able to see the flow of narrative is important.
The Bible contains one over-arching narrative explaining the foundation and purpose of all things:
The Bible begins in the Garden (Gen 2) and it ends in the Garden-City (Rev. 21-22);
One of the refreshing aspects of Bible work in recent times is the turn to read the Bible as literature, stories and narrative. Rather than picking over the textual details, what is the story? How do the stories work?
Here’s a proposal: let’s look at the Bible against the background of the literature, the stories, of its own time: the ancient world. And ask:

What kind of story is the Bible? Tragedy or Comedy?
What is the difference between tragedy and comedy?

1. We already know that we live in a spoken world: a world planned, scripted and ordained by God, life is narrative spoken by God, through Christ.

(1). The “big” story in the Bible is not merely a return to Eden, but about moving forwards towards the new garden-City of God(Rev 21-22). The goal of history is not a return, but an advance towards a renewed and glorified Creation.
(2). According to Paul in I Cor. 15:42-49 the story moves from the natural body to the glorious resurrection body (vv46-47). This means that the resurrection of Jesus is foundational to what kind of story the Biblical story is.
(3). The best that paganism could aspire to be a return to the Golden Age - a return to the beginning. Therefore, they saw all history as decline, a falling away from the golden age in the past.

Hesiod: Work and Days (170-201) we read of the golden age, the silver, bronze, the age of the demigods and finally the iron ages: “(ll. 170-201) Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the fifth generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards. For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with their evils. And Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth (6). The father will not agree with his children, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as a foretime.”
What is the essence of this? Life is tragic, characterised by strife and conflict. Work is a curse; the unspoiled world of nature is best is lost.

For the ancients , like Homer etc, history is ultimately tragic, and the best one can attain is a heroic death.

The original state was an undefiled, natural world, and all culture is a move away from the original state. Civilization is a symptom of decline. Sound familiar? The Environmentalists.

In contrast Genesis presents the creation of civilization as man's purpose (Gen 1:26ff, 9:1ff ).

Wordsworth’s The Prelude – again the Roamntics place the city and the country and nature in opposition:

"OH there is blessing in this gentle breeze,
A visitant that while it fans my cheek
Doth seem half-conscious of the joy it brings
From the green fields, and from yon azure sky.
Whate'er its mission, the soft breeze can come
To none more grateful than to me; escaped
From the vast city, where I long had pined
A discontented sojourner: now free,
Free as a bird to settle where I will.
What dwelling shall receive me? in what vale 10
Shall be my harbour? underneath what grove
Shall I take up my home? and what clear stream
Shall with its murmur lull me into rest?
The earth is all before me. With a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!
Trances of thought and mountings of the mind
Come fast upon me: it is shaken off, 20
That burthen of my own unnatural self,
The heavy weight of many a weary day
Not mine, and such as were not made for me.
Long months of peace (if such bold word accord
With any promises of human life),
Long months of ease and undisturbed delight
Are mine in prospect; whither shall I turn,
By road or pathway, or through trackless field,
Up hill or down, or shall some floating thing
Upon the river point me out my course?

So Daniel 2 undoes this myth - the statue of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron - and then the twist: the stone "not made by hands" comes, destroys the image and grows into a world-filing mountain Kingdom. Gods Kingdom in Messiah. The Iron is not the end, but the occasion for God’s new beginning! (see also Is 60:15-17)
Therefore, for us, History, the story of the world is Comedy - it heads towards a marriage and restoration.

How does this work out in life?
1. Ecclesiastes helps us grasp something of the tension in this fallen world, in between redemption and consummation: without falling into the tragic worldview.
There are tragic stories in the Bible: examples? Absolem; Job; Judas; Demas.
In Eccl 1:12f Solomon tells us that life “hebel”, i.e. futility, vanity, and vapour.
Qu: What is the answer is in 2:24-25; 3:12-13; 5:18-20 ? Ans: not stoical resignation, but joy, feasting and faith! Even in the face of the frustrations, the transitoriness of life, and the vapour!
It’s not that we have a smiley-faced view of life, “now I am happy all the day”. Tragedy is not less real - the Cross is the centre of Tragedy, but it is not the end.
We do not end on the Cross, but in the empty tomb to the ascension, rule and consummation.

2. What about fiction, and the fantastic?
Sometimes good Christian people feel uncomfortable with fiction and particularly to fantasy and science fiction.
Let's look more closely at fiction by comparing a "realistic" piece of fiction with a piece of "fantasy fiction".
Does the "realist" account really reflect reality? Does a story that describes human events "as they appear" describe reality as it really is? In fact a whole set of important things are missing: e.g. where are the Angels? Where is Satan? Where is "love"? Or God? How is the past shaping this story? Where is Providence? Douglas Jones: "The assumption is that reality is pretty much what bare science says it is, blocks of chemicals and cells of organisms pushing off each other, everything visible and measurable"

J. R.R. Tolkein noted that secondary world of imagination is made out of the primary world, and - this is the key part – it reveals or "makes luminous" the things of which the primary world is made." (Caldecott: Secret Fire. p. 96). Tolkein, "Faerie contains many things besides elves and fys, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons; it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all the things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stones, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted".(quoted in Secret Fire. P, 96)

According to Tolkein, is not escape, but a deeper revelation of reality. Tolkein had some useful things to say about fantasy. In On Fairy Stories he wrote: ”..That the images are of things not in our primary world(if that is indeed possible) is a virtue not a vice. Fantasy(in this sense) is, I think, not a lower but a higher form of Art, indeed the most nearly pure form, and so (when achieved) the most potent. (p. 139).

In fact Tolkein said that we write stories because we are the image of God: “Fantasy is a legitimate exploration of human creativity under God: Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made but made in the image and likeness of a Maker”.( p. 145)
Fantasy gives us a fresh look at reality: "We need, in any case, to clean our windows; so that the things seen clearly may be freed from the drab or triteness or familiarity – from possessiveness."
In fact it all depends upon the real world to start with, "Fantasy is made out of the primary world , but a good craftsman loves his material, and has a knowledge and feeling for clay, stone and wood which only the art of making can give. (p. 147).

3. Because the Bible is a story, this pushes us towards Story-telling. This is how God chooses to speak to us.
Where do you begin with the Bible and young children? Ans: Biblical stories are the place to start with our children. The whole sweep, all of the stories.
As with the books, the Story leads to the stories:
Douglas Jones: "Stories frame a child's interior life for living in this world. Fiction is far more realistic than we realize. Fiction and poetry mysteriously transfer truth in a far more powerful way than anything else. God Himself chose to write in passionate poetry and narrative and parables rather than in the bureaucratic style of systematic theology. But again, parents have to lead the way. Many parents, however, have little taste for fiction though they allow it for the "little kids". Some parents disdain fiction because they are bony pragmatists, not having the time, but others even claim that it is unspiritual ("I just want Scripture"). "

Qu: What might be the consequences of not feeding our children on stories?
Jones: "Though I couldn't prove it in an ecclesiastical court, I'm beginning to suspect that parents who don't enjoy fiction must have some serious spiritual problem lurking about, either in a very distorted view of spirituality or in a rejection of beauty. They are like the person who ungratefully refuses to delight in God's handiwork in nature. Time will tell in the lives of their children." (Douglas Jones, Angels in the Architecture. p. 124)
Read the Bible as a total story. Look at how the stories work: look for patterns, look at the structure, look at the language, look for words repeated over and over.

Conclusion
God’s word is the story of the world. Our lives are short stories, planned and scripted by God. But our story is not ultimately tragedy, although there are tragic moments, by a comedy – we end at a new beginning: the resurrection unto everlasting life.

"Outliers" - Malcolm Gladwell

“How do some people achieve so much more than others?” That’s the question. The usual answer has been that it is all down to sheer hard work and ability. If you work hard you can be whatever you want to be. If you have great ability, genius, then you can be successful, you can achieve great things. Gladwell disagrees. Gladwell argues that the question is a little more complicated. Fundamentally, it is not about the individual, rather it's about the family, heritage and community.

“People don’t rise from nothing. They do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But they were invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways that others cannot.” (p. 19)

Some advantages are apparently trivial like the advantages certain individuals have in sports because of their birthday and how that affects the in take to particular sports team or training cycle. Being the older and larger boy (as well as being skilled) in the hockey team is an immediate advantage, just because of when his birthday falls. But there are more important (for us) factors.

The 10,000 Hour Rules
This is the principle that it takes about 10,000 hours of experience in a skill to become outstanding in it, no matter how gifted, or naturally equipped one is. That's the equivalent of ten years of experience. This is shown to be the case form everyone form Mozart to Bill Gates and his peers, “..the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play.” (p. 38) Research at Berlin’s Academy of Music showed tat the differentiation between a body of able student was clear: practice. “.. by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totalled ten thousand hours of practice.” (p.39) 10,000 hours is a huge amount of time and requires encouragement and drive form parents and those round you.

Genius
Again genius alone does not guarantee great success or progress. IQ research suggested that having the highest IQ scores was not the primary connection with later success. To be sure there was a threshold, but differing scores above the threshold did not appreciably improve ones likelihood of better progress or a more successful outcome. Other factors were important. This is illustrated by the sad story of the hugely able Chris Langan, a genius if ever there was one, but one from a poor and deprived and unstable background. In spite of his great ability, Langan did not achieve or become noticed, or even complete his university courses. Why? Because he did not have the input and support of a normal, stable parents, and he lacked that vital ingredient: opportunity.
There are other factors that count, apart from high IQ scores: “IQ is a measure to come degree, of innate ability. But social savvy is knowledge. It’s a set of skills that have to be learned. It has to come from somewhere, and the place where we seem to get these kinds of attitudes and skills are from our families” (p. 102)

This is where middle class parents bring an advantage: “The middle-class parents talked things through with their children, reasoning with them. They didn’t just issue commands. They expected their children to talk back t them, to negotiate, to question adults in positions of authority” (p. 103) The lower class families tended to let the teachers do the teaching, and manage the children but interact with them less. Gladwell calls the former approach “concerted cultivation”. “she is taught how to interact comfortably with adults, and to speak up when he needs to.” (p. 105) and “Their homes were filled with books.” (p.111) In other words, the difference is between teaching and training and just letting the kids grow up.

Heritage and Legacy
Finally, for us, Gladwell points to the legacy of individuals who achieved great success. He reviews the progress of law firms and those who started them. Instead of look at the genius of these men. Gladwell turns to the family background. Law firms started by the sons of Jewish emigrants in the early 20th century. Here’s the pattern: the men who started these new firms that became highly successful were the sons of entrepreneurial, they were born in the early 1930s, and their parents were self-starters, emigrants to New York from old Europe. They all entered the tailoring trade, and started from practically nothing, except a combination of the opportunity before them (a burgeoning garment trade) and hard, hard work. They children went college, tended to wards law and started new firms. Family heritage was key.

Conclusions
Why is this of interest to home educators and Christian educators in particular?

First of all because the legacy of the family is fundamental to a person’s success and usefulness. We of all people ought to want to be useful and there are some key lessons here. Gladwell is clear: family culture is formative. What we parents are like becomes embosed upon the life and development of our children. It’s not what we give our children in terms of material things, so much as the pouring out of ourselves in service for them to lad them, nurture them and provide counsel for them

Second, investment in our children. There are two forms of parenting: involved and removed. Let them grow up or shape them and form them. As parents we have to be committed to the latter over the former. The child must be “taught”, “trained”, and “disciplined”, which means discipled.

Finally, there is hard work. There is no substitute for hard work. But the right work. Christian education needs to concentrate us and our children upon hard work and the results that come from heard work. How many times do Proverbs praise the hard work and diligence of the wise, over the lazy folly of the fool?

The Bible and the City – Part 1

Introduction
What is our view of the city? What is the typical view in our culture?
Where does that view come from?
The 19th Century Romantics, like William Wordsworth(1770 –1850), opening his autobiographical poem, The Prelude (1805) Book 1:-

“Whate'er its mission, the soft breeze can come
To none more grateful than to me; escaped
From the vast city, where I long had pined
A discontented sojourner: now free,
Free as a bird to settle where I will.
What dwelling shall receive me? in what vale
Shall be my harbour? underneath what grove
Shall I take up my home? and what clear stream
Shall with its murmur lull me into rest? “

And at the end of Book 7:
“Oh, blank confusion! true epitome
Of what the mighty City is herself,
To thousands upon thousands of her sons,
Living amid the same perpetual whirl
Of trivial objects, melted and reduced
To one identity, by differences
That have no law, no meaning, and no end--
Oppression, under which even highest minds
Must labour, whence the strongest are not free.”

A more modern writer, Jacques Ellul says this: “The city is dead, made of dead things for dead people. She can neither produce nor maintain anything whatever. Anything living must come from outside. In the case of food this is clear.”(Quoted in Wilson & Jones, Angels in the Architecture. p.129)

Qu: What kinds of words are used to describe God’s order in the world?
Ans: Jesus talks about: His kingdom, “a city set on a hill” (i.e. Jerusalem) (Matt. 5:14-16); the apostles’ talk about “nation” ( 2 Pet 2), “citizenship in heaven ”(Phil 3:20), “people”…
These are all political, city, terms, they express what God’s order in the world is, and how it confronts the world.

1. Starting at the End
You could say that the message of the Bible is the journey from the garden-sanctuary to the City-sanctuary through Christ.

Qu: Look at Revelation 21:1-22:5 and identify the hints, allusions from Gen 1-3 that help us understand what is going on here?

Here are just a few of the parallels:
21:1 A new heaven and a new earth - Gen 1:1, Is 65-66
21:2 A bride adorned for her husband - Eve, Jerusalem
21:3 The dwelling place of God is with man God walks in the Garden Sanctuary - reminds us of “I will be your God and you will be my people”
21:4 Tears wiped away - Is 35:10; 65:19
21:6 The spring of the water of life - Rivers flowing out of Eden
21:7 The one who conquers - see Gen 1:26-28 man is to have rule and dominion
21:9ff Precious stones 2:1ff - Gold and precious stones in Gen. 2
22:1 River of the water of life - The four rivers in Gen 2.
22:2 Tree of life - the trees of life in Rev. 22:1-5.
22:4f Light and dark - No light and dark

What does this mean for the shape of the Bible and the place of the city?
1. It means the whole Bible is developing towards this outcome: the City of God.
2. The outcome of the cultural mandate is the city. The connections to Gen 1-3 and the OT are not repetitions, but developments brought to maturity and completion. E.g. one tree of life in Eden, many trees and 12 types of fruit in Rev 22:2.
3. This development brings together all the key themes, types, images, stories that are developed throughout the Bible, and brings them to completion in Christ and His Church: what does that teach us about living in a modern sinful, fallen city like London?
4. The city is not bad per se, i.e. the city is not bad because it is a city and cities cannot be good. Why? Because the city is where God is taking everything .
5. The New Jerusalem is the Church, the Bride – therefore we are the City of God; God’s new programme for the world, His new civilisation (Rev 21:2); that’s how close the association with the City is for us. We are the city of God living in the city of man.
6. The city is associated with the development of God’s purpose and cultural and civilisation maturity;

2. The First Cities: City Negatives
But the two first attempts at the city appear to take us in a different direction:

1. The first city – Enoch.
Gen 4:16-18. “Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
Note: 4:16 Nod means wandering.
So the first city-building is an act of rebellion: Cain murders, is banished, he wanders and builds a city to consolidate his rebellion, and starts a dynasty – Enoch. This is the idolatrous city founded on an idolatrous family. The first city is built on blood and rebellion (Rome?).

2. Babel.
After the flood there is Nimrod (Gen 10:8-12) who is a city-builder: Babel, Accad in Shinar, and Nineveh. The great cities of the ancient world were built by Nimrod. Which leads to…
Gen 11:4-5. “Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.”
So the Tower of Babel was the city of Babel – a city built in defiance, like the end of Cain’s wandering. It becomes the anti-Jerusalem throughout the rest of the Bible.
The people stayed in one place, they wanted to create a single people and defer God’s command to disperse and fulfil the mandate: they are the first “one world order” crowd, who strive for a single, unified world order apart from God.

Conclusion
The antithesis in the Bible is not urban v. agrarian, city over countryside, but wicked v. righteous.
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field". ( Deut 28:1-3).
 

Douglas Wilson
"Five Cities That Ruled the World: How Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York Shaped Global History."
Five cameos of great cities, but not just great cities for the sake of it, but history-making, culture-shaping cities like Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York. After an introduction to "the city" and why an overly negative downer on the urban is not altogether in line with Scripture, Wilson turns to a informal but informative and engaging walk through the urban landscape.
Most usefully the author relates each city to a cultural theme, e.g. literature for London and commerce for New York, showing their uniqiue contribution to that facet of our life and our heritage.
A really good general knowledge book, full of history and related to the purpose and flow of history and culture.
It would make a good project book and history background reader in the Christian curriculum too.

Benkamin Merkle: The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great
Our friend Ben Merkle has written a biography of great King Alfred, the Saxon king of Wessex who drove back the Danes. Wrtten in a lively, engaging style and with a sense of the adventure of Alfred's life, Ben tells of the struggle with the Danes (Vikings) and also of the spiritual and cultural legacy that Alfred left in our history. His concern for learning led to translations of the Bible and great works of St. Augustine and Gregory The Great into the vernacular (Anglo-Saxon) so that these works might be read by a wider circle.
This is ideal for adults and older children (12+). Home educating families will want to make this a standard "read" for their children, reinforcing their Christian heritage and legacy.

Fustel de Coulanges, The Ancient City
The classic book on the ancient city is available in full as a pdf HERE

Biblical Case for Christian Classical Education - Part 1
In Daniel 2:31ff Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the mighty statue of gold, silver, bronze and iron that is felled by a stone "made without hands", which replace sit and fills the whole earth.
"""You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold,its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
This turns out to be a succession of kingdoms, and Nebuchadnezer is the first of these: "You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold."
We know then that the silver, bronze, and iron are also kingdoms and they come in succession after Nebuchadnezer - " Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these." A clear succession of world kingdoms or empires.
Then these are all displaced by "a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people". Rather , "It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end,.."

They map on like this

Head - God - Bablyon
Chest - Silver - Medo-Persia
Torso - Bronze - Greece
Feet - Iron - Rome

The kingdoms and empires here spoken of are the cultures and kingdoms of the ancient classical world: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. These kingdoms and cultures were displaced by the church but they are the empires that prepared the way for the Kingdom of Christ now. Therefore they are of particular interest to us theologically and historically.
So when we study classical culture correctly we are properly studying the ancient world that formed the backdrop for the coming of the King and His Kingdom, the first time round.

Sunday Programme
I was interviewed on Radio 4's Sunday Programme on the Badman Report. You can listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n6x6t/Sunday_18_10_2009/

It lasts about 10 minutes and can be found 31.13 minutes into the programme.

All went well until the reporter at the end started to talk to the Minister of Education. I won't comment further, see for yourselves.