Agynbite of Inwit means, in a dialect of Middle English, "the prick of conscience." It is our thoughts, our mind, our idea of right of wrong, "biting" us in the inner being and telling us that we have done something, thought something, harbored ideas or attitudes are wrong and should be eliminated from our thinking.
The focus of this blog—like the original Ayenbite of Inwyt written by Dan Michel of Northgate in 1340—will be matters related to faith and to morality and to the proper perception of them.
Proverbs: The Fool
Proverbs
is not a book that lends itself to sermons. Unlike the other books of the Old
Testament there is no continuous narrative; unlike the books of New Testament
there is no narrative and no subsequent teaching about the narratives. Proverbs
has a few sections that approach this, but they are short; it is at base
collection of aphorisms—wise sayings, quotable quotes—meant to be learned,
memorized, and relied upon for guidance in life. It is a book of moral instruction.
Each aphorism stands alone.
But
Proverbs does have features that approach being thematic. These are found in
character types. The most noticeable is the thematic dichotomy of the fool and
the wise.
I
remember once reading a translation of Proverbs that kept giving a footnote
saying, "Fool denotes one who is morally deficient." Yes, but the
implication is that you really have to be stupid not to follow God; or that not
following God makes you stupid. By the same token, following God—obeying his
"precepts"—makes you wise; makes you smart and intelligent and
perceptive. This is stated in the introductory paragraph of Proverbs: "The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; but fools despise knowledge and
instruction."
"Fear"
is not dread or angst. It is respect and reverence. And yet (as with the fool)
it also means we need to be wary about disobeying God. It can have dire
results. So, as the fool is immoral and he or she is also stupid, so we are to
fear the Lord, hold him in awe and show reverence to him—but, also, to be a bit
afraid if we disobey. Both characterizations have this primary and secondary
meaning.
For
the last fifty years, our society has attacked this idea. It has worked to make
people into fools. In the 1800s (probably even earlier) the idea began to
circulate that what liberated a person, made life rich and full, and brought
happiness and contentment to one's soul was casting off restraint, determining
one's own morality, and not placing oneself under any sort of moral authority.
The only authority the modern mindset recognizes is that which rises from one's
own mind and one's own intellect.
This
notion picked up steam as time went on. Books and, soon, film and TV
promulgated the idea. Casting off traditional morality was depicted as the
course to take. Those who followed traditional morality were depicted as
foolish, ridiculous, unfulfilled, sinister. Movie after movie, TV show after TV
show reversed the position of Proverbs and depicted fools as heroes and the
righteous as fools. And our society, by and large, has come to believe this.
Innumerable
examples of this could be chosen, but I remember a song by the rock group Black
Sabbath that perhaps expressed it best—a song my friends used to like and point
to as representing their system of belief:
Don't want no Jesus
freak telling me what it's all about
No black magician
telling me to cast my soul out …
Don't want no preacher
to tell me about the God in the sky
No, I don't want no one
to tell where I'm going when I die …
Just believe in
yourself, you know you really shouldn't have to pretend …
"Under the
Sun" by Black Sabbath
The
song expresses the belief of so many—what our society has preached from its
electronic pulpit for so many years and what the majority of people in the
modern society believe. "Believe in yourself" or "Think for
yourself." Don't let anyone influence your choices in life. Decided it for
yourself. Do what you think is right. Do not let anyone impose their ideas on
you. This has been the world's battle cry of the last couple of centuries. And it has
largely won the day—sadly, it has even done so among many Christian believers.
This
is one thing we can definitely say the Book of Proverb does not endorse.
People who live outside of God's moral parameters, Proverbs states, are foolish;
those who allow God's precepts to guide their thinking are wise. Believing in
yourself and rejecting the moral guidance of God's wisdom is stupidity.
More
on the character types of Proverbs next week. We will start with its
characterizing of the fool.
