The Christian Tradition in Babylon

In The Bible is for Everyone, I spent some time thinking about the long, long history and tradition that a twenty-first century Christian inherits when it comes to the Word of God. However, I think it’s important to recognize some of the other traditions we inherit. For example, one I’ve already touched on is the Christian tradition of existing within yet apart from cultures. To frame this discussion, I’ll borrow a thesis of one of many theologians with a great name, Preston Sprinkle: we live in Babylon. Not a literal empire called Babylon, but a nation that inherits many of the same elements that make up the biblical motif or archetype that Babylon represents.

It should be noted many of the points I make in this post were inspired to one degree or another by his work, notably his podcast: Theology in the Raw. However, I’ll be looking at these points from a perspective that knits them together in a unique way, as well as pulling in other material.

America as Babylon

Babylon in the Bible

Babylon, as a motif, represents the idolatrous empire of the day. It traces its biblical roots back to the tower of Babel, a story of mankind trying to make salvation and protection for themselves. The Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar comes later, but is the one responsible for the exile and the end of the first temple period. Later prophets use Babylon as a title for other oppressive empires, notably including the Roman empire. The Revelation of John also references Babylon, which is likely a symbolic use of the name rather than a reconstructed empire from the region we know as Iraq.

The marks of the archetype of Babylon are fairly consistent – power, wealth, selfishness, and idolatry to name a few. Those who built the tower sought to elevate themselves to the heavens, making themselves gods in their own right. (The Old Testament had at least a symbolically overlapping understanding of the night sky and the spiritual realm; this is why we often refer to the starry sky as the heavens.) Babylon itself was truly an empire, including the imperial ambitions achieved through a strong military. Though things were generally good for many in the empire, one only needs to look at the Pax Romana to see the flaws. Peace was achieved through a strict and hierarchical set of rules, enforced with absolute consequences. This hierarchy enabled the transfer of wealth and power toward the top, and even those with a passing knowledge of Roman society know of the cult around the emperors. The result was that the empire demanded absolute loyalty, didn’t care in the slightest for the oppressed, and was quick to snuff out any grumblings of discontent.

Babylon Today

I think there’s a few ways these features are found in America. It is clearly evident that America is the wealthiest and most powerful nation in history. By taking military equipment slated for decommissioning and turning it into hand-me-downs for Ukraine, the American military has brought the geopolitical boogeyman of four generations to its knees. On the civilian side, an American passport will guarantee your safe passage through most of the world, or else make you a target for extortion on the bet that the response will be out of wealth rather than power.

(A note: During the time I was working on this post, America and Iran arranged for a prisoner swap. Five American citizens were released in exchange for five Iranian citizens, plus almost six billion dollars. At a personal level, I obviously celebrate the freeing of the Americans, who were broadly viewed as hostages used for leverage. At a geopolitical level, I think the fact that an American life is worth $1.2 billion in leverage more than an Iranian life speaks to the point I made above.)

Imperialism abounds as well. Decades of meddling in the Middle East have only made enemies for America. There and elsewhere, American influence is exerted through more military bases than we’re even allowed to know about, enabling the military to exert American influence anywhere globally in a matter of hours.

As for inequality and oppression, the argument practically makes itself. Domestically, we face the failure of slavery and a botched reconstruction; a housing market that provides vacation homes and enough empty properties to give one to every man, woman and child that will sleep in a shelter or on the streets tonight; and a medical system that is built around multiple layers of fiduciary relationships to investors – not patients. Internationally, the nation’s foreign policy prides itself on making America the world’s peacekeepers, a stance that privileges American resources and lives well above any others despite being both arrogant and hypocritical. This policy has led to a legacy that affects even American citizens who live in what are effectively colonies, such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and Samoa.

And idolatry abounds even more. The all-holy dollar rules many peoples’ lives. For those who can manage to live for something else, many devote themselves to one of the issues above. Though well-meaning, their conviction often creates division and strife rather than resolution. Others still follow celebrities with rapt attention to their every move – often from a political perspective, intermingling celebrity worship with tribalistic politics. To top it all off, there’s a civil religion analogous to the Roman imperial cult most Americans don’t even recognize as such.

Civil Religion

I have a lot of things to say about this, but lack the grace and compassion to write about it thoughtfully and with the depth and respect the topic and my readers deserve. Instead, I’ll pull a point from Theology in the Raw, episode #1077: Dr. George Kalantzis points out that a Christian in America will almost certainly have the Pledge of Allegiance memorized, but may not even know what the Nicene Creed is or why it’s considered important. (In brief: because it’s the boundary line between Christian faith and sects like LDS and JW.) If you’d like to hear a more in-depth discussion of these similarities, this topic comes up in that episode about 20 minutes from the end.

The Tradition In Babylon

So now that I’ve laid out the case that we live in Babylon, we’re in the rare situation that is addressed directly by scriptures. If you’re familiar with the history described by the Bible, you know that after David and Solomon, the kingdom of Israel saw rapid decline until it was conquered and its people exiled – first the northern kingdom by the Assyrians, but it actually was the empire of Babylon that conquered Judah and tore down the temple in Jerusalem.

Through this whole time period, God still spoke to His people through prophets. Warnings, calls for repentance, and prophetic visions of judgment all abounded during the decline – and He was there to meet them at the bottom as well. The stories of exiled Jews such as Daniel and Esther have a lot to teach, but for brevity’s sake I’ll cite Jeremiah 29 – a letter written to the first Jews who were taken from Judah to Babylon.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Jeremiah 29:4–7

There’s a lot going on in this passage even if you are familiar with the exile’s timeline and history, but the broad strokes are clear: live fruitful lives and pray that the place you live in prospers, because so will the kingdom of God that is in the same land.

Doing a somewhat deeper reading of this passage, it’s chock full of Eden imagery. The command to garden and eat the fruit of their work, and the command to go forth and multiply – these are straight out of God’s first commands to mankind. There’s also a subtler point that I have to thank The Bible Project for pointing me to: the word for city in Hebrew (used in verse 7) sort of “rhymes” with the word for “helper”, which God “built” for Adam in Genesis 2. (Listen to The City: Episode 2 for a deep dive on that concept.)

This makes it clear: not only is God with His people in this foreign land, but God’s plan is why they’re in a foreign land. And while they’re there, they are to live fairly normal lives, but first and foremost devoted to Him.

They are not to fight Babylon or to be against it, but to thrive with and in Babylon.

Ruling Babylon

There’s a common refrain today that we should make our contemporary Babylon into God’s nation. To that, I’ll first point to the next few verses of Jeremiah, which cover false teachers. If someone calls for Christians to take authority and save our nation, how does that square with the Gospel? Does authority sound like sacrificial love for God and your neighbor? Does rule of law comply with turning the other cheek? Can we save our nation – an authority put into its position by our all-sovereign God – when the only salvation is a gift of grace?

In addition, to believe Christians are above the temptations and pitfalls of having power is to deny that we are every bit sinners saved by grace as anyone else. It’s a recipe for scandal, abuse of power, and silencing victims. The overarching theme of the Old Testament is that no man is good enough, except Jesus – whose sacrifice does not make our actions perfect in this world, but rather absolves what is imperfect about us for the next.

One could argue that Daniel was, as governor over the province of Babylon, a government authority enacting God’s will. First, I’d caution against following any Old Testament character’s example without careful examination – the stories in the ancient scriptures are often of God using people for a grand plan in spite of their actions or the position they’re in. Second, the context was vastly different: the Hebrews were under the Torah, which set out conditions and penalties, condemning them to death for their sin. The very fact that they even had rulers was not part of God’s desire, as exemplified in the 1 Samuel 8. Third, and perhaps most important: the book of Daniel says absolutely nothing about how he performed in that role. Even if we assume he exemplified God’s will perfectly, the records teach us nothing of how to emulate him if a conflict arises between our faith and our duty to govern.

Dr. Kalantzis also makes a number of arguments on this matter in the podcast I mentioned earlier, primarily from the perspective of the early Church – and notably, that means under the new covenant. One core part of his argument: how can a Christian swear to govern with justice, when we are called to share mercy?

Practical Consequence

I believe that wisdom converges on itself – regardless of whether you seek the right principles to live by or the right actions to take, one will lead to the other.

Living by the principle that we live in Babylon frames things in such a way that keeps our faith pure. So many want the best for our country – which is good – but they have made the country part of their faith. This leads to a faith of politics or patriotism, and because our lives are not built on the Rock, we are shaken with political and national events.

To be faithful to Babylon means being distraught and shaken in November of 2016 or 2020 after hours of watching election numbers roll in. To be faithful in praying for Babylon means asking for the wisdom of whoever is in office. Being faithful to Babylon is to be shaken by tragedy, always unsure of what the future holds and anxious for what may happen next. To pray for Babylon is to hope that our nation sees prosperity and peace, yet grieving when tragedies happen in this fallen world – yet standing firm on the hope and assurance of a new creation.

There is an economy that thrives off of your attention, and it thrives off of such idolatry – if people worship their politicians or nations, they’ll happily sit through a commercial break to make sure they don’t miss a second of punditry. That incentivizes the middle man to get better at holding your attention – to be more bombastic and inflammatory, preying upon your emotions, and encouraging you to build those very idols they can then sell to companies.

Take some time to reassess where your attention goes, and where your heart truly lies. It is good to want our nation to prosper, but like all earthly things, make sure it holds its proper place in your heart. If you make it your ultimate hope, it will let you down.