Today’s Scripture Reading (June 9,
2014): Ezekiel 47
Alexander
Pope’s poem “An Essay on Criticism” (1709) warns that bad criticism is
responsible for doing more harm than bad writing. According to Pope, a critic
who refuses or is unable to understand what the author is speaking about should
also refuse to be a critic of the work. Pope maintains that bad writing may “tire
our Patience,” but a bad critic “misleads our sense” – in essence a bad critic
challenges our intelligence.
Part II of
Pope’s poem contains the famous couplet –
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian
spring.
For Pope, it made absolutely no sense to learn a little
about something – if you wanted to learn, then spend the time and the effort to
know as much about it as you can. It would seem that for Pope, this is the
danger of the critic. The temptation of the critic is to know a little and yet
criticize – often criticizing things that are beyond what they know. The
reference to the Pierian spring is from Greek mythology. The spring was a holy
place – a place where writers came to celebrate their art and to get in touch
with the inner muses – the imaginative center of every writer. There are a few
holy springs in Greek mythology. And there have been a few in Christian history
– especially during the Middle Ages. These springs were often Pagan springs
that were eventually Christianized. Strictly speaking, a sacred or holy spring
is any water source of limited size that has some significance in folklore.
As Ezekiel begins to close of his prophecy, he speaks of
a holy spring. And this is something new. Neither of the temples that have been
built (Solomon’s and Zerubbabel’s or Herod’s) had a spring under the temple.
Ezekiel describes the temple facing the east, and the spring flowing under the temple
from the west side of the building. That would place Ezekiel’s holy spring
directly under the Holy of holies which would have been opposite the main
entrance to the temple. So maybe it is appropriate that the holy water of
Ezekiel’s temple flows directly from the seat of God.
Both of the first two temples required an aqueduct that
would carry water into the temple so that the sacrifices and the various cleansings
could be carried out. According to Jewish law, ritual cleansing had to be done
with naturally pure and unused water that was clear in color, and it must be
poured in order to be effective. And Ezekiel’s spring would take care of all of
these requirements of God –with water that flowed directly from the throne of
God. The water that flows from the Holy of
holies is water that God hopes we will drink deep from – not so that we can get
in touch with our muses, but rather so that we can experience the very Holiness
of God.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel
48
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