The Way of Martha and the Way of Mary/Appendices/Appendix 2
An interesting new domain of study is opening for the Bible student in the comparison of what the various nations have taken to themselves in their understanding of the Gospels. Translation itself inevitably changes the emphasis, the accent of various passages. And Slavonic perception, British perception, German perception, American perception necessarily differ. It is a truism to say that we each take from a book only what we wish to take from it. To one who knows Russia and has the feeling for Eastern Christianity, there is no more enthralling occupation than to read the Gospels with an eye to discovering which parts Eastern Christianity has emphasised, which parts Western Christianity has taken; which parts, for instance, Russia has emphasised, which parts America has emphasised.
One evening in Vladikavkaz I had a long talk with Russian friends about this difference in emphasis, and we went through the whole of St. Matthew and discussed many texts of the New Testament.
We started with the Beatitudes, as they are the beginning of the Christian teaching. We agreed that "Blessed are the poor in spirit" was a stumbling-block to the West, a phrase that preachers had to interpret very carefully as having a meaning other than "Blessed are the poor-spirited." In Russia, however, it is perhaps the most important beatitude—at least, two of my Russians held it to be so. In the Russian translation it runs, "Blessed are those who are beggars in spirit." Russia sees blessedness in the state of beggars, in the state of those who have nothing; a beggar in Russian is one who has no earthly possessions. The beggar is a national institution. No one purely Russian in temperament wants to get rid of the beggar—the man who has nothing. Even Gorky calls the beggar the bell of the Lord, the reminder to man that he can have no true possessions here in the world.
The second beatitude, "Blessed are they that mourn," we also took to mean more to the East than to the West. The East feels the blessing of mourning, the West the blessing of being comforted.
The third beatitude, "Blessed are the meek," meant more to the West we concluded. We in England and America look forward to what Tennyson calls "the reign of the meek upon earth." We remember the promise that the lion shall lie down with the lamb. One of the most popular of Western pictures is that of the child carrying a palm-branch, "A little child shall lead them." The East, however, feels that the lions will always be lions, that "the world" will remain "the world" without much change, full of the faithless, the cruel, the predatory, mingled with the faithful, the gentle, the self-abnegatory.
The fourth beatitude, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled," seemed to me to be also a purely Western one. America and the West have taken it specially to themselves. It has been the watchword of the Puritans. But my friend Vera astonished me by reading it, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after truth, for they shall be filled," and on looking at the Russian translation I found indeed that the word was pravda and the popular sense was nearer "truth" than "righteousness." That difference means a great deal to a national outlook.
"Blessed are the merciful" we took to be a Western beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart" to be Eastern. "Blessed are the peace-makers" has become a very Western idea, and King Edward the Seventh was sung to the grave as a saint as King Edward the Peace-maker. "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake" is in Russian "Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of truth"—for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake, for great is your reward in heaven" is taken equally by West and East, though the East feels more that the reward is within you, whereas the West thinks of a reward after death.
We considered the Temptations in the Wilderness. First, it was Eastern to go into the wilderness at all. It would have been more Western to go into the town and find salvation in work, in "doing the duty that lay nearest."
The teaching of the temptation to turn stones into bread has an Eastern emphasis. The Russian, says, "I would not if I could." The Western is ever coming to the Russian and saying, "Lo, your people are starving; but see how undeveloped your country is, you have gold, you have oil, you have coal, you have all manner of precious things in your soils and your rocks; say but the word and they can be changed into bread, and your starving may be fed." But the Russian says, "Bread is not so very important; what is important is the word that proceedeth from the mouth of God."
The second temptation, that of suicide or of nihilism, of casting oneself down from the Temple, is something the West has understood more clearly. The East continually succumbs to this temptation, and the Russian is ever "tempting God."
The third temptation has a great Eastern emphasis; Jesus, in lofty contemplation of the world and of His own genius, understands that He could be a new Alexander and be king of the whole world. He could reign in wonderful glory, and could enact perfect laws for mankind and issue them with the authority of a king. But He denies the world and its glory in the name of the life of the Spirit. The typical earnest American of to-day, if he saw a chance of ruling all the worlds and felt that he had in him the Divine message, would almost certainly take the opportunity; but the typically serious Russian, or at least the Russian monk, would prostrate himself on the ground, saying, "Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve'"—"Him only," that is, not mankind.
On the strength of this introduction I have gone through the main teaching of the Gospel, and have made the following differentiation of how East and West have taken or emphasised or avoided the thoughts and words of the New Testament. We are somewhat tired of the comparison of the Authorised and Revised Versions, or of the English translation with the original Greek texts. Here, I fancy, is something more vital; a comparison of the way the teaching has been generally understood by the masses of the people in the Western and Eastern Churches. I am not comparing the opinions of the authorities in both Churches, but the opinions which hold sway, which make ethics. By this means it may be possible to make what would be a valuable historical record of the position of the progress of Christianity to-day.
The way of the West—what may be called the way of Martha—is easier, more human than the way of the East—the way of Mary. Thus at the Transfiguration the disciple cried out, "Master, it is good for us to be here: let us build three tabernacles." It was not at all necessary to build three tabernacles. The good part was like that of Mary—to sit at Jesus' feet.
But to take the teaching in the order it is given in St. Matthew's Gospel: "Ye are the salt of the earth" has been printed in red ink in the Bibles of the West, and it is generally thought to refer to the just and upright, the elder brothers, the stand-by's of the community as opposed to the prodigals.
"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven," has in the West become a weekly exhortation to give a good alms at collection-time. This is an instance of materialism. The spendthrift East takes its stand more with St. Peter, who was able to say, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I to thee." The giving of money is the least of the good works in the power of the East; "Am I so bankrupt of grace that my function is to give money?" the Eastern may exclaim.
"If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out" means more to the East, where in the monastic life of the Orthodox Church the lusts of the flesh are mortified—that is, made dead; where hermits wear heavy chains and take oaths of silence, or hide themselves from mankind. It is witnessed in many sects, such as the Skoptsi, who deny the world by defunctionising the body!
"Swear not at all" is a simple admonition, appealing directly to the Western mind. In Russia the swearing in ordinary conversation is thick as the weeds on a waste. A curiosity in Russian swearing is the common expression Yay Bogu, which means really, "Yes: I say it to God," but which through carelessness and iteration has become equivalent to something like our "'s'truth." In America, however, the adjective God-damn is commoner than any other unpleasant expression in any country.
"Resist not evil. Who will take away thy coat, give him thy cloke also; and who forces thee to go a mile, go with him twain; and whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." This has been taken more seriously by the Eastern Church. In the West it is more "a counsel of perfection," or the words and the sentiment are taken as an ornament of Christianity. Agnostics and non-Christians make a mock of Christians because they do not turn the other cheek. The teaching is considered of so little importance that it is a Christian act to give a cad a thrashing, and the clergyman well versed in the noble art of self-defence is by no means a rarity. In Russia, non-resistance is a way of overcoming the world and putting Satan behind you. Going two miles with the man who forces you to go one, giving the cloak to the man who takes the coat, turning the other cheek, are podvigs, holy exploits, taking the uniform of Christ's not saving Himself from the Cross.
"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." This has authority in Russia. In England we do not give for the asking, and to borrow is disgraceful. In Russia giving and lending are scarcely virtues; they are a condition of life. America is also ready to give and lend, but not so much to persons as to societies, funds, hospitals, new priesthoods.
"Love your enemies" is the podvig, the holy exploit once more, by which the world is overcome, and is very real in Russia.
"Pray for them which despitefully use you": this is essentially a teaching that has Western acceptance. The Russian does not pray much for his enemies.
"Be ye perfect!" This is a Western ideal, to be perfect. The East does not strive to be better than it is now.
"Do not your alms before men" is generally disregarded by West and East.
"When ye pray, use not vain repetitions": the West has obeyed this monition. The prayers of the East are indeed not unlike the prayers of the heathen. The Lord's Prayer has meant much more to the West than to the East.
"When ye fast, be not of a sad countenance": the West, except in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, does not fast. The Roman Catholic Church, though Western in its locality and constitution, is in many of its customs Eastern—for example, in the celibacy of its clergy, in the monastic life it affords, in its fasting, in its repetition of prayers. A wide gap, however, divides it from Eastern Orthodoxy, and as wide a gap separates it from the leading spirit of the West, the latter being decidedly Protestant. Dostoievsky, in the story of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazoo, treats Roman Catholicism as a great conspiracy to defeat Christianity, and that point of view is taken very seriously by Russians to-day. Roman Catholicism indeed provides a holy way of life, and puts its members in a true position with regard to life and the world, but it does so by authority. Little is allowed to spring from personal initiative, and truths are not so much personal experiences as priestly guarantees. Roman Catholicism stands to one side, and this comparison of the spirit of East and West does not greatly involve her.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." To this the East has paid heed. Russia is the greatest spending nation in the world. No money is saved. Every rouble is spent as it is obtained. In England and America children are actually given money-boxes and taught to save their pennies!
"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on": this is obviously a teaching which conditions the ragged and disorderly and unconventional East. In England and America one might almost think the opposite ideas had been recommended, seeing how we cherish the right crease in the right sort of attire, how we strive to be in fashion.
But "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" is something which obtains the hearty belief of the West. "Take no thought for the morrow" has an Eastern accentuation.
"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" is taken by the West as a cynical utterance. The West believes that Christianity means, "Sufficient unto the day is the good thereof." The West says each day is full of blessing; the East says each day is full of suffering.
"Judge not, that ye be not judged": no one pays much attention to this.
"Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye"—a reproof to the West, not needed in the East. America is terribly censorious and critical of the neighbour. Russia has no censure.
"Ask, and it shall be given you" the West has believed. It has, however, asked for material things. The East has taken rather, "Seek, and ye shall find."
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" is in great favour in the West.
"Enter ye in at the strait gate": this is quite Western in adhesion.
"Beware of false prophets." Both churches have gladly taken this phrase to use against schismatics and dissenters.
"By their fruits ye shall know them." This criterion the West has adopted. Easternism may be said to regard the barren tree as holy. At least, it never curses the barren.
The story of the wise man who built his house upon a rock has edified the West.
To the story of the scribe who wished to follow Jesus, but who apparently wished to do so and remain comfortable and well-off at the same time, and to the story of the disciple who wished to bury his father first, but to whom was said, "Let the dead bury their dead," the West has paid little or no attention, whilst the East has taken it to himself.
The fact that Jesus sat down and ate with publicans and sinners is in the spirit of the East; the West prefers ever the company of the just. The West is glad to have the action of Jesus explained in the following verse: "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."
"Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses." Alas, all Western weal believes that it is founded on gold. If any good work is to hand, the first thing is to raise a fund.
"When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak . . .": this has always been most helpful to persecuted nonconformists and heretics.
"I came not to send peace, but a sword" is overlooked in the West. The West thinks that Christ proclaimed peace. And the peace that was before the Great War was thought to be a wonderful fruit of Christianity—the peace of mutual jealousy and fear, the great commercial peace of the twentieth century, that Kipling calls the "Peace of Dives":
The whole wide earth is laid
In the peace that I have made;
And behold, I wait on thee to trouble it.
"He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it": the West emphasises this thought. Carlyle gave it great force in his gospel of work. "Forget your troubles," says the West; "throw yourself into work and lose yourself—then you'll soon find yourself." The East will not work in that way.
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden" has been comfort to the West.
In the matter of healing on the Sabbath the Western is rather on the side of the Jews.
The question, "Who is my mother and who are my brethren?" has not been acceptable to the West. The West would have preferred Jesus to be a model family man, not only loving mother and brothers and sisters, but having a wife and children about him. The Eastern Church takes its stand with the early Christians and the denial of earthly ties. Sometimes news is brought of father or mother or brethren to the wonderful Russian hermits such as Father Seraphim, but they coldly repel the tidings with Christ's words, "Whosoever doeth the will of God, the same is my brother and sister and mother."
Casting the wicked into the fire—this idea lingers in America, but it is dead in Russia and in England.
The confession of Peter, and the prophecy, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church," the Roman Church has necessarily taken to itself.
The Transfiguration on the mountain—the possessed about the foot of the mountain—is taken as an Eastern understanding of life. The light of transfiguration is the halo about the head of the hermit; the possessed below make the hurly-burly of the world whence the hermit made his escape. "The light of transfiguration," I heard Prince Trubetskoi say in a lecture at Moscow, "is the light of haloes, the light of Holy Russia, the light of friendship."
"Let us build three tabernacles" is, as I said, Western.
The West has believed Jesus in that He answered the question, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" by taking a little child and setting him in the midst of them.
The West has allowed its eyes to rest on the parable of the Talents, but the East has had more appreciation of "The first shall be last, and the last first."
The West has insisted on "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," but it has avoided the condemnation of the Pharisees; the Gospel of St. Matthew reveals itself as the gospel of the kingdom of heaven as opposed to "the world." But the West has sought to find "the world" holy. Western Christianity was started by the conquest of worldly armies, but Eastern Christianity was founded on the example of hermits, eunuchs, stoics, philosophers, fanatics. It had all the advantage of proximity to the place where Christianity started, all the advantage of the traditions of Greek and Roman philosophy. Despite all our study of Greek and of history and of philosophy at the schools, and despite the Russian's lack of study, yet the latter is nearer to the ancient spirit; but he has lived historically in direct relation to Byzantium, and has ever had before his eyes living examples of the way to live a Christian life.
"Many are called, but few are chosen" has had great influence in the West, but the power of the text is waning. Protestantism is becoming more philanthropical, easy-going, and generous than it was in the days of persecution.
The idea of the Second Coming of Christ is a strange will-o'-the-wisp of light that cannot be tracked and is difficult to account for, breaking out ever and anon unexpectedly where you would think it had for ever disappeared. At present it is seen in many places, East and West. Originally it was a very powerful sentiment, but after two thousand years of waiting hope has died down, and it is seldom that whole societies sell up all their worldly goods and repair to the valley of Jehoshaphat to wait the great day.
The story of Mary pouring the precious ointment on Jesus' head rather than selling the ointment and giving the proceeds to the poor, is the way of Mary rather than the way of Martha.
Here perhaps ends the Gospel of St. Matthew as far as definite sentences of teaching are concerned, and probably sufficient ideas have been taken out and compared for the purpose of this differentiation.
As regards the acts of the Gospel, there remains the consideration of the miracles. The healing of the sick, the lame, the blind, has become the example of the West, and what Christ did by miracle they do by science. The East, however, insists on the miraculous, and to-day in Russia thousands of miracles are performed annually at the sacred shrines. Whether these miracles are genuine or no is a moot point. Many certainly are no more than ecclesiastical contrivances for gaining popular support for ikons and shrines. Many are said to be the result of the faith of those who ask the miracle. At Kief and Sarof and New Jerusalem many a blind man receives sight, many a crippled woman straightens herself out, many a sick man is restored to health. The Eastern Church lays stress on the miraculous; the miracle, however, is esoterically understood as mystery. The Russian has an extraordinary capacity for belief.
There remains the Crucifixion, of which I will say no more than that it is the greatest podvig, the crown of the life of Jesus. For the West it is the Resurrection that is emphasised. As I wrote in With the Russian Pilgrims to Jerusalem: "For the Orthodox, He was dead; for the Protestant, He is alive for evermore." So two churches combine to make one truth, and the hand-maidens of the Lord, Martha and Mary, are shown to be indeed two sisters, not only in kindred but in spirit.
THE END
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