Sunday, June 7, 2009

Abraham's Other Children (Acts 8)

Population transfers get ugly. A new line is drawn on the map, and thousands of people who have lived in their hometowns for many generations are told they need to hie[1] to the other side of said imaginary line. After the Balkan Wars, and the Turkish War of Independence, hundreds of thousands of Turkish and Greek refugees hobbled past each other, heading in opposite directions, with whatever household goods they could carry. Literally millions of civilians died during the late 1940s as Hindu and Muslim citizens of British India titrated into the new nations of independent India and Pakistan. This is a bit of history that the survivors, and their descendents, still prefer not to talk about.

Many Palestinians are still angry about their forcible evictions from the homes and farms that had been in their families for centuries. European strangers showed up with wealth and machine guns.

Today's chapter deals with the Samaritans. The ancient empires of the middle east, Assyria and Babylon, frequently enforced population transfers in order to break down local allegiances and thereby strengthen the claims of the Empire. When the Jews were exiled from Israel, some of the lower class folks were left behind. Not worth the effort to relocate, since they had so little in the way of wealth or skills to contribute. Their numbers were augmented by strangers from other nations. Natural predators multiplied in the depopulated area. The newcomers decided they'd better call upon the God of that region for protection, and learned the rudaments of the Jewish faith. They intermarried with the "poor white trash"[2] who were left behind. The resulting population became known as "the Samartans."

When the Jewish exiles came "back home" after the Babylonian captivity, they had done pretty well for themselves. They had the official favor of the Babylonian empire, permission to take what they wanted for building materials, and considerable wealth. They rebuilt their temple, practiced ethnic cleansing, and held the Samaritans in contempt.

When persecution began in Israel, however, Philip escaped to Samaria, where his message was eagerly received. At some point two of the senior apostles, Peter and John, came up from Jerusalem to bless the newly converted Samaritans. This blessing evidently was accompanied by signal and visible results. Let's look at the story.
Act 8:8 Ve o kentte büyük sevinç oldu.
Act 8:9 Ne var ki, kentte bir süreden beri büyücülük yapan ve Samiriye halkını şaşkına çeviren Simun adlı biri vardı. Simun, büyük adam olduğunu iddia ediyordu.
Act 8:10 Küçük büyük, herkes onu dikkatle dinler, "Büyük Güç dedikleri Tanrı gücü işte budur" derlerdi.
Act 8:11 Uzun zamandan beri onları büyücülüğüyle şaşkına çevirdiği için onu dikkatle dinlerlerdi.
Act 8:12 Ama Tanrı'nın Egemenliği ve İsa Mesih adıyla ilgili Müjde'yi duyuran Filipus'un söylediklerine inandıkları zaman, erkekler de kadınlar da vaftiz* oldular.
Act 8:13 Simun'un kendisi de inanıp vaftiz oldu. Ondan sonra sürekli olarak Filipus'un yanında kaldı. Doğaüstü belirtileri ve yapılan büyük mucizeleri görünce şaşkına döndü.
Act 8:14 Yeruşalim'deki elçiler, Samiriye halkının, Tanrı'nın sözünü benimsediğini duyunca Petrus'la Yuhanna'yı onlara gönderdiler.
Act 8:15 Petrus'la Yuhanna oraya varınca, Samiriyeli imanlıların Kutsal Ruh'u almaları için dua ettiler.
Act 8:16 Çünkü Ruh daha hiçbirinin üzerine inmemişti. Rab İsa'nın adıyla vaftiz olmuşlardı, o kadar.
Act 8:17 Petrus'la Yuhanna onların üzerine ellerini koyunca, onlar da Kutsal Ruh'u aldılar.
Act 8:18,19 Elçilerin bu el koyma hareketiyle Kutsal Ruh'un verildiğini gören Simun onlara para teklif ederek, "Bana da bu yetkiyi verin, kimin üzerine ellerimi koysam Kutsal Ruh'u alsın" dedi.
Act 8:20 Petrus, "Paran da yok olsun, sen de!" dedi, "Çünkü Tanrı'nın armağanını parayla elde edebileceğini sandın.
Act 8:21 Senin bu işte bir payın, bir hakkın yok. Yüreğin, Tanrı'nın gözünde doğru değildir.
Act 8:22 Bu kötülüğünden tövbe et ve Rab'be yalvar, yüreğindeki bu düşünce belki bağışlanır.
Act 8:23 Senin kin dolu, kötülüğe tutsak biri olduğunu görüyorum."
Act 8:24 Simun, "Benim için Rab'be yalvarın da söylediklerinizden hiçbiri başıma gelmesin" diye karşılık verdi.
Let's look at a few words here:
  • Ve o kentte büyük sevinç oldu -- And / that / city at / great / joy / there was
  • Küçük büyük, herkes onu dikkatle dinler, -- Small / (and) large / all / to him / with care / listen
  • "Büyük Güç dedikleri Tanrı gücü işte budur" derlerdi. -- Great / Power / is called / God's / power / thus / this is
Simon the Sorcerer found a ready audience among the demoralized Samaritans. As his people began defecting to the Christian movement, he tried to get ahead of the mob.[3] And was willing to pay for the privelege of maintaining a privelged position.

Even if you win a rat race, you're still a rat.


[1] Hie is a somewhat archaic word meaning to quickly relocate oneself. The only contemporary use I know of for this word is in the Mormon hymn, based on a lovely, modal, folk tune If You Could Hie to Kolob. Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or LDS) is a bizarre cult, birthed like so many others, in America. It has been called "the American Islam," since its key figure is a "prophet" who is said to have restored long-forgotten truths. Polygamy is part of official Mormon doctrine, and even extends to their version of God. Kolob, you see, is where the putative deity of Mormonism stashes his heavenly harem.

[2] "Poor white trash" is a derogative term, usually applied to Americans from the Appalachian mountain chain.

[3] Old American joke: "Which was is the mob going? I'm supposed to be its leader!"

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