The Cyber Kazbá

In the biblical text (Genesis 11:1-8) we read that the people gathered together to build a city and a tower to “reach the heavens” so that the people wont be scattered and that they could make a name for themselves. Then the Lord visits them and says that nothing would be impossible for them and he confuses their languages and scatters them abroad. So what is exactly happening here? Some of us might think that God doesn’t like tall towers, or that perhaps God was opposed to the people making a name for themselves. But I think with a little help from Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) backgrounds we could learn a lot about what is happening here.

The first thing I would like to discuss is the idea of a ziggurat. Ziggurats are ancient buildings located in and around Mesopotamia. These building were temples. Not temples in the sense that they were the place for public worship, but rather resting/dwelling places for gods. Most commonly these ziggurats housed the patron god of the city. The towers are shaped like a pyramid except flat at the top. Most of them look like a giant staircase leading to the heavens. It was thought that the ziggurat was built in such a way to invite/summonsthe deity to come and dwell among the people. In a sense some have argued that the “tower” of Babel is in fact a ziggurat of some sort. The tower of Babel was designed reach the heavens, perhaps not physically (i.e. a tower that is incredibly tall) but spiritually.

So now the story of Babel comes not primarily to describe how the languages were created, but rather to show the first sign of organized religion. What is interesting about the ziggurat set up is that man, is in control. If men do the right thing, say the right prayers, build the right building the god would in a sense be manipulated to comply with Man’s wishes. This organized religion was primarily made to make a special community; i.e. so that they were not scattered everywhere. The religion was also meant to give the people a name, fame, power, money? and who knows what else. So what did God do? He didn’t just create new languages, he destroyed the community. That I think is what is most important about the Babel story; the loss of human community in the face of man centered organized religion.

So now lets jump thousands of years later to Pentecost. I am sure now I wont have to explain this in so much depth as I guess you have probably made the connection. The first obvious connection is the elimination of language and the new creation of community. A community designed for all nations. In a sense Pentecost is the reversal of Babel not just with language but the re-creation of community.

But there is also one more point too that I would like to discuss. The religion in Babel was trying to get access to God, or the gods (I am not sure who) by performing certain tasks and trying to manipulate God/the gods. In a sense all was man initiated and controlled. Pentecost is God coming down not in some temple but the people. It was all directed, initiated and controlled by God. So Pentecost not only re-created community but also revealed true religion.

# posted by Velmer @ 10:21 AM