Do You Think Too Much?

But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning.  Ecclesiastes 7:29  NJPS

Too much reasoning – In our culture, this statement must seem nearly absurd.  We laud reasoning.  We extol intellect.  In fact, our culture believes that the solution of every problem begins in the mind.  Knowledge is power, right?  From politics to psychology, what matters most is understanding the issue and making clear, rational decisions based on that understanding.  When we read a verse like this one, we are apt to conclude that religion is irrational or at best, deliberately ignorant.  Religion is a crutch for the feeble-minded; those who haven’t the courage or the capacity for really serious examination of the facts.  We walk away from belief because it seems to appeal to the simple-minded and emotionally dependent.  We want the facts, the hard facts and compelling arguments to go with them.  Too often it seems that religious people spurn reason.

Is that what Qohelet means?  Is it really true that in order to believe you must put your intellect on the shelf?  If we examine his logic, we may conclude otherwise.

The translation above is from the New Jewish Publication Society Tanakh.  If you read this verse in the NASB, it is completely different.  “ . . . God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”  In the NASB translation, the issue is not cognitive, it is moral.  The NASB translation suggests that men are born with a right relationship with God but they pursue “devices,” that is, those schemes and implements that lead them astray.  But a quick look at the NJPS version tells us something important:  this verse is difficult to translate.  We must be on the lookout for presuppositions.  The Hebrew phrase is hishvonot rabim.  It is used in 2 Chronicles 26:15 for engines or machines of war.  That is the only other verse using hishvonot.  Here in Ecclesiastes, Qohelet seems to be speaking about counting (see verse 27) so the context probably dictates that we translate this word as “calculations” or “plans.”  Of course, in this verse, these are evil plans since they twist what God originally designed to be straight.  If Qohelet is reflecting on the history of human beings, it is clear that Man was created in perfect harmony with God and that Man bent the relationship by following his own plans rather than God’s design.  In either case, whether we follow Chronicles or the context of Ecclesiastes, this word doesn’t seem to be about reason but rather about schemes that lead toward destruction.  The Teacher is not telling us that we think too much.  He is telling us that reason without the boundaries of revelation leads us over a cliff.  He is telling us that reason alone cannot get us out of our dilemmas.  We can’t think our way out of the box.  The wisest man still ends up in the grave right next to the fool.

There is a strain within Christendom that is anti-intellectual.  It proclaims the priority of “only believe” and shuns debate, inquiry and exploration.  This is either lazy religion or spiritual fear.  If my desire for religious security requires me to shut my eyes to evidence and argument, then I haven’t encountered the God of the prophets or the Lord of King David.  Heschel reminds us that the Bible is a book of confrontation.  These words challenge us to live and to think differently, to engage the world equipped for combat, to ask questions, even of the Almighty.  Yes, it’s true that worshipping Reason leads to epistemological suicide, but shunning reasonable inquiry is just as dangerous.  Open your mind.  Search.  Ask.  Study.  It’s OK.  God can handle it.

Topical Index:  reason, calculations, machines, Ecclesiastes 7:29, hishvonot rabim