We have had our fill of scandals. The churches have not been immune. And this has come at a juncture in our history when we are urged to avoid giving offence merely by the way we speak. The notion of scandal has become closely related to the idea of offence. And talk, as well as action, can be scandalous.
In everyday speech we are clear what we mean when we say something is scandalous. It is what decent people deplore. For example, it is said to be scandalous that parents in our civilised, prosperous society cannot afford to put bread on the table. It is scandalous that property prices are such that couples in their twenties cannot get together enough money to start a mortgage. It is scandalous that chief executives can earn hundreds of times what their lowly paid employees get.
With all that said, we find a different angle on the word in the New Testament. The Greek word for scandal – virtually the same as our English word – is used quite freely. It does not, however, describe deplorable behaviour by individuals or society at large. Instead it describes what is at the heart of Christian belief, Christ crucified.
It is not surprising then that Christianity has been described in our day as a religion of serfs. Nietzsche portrayed the waning of belief in God as the death of God. With no God to turn to, inferior mortals, it is said, embrace a slave morality. Better to cultivate a will to win, whatever the cost. The superior beings must do their duty. This was institutionalised in the Nazi regime. On this view a crucified Christ is a scandal.
Paul concedes that this was the case in his day. (There is nothing new under the sun.) In a world based on the will to power of the Roman empire it was scandalous to set against that a man prepared to soak up the evil of the world and submit to his masters. After all, to reject power is to put oneself into the hands of evil men, to allow evil to triumph. But Paul turns this argument on its head. The crucified Christ is at the heart of his Gospel. “We preach Christ crucified,” he said. He is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
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