The Theology of Enough (extract from the Omega Climate Change course)

_{above picture: shalom, "peace" in Hebrew}

(extracted from the Omega Climate Change Course)

In 1975 John Taylor, then newly appointed Bishop of Winchester, published Enough is Enough, a critique of the rich world's extravagant lifestyle. His previous job was General Secretary of the Church Missionary Society so he was well acquainted with the developing world.

Shalom
He starts by describing the Hebrews' dream of shalom which is "something much broader than peace: the harmony informed at every point by its awareness of God... the harmony was the reciprocity of all the parts. It meant a dancing kind of inter-relationship, seeking something more free than equality, more generous than equity, the ever-shifting equipoise of a life-system. Economically and socially this dream of shalom found its expression in what I call the theology of enough." (pp 41f)

The overweening greed
He points out that there are many references in the Old Testament to covetousness and greed," but apart from all this the Hebrews had a word, betsa, which is desire of a different sort. It is invariably condemned, and seems to combine the idea of vaunting ambition and of unjust or fraudulent means. It comes out strongly in Jeremiah's reproachful condemnation of a new king's ostentatious redecoration and enlargement of the palace.

(Your father) dispensed justice to the lowly and poor...
But you have no eyes, no thought for anything but gain (betsa).
(Jeremiah 22 vv 15 &17)

The virtue of fitting in
Taylor shows how in the New Testament there is "the same stern veto against grasping excess... A word which is commonly translated 'covetousness', pleonexia, does in fact mean 'excess' or 'wanting more and more'... It is often linked with sexual lust with which it has so much in common." (Mark 17 v 21, Colossians 3 v 5)

He goes on: "The opposite of this lust for possession and domination is the readiness to fit one's own needs to the needs of others and to submit self-assertion to the claims of an equipoise society. The Greek word is moderation (epieikes)...It means a matching, a toning in with the whole. That sense of the totality of creation and the fitness of each part in proper proportion to the rest, is the reverse of the narrow-minded sin of pleonexia which, disregarding the whole, grasps at excess and throws everything out of balance. True to this doctrine of creation, which modern ecology has strikingly endorsed, the disciple of Christ proclaims the kingdom of right relationships and calls on all (people) to make their far-reaching financial decisions with a sense of accountability for the whole system under God." (pp 45-47)

Taylor puts much emphasis on 'fitting in' and 'balance' and especially 'equipoise' on which he expands here where he shows how, by relating such ideas as profitability or wealth to this vision of the whole system under God, we find that their meanings are immediately expanded. "That is what I have in mind when I speak of equipoise as a better word than either equality or equity. I think there is something of this broad vision in St Paul's enthusiasm for the collection from the Gentile congregations and its offering by representatives of those churches to the motherland in Jerusalem:
There is no question of relieving others at the cost of hardship to yourselves; it is a question of equality... As Scripture has it, 'The man who got much had no more than enough, and the man who got little did not go short.'" (2 Corinthians 13 v15)

Manna
"Paul's quotation referring to the mystical manna is an important lesson in the theology of enough. The answer to the question, 'What is that?' is crucial. 'That is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.' God's gift and (humankind's) happy dependence on it, is the ground of the theology of enough. It is graciousness born of grace. 'Each of you is to gather as much as he can eat.' There an important note is struck; the covenant does not call for asceticism. Nor do I believe that we, in our day, should seek a deliberate return to poverty. It is not poverty but balance that we are after... so in this object lesson of the early Hebrews the story of the mysterious manna goes on: 'Those who gathered more had not too much, and those who gathered less had not too little.' And those who tried hoarding it found that it bred maggots and stank. It is that stink which rises today from all over our despoiled environment." (pp 49f)

Conclusion
He finishes by saying:" The prodigal son remembered his father's home as the place where even the lowest paid servant had 'enough and to spare', and this is the emphasis which the New Testament gives to the theology of enough. Excess is not simply prohibited; it is replaced by a lavish generosity of both give and take.

Give, and gifts will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; for whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt to you in return. (Luke 6 v 38)

The great breakthrough of the New Testament is that the generosities of the old covenant are extended to all (people). They are no longer an expression of family or tribal or religious solidarity; so they are no longer restricted to a limited circle only. They are for all (people) in all circumstances and in every place." (p 61)

How does this relate to future rights to emit?

The key point about a system of sharing out fossil fuel consumption is that it works on the principle that everyone in the country or on the planet receives the same allowance of carbon emissions. This will be a truly radical step for politicians to take. It is true that there are a series of steps that have to be taken before we reach that point. It is also true that trading is an essential part of the process. But the basic principle of equality fits the theology of enough.

(extracted from the Omega Climate Change Course)