ADBC: 47 – Wisdom and the Seven Laws, Self-Help and The Pursuit of Depression

I think, for the most, I’ve found it difficult not to praise my brother’s verbal input to this blog discussion. And that can come off as some sibling favouritism. Maybe it is. How would I prove it otherwise?

His last installment, all I can do is recommend it again. I’m not sorry. It’s a read I found to be worthwhile. He dealt with the challenge of not acting according to principles, knowing what is right but not wanting to do it. He actually provided potential solutions after empathising with the “struggle.”

One thing that surprised me is that he gave a compelling argument for being part of the system, not so much to change it for the better – he acknowledges its core depravity and its resistance to meaningful change – but to make an appreciable difference to someone’s life. Really good writing.

He then tried to show that the role of government is to ensure righteous standards are preserved and that evil is duly punished. Although I was not convinced, I’ll leave it to you to judge his success.

Still, a great read for me. Take a look for yourself.

Q – “There is a difference between what’s outlined in the Seven Laws and the way of wisdom.” Would you agree with this statement? If so, how would you state what makes something wise or not?

The seven laws are a basic code of law given to all of humanity shortly after creation, given to Adam and Noah by God according to Torah tradition. They are not a complete set of moral laws, not as comprehensive as the law which was given to Jews, given to them to distinguish them from everyone else as priests. They are a universal basic law code, international, a framework within which tribes and families can build and structure their own wisdom and knowledge.

Because of Paul, we may disagree on what hope Gentiles have in relation to God and morality. In Ephesians 2:12, he depicts Gentiles as being without hope and without God, being outsiders to the covenants or promise and the commonwealth of Israel. It makes it seem as if, once God separated the Jews, the rest of the world became like chaff, like dross, God not really giving a damn about them.

Yet, even biblically, God gives judgements against the nations of the world, has dealings with them. I believe there is a universal code of righteousness for non-Jews hinted at in the Jewish Bible showing that there was at least moral demands on all mankind, not just the Jews. Hence, the seven laws.

What is wisdom? Wisdom is applied knowledge, practical knowledge of the world. It concerns having sound judgement, insight and includes many more aspects of life than simple law. Wisdom is the sort of knowledge and character someone can gain just by experiencing the world and thinking about those experiences in order to gain general rules about successful living.

It is my position that, biblically, wisdom, the kind that is spoken of in the books of Mishlei (Proverbs) and Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes), even the book of Tehillim (Psalms), it is associated also with being morally good. The first verses of Tehillim 14 is a good example where the introduction states that a fool denies that there is supreme judge and goes straight into a summary of the wicked deeds.

The fool hath said in his heart: ‘There is no God’; they have dealt corruptly, they have acted disgustingly; there is none that does good. From heaven, the LORD scanned over the children of men, to see if there were any man of understanding, seeking after God. They have all deviated, they are together morally corrupt; there is none that does good, there’s not even one.

When it comes to law, there is meant to be a judgement meted out for the wrongdoing by a court or by God. Wisdom and disobedience to its teachings may not lead to such a personal or direct recompense, but may lead to consequences that occur outside of court, simply as a causal line of action. For example, it’s wise to be a hard-working individual. There is no law concerning it. But being a hard-working person can lead to life opportunities and success for oneself. Being lazy and slothful can lead to consequences, like not having the means to feed oneself or take care of one’s family. This is not like breaking the law of idolatry, where a court official can capture you and bring you to trial, the possibility of someone ordering your death, exile or whatever other means of justice there are.

But you asked more about contrasting and comparing what is outlined in the seven laws and what wisdom teaches. Apart from the extent of both entities, the seven being more limited than wisdom, then I’m not sure if there are any difference.

For example, imagine – this may be a stretch, but try – you’re amongst an unthinking mob that sustains a system of immorality and injustice and establishing unsavoury characters as their leaders. You know that many of them would castigate or ostracise anyone who defies that system. What is the wise thing to do with regards to the system in place? To help them sustain evil and join in their malformed rationale and their voting system? I would contend that the basic wise thing to do is simple to refrain, to not vote, to not join in the popular vote for unfairness and rebellion against morality. That’s the basic thing: just don’t join in. That would accord with the basics of the seven laws.

Now the ways of wisdom may encourage one to try to nudge an individual or two to become aware of the immorality and to oppose it. It may be to teach one’s children or one’s dependents the ways of righteousness and justice so that others too may stand against the moral rot in the heart of the mob. That’s not law, just wisdom.

There is a prohibition against cursing God using his name or title. We live in a culture that at least speaks of freedom of speech (even though this is another modern hypocrisy. Bad things happen in life. It may become easy to become bitter and angry, angry at God, and verbally express one’s hatred for him. The wise thing to do is at least shut up. In the midst of such feelings, when they cause you to omit God’s goodness from your thoughts to only seeing your own pain, that may be the time to be silent. That’s basic wisdom.

But wisdom, the greater part of it, may direct one to remove oneself from anger and busy oneself in focusing on helping others, putting one’s mental occupations on what one can control to do what one can to improve even a small part of one’s lot. This general wisdom can give a lot more benefit than simply avoiding the basic.

I do believe that there is a small part of the seven laws that isn’t exactly easily amenable to modern wisdom. The law to do with not eating meat taken from a living animal. It can be easy to see that it’s wrong to torture animals or cut them apart while they’re still alive. Part of me sees how it can be disgusting to enjoy the benefits of such loathesome behaviour, eating what was removed. But someone else may say that the meat is already removed, the deed is done, therefore why not eat of it? I’d have to ponder this further.

But for the most, the differences between what is described in the seven laws and the ways of wisdom are the size of scope and the legal effect of breaking a law as opposed to doing the unwise. I could add “the source” in that the source of the seven laws is strictly divine whereas wisdom can come from man, as in what he learns through investigation. That’s about it.

Q – Here is a video that could be suggested to be a part of the self-help/positive-thinking movement. Please review the video and share your views on what you’re aware of about the self-help/positive-thinking movement?

I think the words of the video, much of its content, is wise and good. I’m not sure why it would be considered “positive thinking” when the author keeps pressing his audience to do, to act. But it is self-help.

Much of God’s law and the wisdom that Shlomo (Solomon) the king wrote, what is recorded in the books of Proverbs, is about lifestyle, how one should live. And a lot of what that video said was about lifestyle, how one should live.

There are healthy points such as taking responsibility for one’s life and actions. That’s like the repentance spoken of in Yehezkel (Ezekiel) 18 or Mishlei 16:6,17, departing from evil and doing good. That also accords with point 14, “nothing in your past prevents you from making a better future, starting now. Following your own path, again, a person shouldn’t be killed for the sins of his father, but everyone is responsible for his own deeds (Devarim [Deut.] 24:16 and many other places). Mishlei 10:4 supports the statement that nothing worthwhile in life comes easy. So a good amount of what he says promotes proper living.

Rabbi Yoel Schwartz said something about the importance of actions and how the actions of a person can lead their attitudes.

There is, sometimes, an opposite process when outside actions (not connected or controlled by the person) influence the internal thinking of a person as it is explained in Sefer Ha’Chinuch #16, explaining why the Torah has so many practical precepts:

“Know that a person is governed by his actions. His heart and all his thoughts are influenced by the actions that he is involved in be they good or bad. Even a wicked man whose thoughts are concentrated on doing evil all day, if he should start studying Torah and Mitzvot, even if he is not doing it for G-d’s sake, he will start acting in a more positive manner. This is because the heart goes after the deeds. The same holds true, concerning a righteous man, who lives according to the Torah and Mitzvot, but makes a living from dubious transactions, or if for example he is forced by the King or ruler to deal in such dubious matters, he will eventually be transformed from a righteous man to an evil one.”

http://www.jewishanswers.org/ask-the-rabbi-1806/seven-noahide-laws-2/

But there are things that he says that is false and patently so. “Fear is an illusion”??? The rationale that follows this statement is vacuous making any internal feeling or thought an illusion. Here’s what he says.

FEAR is mind-made. It has no life outside your own imagination. Knowing this, you have no reason to hold yourself back, no reason to fear failure, rejection, embarrassment – ANYTHING.
Go for want you want in life, FEARLESSLY.

The transcript of the video found at https://www.fearlessmotivation.com/2018/09/10/20-principles-you-should-live-by-successful-life/

So fear is mind-made? So is every other emotion and thought.

It has no life with your own “imagination?” Same as every other emotion or thought. The way I view anything and interpret it demands my own impetus and creative power. So should I live my life without emotion or thought because they depend on me? The reasoning is just rubbish.

What is fear? From a dictionary, it is a feeling of distress, apprehension, or alarm caused by impending danger, pain, etc, or the awe and reverence one feel about a superior. The real question is whether your assessment of the situation solicits the correct feeling and what your response to it should be. It’s correct to be afraid of God because of his judgement and to be in awe of him because of his greatness. Now what? If you see a job as your source of income and losing it will jeopardise stability and even the ability to feed one’s family, it can rightly cause fear. The question is “now what?” A government official is threatening your life and movements; he’s armed and has accomplices ready and willing to help him. There’s a reason to fear. But now what? As someone said, courage is not the absense of fear but the overcoming of fear through action and internal resilience.

So the contents of the vid is a mixed bag, but there’s a good amount of wisdom in it.

What I know of the self-help thing, I think it is positive and beneficial. I think that being in the image of God grants humanity power and mental acuity even when humans reject him. Wisdom is part of those abilities bestowed upon us. But without critical thinking, one can provide a mixed bag like what the video provided, some great wisdom, some empty ego boosts, and some blatant lies.

As we’ve seen throughout our conversation, we have conflicting views on humanity, although there is overlap for various reasons. It’s my belief that you see humans, without God, as basically evil and unable to help themselves in a meaningful sense. Humans are fallen and powerless in a meaningful sense. I see humans, even without knowledge of God, as powerful beings, able to create and destroy in a meaningful, able to find God and truth if they truly seek him and it, coming to various stages of success. If a human can find God’s truth in this world, then he is truly powerful. And he can and has. And when one searches, we have God’s grace in that he reaches out to us through his revelations. We humans, because we are limited, can only go so far.

Q – “The pursuit of happiness is an unhelpful concept and should be replaced with something truthful to the purpose of life” How would you engage with this comment?

The life I’ve lived skews my response to this question. I think a quest only for truth is only a quest to misery. Truth is objective, unyielding, just as it is regardless of subjective feelings. Happiness is a subjective feeling, but it’s one that adds positive emotion to this chore of living.

If one does nothing for one’s happiness, meaning not pursuing it, then I think they’ll end up similar to me, not enjoying life or knowing how to. All that’s left is looking towards one’s feet wondering what is left of the ground crumbling away.

Why is the ground crumbling? Because, from youth, one is told what to think until one stands on top of it for support. Once it is found out that one thing is a lie, part of that support, that grounding, gives way. When that happens enough time, one begins wondering what exactly is the quality of the solidity of one’s grounding.

Happiness, joy, this is needed to make life not just bearable but pleasurable. And that too can be a meaningful quest, not just a fool’s errand.

As I believe the question insinuates, pursuing happiness is vacuous and can, too, lead to misery. It has to be accompanied by wisdom or else that quest for arousal will do serious damage to one’s psyche and physical health which, in turn, limits or destroys the possibilities for happiness. You’ll end up like a husk of pain and restriction, a living coffin.

Maybe the keywords of the statement is “replaced by.” Those words should be substituted with others, such as, “founded on” or “enhanced by” or “grafted onto” and the like.

Happiness on its own is just too transitory, easily pounded upon by the negative parts of life, which are ubiquitous. But linked to a more sure foundation, I strongly believe, it can make life and living beautiful.

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Ok, your go!

Q – Based on your experience, what is the difference in effectiveness of the following: teaching face-to-face; teaching remotely via video chat; teaching by means of a recording, written, audio or otherwise? Does the age/maturity of the student matter?

Q – Boris Johnson resigned from being Prime Minister. What is the role of Prime Minister? What is its relevance to the common pleb and peasant? Who really rules a people in this modern time?

Q – What experience have you had with the police? Being a christian, what is your view of the compatibility between being a police officer and a steadfast follower of Jesus? Is it possible, in this modern day and age, for a devout follower of Jesus to be an officer vowed to uphold the dictates of the legislators?