Martin Buber is probably most well-known for his contribution to relational theology, particularly because of the I-Thou view of relationship he emphasized, along with the stimulating insights and implications attached to it. Terms like “person,” “personhood,” “relational,” and “communion,” to name a few, are the most well-used in the theological glossary today. This is readily understandable, given the recent interest and revival of Trinitarian studies not only in Protestant theology, but also in Roman Catholic and Orthodox theologies. In fact it has been ages long since the whole Christian church has been united theologically. These are promising times. Never has there been in the history of the church since the ecumenical councils, a more positive drive towards ecumenical and yet orthodox theology.
The focus of this essay, however, is about another important yet more neglected Buberian insight. It was only through my reading of Karl Barth and T.F. Torrance that I have come across what Buber calls the “eclipse of God,” which is actually another title of Buber’s books. Buber argues that just as in an eclipse of the sun, the eclipse of God occurs because there is something between God and us. God, like the sun, is a faithful constant, an ever-present Person always in a gracious act of Self-giving and Self-communication. Like the sun that provides light and warmth, God remains faithful in providing life to all. Like the sun announcing its presence through light, our Jehoav Jireh continually announces his presence in providential care to all. Matthew 5:46 says that God “causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.” No one is exempted from God’s reach, and because God is an eloquent Being, no ear is inherently incapable of hearing even his whisper.
Using the analogy of the eclipse, then, we can point out at least three conclusions:
1. God, like the sun, is the faithful Constant.
2. If we cannot see God, it’s not because he is not there. Rather, something must be in between God and our eyes.
3. We see God only when there no eclipsing moons in between our eyes and God.
The agonizing fact is that most of the world’s population are experiencing a theological eclipse. But it does not mean that God has chosen to hide himself from their sight. Again, he is the faithful Constant. He is a Self-giving and Self-revealing God. The reason why people cannot see him, therefore, is because of moons eclipsing God from their view. One of the earliest novels I’ve read was Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. In one of the conversations, these lines appear: “It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising.” Our spiritual eyes wear spectacles through which things may be seen. Unfortunately, it is these spectacles that may also prevent our eyes to see other things. It is our mission to identify which spectacles serve as hindrances for our eyes to see God.
The Psalmist is very explicit: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile” (14:1). Here is the answer as to why people do not recognize God; here is why people hear but do not listen; here is why people see but do not see. There is only one word: corruption. We therefore remember Origen in the second century teaching the church of the importance of the spiritual senses to be opened by the grace of God. We remember Augustine and the Reformation theologians teaching the church about the corruption of the image of God in us, which consequently meant the shutting down of our God-given capacity to know, recognize and worship our Father and Creator. And yet the problem is more than just inherent corruption. While the eclipse of God in the world can be grounded in humanity’s deprived condition, the eclipse can be caused by human culpability as well. We learn from existential philosophy that every existential “No” always has an equivalent existential “Yes.” We say No to the invitation of David because we have already made a prior Yes to either a prior invitation or just Yes to staying at home. We say No to drug abuse because we have already Yes to healthy lifestyle. We say No to Jesus Christ because we have already said Yes to other gods and idols. This is why David calls the one who says No to the true and living God a “fool,” for indeed it is a poor choice.
And yes, we can easily point our fingers to the non-believing world and judge them for their culpable incapacity to see the God who provides, protects and gives life. But certainly there are occasions when even Christians are blind to God. This includes me. The fact remains that no one can confidently say, “Now that I see, an eclipse of God can never happen to me anymore.” The one who proclaims this is not only arrogant, but also blind.
In fact, and this comprises my main proposal: it is us, theologians and Christian thinkers, who are most vulnerable to an eclipse of God. This is mainly because of our desire (and perhaps because of the demand of academia) for a systematic theology. The example initiated by Peter Lombard in his Sentences in the twelfth century remains the aspired format of doing theology today. Theologians are still trapped in modern theology’s canonization of “systematic theology” because of the claim of the Enlightenment that truth should be cohesive to be truth. The problem with this is that it leads to fitting God within an invented “system.” Anything that does not fit or destroy the cohesiveness of the system is pruned away. In the end, what is left in a supposedly “systematic theology” are “truths” about God which our system deems worthy of mentioning. In the end, what we have done is make a Procustrean bed for God (Procustes is a character who fits his guests to their beds. He would stretch his guests if they were too short and chop their legs if they were too long for their beds.) Surely this is not what theology is all about. If theology is an act of worship to God, then it is our minds that need to be made fit into the rationality of God, not the other way around. If theology is worship, then our minds should submit to God’s own revelation through his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We dare not chop God’s revelation or stretch his Self-proclaimed Truths in order that they might fit in a man-made system!
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