Stealing from the Egyptians
I am currently reading The Importance of Being Miserable: A Short History of Human Happiness. One of the things I find fascinating about the book is its method. It takes a trans-historical and trans-cultural view of happiness. Again and again, across civilisations and centuries, it finds the same pattern: life is difficult, suffering is common, happiness is fleeting, and wisdom consists partly in learning to enjoy moments of joy when they come.
The author draws on sources as diverse as the Bible, Buddha, Confucius, and the Stoics. While their conclusions differ, they often observe similar features of human experience.
At the same time, I have been listening to a podcast between Christian iconographer Jonathan Pageau and a secular philosopher about patterns, order, and meaning. Pageau speaks of unity and multiplicity—universal patterns expressed through countless variations. Interestingly, both participants agree that order exists. The difference is that one sees a Designer behind the pattern and the other does not.
Two weeks ago, all ministers and staff across the Diocese attended a compulsory training day, partially about systems theory. This influential counselling framework explores how people function within families, groups, and organisations. It reminds us that we do not make decisions as isolated individuals but as members of interconnected systems. Many Christians find systems theory helpful because it resonates with a biblical understanding of humanity. We are made in the image of a relational, triune God and designed for relationship with God and others. Yet not all systems theorists are Christians.
Some Christians become nervous whenever pastors quote non-Christian authors or draw insights from secular disciplines. My response is that God is a God of order, and all people possess some capacity to perceive aspects of that order. As Paul writes, "God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (Rom. 1:20).
Theologians sometimes speak of "stealing from the Egyptians." Just as Israel carried Egyptian gold into the wilderness, Christians may gratefully receive all truth as God's truth. Even parts of Proverbs is wisdom drawn from traditions from outside Israel.
Yet observation alone can only take us so far. The clearest understanding of reality comes when the patterns we observe are interpreted through the God who created them. Scripture reveals not only the order of creation, but also our purpose, our fallenness, and God's redemptive work in Christ.