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2010/01/06: The Epiphany and "The Ship of Fools"

Today is Epiphany, the day in the church calendar on which western Christians have long remembered the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles. The worship of the magi from the east typifies the promise of God:

A picture of the statue mentioned below. Click on the image to go to the original source.

I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7.9–10)

Epiphany means "appearance" or "manifestation" (Greek, epifaneia). So "epiphany" can refer to far more than just Christ's revelation to the Gentiles. The Eastern Church recognizes this fact with "the emphasis at this feast … on the shining forth and revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Second Person of the Trinity at the time of his baptism."1

But are we paying attention to the appearance and revelation of truth? Revelation doesn't always equal knowledge or wisdom. Hearing with the ears isn't necessarily identical with listening, learning, and gaining maturity.

The lesson that "revelation" isn't necessarily listening and learning was brought home to me quite forcefully some years ago, when I had the privilege of visiting Nürnberg (Nuremberg) Germany. Nürnberg is a city that is now, unfortunately, (in)famous for two things:

  • - the monstrous Nazi rallies from 1927 to 1938, where some of the most famous pictures of mass gatherings of Nazis, row upon row of soldiers, torches, and flags were taken, and,
  • - the Nuremberg trials in 1945 and 1946.

At one time, Nürnberg was more famous as a city of notable Denker und Dichter ("Thinkers and Poets" - not to mention artists, printers, musicians, sculptors, and theologians); among them Albrecht Dürer and Nicolaus Copernicus.2 There is a statue in the town called "The Ship of Fools," named after a book written by Sebastian Brant in 1494, which in turn borrows an allegorical theme from times long forgotten. "The allegory depicts a vessel populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious, passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction."3

The statue has a bit of poetry around it, taken from Brant's work, which I have duplicated below. What is of special interest is that this poetry was written shortly after the time of "the Black Death … estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400."4 That bit of poetry reads as follows (with my translation):

Ein Narr ist, wer viel gutes hört,
Und doch nicht seine Weisheit mehrt,
Wer Allzeit wünscht Erfahrung viel,
Und sich davon nicht bessern will.
   (Section 34, The Fool, Near and Far and Forever)

A fool is one, who hears much good,
And nevertheless does not increase in wisdom,
Who always wishes for experience,
But never wants to be improved by it.

Ein Narr ist, wer für Wunder hält,
Daß Gott der Herr jetzt straft die Welt
Und Plag' auf Plage schicket noch
Dieweil wir seien Christen doch.
   (Section 88, Of Plague And God's Punishment)

A fool is one, who considers it a great puzzlement,
That the Lord God punishes the world,
And continually sends plague on plague,
Even while we only pretend to be Christians.

From an English translation of Section 88 by Alexander Barclay, 1874.

Writing shortly after the end of the "Black Death," only a Fool, says Brant, is one who can see clear indications of truth, but ignore the meaning of them. Hearing isn't necessarily the same as learning, nor seeing as knowledge! Or to use a more modern image, only a fool keeps putting coins in a Coke machine, hoping to get Mountain Dew. Perhaps we can learn from Christ's revelation and the events in our own lives. Maybe it's a good time to take a closer and more careful look at them and the condition of our society with a fresh eye and a keener sense?

When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. (Matthew 16.2–4)

  1. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany
  2. 2. Nuremberg is a relatively small town, but an excellent example of a walled city. Blessed with a rich collection of historical resources, one of my favorite parts of the city is the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (German National Museum), a very significant collection of culture and art.
  3. 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_fools
  4. 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death