I’ve been listening to a fascinating Audiobook* that aims to encapsulate the entire Middle Ages into one volume. I’m loving how much it connects to what I’ve just finished teaching in History 8 and yet also how much new I’m learning. For instance, the name Pope Innocent III already meant something to me as the pope of two crusades and a major church council, but I had never before heard of his “sun and moon allegory.”
What I learned was this: Pope Innocent III asserted that God had put two great lights into the sky, one to govern the day and give heat, energy, and light to the world, and the other to govern the night with coolness and lesser light. Both are valuable, but of course the moon’s light is purely a reflection of the sun, not generating any light from within itself. He interpreted these two lights to be like the two mighty powers of the day - popes and kings. He as pope was the sun, of course. His authority was over people’s souls, which was of eternal value and thus vastly more significant. The king oversaw people’s bodies and thus held lesser authority, much like the moon.
I should be shocked at the hubris of a supposed man of God, but as a student of history, I’ve long learned to roll my eyes at some of these guys. Whenever my students ask why a person made a particularly poor choice or how a leader could be so cold-hearted, I tend to reply with the cop-out shrug of the shoulders and saying “Human nature.” But really, if I claim to be a Christian - a true “little Christ” - can I use that as an excuse?
My housemate has been memorizing 2 Corinthians 5. Every time she quotes it, even before she gets to the famous v. 17 about being a new creation, I’m already struck by the mirror being held up to my life, showing me how I all too often live for myself rather than for the one to whom I owe everything. My human nature has been fundamentally changed; I'm brand new. I get to be the moon now in a universe where Christ is, always has been, and always will be the sun.
Furthermore, beyond even our own choices in living, the author of 2 Corinthians calls us to view others through a heavenly lens rather than to regard them from a worldly point of view. It forces me to ask about how I teach history. While I do find it despicable that Pope Innocent III tried to put down fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, what if, despite multiple crusades and the publication of this sun-moon allegory, he really trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior? What if I meet him in heaven? I’m not God, so while I do believe I’ve seen my fair share of human nature and while I do still believe some historical figures were capable of genuine evil, I cannot see their hearts nor do I always know the full story. I need to be careful with my regard.
“So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17a).
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