Torah and the Atheist
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB
Natural man – The psychikós ánthrōpos (natural man). The man who does not accept the things of the spirit of God. Who is this natural man? What is he like? Usually Western Christians think that the natural man is the unregenerate man, the classic sinner, the man without “Jesus,” the man who is going to Hell. Of course, this man can’t understand the secrets of the faith. Why? Because he hasn’t been saved.
Is this what Paul meant? Did he really believe that the invisible hand of God in the lives of men could only be apprehended and understood though the illumination of the spirit (or Spirit, as Christians are apt to read the text)? If that were the case, then why did Paul bother to argue that Yeshua is the Messiah, that Torah is God’s living instruction, that Israel are God’s people, etc.? Why debate any of these things over and over, year after year, in synagogues and public venues? Why not rather pray for the “saving power of Jesus” to change their minds, and then wait? Clearly, those who weren’t “saved” had no chance of understanding Paul at all. Why spend any time with them? In fact, how do we make any sense of Paul’s commitment to the Gentiles if Paul considered them “natural men”?
There is another way to understand Paul’s statement. Rabbi Huna writes something that lets us think as a rabbi rather than a Church Father. “Whoever engages exclusively in the study of Torah is like an atheist.”[1] What Rabbi Huna meant, of course, is that study is not the goal of Torah. Living is the goal of Torah. Someone who devotes himself to study but never applies what he learns, changing his behavior, is, in fact, an atheist. His life demonstrates that he doesn’t actually believe there is a living, personal God who makes demands on humankind. In other words, the natural man is not necessarily the one who ignores or rejects Torah. He is the one who doesn’t live Torah. And because he doesn’t live Torah, it is impossible for him to understand its depths, its sensitivity to sympathy for God, its compassionate core and its hope for restitution. It’s doing that matters, not cognitive accumulation. The natural man isn’t a theological atheist. He’s a practical atheist. His knowledge of the Bible is limited to text and doctrine. He doesn’t know what it actually feels liketo love his neighbor. He just knows what the words say. Until he puts the words into practice, he can’t feel the spiritual basis of their source.
As you can well imagine, this “natural man” can be found in every religious assembly. His habitat isn’t restricted to business boardrooms, factory floors, or high-occupancy traffic lanes. He’s just as comfortable in the choir, on the deacons’ committee, or even in the pulpit. He knows his religion. He just doesn’t live a Torah life. And no one is the wiser because there are plenty of “natural men” applauding his service to God. The pews are filled with religious atheists. Just try advocating Sabbath worship and see what happens.
Topical Index: natural man, psychikós ánthrōpos, Torah, 1 Corinthians 2:14
[1] Abraham Heschel, Heavenly Torah as Refracted through the Generations, p. 3.
