Politics · 25 · The Soldier
Jeremiah vs. Pericles
Pericles rallied Athenians to keep fighting. Jeremiah told Jerusalem to bend its neck to Babylon's yoke and live. The Bible emerged with defeat, not victory, on the horizon.
Survival skills over 'liberty or death.'
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Glorifying heroic death would have encouraged hopeless revolts. Instead the Bible promotes solidarity, shrewdness, and compromise. Its vision of redemption is here and now: old people resting in Jerusalem's streets, and children playing.
Bible reference: Jeremiah 27:12; Zechariah 8:4–5
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 403–404
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