Speaking of Roman numerals, can you identify the Roman numeral for zero? No, there isn’t one. The Romans had a word, nullus, but no numeral for zero. In fact, none of the most sophisticated ancient numerical systems – Sumerian, Babylonian, etc. – had zero as an integer. Over time, systems developed a “placeholder,” that would help distinguish the difference between, say, 15 and 105 by putting something in between the 1 and the 5 for the latter, but it was a late development. One of the first known recordings of using a dot for a placeholder, is not until the 3rd or 4th Century CE. And the first known instance of zero written as a circle is from the Chaturbhuj Temple inside of the Gwalior Fort in India, from a 9th Century inscription of ‘270.’
You might be wondering what this focus on ‘zero’ has to do with my ongoing reflections on what constitutes “White Christianity.” The reason I am thinking about zero today is because there may be religious reasons why the number zero does not appear in some ancient cultures and finally does appear in others. Particularly, western cultures were more resistant to zero than eastern cultures. In India, where the mathematical concept of zero was first developed, the tem for zero, shunya in Sanskrit, seems related to the Buddhist understanding of shunyata, emptying one’s mind of impressions and thought.
On the other hand, there’s this: “There was a time in the early days of Christianity in Europe when religious leaders banned the use of zero because they felt that, since God is in everything, a symbol that represented nothing must be satanic.”[1] I imagine that this resistance was based on a reading of the creation story in Genesis where the world was a lot of nothing until God created the heavens and the earth. In this reading, often called creatio ex nihilo, nothingness is in opposition to God’s order of creation.
With that in mind, it is not hard to imagine that Christian communities would devalue things that might be described as nothing, zero, emptiness, vacuum, or void, as being the opposite of God’s created order. And that attitude, I want to suggest, has impacted how Christians have seen many things.
The “Protestant work ethic,” for example, is an expression of how many Christians have seen the proper stewardship of time, energy, and effort. But, within this framework, what happens to the concept of the rest and restoration of Sabbath? Think, for example, how pejoratively we use the word “lazy” to describe people who don’t necessarily share our attention to (or obsession with) time and productivity. A biblical illustration might clarify: When Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh to let God’s people go out into the wilderness to worship for three days, here is Pharaoh’s response: “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!” Then Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!” It’s amazing how many good WASP business owners said Pharaoh’s exact words when confronted with labor unions began demanding a five-day workweek or how many good Christian people say the same today when describing persons on assistance as “Welfare Queens.”
Likewise, the need to fill every single moment of worship with something, whether it is organ music, somebody saying something, or (in mega-churches) repeated ovations may be another expression of our distrust of zero. In the process, the biblical concepts of ‘being still’ in order to know God or ‘keeping silence’ as a proper way to honor God may be lost.
My point is, if we want to identify parts of “White Christianity” that are more reflective of “White” than “Christianity,” a great place to begin might be to reconsider our attitudes toward “zero.” Let me conclude with a story:
When Alexander the Great visited India, he met a yogi, sitting on a rock, staring at the sky. Alexander asked, “What are you doing?” The yogi replied, “I’m experiencing nothingness. What are you doing?” “I am conquering the world,” Alexander said. They both laughed. Each one thought the other was a fool, and was wasting his life.
I wonder how many Christians would automatically assume that Alexander was right.
Mark of St. Mark
[1]I am relying on two online articles and some past readings for a lot of this information. If you want to quibble with it, please do so to the original authors. Or, just read them because they’re interesting.
My favorite "zero" is found in Romans 8:38-39. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there are times that 'a whole lotta nothing' is perfect.
DeleteHope you are well. MD