(Note: This is a reflective paper just completed for Dr. Wagner's class on the exegesis of Philippians, with the goal of integrating exegesis with some other aspect of culture.)
For our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which we excitedly await the savior, the Lord Jesus, who will refashion our body of lowliness to the same form as his glorious body by the exercise of his power by which he subjects all things to himself -Philippians 3:20-21 (my translation)
Exegesis has numerous difficulties, often running endlessly into the hermeneutical chasm which divides us from the authors of the texts we tirelessly analyze and, in turn, alienate us from the text itself. Moreover, even the most astute exegesis does not buffer or stifle the uncomfortable questions which arise from those who read Scripture and finds its answers dismembering at best. Indeed, the greatest exegetical mind may, simultaneously, be the poorest counselor, guide, and friend in the process of wrestling and grappling with the relationship between what God has said two millennia ago and the oft life-shaking events of today which seemingly confute the existence of such a God, much less the true benevolent character of God’s promises. How are we, as those in exegetical positions, to lead and guide others in interpreting God’s word in the midst of a “crooked and perverse generation” (Phil. 2:15)? The question here stretched beyond exegesis and calls us, as Christians, to hodegesis. This paper will attempt to do just that, using John Darnielle’s analysis of Philippians 3:20-21 as an exemplar case of when the shortcomings of exegesis opens the door for practical, pastoral guidance, hodegesis, to minister to those in bouts of spiritual wrestling.
The hodegetical question is one which, akin to Barth, calls us to hold the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, but surely cannot be restricted to just that. While our right hand must firmly grip Scripture, the other must extend not only to newspaper and journal alike, but also to daily discussions, artistic musings, and practical applications of Scripture as well. The hodegete guides the doubts and questions which arise through the different mediums and materials they articulate from. One such question arises from John Darnielle, father of the folk-punk based group The Mountain Goats, who in 2009 came out with the album The Life of the World to Come (2009, 4AD Records) which contained 12 songs, all of which followed the nomenclature of different verses of the Bible (e.g. “Psalm 40:2”; “Genesis 3:23”; “Matthew 25:21”) with lyrics which addressed these verses in light of life as we know it. As Darnielle said in an interview concerning the album:
It sort of came together gradually throughout 2008, and by early '09 I was well into it - first there was this song on the Black Pear Tree EP, "Supergenesis," which was the first Bible-related song I'd written in a while, and I noticed while I was writing it that it kind of woke me up in a way other writing wasn't …And then I learned about a Biblical translation I hadn't known anything about, Young's Literal Translation, and I get pretty excited when I think about translation generally speaking, really inspired. So at that point I was kind of off to the races.[1]
Many of these songs dealt with, what Darnielle called, “hard lessons” which the Bible had taught him in dealing with the rough patches of life, and how they affected his faith as a non-dogmatic Catholic who carries many questions concerning God and the universe as a whole.
One of his songs on the album was titled “Philippians 3:20-21”[2], a slow song with a slight up-beat accompanied by acoustic guitar and piano and wispy vocals; all of which embody lyrics saturated with a broken theodicy. In the interview, Darnielle mentioned that the lyrics of “Philippians 3:20-21” were centered around the life and death of author David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) whose most famous work, the 1996 novel Infinite Jest, is considered by many to be one of the most brilliant works of the last one hundred years.[3] According to Darnielle:
"Philippians 3:20-21" isn't about anybody I knew personally - it's for David Foster Wallace, whose work I don't even know that well but who had such a profound and positive effect on so many people, who was one of those guys about whom, when you get exposed to how he thinks about people and their essential eventual goodness, you think, man, if there were a God, God would have to like this dude, because this dude is so full of goodness and love of life and love for other people, compassion for their struggles, insight into both the good and the bad about people, into the raw humanity that makes the whole world hum. So then he goes and hangs himself, and you think, you know, how could a kind God not give a guy like that the basic equipment needed - the right brain chemistry, I mean - to be able to even bear being alive? You know what I mean? Suicide, the fact that people get to that point of total despair and hopelessness at all, that's like the harshest interrogation of the concept of the Christian God there is…How could a merciful and benevolent and loving God create a good, talented, giving person with a time bomb in his head? How can a good God unleash Hell inside a good man's head?[4]
For Darnielle, Philippians 3:20-21 presents something disturbing; a promise that the body of humility (to soma tēs tapeinōseōs) will be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory (tō sōmati tēs doxēs) but nevertheless, the promise still leaves room for suffering until that day. The present sufferings contradict this transformative future activity of God. “Nice people” may hold “hope” for those in the midst of suffering in light of the future hope, but never address the importance of this life. Such hope, for Darnielle, is difficult to hold when we observe the despair of a Christian man, like Wallace, who walks in compassion and goodness only to be weighted-down by a chemical imbalance.
What are we to say to someone like Darnielle, who sees this eager expectation (apekdechometha) as foolishness in light of the here and now? The exegetical approach would surely have something to say here. Darnielle, in addressing Philippians 3:20-21, completely disassociates the passage from the text in its entirety. The theme of the third chapter is not embracing hope which is ignorant of the apparent suffering of the current age, but a hope which is striving because Christ Jesus has made us his (v. 12) in order that we may know him (v. 8) which is such a reward in and of itself that, for Paul, all else may be considered naught (vv. 7-8). One only needs to look back to the Kenotic hymn of chapter 2 to see that Darnielle has completely missed the point of the passage; the Christ of Christians is not a God who promises present ambition or success, but is a God who has “emptied”, “humbled”, and subserviated himself to death (vv. 7-8). Because of this emptying of Christ and his willingness to become nothing, Paul has humbled himself, and in turn calls the Philippians to do the same (2:3-4) and imitate him (3:17) just as they have already shared in his sufferings for the Gospel (1:7). The attentive exegete would look at Wallace and Paul and see two people, people who are compassionate and brilliant Christ-followers, who endure sufferings and torments. The difference is that unlike Darnielle’s analysis, Paul does not blame God for the situation, nor does Paul hold ill-will to the goodwill of God. The Christ of Paul is a Christ who suffers with us, who relates to us in his emptiness and reconciles and restores us in his divinity. Jesus Christ is Lord, both of heaven and of earth and below the earth (2:10) and as such has freed us from sin in order that, knowing him, all else is rubbish compared to the righteousness that comes through the faith of Christ (3:8-9). In this faith comes hand-in-hand both the “power of the resurrection” and the “sharing of his sufferings” (3:10-11) such that Paul is not declaring that friendship with Christ equals protection from the world. Rather, friendship with Christ results in sharing suffering rather than avoiding it, such that in our present suffering the future of the resurrection may be seen.
This is all well and good to say, but the exegetical path still leaves the wounds of suffering open. The “why” of Darnielle is still unquenched. The suicide of a Christ-follower, whose despair led him to death, is not something which can be given balm via exegetical victory. Yes, Darnielle has uncontextualized the passage and certainly has ignored the central themes of the entire passage which shape 3:20-21, but by no means does that mean correct hermeneutics and exegesis alone can solve the theodicy which still lingers. It is here the hodegete must act and must walk alongside the struggles of the present in light of what seems to be a contradictory future. It is easy to say that God is one who suffers alongside us and calls us to share in his death, but it’s another thing to make such a ludicrous claim in light of the philosophical conceptions of the impassible, the omnipotent, and the omnibenevolent God.
In my opinion, the underlining conflict here is not only the present sufferings which Darnielle points out, but the very core of what it means for God to be God. For Darnielle, the conflict arises when a good Christ-follower remains faithful in the midst of suffering while a truly omnipotent and wholly good God stands by, doing nothing. With this mindset, it’s no wonder Darnielle sees such adhering faith to be the words of “nice people” who are the mystics who “dance in a circle with bells on, try[ing] to make it rain” whose words of comfort are that “he was with God now” while ignoring the reality that this man was subjected to the pain and despair of his condition and numerous treatments which failed to provide him comfort. Why did God not heal his child now? Why does one need to suffer the raging current of life and the Hell in his head in order to obtain heavenly passage?
The scandal of the cross; even in Philippians we see it (3:18), those for whom the cross and its calling to submission in obedience to God and the sharing of God’s suffering are scandalous to say the least. Whereas the exegete may provide answers, the hodegete must now wade through the murky waters of death and the present day. The hodegete is, as Henri Nouwen once wrote, a “wounded healer” whose answers come to fruition and articulation in the sharing of another’s suffering (koinōnian pathēmatōn) (3:9). While the exegete may provide the roots of Christ-following, it is the hodegete who must provide the leaves of such a tree, being the physical representation of both the theology of Christianity and the very Christ who suffers alongside those who suffer. God has not left us high and dry in expectation for future glorification, nor are our current trials, as gruesome and tristful as they may be, merely the product of God’s inability to heal or his inauthentic goodness. The book of Philippians provides a paradigm shift of understanding; God is not simply a distant, universal judge of good or bad character and imparter of fairness. On the contrary, this God is the God of the cross, of humiliation, and of glory in that humiliation (2:5-11). With this paradigm shift in mind, the hodegete must articulate the promise of hope in this paradigm shift, not merely by theological and exegetical correctness, but also in tireless sharing of suffering as one taking the form of Christ.
In conclusion, both exegesis and hodegesis are needed to understand Philippians 3:20-21 in light of the theodicy of Darnielle. This is future hope in light of this present age; our bodies are to be transformed and we will be like the glorious body of Christ. But until then, our exegesis must lead to hodegesis in that such hope and expectation is to be shared with those whose understanding of God does not embrace the cross in such a way that God becomes one of us. The Christ of the cross reveals a God who did not seek supremacy, but instead sought humility in order that others might humble themselves and see the love of God crucified. While exegesis of Philippians may tell us all of this, the next step is to exhibit this. As those in the post-liberal camp would say, we need to embody the text, to take it up and live within its words, phrases, and concepts. If we are truly believe in the transformation of our bodies to be like Christ, then we cannot ignore that the rest of us are to be like him as well, including our need to suffer with others.
[1] Pelone, Joe. "Interviews: John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats)." Punknews.org. http://www.punknews.org/article/35988.
[2] See Appendix for Lyrics
[3] Grossman, Lev; Lacayo, Richard (2005). "TIME's Critics pick the 100 Best Novels, 1923 to present". TIME
[4] Penrose, Interview,
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