Abraham and God enter into a dialogue today that can seem confusing and strange. Part of our confusion arises from the cultural differences that existed at the time of Abraham.
While we citizens of the Western world cherish our individuality, the people of the Eastern world do not look at themselves as individuals so much as members of a collective. That collective takes many forms: family, clan, tribe, local community and nation. They are, by and large, an extrovert society. By that I mean that these people rarely if ever consulted their inner perspective or their private thoughts when considering a situation or problem. They sought advice and commentary from the others in the group.
Added to that cultural perspective is another from the religious sensitivities of Judaism which is admittedly in its developmental stages at the time of Abraham. However, the children of Israel considered it necessary to have at least ten men present in order to pray and worship.
Because of these two considerations, questions of guilt and innocence were not so much personal issues as they were communal. Expiation of guilt was likewise a matter of a communal action. Our celebration of the Sacrament of Penance would only make sense to these people in the communal form, not in the individual form. So when we hear Abraham and God "dicker" about how many just men it would take before God would spare Sodom and Gomorrah, we have to read the story in the light of these cultural and spiritual values. Notice that Abraham stops at the number ten. He cannot go beyond it, for anything less than ten would mean that there isn't enough of a community to pray for forgiveness. Likewise, both cities will be completely destroyed because the guilt of the community lies at the heart of the matter.
To a certain extent these values are also recorded in the Gospels. The scene from Matthew's Gospel which depicts Jesus' coming for judgment specifically cites that he is judging the "nations," not the individual citizens of those nations. One perspective did, however, change. Jesus boldly states that only two or three are necessary for prayer because, as he puts it, he is with us when we are gathered in his name.
What do we take away from this incident from the Book of Genesis. While personal piety and contrition will always be values esteemed by our faith, it is important that we also consider the conduct of our community. This is why certain moral issues cannot simply be relegated to personal choice. As our nation grapples with the great moral issues that face it, we have to remember that we, as a community, are called to holiness. To sit idly and watch as our society becomes more and more secular and estranged from the moral imperatives of the Gospel is not an option.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator