A Reply to Silverstein’s Negative Invectives on the Nagas and a Concise Answer to His Latest Tirade on the Christian Scripture

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

       ―   John Milton, Paradise Lost.

Introduction

I would first like to relate the meaning of the above lines from John Milton’s poem to our present situation in order to understand the mindset of an extremely negative person even before we address the issues raised by Robert A.Silverstein in his latest article, titled “A Reply to Three Responses to My Article on the Book of Daniel and the Christian Scriptures,” (EMN, December 31, 2016). Later on, I will respond to Silverstein’s insinuations directed to me and my two other Naga friends. His reply is once again a continued vilification of Nagas and our history, reflective of his negative invectives on the Nagas as he did in the past through his writings in EMN & NPN and his online negative feedback in Nagalandpage for quite some time.

Silverstein’s Negative and Incessant Invectives on the Nagas

Silverstein, by his own admission, is 73 years old [“not true; I’m 73”], past his prime and appears to be a pessimistic person. Not only is Silverstein past his prime but his continual tirades and tantrums on Naga way of life and history seem to be coming from a person who is eccentric, undisciplined, a bit confused and “chronically an unhappy person.” If we look for the core meaning of Milton’s lines cited above, an American professor, trainer and communication success speaker by name Preston Ni tells us of “8 Negative Attitudes of Chronically Unhappy People” (see Preston Ni, How to Let Go of Negative Thoughts and Emotions, 2015). For instance, Preston says there are such thoughts as “Negative Assumptions” in which a person begins to “presume the negative” from a certain situation or interaction.  Another attitude is “Negative Rumination about the Past” where an individual gets “stuck” in the past. Going by this psychological reasoning, a chronically unhappy person will achieve nothing in life but one’s self-defeat only. Even a heaven will be turned into hell for such a person. Silverstein’s “frequent incendiary tirades on Naga Society and Polity” – as my good friend N. Janbemo Humtsoe has rightly pointed out previously – every now then have raised some serious questions as to whether Silverstein is a “chronically negative person” (cf. his regular and harmful online comments on Naga issues in Nagalandpage.com) and presently his venomous attacks on some of the burning issues concerning the Naga people. How do we handle such an wobbly person? As Christians, let us not give a tit-for-tat, but we can only feel pity on him or be very careful of a certain “Rob” or “Bob Silverstein.”

The Holy Bible reminds us that: ‘Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Another enduring lesson that we have from the Word of God is found in this verse: “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man” (Proverbs 22:24). My only advice to my Naga people – who are going through a difficult phase now in the socio-political and economic fronts – is that let us be aware of some negative people like Silverstein who always talk and behave very badly and try to trick us into believing that ours is “a failed state” which any sensible Naga citizen finds it hard to grapple with. May be, Nagaland is under-developed anyway, but how long? One can see the winds of change blowing now. It is a good sign, a sign that is held by Naga intelligentsia and the Church. To always keep beating the drum that Nagaland is “a failed state” is negativism to the core. We do not live in the past, we live in the present and we are a praxis-oriented people. Though our Govt fails us, but the Naga public do not believe that it will remain the same forever. We only can stand up to our feet and walk. Therefore, we are not finished. We will rise up! Who will like a person who always loves to discourage others? Nobody likes a pessimist. Remember, one can make one’s own heaven a hell; and likewise, a person can also make a hell out of a heaven on this earth. The choice is there. Some chronic sceptics like Silverstein can never dampen the Naga spirit and our hunger for a change for good. As of now, Nagas are optimistic for a better future. But, it is not only talk and no action, as the motor-mouth Silverstein would always say. We believe on a philosophy of talk and walking the talk! We will rise up from the present state of affairs, no matter what. We have the faith and we keep the hope alive, and that is why we raise our voices – even dissenting voices – and feel proud of taking the pragmatic steps as you witness in our midst today.

Psychologically speaking, if a person has had a bad upbringing and is unhappy with matters like his family, marriage, profession, his own immediate society, and those personal issues affect that man, remember that such a person will be “chronically unhappy” all the time everywhere. Consequently, such a person tends to be negative and will go on with his unhelpful outbursts till the end of his life!  Such an eccentric or old maggot will be shunned everywhere! So “Rob,” its time you introspect your life. It’s never too late, even if you are 73 now, to have an about-turn from your old ways of glumness. Simply put, stop torturing the Nagas morally and intellectually just because you are an old buffoon sitting somewhere there and indulge in your bashing of Naga people. The identity of Mr. “Rob” in question may be English, American, Jew, or anyone else out there. Perhaps, “Rob Silverstein” is a just fly on the wall and wanting to have his way in the twilight of his life because of an uncertain past, may be. So, my beloved Naga people beware of such an old, cynical guest and a chronically unhappy person carrying out his tirades on us! Let us take heart and move forward to realize our vision.

A Concise Answer to Silverstein’s Questions on “the Book of Daniel” and why the Old Testament is “Christian Scripture”

It is not uncommon for an old folk like Silverstein to ask too many questions like a child does. Often times, the questions asked are simple things that we adults know.  In the immediate context, Silverstein came out of nowhere and joined the discussion on board. The only agenda on the board for discussion was corruption, which every Naga wants to eradicate from the present Naga situation and forever.  But the problem with “Rob” was he joined us without invitation and very oddly he jumped over-board! After jumping the board, he started asking – like always – childish and irrational questions, even on matters of theology which is far from the topic at our disposal. That’s where and when one can counsel him by telling, “Oh, Rob, go back to school!” Perhaps, even in his old age, “Rob” may learn some lessons on discipline; social ethics, theology and culture, and the history of various peoples and nations of the world. But he still continues to ask some unrelated questions namely: the faith matter of Roman Catholic and Protestant Church; Holocaust (the horrifying historical event which I already explained to our cynic Rob through the mouth of a Jewish holocaust survivor living in America in my last article & we Naga Christians dare not forsake our co-religionists, the Jews); and constantly harping on some unproductive ideas like Nagaland as “a failed state,” a constant criticism of Silverstein. I will only discuss the pertinent points here. First, I am a Protestant Christian having his roots with the American Baptists and well-versed primarily on the faith aspects of the Protestant Church and its Order. Secondly, I am not a Catholic and so I will not give answers on faith matters relating to the Catholic Church. The Catholic and Protestant churches are two different church traditions since the Reformation period that began in Germany and Europe in the 16^th century. Therefore, I will not waste my time discussing and answering Rob’s irrelevant questions, including a question on “The Pontifical Biblical Commission report.” If you are so keen to know more about this, I suggest that you enrol yourself in a theological seminary anywhere in the globe and acquaint yourself on this subject. It is your priority. I have other priorities. But, there is one opening for you. You are most welcome to attend our academic seminar held every month in our institution, provided your physical and psychological strength permits you to learn more in the near future.

Our sceptic “Rob” quipped unwittingly, “But I will do his job to prove him wrong.” Unfortunately, Mr. “Rob” lives in a small world, especially when it comes to biblical interpretation. So, there’s no way you can do someone’s job, and not even mine. What he does is all about joining the group discussion uninvited and habitually jumping from one topic to an unrelated one, viz:- socio-political (corruption) to interpretive issue in the Bible to “a failed state” (Nagaland) and the like.  Now, one of his problems so far has been: how can “the Book of Daniel be included in Christian Scripture?” A big wonder for a man of his age! As I pointed out earlier in no uncertain terms, the “Book of Daniel” as containing in “Christian Scripture” has to be examined and understood from the viewpoint of the Christian Canon. In addition to this, Mr. “Rob” must also be trained on the theological subjects like biblical interpretation or hermeneutics. Then only, he can properly understand his problem. However, I have some clear answers for a doubter on the Word of God today. Firstly, I have already answered his question and clarified his doubts in my article titled, “A Brief Literary & Theological Response to Silverstein’s Article” (in the Easternmirrornagaland, dated December 29, 2016 and also in NPN), specifically in point number two. But let me give a succinct answer to our “doubting Thomas” once and for all. To the Jews, the Old Testament is called, the “TANAKH” or Torah-Nebiim-Ketubim (as per BHS); and for us non-Jews/Christians, it is simply called “The Hebrew Bible” or the Old Testament (OT), which contains 39 books, including the Book of Daniel. Now this point is crystal clear to our cynic.  He also remarked, “I await Imchen’s citations.” Hence, let me move forward to cite one scholarly opinion, suggest some books and refer a few Scriptural references that I believe are valid and true.

It brings us to the second major challenge as to whether the “Book of Daniel” within “Christian Scripture” is correct or not. In order to widen Rob’s limited worldview on the “Old and New Testament theologies,” especially why OT is called the “Christian Scripture,” consider some popular views of OT scholars as stated below. According to M.J.Evans, “For a Christian, the Old Testament is scripture, or to put it another way, the Old Testament is Christian Scripture. This is an axiom, a starting point.” (M. J. Evans, “The Old Testament as Christian Scripture” in Vox Evangelica 16 [1986]: 25-32). So, within “the Christian Scripture,” we find “the Book of Daniel.” The above statement is amplified further by Evans when he puts it this way “The Old Testament, rightly understood, speaks constantly of Christ and must be interpreted in the light of that.” For a Scriptural bonding, take for example, Luke 24:27, 44-47; Acts 8:35; 28:23; etc. This is a clear citation (from me to Silverstein) on the given biblical and theological issue as he demanded. Other than the scholarly article cited above, the questioner must read these three new and famous books. They are: Christopher R. Seitz and Kent Harold Richards (ed.). The Bible as Christian Scripture: The Work of Brevard S. Childs (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013); R.W.L. Moberly. Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture (2013); Peter A. Lillback (ed.). Seeing Christ in All of Scripture: Hermeneutics at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Seminary Press, 2016).

 Conclusion

To conclude, I encourage Mr. Robert A.Silverstein to be very clear in his mind about a subject and not be lopsided. If he is interested to join a discussion, then he must be doubly sure and knowledgeable of any issues at his disposal for a healthy debate and not indulging in vindictiveness and being eccentric. Otherwise, he will end up as a self-defeatist who creates confusion in the boardroom. Another advice to Mr. “Rob” is to restrain himself from being a “chronically a negative person” which makes him “an unhappy person,” because of his pessimistic views of life. To all these academic and intellectual exercises, I as a good Christian witness want to end our intellectual exercise with the words of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus bids us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Some people in this world are burdened with their loads of sin. But there is good news in Jesus who spoke these words long time ago. Even today, the words of Jesus, the Son of God continues to speak to human beings. He will give rest and happiness to everyone who surrenders before Him. May God who is merciful bless Mr. “Rob” and everyone, Amen!

S.Temjen Imchen

(temjenba@gmail.com)