It was a gnomon, Silas had been told, a pagan astronomical device… [From The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.]

This business of claiming everything good for the pagans can only go so far before it gets a bit silly. A gnomon is a pagan astronomical device only in the same way that a reflecting telescope is a Christian astronomical device.

If you don’t know what a gnomon is, here’s Dr. Johnson’s definition: “The hand or pin of a dial.” (By “dial” he means a sundial.) In other words, a gnomon, in its most primitive form, is a stick that casts a shadow. In its most advanced form, it’s a stick that casts a shadow, although it may have some fancy filigree decoration. Yes, it certainly was invented long before the time of Christ.

A gnomon seems a silly choice to represent the mysterious wisdom of the ancient pagans. But granting for a moment that it is “a pagan astronomical device,” should we be surprised to find such a thing in a Christian church?

I don’t think so. Christians honor the achievements of all human thought, Christian or otherwise, as gifts of the same God. A truth discovered by a pagan is no less a truth. “Whatever things were rightly said among all men,” said Justin Martyr, “are the property of us Christians.” (Second Apology, 13.)

Justin didn’t disparage the pagan thinkers. Quite the reverse: Justin had spent his life studying the great philosophers of the past, and he himself proudly wore the robes of a classical philosopher. Their wisdom was good, because it was a gift from the God of the Christians - even if the pagan philosophers didn’t know God.

As we show you in The Grail Code, Pope Gregory the Great used Justin’s principle in evangelizing the barbarian English. Instead of tearing down their beloved shrines and canceling their favorite festivals, Gregory told his missionaries to keep everything good, but convert it to Christian uses. People would be led to the faith by the places and celebrations they loved best.

This is exactly what the great writers of the Middle Ages did with the old Celtic myths that still cropped up in minstrels’ tales. Instead of trying to prohibit everyone’s favorite popular entertainment, they used those stories to lead people closer to Christ.

So the next time you see a pagan astronomical device in a church, you can thank God for the wise pagan who discovered it. Then you can give thanks for the wise Christians, Justin and Gregory, who taught us that all wisdom has a place in the Christian church.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 12th, 2006 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Blog Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.