'A Tale of Two Cities' - Nationalism in Zion and Babylon
Tyndale Bulletin 39 (1988) 19-57. THE TYNDALE OLD TESTAMENT LECTURE, 1986 'A TALE OF TWO CITIES' - NATIONALISM IN ZION AND BABYLON Deryck C. T. Sheriffs INTRODUCTION There are many forms of nationalism. Johannes Degenaar lists eight varieties of nationalism including constitutional, revolutionary, pan- and racial nationalism in a paper on 'Philosophical Roots of Nationalism'.1 'Nationalism' thus defies a fixed definition, as does 'nation' or 'race', and takes on colour from its historical and cultural setting. 'Nationalism' is an ideology, that is a set of ideas used to express a nation's aspirations by an influential group within it. It may draw on feelings of ancestry, kinship, shared history, language, homeland, and sense of destiny. An ideology does not have to be logically consistent or factually true to function. It may be based on myth in both senses of the word.2 On the other hand, an ideology is not necessarily a form of 'false consciousness', and I shall attempt to use the words 'ideology' and 'nationalism' as neutrally as possible in the rest of this paper. 'Nationalism' consciously attempts to transcend tribalism. It is not the ideology of separate clans, tribes, villages or cities as such, but an ideology which attempts to unify these elements in a greater whole, the nation-state. In our times, physical objects such as flags, coins, and the central political buildings carry the symbolic message of nationalism, as do rituals such as singing the national anthem, parades carrying the flag, or ceremonies at the opening of government buildings. The capital city therefore plays a special role in the rituals of nationalism ancient and modern, normally being the ___________________________ 1 Theo Sundemeier (ed.), Church and Nationalism in South Africa (Johannesburgh, Raven Press 1975) 11-39.
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