Saturday, September 5, 2009

Singing sweet harmony with Adam Smith (I Cor. 12)

Adam Smith preached the virtues of the "division of labor." As people become more specialized, they become more efficient. Their productivity goes up, and everyone's available wealth increases. Karl Marx objected that, as a worker's share of the end product shrinks, he becomes progressively more "alienated" from it. A man should, Marx suggested, be able to go fishing in the morning, gardening around noonday, and maybe perform brain surgery after dinner, in each case doing the complete task by himself.

In this chapter, Paul uses the human body as a metaphor for corporate life:
1Co 12:13 İster Yahudi ister Grek, ister köle ister özgür olalım, hepimiz bir beden olmak üzere aynı Ruh'ta vaftiz edildik ve hepimizin aynı Ruh'tan içmesi sağlandı.
1Co 12:14 İşte beden tek üyeden değil, birçok üyeden oluşur.
1Co 12:15 Ayak, "El olmadığım için bedene ait değilim" derse, bu onu bedenden ayırmaz.
1Co 12:16 Kulak, "Göz olmadığım için bedene ait değilim" derse, bu onu bedenden ayırmaz.
1Co 12:17 Bütün beden göz olsaydı, nasıl duyardık? Bütün beden kulak olsaydı, nasıl koklardık?
One body, many parts. Differences are not contradictions, but reasons for cooperation. Polyphony is one of the glories of Western civilization -- the startling idea that many voices can sing different tunes simultaneously-- and somehow, the total sound is lovelier than any single thread therein.

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