Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Slander Gives Way to Truth (Cymbeline)

Slander Gives Way to Truth (Cymbeline)

Last updated on: June 2, 2016 at 9:47 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Slander Gives Way to Truth (Cymbeline) 2016-06-02T21:47:53-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Cymbeline_act1_scene2_by_BURKE,THOMAS-_GMII_opt

Love will be err on the side of faith in the beloved.

Want to spot an evil place? Find an organization where the “king” is always in place, but the “inferiors” change out quickly. You can be sure that slippery, slanderous, sneaks are whispering lies.

There are “tricksy” souls intent on protecting or enriching themselves by slandering others.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has the good king Theoden nearly unmanned by the discouraging whispers of Grima Wormtongue. This is bad, but not the worst that the tricky soul can do. God help me, but I have seen organizations run by Grima and that is worse. Such places live in a culture of fear that is not Nazi-like, but more as if seventh grade gossipers had seized control of an adult organization or nation.

Slander rules. But we must never forget that any healthy organization invites criticism. After all, good people do bad things . . . and evidence should not be ignored yet bad people often accuse good people of bad things they did not do. What are we to do?

We must consider both the known character and the circumstantial evidence we are given. Healthy investigation of problems is open and honest. Slander is sneaky, quiet, and done with a sly last word in a meeting, a quip with a double meaning, or snark that sows doubt.

Slander is the mark of death. If you are in a place where everyone is “dishing” on everyone else (even people who are no longer present), then you know that you should leave. This is a kingdom that is doomed.

What shall I need to draw my sword? the paper
Hath cut her throat already. No, ’tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds and doth belie
All corners of the world: kings, queens and states,
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters.

If you are unsure, read or watch Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. Jesus is being born in Palestine while a British king lives in a nation much in need of God’s truth and justice. God is on his throne, but nobody in Rome or Britain knows God’s name. Nobody in the play is a pagan . . . all rely on Christian morality (delightful moral anachronism) while praying to Roman deities. Jove answers prayers, but the Jove that does justice is just the Jesus by another name.

The problem is not God, or even that they have not yet learned God’s proper name, but that slander has infected the Kingdom. Imogene, the nearly perfect princess, is beset by slander and lies nearly win.

Why don’t they?

The worst a liar can do is kill you! This would be bad news if this was the only life, but it is not. There is justice and though God moves slowly, His justice is sure. No liar, conman, or grifter can prosper in eternity. Lies can only be repeated by liars and all liars die. God speaks the truth over and over and over again for all eternity until slander and lies are buried under the weight of absolute and total truth.

You may be discouraged just now because liars, grifters, thieves, con artists, and Wormtongues seem to triumph. Fear not.

Fear no more the lightning flash,

Fear not slander, censure rash;

Thou hast finish’d joy and moan:

All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.

For an atheist this is bad news, but for a Christian a most excellent truth. We cannot lose. God will (generally) reveal the truth in this life, but when it is better so, then truth will out more slowly.

All lovers come to dust, but love is never lost. In eternity, love triumphs and slander is ruined by the sheer, endless, joyous, clarity of Truth. It cannot be otherwise. Stalin says Christianity is dead, but Stalin is dead and Christianity lives in Russia. Hitler kills Jewish people, but Hitler is dead and we know him to have been a wicked, slanderous, genocidal tyrant and the Jewish community lives on. Eternity will prove even more relentless.

Of course, this has a frightening side. All of us dodge and hide from the truth (unless we are very saintly). Cymbeline also points (anachronistically) to mercy . . .the mercy of the Christian God who knows all and forgives all . . .if we will only face up, tell the truth, and repent.

God help the nation led by liars proud to lie.

God help us if we lie, slander, and deceive. No tricksy man will inherit the Kingdom of God, but the good news is this: many of us will let the truth be told and change to conform to it. We will live in truth. Be guided by truth. Accept the truth. We will not slander, but love. We will value love over power and friendship over political position.

Happy are the truthful for theirs is the Kingdom of God.

———————————————————-

William Shakespeare went to God four hundred years ago. To recollect his death, I am writing a personal reflection on a few of his plays. The Winter’s Tale started things off, followed by As You Like It. Romeo and Juliet still matter, Lady Macbeth rebukes the lust for power, and Henry V is a hero. Richard II shows us not to presume on the grace of God or rebel against authority too easily. Coriolanus reminds us that our leaders need integrity and humility. Our life can be joyful if we realize that it is, at best, A Comedy of Errors. Hamlet needs to know himself better and talks to himself less. He is stuck with himself so he had better make his peace with God quickly and should stay far away from Ophelia. Shakespeare gets something wrong in Merchant of Venice . . . though not as badly as some in the English Labour Party or in my Twitter feed. Love if blind, but intellectualism is blind and impotent in Love’s Labours Lost. Brutus kills Caesar, but is overshadowed by him in Julius Caesar. We should learn not to make Much Ado about Nothing. We might all be Antony, but if we would avoid his fate then we must avoid flattery and the superficial love of Troilus and Cressida. We are fools, but our goal should be to accept it and not to degenerate into Biblical fools during our Midsummer Night’s Dream. Richard III is a symptom of a bad leadership community, but be careful that use Measure for Measure to guide your reaction to the mess. The modern university is Iago in Othello playing on our sins to destroy the nation. You can’t accumulate your way to a great leader and personal piety in Henry VI (Part I) is not enough to make a great king. God will save the King, not our stupid partisan squabbles seen in Henry VI (Part 2) and not kingmakers as existed in Henry VI (Part 3). Fortunately, in God’s world All’s Well That Ends Well. Two Gentlemen remind me that being in love is grand. King John keeps winning and so loses. Slander always gives way to truth in Cymbeline.

On Books

Previous Post

June 1, 2016

I am in Love and that is Simply Grand (Two Gentlemen)

Next Post

June 2, 2016 Loving Rich Men, Needing Patrons (Timon of Athens)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What nation took Israel into captivity in 722 BC?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Assyria Babylon Egypt Persia

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »