R.C. Sproul's Use of the Tower of Babel in Humanism Sermons
The biblical account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 describes a pivotal moment in human history where humanity, united in language and purpose, attempted to build a city with a tower reaching to the heavens [2]. This endeavor was interpreted by God as an act of rebellion and pride, leading to the confusion of their language and their dispersion across the earth [2, 4]. This event is often understood as a divine judgment against human hubris and a foundational narrative for the diversity of languages and nations [1, 4].
The narrative begins with humanity speaking a single language and migrating eastward to the land of Shinar, where they decided to build a city and a tower "with its top in the heavens" to "make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4) [2]. God observed their project, noting that "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" (Genesis 11:6). Consequently, God confused their language, preventing them from understanding one another, and scattered them across the globe, causing them to abandon the construction of the city [2]. The city was thus named Babel, meaning "confusion" [2].
Theological interpretations of the Tower of Babel often highlight themes of human pride, rebellion against divine will, and the consequences of attempting to usurp God's authority. John Calvin, for instance, viewed the event as a "most dreadful proof of Divine anger against the pride of men" [4]. He noted that the builders' desire to "make a name for ourselves" was an act of self-glorification that directly challenged God's sovereignty [4]. The builders' intention to prevent their dispersion also ran contrary to God's command to "fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1), indicating a desire to centralize power and defy divine purpose [2].
Augustine of Hippo, in City of God, also discusses the Tower of Babel in the context of human presumption. He questions the builders' intent, asking how they expected to raise such a structure "against God" [5]. The narrative, for Augustine, underscores the futility of human efforts when they are directed against divine will [5]. The confusion of languages served as a direct impediment to their unified, rebellious project, forcing a dispersion that ultimately fulfilled God's broader plan for humanity to spread across the earth [1].
Rabbinic traditions also interpret the Tower of Babel as an act of rebellion. The Midrash Rabbah connects the term "huḥal" (commenced) in Genesis 11:6 to other instances of rebellion in scripture, suggesting that the generation of Babel, like the generation of Enosh and the Nephilim, engaged in actions that defied God [3]. The Babylonian Talmud further suggests that the angels questioned God's creation of humanity after the ruinous actions of the generations of the Flood and the Dispersion, highlighting the severity of their transgression [6].
The event at Babel is sometimes contrasted with the Pentecost event in the New Testament, where the apostles were miraculously enabled to speak in various languages, allowing the Gospel to be proclaimed to people from diverse linguistic backgrounds [4]. Calvin saw this as God's "admirable goodness," where the division caused by Babel was overcome by the unity of faith in Christ, allowing the nations to communicate and coalesce in the gospel message [4]. This perspective suggests that while Babel represented a judgment that divided humanity, Pentecost offered a redemptive reversal, uniting people through a common spiritual language [4].
The Tower of Babel narrative serves as a powerful theological statement about the dangers of human pride and the limits of human ambition when it seeks to operate independently of or in opposition to God's will. It explains the origin of linguistic diversity and the scattering of peoples, while also foreshadowing God's ultimate plan for unity through the Gospel [1, 4].
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Tongues, Confusion Of — The unity of the human race is most clearly implied, if not positively asserted, in the Mosaic writings. Unity of language is assumed by the sacred historian apparently as a corollary of the unity of race. (This statement is confirmed by philologists.) No explanation is given of the origin of speech, but its exercise is evidently regarded as coeval with the creation of man. The original unity of speech was restored in Noah. Disturbing causes were, however, early at work to dissolve this twofold union of community and speech. The human family en”
- Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:5: We have here the quashing of the project of the Babel-builders, and the turning of the counsel of those froward men headlong, that God's counsel might stand in spite of them. Here is, I. The cognizance God took of the design that was on foot: The Lord came down to see the city, Gen 11:5. It is an expression after the manner of men; he knew it as clearly and fully as men know that which they come to the place to view. Observe, 1. Before he gave judgment upon their cause, he enquired into it; for God is incontestably just and fair in all his proceedings against sin”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 23:7: “Then commenced [ huḥal ]” – Rabbi Simon said: In three places this term is stated as an expression of rebellion: “Then commenced the proclaiming of the name of the Lord”; 21 The generation of Enosh proclaimed the name of God in order to desecrate it, in rebellion against Him. “it was [ heḥel ] when man began” (Genesis 6:1); 22 “The children of the great men saw the daughters of man, that they were fair, and they took for themselves wives, from whomever they chose” (Genesis 6:2). “he began [ heḥel ] to be a mighty one in the earth” (Genesis 10:8). 23 Nimr”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1 (Gen 1-23), section 15.12: most dreadful proofs of Divine anger against the pride of men, the admirable goodness of God is rendered conspicuous, because the nations hold mutual communication among themselves, though in different languages; but especially because He has proclaimed one gospel, in all languages, through the whole world, and has endued the Apostles with the gift of tongues. Whence it has come to pass, that they who before were miserably divided, have coalesced in the unity of the faith. In this sense Isaiah says, that the language of Canaan sh”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 4.--OF THE DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES, AND OF THE FOUNDING OF BABYLON. (part 2): by the singular number, as we speak of "the soldier," meaning the army, and of the frog or the locust, when we refer to the whole multitude 313 of frogs and locusts in the plagues with which Moses smote the Egyptians.1 But what did these vain and presumptuous men intend? How did they expect to raise this lofty mass against God, when they had built it above all the mountains and the clouds of the earth's atmosphere? What injury could any spiritual or mate”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 38b.6: When history arrived at the time of the people of the generation of the flood and the people of the generation of the dispersion, i.e., the Tower of Babel, whose actions were ruinous, the angels said before God: Master of the Universe, didn’t the first set of angels speak appropriately before You, that human beings are not worthy of having been created? God said to them concerning humanity: “Even to your old age I am the same; and even to hoar hairs will I suffer you; I have made and I will bear; and I will carry, and I will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4), i.e.,”