"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
This opening paragraph of Dickens’ classic novel refers to the time period of the French Revolution, in which his story is set. Upon examination, this passage very accurately portrays the current years through which we are all living. There are so many ways to interpret this passage and apply it to our present time. These ways are determined by the worldview through which the passage is seen. Atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Gnostics, and anyone else would find reasons that the 2020s are both amazing and terrible. To all people, it is clear that the present has both pros and cons. However, as Christians, we have the best and richest way of understanding our present age and its similarity to the passage by Dickens. His eloquence is still relevant to our lives two and a half centuries later.
For Christians, this truly is the best of times because we have more opportunities than ever before to share the gospel with people all over the world. However, this time is also the worst because the world is full of sin and suffering, which is constantly increasing as people become more depraved. In the view of unbelievers, especially atheists, this is the age of wisdom because new technologies are always being developed and people are learning more, but Christians see that this is truly the age of foolishness because everyone that hasn’t yet put their faith in Christ is hopelessly lost and foolish. So many Bible verses speak to this, showing how the wisdom of man is actually foolishness. No matter how it’s seen, this is the epoch of belief and the epoch of incredulity because everyone believes their worldview and is incredulous of everything else. This has always been true and is the cause of much of the conflict in history. Similarly, our present time is a season of light and of darkness. The light is intellectual, scientific, and technological, while the darkness is emotional, psychological, and ultimately spiritual. This time is full of hope, especially as we are at the beginning of 2022, excited for what this new year will bring, but it is also a “winter of despair,” as suicide and depression rates are at an all-time high, and many people have made the pun “2020 too,” forecasting that this year will be just as bad as the ones before it. As Christians, we must not despair, but instead keep our hope in Christ who will one day return.
Dickens writes “we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,” which accurately describes our current situation. There are so many opportunities before us, but it is all vanity, as it says so many times in Ecclesiastes. However, I disagree with the next part of this passage, which says “we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” This doesn’t make much sense, and in our present time it seems that society and most of the people in it are headed “the other way,” while Christians are not of the world. We are on our way to our true home, Heaven. Everyone is not going to the same place. However, the opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities is still incredibly applicable to modern day, marking the true skill of Charles Dickens as a writer.
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