For many, the March 26 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and resulting death of six road repair workers, as well as major disruptions to transportation, employment, and commerce, raised a host of emotions and questions, including some pertaining to theodicy: justifying God’s ways in the face of chaos and evil. On an everyday level, the collapse, caused when a massive cargo ship struck one of the bridge’s support piers, also reminds us of the importance of bridges in the lives of Christians and others, as well as the significance of those who design, build, and maintain them.
In the Catholic Church, the term pontiff applies to persons who build a bridge to make a way for humans to God. The term may have derived from the classical Latin pōns, meaning bridge. In the Vulgate, the Catholic Church’s Latin translation of the Bible, pontifex is used in the book of Hebrews as a translation for the Greek ἀρχιερεὺς (chief priest, high priest; e.g., Hebrews 2:17). In current Catholic usage, pontiff is applied to bishops, especially or exclusively the pope (New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., see “pontiff”).
There are no “Christian bridges”
While the Catholic Church sees the pope as a living, if metaphoric, Christian bridge, the destruction of the Key Bridge that spanned the Patapsco River involved an inanimate and physical one. Theologians don’t typically reflect on material bridges. However, one leading mid-20th century theologian of the Reformed Tradition did. In his 1937 book, The Divine Imperative, the Swiss Protestant, Emil Brunner (1889-1966), made several claims about bridges. One is instructive in light of the Key Bridge disaster. Brunner wrote: “A Christian who is called to be a statesman is not called to ‘govern as a Christian,’ but—and just because he is a Christian he ought to know this — as a good statesman. A scientist is not to conduct his research work as a Christian but as a scientist, a Christian engineer does not build ‘Christian bridges’ but solid bridges. This means that the Divine Command, discerned by faith, instructs him to act in accordance with facts” (263).
Brunner clarifies his perspective about designing and constructing bridges. According to him:
There are no ‘Christian bridges,’ any more than there are Christian proofs for the Pythagorean doctrine. But in so far as all human activity is connected with the whole man, and with human society as a whole, the concrete norm is immediately limited by ethical norms; therefore, indirectly, the fact of being a Christian must somehow or another have some influence on the process of building bridges (627, n. 3).
By “concrete norm” Brunner means a specific rule or rules pertaining to a particular endeavor, in this case building bridges. For him, although there can be nothing explicitly Christian about the design and physical attributes of a bridge, Christian engineers, construction workers, and others should carry out their work of designing and building bridges as Christians. Broadly construed, this perspective is one aspect of a theology of work. More narrowly, it is an expression of professional or applied ethics.
Brunner’s understanding of the relationship between engineering and Christian faith and practice is similar to the description The Christian Engineering Society (CES) offers on its “About CES” webpage1https://www.christianengineering.org/organization/about-ces:
Christian Engineers are engineers who are also Christians (as described by the Apostle’s Creed), people who are committed followers of Jesus Christ. Our faith helps inform the choices we make as engineers, particularly questions related to purpose and priorities. We find God’s calling in our lives in all its aspects, personal and professional. We are interested in applying Biblical principles such as justice and stewardship to our professional lives and to the design of technology. God’s special concern for the poor and disadvantaged touches our hearts so that we look for opportunities to use our skills as engineers in ways that build God’s Kingdom. However, Christian engineering is not just about technology for the poor. We see all technological development as part of our stewardship and unfolding of the creation, a powerful tool that we must take care to use appropriately.
Brunner and the CES might agree that, in the work of designing bridges, Christian engineers should consult load limits, stress tables, and other pertinent sources — rather than scripture or the theological tradition — but they should do so while conducting their professional activities in ways that are limited, influenced, shaped, and guided by Christian faith and practice.
