jayne svenungssonacts which we draw from them could ever be justified merely by way
of their seeming success or failure in a larger historical (or eschato-
logical) perspective. The history of religion — not least of all Christian-
ity — knows too many examples of this dangerous logic, emblemati-
cally expressed in the commandment of the papal legate Arnauld
Amaury at the arrival in Béziers — an important nest of resistance for
the Cathars — in 1209: “Kill them all — the Lord will recognize His
own” (in the end, about 20,000 men, women, and children were
slaughtered). Contrary to this logic, the messianic conception of his-
tory emphasizes that each moment of history contains its own judge-
ment; that in each moment we are called to respond to the prophetic
command for justice. Thus, in Levinas’ perhaps most famous words
on the messianic: “Man can do what he must do; he can master the
hostile forces of history by helping to bring about a messianic reign, a
reign of justice foretold by the prophets. The waiting for the Messiah
marks the very duration of time.”^29
- Levinas, Difficile liberté, 50; Eng. trans., 26.