There is a story in the Bible about some skeptics who questioned Jesus about the need to pay taxes to the Emperor. They did this only to see what he would say. But Jesus did not fall for the trick. He told them to look at a Denarius, a penny. Sure enough, on one side of the coin there was the emperor’s picture. That tells you, Jesus said, that you must pay your taxes (Mark 12:14). He did not say anything about the other side of the coin but added that ” you must also give to God what belongs to God”.
We do not know if that phrase about God had anything to do with the other side of the coin. What might have been pictured on the other side? Probably nothing about God or even religion. It could not have been a cross because Christianity had not been invented yet. It could have been a picture of some heathen god but as far as I know Jews were pretty strict in their belief in one sole God, namely their’s. The picture of any heathen god they would not have taken seriously. For all we know it could have been an elephant. There was such a coin but I doubt that it was still in circulation at the time, nor can I guess how that would have been interpreted in the context. So much for the two sides of the biblical Denarius.
Nevertheless, coins do have two sides and they usually show symbolic pictures on both sides. The quarter I hold in my hand shows an eagle on one side and the profile of President George Washington on the other. Which side is heads, which tails? That is entirely up to us. I assume that most people would declare the side with the President’s profile to be the recto, to borrow a term from the printing trades, and the eagle the verso. So if Jesus were to look at my coin he would say that George Washington represents America and ergo I must pay my taxes. The logic appears to me to be somewhat tenuous but I would go along with it. And the eagle on the verso might mean that we are free, free as the birds, and I am for that. But Jesus never let anyone get away easy. I bet you a nickel that he would tell you that the eagle on the quarter’s verso stands for the federal government and that it means “or else”, i.e. if you don’t do the recto thing the IRS will come after you. So in the last analysis this quarter is special: it has only one side.
If you did not know this you have obviously not filed your tax return yet.
(c)2018 by Herbert H. Hoffman. Picture credit: megapixl.com