Will
the Gentiles Also Look Beyond the Mark?
Editor's
Note:
This essay became the basis of the chiasms and parallels that were
discovered subsequent to its writing. They go to prove that the
Gentile (Mormon/ Christian) husbandmen today are on a parallel with the
Jews at the time of Christ. |
|
The stone which the
builders rejected,
the same is become the head of the
corner:
this is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes. |
|
-- Matthew 21:42 |
THE CATALYZING /
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
|
This paper was prepared for the first
intermountain regional meeting of the national Society of Christian
Philosophers, scheduled for March 12-14 at Brigham Young University.
[Ed. Note: This paper was rejected because it was
"lacking in philosophical content."] |
ABSTRACT:
The Gentiles/Christians are today where the Jews were just prior to
Jesus' ministry. The latter-day Gentiles will reject the Messiah just as
profoundly as did the Jews, only on different terms. Though a sorry
occurrence, this will fulfill the Lord's purposes. Through rejection comes
redemption -- spiritual and temporal. Christ's first coming wrought
spiritual redemption and his second will bring temporal redemption. The Jews
expected the temporal and rejected the spiritual. The Gentiles are preoccupied
with the spiritual and will reject the temporal. God's chosen people in any
dispensation are those who recognize and follow him as both Lord of lords and
King of kings, not one to the exclusion of the other, looking beyond the mark.
* *The
Essay* *
(showing brief excerpts with hyperlinks to complete text)
The Jews'
Blunder
Christians are
often brutally harsh in their condemnation of the Jews who crucified Jesus
Christ. ...
...the Gentiles or Christians seem to be headed in the same direction--only
on different terms. the
rest of the story
The Questions
- What was Judaism supposed to be, and what had it actually become at the
time of Jesus? How corrupted had it become?
- Was there a subset of Jews at the time of Jesus that practiced a pure
Judaism?
- What extent of compatibility was there during Jesus' three-year ministry
between "establishment" Judaism and Jesus' teachings, and between
"pure" Judaism and Christianity?
- the
rest of the story
Supersession
As Christianity fulfilled and superseded Judaism, the church of the
Firstborn, or Zion, will fulfill and supersede Christianity. The woman, or the
Church, brings forth the manchild, or the kingdom of our God and of his
Christ. The New Testament Christian polemic
directed against the Jews who deviated from true Judaism will parallel Zion's
polemic which will be directed at Christians who deviate from true
Christianity. the
rest of the story
The Kingdom of
God: Both Religious and Political
The kingdom of God is both religious and political: the religious having to
do with the gospel of Jesus Christ and individual salvation, and the political
having to do with governments and national or corporate salvation. Like
husband and wife, these two classifications are distinct yet synergistic
components of one complete unit. the
rest of the story
| KINGDOM
OF GOD |
| RELIGIOUS |
POLITICAL |
| gospel |
governmet |
| spiritual |
temporal |
| individual |
collective |
| personal |
national |
| word of the
Lord |
law of the
Lord |
| law of Moses |
Abrahamic
covenant |
| focus of the
Gentiles |
preoccupation
of the Jews |
| Jews' blunder |
Gentiles
falter |
| Christ's
first coming |
Christ's
second coming |
| priests &
preistesses |
kings &
queens |
| Lord of lords |
King of kings |
References:
1 Ne. 22:3; Isa. 5:24; Rev. 1:6; Matt. 21:42-44; 3 Ne. 15:4; 3 Ne. 28:7;
D&C 45:16; 3 Ne. 20:26,27; 16:10,11; 2 Ne. 28:32 |
the
rest of the story
The political Realm and the Constitution
of the United States
. . . For our time the Constitution as the Founders intended it epitomizes
the proper role of government. Those who framed that document were great men
inspired of God. . . . They saw this document as fulfilling Isaiah's
prophecy that "out of Zion shall go forth the law."
When destruction comes upon the hypocrites in the latter days, it will be
due to their disregard of the religious and the political
realms of God's kingdom. . . . the
rest of the story
Upon My House
Shall it Begin
Nevertheless, many professing Christians divorce the issues of government
from religious belief and embrace or sympathize with Satan's counterfeits,
becoming a great impediment to those who are seeking to promote God's kingdom
politically as well as religiously. . . . the
rest of the story
A Stone of
Stumbling; A Rock of Offense
Ironically, the political salvation from which the Gentiles have shirked is
the very salvation that the Jews were so zealous to receive when the true
Messiah came among them. . . . the
rest of the story
Looking Beyond
the Mark
. . . So also, can we say that the Jews should not have focused on the
temporal aspects of the kingdom to the exclusion of the religious, when the
religious salvation was what they were to receive; and the Gentiles likewise
should not focus on religious salvation to the exclusion of the political,
when the political is what they are going to receive? . .
. the
rest of the story
Lamps Trimmed
and Burning
The key for not being deceived in this time of irony that matches the irony
of the time of Christ's first coming, is to take the Holy Spirit to be one's
guide and receive the truth. . . . Just as there was a subset of Jews at the
time of Christ who recognized the true Messiah at his first coming, so there
will be a subset of Christians who overcome in the latter
days. the
rest of the story
by
Sterling D. Allan; Provo, Utah; February 28, 1992
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Page posted by SDA Feb. 1999
Page last updated on March 06, 2013
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