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| 2 The Christian Faith in Historical Perspective | |
This ministry is directed to the peoples of the world which historically have embraced Christianity--namely, the Caucasians, the Anglo-Saxons, the Celts, the Scandinavians, the Germanic tribes, and kindred groups which inhabit Western Europe and North America. Because of their embrace of Christianity, these groups collectively have been known as "Christendom", that is, "the kingdom of Christ". Not surprisingly, these traditionally-Christian peoples are none other than the literal, physical descendants of the tribes of ancient, Biblical Israel--an undeniable fact which is supported by an abundance of historical evidence. Contrary to popular notion, the so-called "lost tribes of Israel" did not disappear from the face of the earth; however, their identity as Israelites was obscured through the process of deportation following the conquest of Israel by Assyria, circa 721 B. C., and by their subsequent migrations.
As prophesied in Scripture, these descendants of Jacob continued to increase, becoming in number "as the stars of heaven" and "as the sand of the seashore"--a multitude entirely too great to be accommodated within the confines of the "Promised Land" in the Middle East, even with the most liberal interpretation of the boundaries which are delineated in the Scripture for that land. Contrast this astronomical multitude with the Jews, who, according to their own reckoning, never have numbered more than about fifteen million persons. Likewise, in accordance with the promises which God made to Abraham, these literal, physical descendants of the line Abraham-Isaac-Jacob have formed "a multitude of nations"--a distinction which in no way may be claimed by the people today known as the "Jews".
The correspondence between Christendom and Biblical Israel is apparent in many of the numerous prophecies regarding the progeny of Abraham and the nation Israel. In addition, the Gospel accounts and the epistles of New Covenant scripture contain numerous declarations and indications that the people for whom and to whom they were written are Israelites--literal, physical descendants of the line of Abraham-Isaac-Jacob. The belief that the descendants of Biblical Israel today are found exclusively in those calling themselves "Jew" is a false notion which cannot withstand scrutiny. The simple fact is that the prophecies of the Scripture which pertain to the tribes of Israel are not fulfilled in the people known as the "Jews", whether the Jews are construed to be an ethnic group or a religion. But the prophecies of Scripture which pertain to the tribes of Israel are fulfilled in the multitudes and the nations which comprise Christendom.
Inasmuch as the vast majority of those who have embraced the Christian Faith physically are of the line Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, why is it that so few Christians are cognizant of their lineage? To a great extent, the answer lies in a tragic blunder on the part of William Tyndale, who, at the beginning of the 16th Century A.D., was the first man to translate the body of New Covenant Scripture directly from the original Greek into English. The blunder which Tyndale committed was his use of the term "Gentile" to represent the Greek word ethnos. And the blunder of Tyndale has been compounded by the fact that successive translators of the English Bible, with few exceptions, blindly have followed the precedent set by Tyndale.
To understand the nature and severity of the blunder of Tyndale, it is necessary to understand that, in the process of translating the Scripture from Greek into English, it sometimes is the case that there is to be found no exact English equivalent for a particular Greek word, especially for a word which is used in a technical sense; the Greek word baptizo, from which the English term "baptize" is derived, is an example. In such a case, the translator may choose to transliterate, rather than to translate, thereby coining a new English word. By transliterating, the translator expresses his opinion that the Greek word is not to be taken in its normal or literal sense. It is important to realize that the decision to transliterate typically is a consequence of the theological bias of the translator; and, indeed, it is impossible for a translation of the Scripture to be free of such influence.
But in the case of ethnos--which Tyndale rendered as "Gentile"--there was little, if any, justification for transliteration, for the word ethnos has several English equivalents. Depending upon the context in which it is used, ethnos corresponds to the English word "tribe", "nation", or "people". And, while it is true that, in the context of the Scripture, ethnos typically refers to the nations, tribes, and peoples which are the progeny of Israelites dispersed by the Assyrian invasion, rather than simply to nations, tribes, or peoples in general, it is difficult to argue that ethnos is being used in a technical sense. Tyndale simply should have translated ethnos, using the English word "tribe", "nation", or "people", according to the context.
But instead of translating or transliterating ethnos, Tyndale did something which was quite irregular--irregular to the point of being bizarre and even perverse. Tyndale employed a combination of representation and transliteration. Thus, in his English Bible, Tyndale represents the Greek word ethnos with the Latin word gentilis, which he then transliterates as "Gentile". The rationale for this confusing linguistic transmogrification is as follows:
The word gentilis is found in the Vulgate, which is an ancient translation of the Scripture, made from the Greek into Latin. (The Old Covenant scripture found in the Vulgate is translated from the Septuagint.) The Vulgate uses gentilis to translate ethnos. Both words have the meaning of "tribe" or "nation" or "people"; indeed, ethnos and gentilis are exact equivalents; that is, they are cognates.
So, gentilis is a proper rendering of ethnos--if one is translating from Greek into Latin. But Tyndale was translating the Bible into English--not into Latin. Tyndale's use of "Gentile" to represent ethnos would make no sense whatsoever, apart from the tenuous logic that ethnos and gentilis are cognates.
Thus have Tyndale and his successors, by introduction of a single term, obscured the fact that many passages in the Scripture speak of the "tribes", "nations", or "peoples", rather than to a nondescript entity termed "Gentiles". While the terms "tribes", "nations", and "peoples" are found throughout Old Covenant scripture, and are easily discerned as being references to the dispersed tribes of Israel, the term "Gentiles" has no inherent or obvious meaning to the English reader. Thus, through use of the term "Gentile", Tyndale and his successors have blinded multiple generations of Christians to their heritage as descendants of the line Abraham-Isaac-Jacob. Once the origin of the English term "Gentile" is understood, it should be apparent that the term has no legitimate place in the English Bible; in every instance, ethnos ought be rendered "tribes", "nations", or "peoples".
One of the greatest of all theological misconceptions is the notion that the so-called "Gentiles" are non-Israelites. But the truth of the matter is that (as previously noted), when the term "Gentile" is used in the Scripture (and particularly in New Covenant scripture), it almost always refers to the descendants of the Israelites who were carried away into captivity by the Assyrians circa 721 B. C. To appreciate why the Scripture makes a distinction between the "Jew" and the "Gentile", it is necessary to understand a number of facts:
Through divorce, the Northern Kingdom lost not only her relationship with the Eternal, but also her identity. No longer could she be known as "Israel" or "the people of the Lord". Those of the former Northern Kingdom were viewed with utmost contempt by their kinsmen, the Jews; the Scripture makes frequent reference to this perpetual animosity of the Jew with respect to the "Gentile".
The prophecies of Old Covenant scripture foretell a regathering of Israel and a reuniting of the divided nation; the reunion obviously is in the context of a new marriage covenant, namely, the New Covenant. However, until the advent of the New Covenant and the revealing of the "mystery" doctrines, the prophecies concerning reunification were enigmatic, inasmuch as the Law of God forbade the former Northern Kingdom to remarry her old husband. Moreover, the Southern Kingdom could not enter a new marriage covenant so long as she was bound by the Old Covenant. These seemingly-insurmountable barriers were overcome (1) by the death of Christ Jesus, which left the Southern Kingdom a widow, and (2) by the resurrection of Christ Jesus, who, in the eyes of the Law of God, is distinct from the crucified Christ Jesus. Members of the divorced Northern Kingdom and members of the widowed Southern Kingdom are free to enter the marriage relationship of the New Covenant; thus is Israel reunited in Christ Jesus.
Under the New Covenant, regenerate Israelites, be they "Jew" or "Gentile", are called by a new name--"Christian". In Christ Jesus there is neither "Jew" nor "Gentile"; neither is there "Baptist", "Presbyterian", or other such designation. There is but one pure, fundamental Faith--the Faith which was established by Christ Jesus and the apostles, and which is taught by the Scripture. There is no legitimate place in the Christian Faith for denominations, branches, sects, or cults. There is but one universal Church or assembly (the Greek word ekklesia, commonly translated "church", means "assembly"); it is comprised of all those who, by the Spirit of God, have been united with Christ Jesus. The Church is the figurative body of Christ Jesus, and Christ is not divided. An individual either is a Christian, or else is outside the Faith. A local assembly either is part of the Church, or else is a counterfeit.
Christians who are ignorant of the Scripture embrace a great many foolish and naive beliefs, for which they pay dearly. One of the most insidious of such beliefs is the notion that the God of the Jew and the God of the Christian are one and the same. Because of this false belief, most Christians mistakenly think that the principal issue which divides Talmudic Judaism and Christianity is the understanding that Jesus is the Christ, that is, the "Messiah". But the division between Talmudic Judaism and the Christian Faith involves many matters of a fundamental nature.
The Scripture teaches that the Godhead is a family, consisting of God the Father and God the Son; the Son also is known as the Word, John 1:1-5. The Word laid aside the attributes of deity, Philippians 2:5-11, and became flesh, John 1:14, that he might fulfill a number of roles, one of which is that of the covenant sacrifice by which the New Covenant was instituted, Hebrews 9:15-17. But the Jew adamantly rejects the concept of a Godhead composed of multiple persons; this, despite passages of Old Covenant scripture, such as the second Psalm, which clearly portray the Godhead as a father-son relationship. So, without equivocation, the God which the Jew worships is not the God of the Bible.
A related false belief is the notion that the Jew enjoys covenantal relationship with God the Father on the basis of the promises which God made to Abraham and to his seed, despite the fact that the Jew rejects Jesus as the Christ. This notion fails on two counts. First, the Scripture declares that it is only through the Son that man may have relationship with the Father, John 14:6, John 8:19, I John 2:22-23, II John 1:9-11. Second, the Scripture declares that the "seed" of Abraham is not the physical nation Israel, but, rather, Christ Jesus, Galatians 3:16. Accordingly, with respect to the promises made to Abraham, none of the descendants of the line Abraham-Isaac-Jacob are counted as the "seed" of Abraham, except they be in Christ Jesus. Thus, the unregenerate Jew has absolutely no claim upon the promises which God made to Abraham.
Nor can anyone--Jew or otherwise--today claim any of the promises made under the Old Covenant. This is because the Old Covenant was a marriage covenant between the nation Israel and the second person of the Godhead. A marriage covenant is irreversibly dissolved upon the death of either husband or wife. Thus, the Old Covenant was dissolved, irreversibly and forever, with the crucifixion of Christ Jesus.
These facts have serious implications regarding custodianship of the Canon of Old Covenant scripture. God does not commit the Scripture into the care of unregenerate men; it is necessary that the custodians of Scripture be in covenantal relationship, Romans 3:1-2. Thus, upon dissolution of the Old Covenant and inception of the New Covenant, custody of the Canon of Scripture (which, initially, consisted solely of Old Covenant scripture) passed from the remnant of Israel to the Church. But a century or more before the birth of Christ Jesus, the remnant of Israel residing within Judaea had adopted the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the ancient Hebrew Canon) and had abandoned use of the ancient Hebrew text. It is the Septuagint from which Jesus and the apostles cited the Scripture, and thus did they authenticate the Septuagint as the official Canon of Old Covenant scripture. It is the Septuagint--and not the ancient Hebrew text--which the Church preserved and utilized. Not until relatively modern times did the unregenerate Jew seek to resurrect the Hebrew Canon, the result being publication of the so-called "Masoretic Text" in the 16th Century A.D. But Masoretic Hebrew is a language which differs significantly from the ancient Hebrew language, and there is no extant copy of the ancient Hebrew Canon whereby the Masoretic Text may be authenticated. Consequently, the Masoretic Text--admittedly the work of unregenerate Jews labouring entirely in the age of the New Covenant, and ever having been in the custody of the unregenerate Jew--must be rejected as counterfeit; it has absolutely no value to the Christian, and absolutely no legitimacy with respect to the Canon of Scripture.
Contrary to the teaching which today is prevalent, virtually all prophecy has been fulfilled. The next event on the prophetic agenda is the Resurrection. Until then, the spiritual condition of the Christians of each generation is the primary factor which determines whether the world--the kosmos--experiences peace or war, tranquility or turmoil, freedom or slavery, justice or oppression, health or disease, prosperity or famine. The situation is much as it was in the days of old, when the environment of Israel as a nation changed from generation to generation, as the people went through the perennial cycle of prosperity, apostasy, oppression, and repentance.
The Jews of this day, having rejected Jesus as the Christ, correspond to the vile, rotten figs of the 24th chapter of the prophecy of Jeremiah. Having no covenantal relationship with the Eternal, the unregenerate Jew has been "dispersed into all the kingdoms of the earth", to be "a reproach, and a proverb, and an object of hatred, and a curse" wherever he is found, Jeremiah 24:9.
Contrary to the arguments of contemporary Bible teachers, the Jewish state which came into existence in A.D. 1948 has no prophetic significance. Conceived in duplicity, brought forth in iniquity, parasitic by nature, the modern Jewish state is little more than a den of thieves, wherein reside the very dregs of humanity: cutthroats, extortioners, murderers, assassins, destroyers, kidnappers, robbers, usurers, and liars--men unable to comprehend concepts such as truth and justice and mercy and forgiveness; cf. Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:46-47. The book of Acts and the epistles of New Covenant scripture document how, in the first century A.D., the unregenerate Jew was fierce and relentless in his persecution of Christ Jesus, of the apostles, and of the Church, which behaviour brought upon the Jew "wrath to the uttermost", I Thessalonians 2:14-16. The Jew of the present day walks in the footsteps of his fathers.
Sadly, many contemporary Christians have been deluded into the belief that, somehow, the nature of the Jew of the present day differs from the nature of the Jew who murdered Jesus. And Christians of this day have been indoctrinated with a perverse revision of history--a revision in which the Jew is the victim and the Church is the agent of persecution. But the fact of the matter is that, even as the leopard is unable to change his spots, and the Ethiopian, his skin, so also the unregenerate Jew is unable to change his depraved nature, Jeremiah 13:23. And the fact of the matter is that the Jew ever has been and ever shall be the persecutor of the Church.
Most Bible teachers of the present day claim that there is coming a final seven-year segment of the "Jewish dispensation", during which a third temple shall be constructed and Jews en masse shall embrace Jesus as the Messiah. Supposedly, this period of history commences with the "rapture" of the Church, and culminates in a final battle called Armageddon, in which the armies of the world shall converge upon Jerusalem. Supposedly, the Jews shall be rescued by the return of Christ.
But all this is Jewish myth, based upon a spurious Jewish document called the Book of Revelation, a book which falsely has been attributed to the apostle John. The teaching of this non-canonical book contradicts the teaching of the Scripture in numerous points. The primary purposes of the book of Revelation are (1) to convince the Christian that the reign of Christ Jesus is yet-future, and (2) to promote the notion that the Jew remains in some form of covenantal relationship with the Eternal, despite his rejection of Jesus as the Christ. The book of Revelation is but one of many such Jewish apocryphal documents which were circulating during the first Century A.D.
There shall be no earthly, physical third temple, for the era of Israel as a physical nation ended for ever with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In accordance with his own prophecy (recorded in John 2:19), Jesus himself, upon his resurrection, began construction of the final, eternal temple; this is temple composed of living stones, I Peter 2:5, a temple which has been under construction for two thousand years.
The historical institution known variously as "Roman catholicism", "Papistry", or the "Church of Rome" is a counterfeit; this despite the fact that the world (that is, the kosmos) generally recognizes it as "the Church". The "Church of Rome" has no correspondence with the Biblical Church and the Christian Faith; nor has the Papacy any Scriptural legitimacy whatsoever. The apostle Peter was not the first "pope" (a word meaning "father"), nor is the "Pope" in any respect the "Vicar (that is, representative) of Christ" as he falsely claims to be. If anything, the "Pope" is the "man of sin" of whom the apostle Paul speaks in II Thessalonians 2:3-4.
From the time of the apostles unto the present day, the Papacy has played a role which is nothing less than bizarre, holding sway over a large segment of Western civilization and controlling much of the wealth of the kosmos. The Papacy maintains control over individuals by capitalizing upon ignorance and superstition; it maintains control over nations by means of its astronomical wealth. Jews are to be found at every level of the Papacy, and more than one Pope has been Jewish. Indeed, Scriptural evidence indicates that Papistry is the creation of Talmudic Judaism, the foundation of Papistry having been laid in the days of the apostles with the collaboration of James of Jerusalem; so that the Papacy is nothing other than the re-emergence under a guise of Talmudic Judaism.
It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the "Church of Rome" has no legitimate affiliation with the Christian Faith. Those who argue that Roman catholicism lies within the so-called "pale of Orthodoxy" either are foolish and naive, or else are in the business of deception. While the so-called "Protestant" denominations are the offspring of Papistry, there has been, in every generation, a faithful remnant which is free of association with Papistry; this is true Church. Thus, the entity which the leaders of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century were attempting to reform was not the Church, but only a counterfeit of the Church. At best, the efforts of the reformers awakened their countrymen to the counterfeit nature of Papistry and to the need to come out and separate from it. The counterfeit "Church of Rome" cannot be reformed. As history has demonstrated, the unchanging role of Papistry is that of adversary, subverter, and persecutor of the true Church, which is the body of Christ Jesus. The Papacy is one of the most vile and evil institutions on the face of the earth; no Christian ought have association with it, or fellowship with its members.
Russell L. Harris, Evangelist <rlharris@gospelbroadcasting.org>
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| 2 The Christian Faith in Historical Perspective | |