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Water & Fire 2006: Initially partially e-published as
the Sukkot 2006 Seminar Series for the Living
Metaphors “J” is to
“P” as Stone is to Spirit _______________ Abstract Meaning
is assigned to words, with this assignment of meaning restricted by an element
of Thirdness; therefore, when words are inscribed in poetic discourse where the
focus of the discourse is not the usual assignment of meaning but the artifice
forming the discourse, the auditor [reader] must possess privileged information
to take from the discourse the “intended meaning” of the author. In
the case of Holy Scripture, the privileged information is obtained through the
born-of-Spirit process, by which a person receives a second life that is not
sustained by physical breath but by divine breath. This relationship between
the creature and the divine can only be expressed in figurative language, but
is most easily seen in the linguistic objects assigned to the Greek icon:B<,L:". These objects are in hierarchal order: wind
[moving air], deep human breath, the creative power of the divine. Thus, when a
person receives a second life, the person is metaphorically said to be born of
Spirit [A<,L:"], with the creative power of God identified as
the Holy Spirit [A<,L:" U(4@<] or “Breath Holy.” And as no person
would assign personhood to his or her breath, personhood can only be improperly
and illogically assigned to the “breath” of God although the
historicity of the assignment of personhood (because of the element of Thirdness)
makes it difficult for any self-identified Christian
to perceive the creative power of the Divine as a “force” and not
as an entity. The man Jesus of Nazareth only spoke to His first
disciples in figurative language, for He spoke the words of the Divine, which
are not about the things of this world but about the things of the timeless
dimension usually identified as heaven. Therefore, the Gospels are written in
principally metaphoric language in which the things of heaven are
“named” with the linguistic icons used for things of this world.
But this use of language requires a differing set of linguistic objects to be
assigned to familiar icons, with only those holding privileged knowledge able
to properly make the intended assignment. Comprehending the relationship between the usual
assignment of objects to icons by Christian reading communities and the
intended Divine assignment requires perceiving the Genesis 1:1 through 2:3
creation account [the so-called “P” account] as the abstract of the
Divine’s plan for spiritual procreation, not as the record of the
creation of the physical universe. This perception will “see” that
the historical record of the Body of Christ closely mirrors [and will continue
to mirror] the scriptural account of the physical body of the man Jesus between
noon on the 14th of Abib when He was raised on the Cross and the
hour of the Wave Sheaf Offering on the morrow after the Sabbath during Passover
week. This “mirroring” will have the Body of Christ slowly dying
from loss of divine Breath for a period comparable to the hours between noon
and 3:00 pm, remaining visible but dead between 3:00 pm and dusk, then dead and
concealed for a period equivalent to three days and three nights, then
resurrected but concealed by darkness for a period equivalent to the night
portion of the morrow after the Sabbath, followed by glorification and
acceptance by the Father during the day portion of the first day of a new week.
The “gates of hell” will not prevail against the Body of Christ,
for as the physical Body was resurrected from death, so too will the spiritual
Body be resurrected from death, its present status and its status until the
seven endtime years begin. The translated phrase the gates of hell shall not prevail should not be understood to
preclude death, but only to preclude remaining dead. The Body of Christ was alive when public
miracles—the speech acts of God—were occurring. When the Body lives
again, public miracles will again occur. The age without public miracles
discloses when the Body died and how long it has remained dead. As the first Elijah lay over the son of the widow
of Zarephath three times before breath returned to that Gentile child, the last
Elijah will lie over and breathe into the nostrils of the dead Body of Christ
three times before this child again breathes on its own. The first “lying
over” occurred when Radical Reformers broke from the old church and the
reformed church. The second time occurred in the Great Awakening period. The
third time will occur at the second Passover when disciples are empowered by
the Holy Spirit [A<,L:" U(4@<]. The Son of Man will then be revealed, Head and Body. * * * [ Return to Vol 3 No 1 ] [ Home ] |