(Five / 1) the “Dawn” of the Yom Yahweh Was the “Afternoon Shadow”
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2 Part Three (Five / 1) man”. (1:9c) By “making the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings”, (1:10b) He is “crowned with glory and honour”! (:9) The “dawn” of the Yom Yahweh was the “afternoon shadow” Joel Through the death and resurrection of “the Captain of their salvation … 2:2, Micah 3:6 Zep.1:15, Is.58:9 “a day of darkness” of the Passover. In man’s eyes in many sons are brought unto glory” (1:10). death the light of life was sniffed. But, In the “noon” of the Yom In God’s judgement Jesus’ resurrection is the judgement Yahweh, Schilder “like a spring of waters whose waters fail not”, Life (Mt.12:41–42). Not risen in Christ no man will be raised unto eternal life emerged: “God manifest in the flesh, is justified in the Spirit!” 1Tm.3:16 It in the Kingdom of God. “Be found in Him having that righteousness was “In the Sabbath”. Mt.28:1 which is through the faith of Christ … that I may know … the power of Paragraph 7.7. his resurrection” … “in the afternoon of the Sabbath”. The Sabbath, Cosmic–Eschatological Sign 7.7.1.1. 7.7.1. A Christ-Centred View of the Sabbath’s Perpetuity The Coming God New Alternatives The Sabbath of the Creation 16 January 2002 With Reference to Jürgen Moltmann, God in Creation Dear Dr. John Webster, I greet you as before (23 May 2001), John 1:3, “All things were made by Him and without Him was not praying for your wellbeing and happiness in Jesus Christ. anything made that was made”. (Panta di’ autou egeneto kai chohris A year has sped past since our Conference on The autou egeneto oude hen ho gegonen.) Situationalisation of the Sabbath in South Africa. Life has been shortened Mark 2:27-28, “The Sabbath Day was made for the sake of man … for us that much in the meantime. I’m 61 one of these days God willing, so is the Son of man Lord verily of the Sabbath”. (To sabbaton dia ton and recently was thoroughly reminded of life’s frailty. I don’t know if I anthrohpon egeneto … hohste Kyrios estin ho Yios tou anthrohpou kai shall be visited by grace like that again. I’m telling you these things tou sabbatou.) because I’m so anxious to answer you properly on your lecture. But you Revelation 3:14, “These things says the Amen, the faithful and true asked that it should not be used because it’s not finished yet. Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.” (Tade legei ho Amehn, I can no longer delay to tell you that though you are very ho Martys ho Pistos kai Alehthinos, heh Archeh tehs ktiseohs tou Theou.) optimistic for the Sabbath’s sake about Moltmann in his book God in The Amen, that is, the Last, is also the Beginning, verily the Beginning of Creation, you are seriously mistaken. The orthodox Christian Confession creation! and Doctrine are lying under siege in Moltmann’s dogmatics. He Colossians 1:15-17, “By Him all things were created in the heavens contributes nothing positively Scriptural, positively Christ-centred or and upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or positively “Trinitarian” to the “theological dimensions of the Sabbath”. lordships or rulers or authorities. It all has been created through Him and He ingeniously and “scholarly” but confirms “consensus” on “important for Him. He verily is before all things and by Him all things consist. And aspects … of the Sabbath problem.” He confirms consensus by strictly He is the Head of the body the Church – He who is the Beginning, the limiting Sabbath Doctrine under “the doctrine of creation”. Firstborn from the dead in order that He in all things may hold pre- As for the Sabbath Moltmann succeeds in distorting its doctrine eminence.” simply through misplacing it. On that Conference I asked you, even Because all things created by God are made through Christ and for before your Lecture, where Moltmann places the Sabbath, and where Christ, their continued existence is preserved in Christ, through Christ Barth puts it? In my previous writing to you I referred to the same and for Christ. The future of all things created are contained and ensured question. The Sabbath does not primarily belong under the prologomenon in Him. of Creation; its starting point is Christology and Soteriology as it should If Christ be “appointed heir of all things” (Hb.1:2) then “for Him be for all Christian Confession. ( Remember my ‘black hole’ concept for and by Him all things are”. (1:10a) It comes about not by the creation of Christian Dogmatics and Eschatology? ) Now Moltmann of course treats all things, but “by the grace of God (that) He should taste death for every on the Sabbath, but ever indirectly, never for its own merit or profit; 3 4 never under another “first principle” of Christ’s “dominion”. The Sabbath “polemical … historical and textual considerations”, and “what might be “completes” “nature”, full stop. called the problem of the “chronology of the Sabbath” … the question of Compare your heading for Section C, p. 5 … while referring to its origin, history and time of observance”. (p. 1, par. 1.) On these Barth! : “The Protestant Rediscovery of the Sabbath – The “questions” as well – not exclusively or primarily but as well – depend Christological-Ethical Turn” Excellent! ( “Barth’s legacy still remains”, the question on which day of the week Christ rose from the dead. But CS. p. 6. “The problems hammered out (by) … Barth have by no means primarily, the answer to the chronological question of which day of the become out of date and superseded”. (GC, Preface, 1st par.) The week Christ rose from the dead, depends on what you call the Reformers themselves could not have dreamt of it. It took, first, the “theological appraisal of the alternatives; the Christian meaning of the burning to ashes of all the old advances against “polemical … historical Sabbath”. In the Lord’s Day in the Covenant of Grace Parts 1 and 2, I try and textual considerations” of Sabbath-Truth. (CS. p. 2, par. 1, 2.) Two, to explain the “technical” aspect of the problem, the “polemical … It required a soldier of Theology who, first, himself fought in the frontline historical (first century only) and textual considerations”, and what might in the War of Ethics (Nazism, Socialism, Modernism, Higher Criticism, be called the (Old Testament / Passover) problem of the “chronology of you name it!), and, Two, who – on even higher level of gallantry – served the Sabbath” … the question of its origin, history and time of observance. in that war under Commander from God’s Headquarters, Scriptures. Only Howbeit, here are a few thoughts on Moltmann, God in a man like Barth (one among 20 centuries of great men), could be able to Creation, which you are well acquainted with. Today only to start with. place the Sabbath under the prologomena of Christology and Soteriology, The rest may follow in fragments, depending on whether you are and, effectively put it there even under the heading, Doctrine of Creation. interested. If it is not too much to ask – I know your time is precious – You must agree, the sad absence of these qualities in God in Creation. kindly give your criticism on my attempt as I need it for use in my next Nevertheless, as you say, a “new stage” has been entered wherein Paragraph of The Lord’s Day in the Covenant of Grace, Part Five, Par. the questions regarding the invalidity for Christians of the Sabbath and 7.7, The Sabbath – Cosmic Eschatological Sign, Par. 7.7.1, A Christ- the validity of the First Day of the week for Christians, no longer concern Centred View of the Sabbath’s Perpetuity. “exegetical”, “polemical … historical and textual considerations” It is an impossible task to appreciate the one concept the because these have demonstrated unequivocally the genuineness of only Sabbath in isolation of the rich spectrum of thought in God in Creation, the Sabbath’s claim. The ushering in of this new phase meant that it must especially since the purpose of my investigation is not the same as be accepted that the practice of Sunday keeping – “even of a minimal Moltmann’s. My own purpose was to determine if and in what measure kind” (as by the early Church, allegedly, can no longer be sufficiently Moltmann thought on the Sabbath: As being and for being, the Christian supported. Day of Worship-Rest? “… (T)he only way to decide between the two practices would be to What I am looking for, is a Sabbath-conception in Moltmann (God rely on a theological appraisal of the alternatives: … the Christian in Creation) that will evoke an idea like yours, “The Christian meaning meaning of the Sabbath … contrasted with a theology of Sunday”. of the Sabbath which could then be contrasted with a theology of Sunday” The stage might have been ushered in already, but the stage has not (end par.2, p. 2), or, “The Sabbath … in the context of … the broader yet been properly set for the drama to start. A. No “theological appraisal Gospel … in connection (with) justification and grace”. (p. 4, 3.) of alternatives” can be reached while all the alternatives are not on stage. Moltmann is a lifetime away from saying it. And, B. No “theological appraisal of alternatives” can start before any I cannot find it. And I’m sure I’m not blind or mentally blunt.