Letters to the Editor

Suggestions

Dear Bro Don,

There is nothing vague about “sin in our flesh” as an explanation of diabolos Sin, which is disobedience to God’s law, is the very thing which brought the sentence of death on our human race That is not vague It would be helpful m our literature if we identify such phrases as “the prince of the power of the air,” “roaring lion,” etc, with a parenthetical expression stating their meaning.

On another subject, we have a system to adjust the temperature in our Ontario hall so it is 50 degrees when empty and 70 degrees for meeting times. It involves two thermostats and a toggle switch. Any interested can contact us at (905)899-1744.

Jakob Mulder Smithville, ON

Objection

Dear Bro. Don,

The letter in the November Tidings (“Signs of the Times”) by Bro. Alan Eyre condemning the World Bank deserves a response. It is understand­able that his years of long hard work in impoverished countries has framed much of his opinion about the world economy and in particular the devel­oped western nations. But do such socialistic or humanistic views against the economic systems of the west belong in the Tidings? To blame the World Bank or the western world for the woes of the undeveloped coun­tries is uncalled for. It is fashionable for worldly liberal thinkers to believe that wealth isn’t created but can only be obtained by taking something from others. If you or your country is wealthy, it must have come at the ex­pense of poor people and poor coun­tries. Therefore, that ill-gotten wealth should be taken from those who have and redistributed to those who don’t. The trouble is handouts don’t solve long-term structural economic problems.

Responsibility for one’s own ac­tions is clearly not a popular way of thinking any more. It is much easier to blame someone else. The western world is an easy target. And what do the proposed solutions all involve? The use of “other people’s money.” The World Bank, the IMF, the IBRD, etc. are “other people’s money.” Their stock and funds come from the nations of the western world.

Bro. Alan calls the eurocentric, western atheistic and humanistic sci­ences and technology bankrupt. He concludes with the conference yearn­ing for a world leader. That leader is not our leader. Their hope is totally humanistic and has no relationship to the divine King we long for.

 Lee Livermore, Indianapolis, IN

Thanks for your observations. Our reason for publishing Bro. Eyre ‘s comments was to present in a non-sta­tistical manner the alarming despo­liation of the world presently occurring On this continent, we have gone through a long period of wiping out forests, denuding prairies, poisoning air killing lakes and rivers and come out in reasonable shape because of drastic control measures, a temper­ate climate, vast resources and a rela­tively light population density consid­ering the total area involved. But that is not everywhere the case. When the iron curtain collapsed, we should have been shocked at the pollution of God’s world that was exposed in east­ern Europe and Russia. Now “devel­opment” hurries apace in many other areas, bringing with it new man-made disasters such as the huge fires in In­donesia.

One might think that, having the experience to know better and the technology to do better, mankind would not perpetuate the mistakes of the recent past. Greed and short­sightedness seem to have carried the day, however as all creation groans for the manifestation of the Son of God. None of the existing social and economic systems are above respon­sibility for what is happening Our bottom-line reaction to Bro. Alan’s comments calls for an intensification of our prayers for the return.

Emphatic Diaglott

Dear Bro Don

I thought you might like some more information concerning Ben­jamin Wilson and the Emphatic Diaglott

The publication by the Watch Tower Society, Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose (now out of print), records on page 256, under the sub-heading “A Bible Printing Soci­ety,” the following.

“In 1902 the Watch Tower Soci­ety came into possession of its first plates of a scripture edition and could become a Bible-printing society These were the plates of an empha­sized translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures known as The Em­phatic Diaglott This had first been published by its author, Benjamin Wilson, a newspaper editor of Geneva, Illinois, in 1864, and who was never associated with the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society This emphatic translation had some no­table features that made for a better understanding of the truth However, it was not until December 21, 1926, that The Emphatic Diaglott was printed on our own presses and cased at a printing plant of its own”

In the latest publication they have on their history, Jehovah’s Witnesses — Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, they note on page 606.

“That same year (1902), the Watch Tower Society came into possession of the printing plates for The Emphatic Diaglott which includes J J Griesbach’s Greek text of the Chris­tian Greek Scriptures (the 1796-1806 edition) along with an English interlinear translation Alongside this was the rendering of the text by British-born Benjamin Wilson, who had taken up residence in Geneva, Illinois Those plates and the sole right of publication had been purchased and then given as a gift to the Society After copies already m stock had been sent out, arrangements were made by the Society for more to be produced, and those became available in 1903″

In this same book under “Printing the Bible on Our Own Presses,” it is noted.

“It was 36 years after it first un­dertook publishing Bibles that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Soci­ety printed and bound a Bible in its own factory.

“The first one thus produced was The Emphatic Diaglott, the plates for which had been owned by the Soci­ety for 24 years In December, 1926, this Bible was printed on a flatbed press m the Society’s Concord Street factory in Brooklyn To date (1993), 427,924 of these have been pro­duced”

I hope this may be of interest Peter Neate-Stidson, Yeovil, UK

Cremation

Dear Bro Don,

I believe it is our duty to our Lord and to his death and resurrection that we, if at all possible, should not arrange for our loved ones or ourselves to be cremated Cremation is a denial of the belief m bodily resurrection and an affront to the dignity of the human body.

It is said, “Ye are my witnesses,” and truly we should be not only m life itself but also at the time of death.

In respect to the practice of cremation, it is interesting to note that according to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Jews “bury rather than burn the dead” (Hist 5 5) The Jewish oral law considers the burning of the corpse to be an idolatrous practice.

We should be very concerned with the principles underlying scripture The faith of Martha and Mary in Jesus as “the resurrection and the life” (John 11 25) would have been nulli­fied had Lazarus’ corpse been burnt instead of being buried The teach­ing of the Old Testament is that the burning of a human body is only al­lowed when a sin peculiar for its evil or hideousness is committed and punished by God to show His hatred for that sin.

The word “cemetery” means a “burial place or dormitory (a place of sleeping) ” Thus Daniel says, “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake “(Dan 12:2)

Let our belief m the hope of res­urrection be that of the early brothers and sisters It is on record that when the loved ones of those put to death for their Christian convictions sought the body for burial, it was denied The Romans counteracted their request by cremating the body seeking to show how silly was this belief in the “hope of resurrection “

In our final resting place, may it be said of us as it was of Jesus, “Come, see the place where he lay” (Matt 28 6) By so doing we shall declare to all those who pass that way, “My flesh also shall rest in hope” (Psa 169).

Regarding this subject, I have found an article in the Testimony magazine, February, 1997, pg 45, very helpful Also a similar article m the Christadelphian magazine of March, 1989, page 112.

H Macpherson, Victoria, BC

Dear Bro Don,

Now look at cremation The mam argument is that Christ was buried, thus that is the only way we have to be buried Where is the background for this? Because of disease, all dead bodies, humans or animals, have to be disposed of In nature, that will take care or itself.

In scripture we find two elements, respect and no respect A few examples.

1. Achan the thief buried under a stone heap.
2. Absalom under a stone heap.
3. The Philistines found the dead bodies of Saul and his sons, beheaded them and nailed them on a wall This disrespect was changed by the men of Jabesh Gilead who took the bodies, cremated them and buried the bones (I Sam 31 9-13) Later, they were praised by David.
4. The poor or beggars were cast in a garbage fire in Gehenna.

Our future hope does not depend on how our dead and lifeless bodies are disposed of, but what we have done in our life, before our death In all death, be it human, animal or plant, decay can be slowed down, but m the end, everything returns to chemical elements

If a believer thinks cremation is wrong in his or her mind, cremation should not be an option as it will be a sin to him.

John Booy, Delta, BC

Leavened or Unleavened Bread

Dear Bro. Don,

In response to Mary Simpson’s letter in the August issue and your comments:

1. Your premise that leaven “rep­resents committed sin in doctrine or practice,” would seem to say more than Jesus intended when he specifi­cally stated, “The Kingdom of God is likened unto leaven.” It may be more appropriate to recognize leaven for its permeating qualities. Hence, leaven may be either good, as in the case cited, or bad, as the apostle Paul uses concerning the fornicator in the ecclesia at Corinth: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” In either case, it is the quality of the spreading or contagion that is central. The same goes for Jesus’ warning concerning the “leaven of the Pharisees.” Cer­tainly, the kingdom of God is not likened to “committed sin in doctrine or practice.”
2. The Greek word “artos” is not a generic word, but rather specific. It means “loaf’, coming from the root meaning “to lift”, and is used throughout the New Testament in that man­ner. “Jesus took ‘artos'” (Lk. 24:30), etc. In the Septuagint, however, “artos” is sometimes substituted for the Hebrew “lechem” and then modi­fied by “azumos” which negates the “lift” (Ex. 29:2). You properly point out “azumos” means without
3. The fact both Matthew and Mark record Jesus as referring to the shew bread as “artos” should be enough to convince us it was a loaf, “lifted” or “leavened”. No doubt both Matthew and Mark and, of course, Jesus himself knew the meaning of “artos”. As you commented, “the shewbread is not specified as being of unleavened bread in Leviticus 24:5-9.” The recipe for the shewbread was the same as for the “wave offering” which was to be “baken with leaven” (Lev. 23:17).

4. In Exodus 29:2,23,32,34 of the Septuagint, “artos” (loaves) does not refer to unleavened bread as sug­gested by your correspondent, but rather to “cakes” (Heb. “challah”) and just plain “bread” or “food” (Heb. “lechem”). In each case, when un­leavened is intended, the word “azumos” (unleavened) appears. In verses 32 and 34 the “loaves” are in reference to the unleavened (Heb. “matstsah”) in verse 23. In addition to this, when leaven is specifically intended, the same words are modified by “ferment” (Heb. “chamete) Leviticus 7:13. It appears that when a modifier is absent, “chametz” is understood.
5. The cakes and bread in Exodus 29:23 are used for a “wave offering”. As mentioned above, the “wave of­fering” was to be “baken with leaven”. These cakes were to be of­fered 49 days from the “morrow after the sabbath” of the Passover week, in other words, “on the first day of the week”. This should remind us not only of the day Messiah, the “bread of life”, “the first fruits”, rose from the dead, and the day the apostles met, but also the resurrection “afterward (of) those that are Christ’s at his coming” Hence, the “bread from heaven”, and the “manna” with “leaven”, appear to be the “bread of life” as distinct from the “bread with­out life”, that is, without leaven.
6. It must also be recognized that the last supper was not the Passover meal required by the law on the evening of the fourteenth but rather was instituted the night before This being the case, the “day of prepara­tion” in which leaven was cleansed from houses was the day after the memorial supper was eaten Hence there was no restriction concerning leaven at the supper.
7. It is likely the two breads, un­leavened and leavened, are symbolic of the two covenants In the “law of commandments” there was no “life”, hence unleavened bread seems appro­priate But in the “law of the spirit”, that is, “the everlasting covenant”, there is “life” hence leaven, which is a living organism, seems appropri­ately added Thus it seems we should commemorate Jesus’ body, the “bread of life”, that “bread from heaven”, he who “is alive” and recognize him as the “life” of the “new covenant” To commemorate him with “dead” bread is to memorialize a dead Jesus With­out question, he was raised, or brought to life “by the blood of the everlasting covenant” The apostles preached “through Jesus the resurrection from the dead” Truly he was the “artos” of life.
8. With this in mind, with which type of “bread” do you suppose Melchizedek met Abraham, leavened or unleavened? And was the wine fermented?

Richard Pursell, Heber Springs, AR

Cremation

Dear Bro Don,

Regarding the questions m the September “Tidings” on the subject of cremation the two questions raised were if it was appropriate for Christadelphians to choose cremation and what does the Bible say about cremation It’s an interesting topic Since death is something most people don’t handle very well, or even understand, I’m glad the “Tidings” opened the topic Christadelphians do understand the state of the dead better than the general population, however we are not immune from cultural prejudice (including familial pressure, etc ) that many people are infused with That’s another topic, however The point of this letter is that I couldn’t help but notice the scripture used to respond to the ques­tions didn’t do the job — and following is my reasoning.

Regarding Ezekiel 39 about the Gogian host being buried This is a prophesy foretelling a future event Cremation or burning is not mentioned nor commented on here This passage is simply telling us that in a time to come there are going to be a lot of bodies scattered around Israel that need to be disposed of Prophesy does not provide all the details regarding future events — it gives us a quick picture and we must be careful not to fill in details we are not told about Also, to burn a body and then inter the ash is not necessarily quicker than just burying a body.

Next, Hebrews 11 35-38 is quoted and the statement made that because burning is not mentioned it “must be because this is too repugnant” To follow this logic, drowning, starvation and the other unpleasant deaths believers suffered (yet not listed) must also be too repugnant Death is death — how can any manner of death not be undesirable? The law of Moses taught it was all defilement The man­ner of death is not ours to choose, nor does it impact on God’s ability to res­urrect/recreate We are sinful, fleshly creatures, our form is not to be el­evated. Also note that Hebrews is list-mg manners of death, cremation is not being burned alive — it is a step in dis­posal of a corpse.

Also, who is it that finds it “too repugnant”? Specific cultures in the world may find it so, but the Bible doesn’t say God does, so we must not say that He does (Isa 55 8) Is it some humans who find it repugnant? Some do, and some don’t We should be sensitive (and possibly moderate our behavior) to the cultures of the people we sojourn among (such as m India where meaning is attached by other religious bodies to cremation) But we cannot allow sensitivity to inhibit our understanding Would we stop having wine on Sunday morning be­cause the Catholics believe it is the actual blood of Christ?

As to the wicked who will be de­stroyed by everlasting fire — we are not supposed to fear “him who can destroy the body”, but rather “one who can destroy the soul” Crema­tion destroys neither and it is not an everlasting fire At the end of a cre­mation, you still have the remains of a body.

The only thing good about a body after death was its design Nature teaches us that our bodies are the same as the other created things about us (as does Eccl 3 18-20) What makes us different is the ability to understand God’s word As soon as death comes upon a body, it starts to break down We are usually spared this in our modem world and embalming further delays this process If left to nature, a body after many years cor­rupts and is reduced back to a pile of dirt Cremation merely accelerates this process It is hygienic, efficient, cost effective and in many cases logi­cal Cremation is not an ending, it is a process of burial.

It is understandable why some people feel reticent about cremation However, the answer provided last month did not give logical scriptural support for such a feeling I believe cremation is a matter of personal preference and we should not be judgmental about it There are many fine, serious-minded Bible students who have chosen cremation Their choice does not change the fact that they lived their lives trying to live a life of faith pleasing to God.

R.M. Moss, Livonia, Michigan

Greetings from Russia

Dear Bro Don,

I am your Christadelphian brother from Seversk, Tomsk region (which is in the western Siberia), Russia Usually I don’t correspond too much, but I liked your journal so very much that I decided to write to you and say thank you for it This is also to en­courage you, you are doing a good job helping brothers and sisters to keep strong in their God and to work on their characters to become more like Jesus and to please God more Let everything be done for God’s glory Maranatha.

You may know that our ecclesia edits a magazine called (if translated literally) “Good News” We usually call it the Russian Gospel News (RGN) when corresponding with En­glish brethren. We are trying to do the same kind of job you do and we understand how much work and ef­fort it sometimes calls for.

I have liked most of the articles and letters in “The Christadelphians Tidings”. The material and topics have been chosen very well. I wish I could read the previous issue where the Gogian invasion is discussed. My personal views on this are similar to those of H. Whittaker [which view is that the Gogian invasion occurs after Christ is enthroned in Jerusalem], though I do not exclude the possibility of the invasion taking place before Jesus’ coming. Still, the former point of view is more favorable for me.

Agreed very much that the TV set is a “one-eyed monster”. No less inter­esting has been the article on Enoch’s death.

Kostya (Konstantin) Krasavin

At the request of Bro. Duncan Heaster Bro. Krasavin is receiving the “Tidings” air mail. This is a small part of helping to cement the bonds of fellowship throughout the worldwide community of believers. The effort is particularly needed with regard to the several hundred brethren, mostly from eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, who have recently joined Central Fellowship from the Dawn Fel­lowship.