CHRISTMAS

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes.
I have not been too vocal on defending Christmas in the face of all the false accusations of it being pagan. But I do believe many people, some honest (but some not so honest), are attacking the season of the Savior’s advent for reasons that are dubious, at best. So, then, each year we see all kinds of attacks on the celebration, and those keeping it. As the Overseer of the Apostolic Orthodox Church International it is incumbent on me to speak out on the issue. 

I agree with the position that the date of Christ's birth was on or around the Feast of Tabernacles. And I also agree that much of the Christmas traditions in our time come from the pagan world that celebrated the winter solstice before that world became Christianized. But please permit me to give everyone some food for thought: If you go forward 9 months from the Winter Solstice you come to the time of year Christ was most likely born: end of September or beginning of October (the time of the Feast of Tabernacles). If/since all concerned accept that the birth of Christ was at or about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles then we must accept that Mary's conception took place in the latter part of December. 

So, then, should not His conception be celebrated by His people? Would this not be especially true, since the Hebrews counted a person's age from his conception instead of his actual birth date: a child was considered one year old at birth.

Would not the winter solstice (Christmas time) be the proper time to celebrate the Light of the World coming into His world? and could not that have been the message the winter solstice was presaging from the time of creation, regardless of what the pagans understood and did? 

I, too, teach and believe in the appointed times (the seven feasts of Israel, Leviticus 23) as being instructive. However, to have Jesus born on or around Tabernacles (when the Deity became tabernacled among us—thus, fulfilling what the Feast of Tabernacles presaged), He had to have been conceived at the time of the winter solstice (the season of the Christian Christmas). Since Genesis 1:14 states “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, …" and since Christ, the Light of the World, was conceived at, or about, the winter solstice .... . One plus One still makes Two. 

Since the end of the December date is the time of the winter solstice, we have the sun representing the coming of the Messiah. This is proper since the Bible tells us that the sun, moon and stars were placed in the heavens for signs and times (Genesis 1:14). This is also why Jesus Christ is likened to the “sun” in the book of Malachi (Malachi 4:2) and why the “sun” figures prominently in the biblical symbols for Christ. Just like the “dove” is a biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit. 

So, then, on December 25th Christians all over the world celebrate the coming of the Christ child. John would write of Him and say, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” —John 1:4-9

This truth, of the biblical connection between the winter solstice and the Light of the World, removes the stick from the hand of those who would beat up other Christians, calming that Christmas is “sun worship.” Of course the winter solstice, which is the time the sun begins its return from the Southern hemisphere, has everything to do with the coming of Christ: Who is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” The biblical prophet Malachi referenced the “Son” as the “Sun.” (Malachi 4:2)

The ancients knew that without the sun they would die, so they watched it leaving each year and feared until they saw it returning. They welcomed the returning sun with rejoicing. Even in the darkened state of their heart, they knew the event was important as an astronomical sign with earthly implications. We know that this was a sign placed in the heavens to herald the coming Light of the World that would Light the way of all men.

This writer will ask: What is wrong with associating Christ with the sun, or the sun with Christ? Does not the Bible already do that very thing? Of course it does. The prophet Malachi references Jesus as the “Sun of Righteousness”: e.g. “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” —Malachi 4:2

So, then, the Christian church has biblical authority (Malachi 4:2) to employ the sun as a symbol of the Son of God. Surely, since the Lord chose the “day of the sun” for the day of His resurrection there is no harm, and everything right, in associating the two. Justin, and the rest of Christianity, saw as, at least, one reason for Sunday worship being: “light” was created on the first day of the creation week. The Apostle John made this connection when he proclaimed Jesus as “The True Light”. The dove is seen to represent the Holy Spirit, because of its presence at the baptism of Jesus; fire is a symbol of the Hoy Spirit, because of its presence in the Upper Room; the Sun is a symbol of the Son of God, because Malachi said so. The title of Jesus as “The Light of the World” is a direct reference to the Sun which is the light of the physical world. For this reason Jesus’ birth is associated with the winter solstice: either the birth or the conception — most likely the latter; and His resurrection with the “day of the sun.” So, Christian, you may participate in Easter Sunrise Service and not concern yourself with worshipping the sun god, but assured you are worshipping the God for Whom the sun is but a symbol.

Are we to abandon the heavenly sign just because the ancients were in darkness as to its meaning. NEVER! 

The scholarly Joseph Seiss wrote in his 1882 book “The Gospel In The Stars” concerning the birth of Christ and the winter solstice: “How, then, did these Magi come to know so much about Christ as an adorable King and Saviour? How came they to such full conviction that His birth had occurred in Judea? The true answer is: By the signs and constellations of the primeval astronomy, and the legends connected with them, … It is an astronomic fact, independent of all hypotheses, that at the precise hour of midnight, at the winter solstice, or the last week of December, in the period in which Christ was born, the sign of Virgo, everywhere and always regarded as the sign of the virgin mother from whom the divine-human Redeemer-King was to be born, was just rising on the eastern horizon. …”

Christmas Tree

Up to this point we have only considered the date of Christmas and its biblical foundations. While we cannot examine all the traditions associated with the Birth of Christ, we will briefly speak of the Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree is by far and away the most popular and visible symbol of Christmas after the Christ Child, in the western world. 

The custom of the tree at Christmas time has nothing to do with Jeremiah 10:3-6. The prophet Jeremiah is speaking against the making of idols in the form of totem poles; such as North Americans see among the Northwest aboriginals. This is clearly seen in the context of the passage. Here is the text and its context:

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. 6 Forasmuch as there  is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. —Jeremiah 10:3-6

It is clear from the context that Jeremiah has in mind an idol carved from the trunk of a tree. And inlaid with silver and gold.  The prophet points out that these idols can neither speak nor move about on their own power. The idea is they are without life, unlike the God of Israel,  Who is living and “great in might.”  Jeremiah is simply reiterating the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” —Exodus 20:4-5

Jeremiah 10:4 is a favorite text for bashing the Christmas tree. However, when considered in its context, the misunderstanding is cleared up. We must remember that: “A text without its context is a pretext.” Quoting Scripture out of context is a popular devise used by the enemies of Truth who are pushing agendas that the Bible does not support. 

The custom of the Christmas tree was brought to North America from Germany by Christian German immigrants in the 1800’s. The story of the tree has its origins in the evangelization of the German people by a Christian missionary from England named Winfrid—known in History as Boniface (AD 680-754).

Boniface spent his life evangelizing the areas of modern Germany and parts of the Netherlands. He also became a friend of the Frankish court and helped reform and reorganized the Church in that area. From his missionary travels, Boniface knew that in winter the inhabitants of the village of Geismar gathered around a huge old oak tree (known as the “Thunder Oak”) dedicated to the god Thor. This annual event of worship centered on sacrificing a human, usually a small child, to the pagan god. Boniface desired to convert the village by destroying the Thunder Oak, which the pagans had previously boasted the God of Boniface could not destroy, so he gathered a few companions and journeyed to Geismar. 

His fellow missionaries were scared and fearful that the Germans might kill them, so they balked when they reached the outskirts of the village on Christmas Eve. Boniface steadied the nerves of his friends and as they approached the pagan gathering he said, “Here is the Thunder Oak; and here the cross of Christ shall break the hammer of the false god Thor.” Boniface and his friends arrived at the time of the sacrifice, which was interrupted by their presence. In a show of great trust in God and born from a desire to enkindle the fire of Christ in the German pagans, Boniface grabbed an axe and chopped down  the Thunder Oak of mighty Thor.

The Germans were astounded. The bishop preached the Gospel to the people and used a little fir tree (as a tool of evangelization) that was standing between two sections of the oak that had split in two upon falling. Pointing to it he said, 

“This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace… It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness.”

The author pastored a church in Huntsville, Alabama, USA where he was blessed to have as a parishioner from the country of South Korea a woman named Chung Cha. Chung Cha was raised as a Buddhist. She often testified of watching the Christians of her country putting up Christmas trees at Christmas time and how that spoke to her of great hope and love emitting from a God that was strange to her culture but called to her from this simple symbol.

Christmas, Meaning of the Term

Those who oppose the sacred days of Christians often attack the term “Christmas” just as they do “Easter.” The charge against the name of “Christmas” normally is that the word means “Christ’s Death.” Or, “Death of Christ.” In this attack, the suffix “mass” is said to mean ‘death.” Since “mass” comes into English from Latin and hence from the Roman Catholic usages (although Eastern Orthodoxy often use the word “mass” as well) we must understand what that segment of Christians mean by the word. This may get a little technical but we will be as clear as possible.

“Christmas” is a shortened form of “Christ’s Mass”. The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in AD 1038 and Cristes-messe in AD 1131. Crīst  (genitive:  Crīstes) is from Greek  Khrīstos  (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew: Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah", meaning “anointed"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also historically used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal; it derives from Middle English  Cristenmasse, literally “Christian mass.”

The English word “Mass” comes from the Latin word missa, which means to be “sent.” “Mass” does not mean ‘death.” This Latin word has been used since the 6th or 7th century to describe the celebration of the Eucharist, our main liturgical service, not only for the Advent of Christ. The word is used during the conclusion of the celebration when the officiate says in Latin, Ite, missa est.

The literal translation of that phrase is, “Go. It has been sent.” Thomas Aquinas wrote a commentary on these words and explained in his Summa Theologiae,  “And from this the Mass derives its name … the deacon on festival days ‘dismisses’ the people at the end of the Mass, by saying: ‘Ite, missa est,’ that is, the victim [Jesus] has been sent to God through the angel, so that it may be accepted by God.”

Pope Benedict XVI also expanded on these words in his encyclical Sacramentum Caritatis, but focused on a different spiritual meaning behind the phrase. He wrote, “In antiquity, missa simply meant ‘dismissal.’ However in Christian usage it gradually took on a deeper meaning. The word ‘dismissal’ has come to imply a ‘mission.’ These few words succinctly express the missionary nature of the Church. The People of God might be helped to understand more clearly this essential dimension of the Church’s life, taking the dismissal” (Mass) “as a starting- point.”

Instead of seeing the words of the officiate as a conclusion to the celebration, we may see them as a beginning. The words for the dismissal at Mass are “Ite ad Evangelium Domini annuntiandum (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord)” and “Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum (Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life).” Both of these dismissals focus on the missionary character of the Mass and how those in the pew are meant to go out in the world, sustained by the Eucharist they just received.

Viewed in this framework, the “Mass” is not just a single celebration on a Sunday or weekday or feast day (such as Christmas), but a starting-point for a lifelong journey of Christian witness. The Eucharistic minister, in the place of Christ, sends forth his parishioners into the world so that they may be beacons of light, set on a hill for all to see.

The conclusion of the matter is: The uninformed are afraid of what they do not understand as children are of masks.

Conclusion

I really think the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water," is apropos concerning this most holy time of the year when the attention of the whole world is turned toward Christ. 

Those who do not recognize the Christmas Season are missing an important opportunity to witness for Christ in a world that would like to shut Him out of the public arena altogether. Do not be an agent of Christ eradication. 

Think on these things when you are tempted to get on the wagon with the Christmas haters.

Apostolically Speaking,

☩☩ Jerry L Hayes


Read more essays from the Bishop on Christian Sacred Days at the links provide here:

Christians and the 7th Day Sabbath
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/11/christianitys-association-with-seventh.html

First Day of the Week (Sunday) Worship
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/11/first-day-of-week-worship.html

Apologia is a polemical work in the defense of Christian sacred days. Our focus is Sunday worship, Easter and Christmas. Since the rise of the Anabaptist movement of the 16th century a 7th day sabbath element has existed in the Christian faith. There has been little written in the line of a strong apologia for the observance to the traditional times. Bishop Hayes offers his work "Apologia, A Defense of Christian Sacred Days" to meet that need. This book establishes why Christians have observed Sunday as their primary day of worship right out of the gate. Also, within the pages of "Apologia" the reader will discover the true meaning of the terms 'Easter" and "Christmas". Bishop Jerry L Hayes comes to the defense of historical Christianity in this work that is destined to become a classic. 

Order your personal copy of "Apologia" today at the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/Apologia-Defense-Christian-Sacred-Days/dp/1099666589/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Apologia&qid=1572982116&s=books&sr=1-1

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To Know As We are Known (1 Corinthians 13:12)

“then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes.

We often hear this text quoted to support the idea for recognizing our loved ones in Heaven. While this is a comforting notion, and may be true, it can hardly be supported by this text. In popular Christianity this text gets banded around much like another one of Paul’s sayings: “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31). Neither mean what popular usage intends. (Here, I use the word “popular” in the sense of: cultural ideas intended for or suited to the taste, understanding, or means of the general public, rather than specialists or intellectuals.) Preachers are guilty of preaching to reach the masses and far too often take liberties with the text in order to press a certain notion upon their hearers. Theologians, on the other hand, are concerned with the actual meaning, and intended effect of the author of the text. As a consequence, the preacher and the theologian (teacher) often get crossways to each other. When an exegesis is performed on both texts it is discovered that though the popular understandings serve a purpose, they are not what the Apostle intended by his statements. When he wrote “I die daily,” Paul did not mean that he died out to sin on a daily basis (the way it is understood in popular circles), but that he resigned himself to die physically each day for the cause of Christ; when he wrote “then shall I know even as also I am known” he does not mean that in Heaven he would know men and women as he knows them in this life (too often the way it is understood in popular circles), but that in Heaven the mysteries of this life will be removed and his understanding of the Creator’s intent and purposes for his life will be understood as clearly as God, Himself, and the holy Angels know the things that puzzled him in his present life.

Although I introduced 1 Corinthians 15:31 (“I die daily”) into the discussion, that text is not our focus here. However, it does serve the purpose of demonstrating the genre of text we are discussing. Our intended focus is 1 Corinthians 13:12. 

When considering our text, an understanding cannot be reached without consideration of the context of the particular text. So, then, when considering 1 Corinthians 13:12 we must take into account the context. The context begins in verse 8 and runs through verse 13. Here, I give the complete passage in its context.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Paul’s real subject is love (charity) — He begins the passage with “Charity never faileth,” and ends with the summary “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”  To sum up the excellences of charity, it is preferred not only to gifts, but to other graces, to faith and hope. (And now abideth faith, hope, charity.) Faith fixes its hope on the divine revelation, and gives its assents to that revelation, though only partially understood (For we know in part, and we prophesy in part), relying on Christ to make all things clear in the end. Hope fastens on future happiness, and waits for that; but in heaven, faith will be swallowed up in actual substance, and hope in fulfilled in the joy of that substance.  There, love (charity) will be made perfect. There, we shall perfectly love God. And there we shall perfectly love one another. Blessed state! How much superior is that to the best we have here! God is love, 1 John 4:8,16. Where God is to be seen as He is, “face to face,”  there, charity is in its greatest height; there only will it be perfected.

When the present life is compared to the eternal future, this state is but a state of childhood, whereas the future heavenly state is that of adulthood. (When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.) The views of children are confused notions when compared to those of adults. Many things in life are dark and confused now, compared with what they will appear in the eternal state. The most natural idea conveyed by Paul is that of seeing objects by an imperfect medium, by looking "through" something in contemplating them. At present we can only perceive life and its mysteries, like a person peering through an obstacle that disfigures what is on the other side. (For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.) Paul, here, makes use of this illustration to show the imperfection of our knowledge while in the present state. Compared with what it will be in the future world, it is like the imperfect view of an object which we have in looking through an obscure and opaque medium, compared with the view which we have when we look at it "face to face.”

It is true that some commentators see Paul’s reference to a “glass” as meaning a mirror. However, this does not seem to me to meet the requirements of the text. We know that glass was in quite common use in New Testament times, as has been proved by the remains that have been discovered in the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii (AD 79). There is, therefore, no impropriety in supposing that Paul is here alluding to the imperfect and discolored glass which was then in extensive use, for we have no reason to suppose that it was then as transparent as that which is now made. It was, doubtless, an imperfect and obscure medium, and, therefore, well adapted to illustrate the nature of our knowledge here compared with what it will be in heaven.

Paul used the Greek “ἐν αἰνίγματι” - “en ainigmati” (translated in the KJV as “darkly”),  the word means a riddle; an enigma; then an obscure intimation. In a riddle a statement is made with some resemblance to the truth; a puzzling question is proposed, and the solution is left to conjecture. Hence, it means, as here, obscurely, darkly, imperfectly. Little is known, much is left to conjecture, a very accurate account of most of that which passes for knowledge. Compared with heaven, our knowledge here much resembles the obscure intimations in an enigma, compared with clear statements and manifest truths. What is seen appears as riddle, but hereafter our knowledge will be free from all obscurity and error. “But then” - in the fuller revelations in heaven. It is the light of heaven only, that will remove all clouds and darkness that hide the face of God from us. “Face to face” - as when one looks upon an object openly, and not through an obscure and dark medium. It here means, therefore, "clearly, without obscurity.”

The events of this life and world that make no sense to us now, such as sufferings and injustices, then will be clearly understood.

I should not leave this subject without a word concerning the hunger of every child of God to “know” God, as He knows us. The Incarnation is a divine mystery that in so many ways transcends human ability to fully comprehend. The holy Scriptures afford us a glimpse, from time to time, of the majesty that is the Incarnation. It is as if an Archangel pulls back the curtain of the holy of holies and allows a momentary ray of illumination to escape from the Mercyseat of Heaven, where Christ is enthroned in Light unapproachable. The Apostle writes: “now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known.” It is in that partial knowing that we find both rapture and melancholy. Rapture, for knowing a relational God, Whose love for us lowly men compelled Him to become one with us - melancholy, because of our human inability to fully comprehend the consequences of Heaven’s investment. 

One is not to despair, however, concerning biblical evidence of saints recognizing one another in Heaven. The Scripture does, indeed, give us such assurance. The Bible records the “spirits of just men made perfect” who bear witness to the Christians’ lives in this present state (Hebrews 12:1, 23). For that to happen individual recognition is assumed. Also, there is the narrative of Lazarus and Dives (Luke 16:19-31): Dives recognized Lazarus far away in Abraham’s Bosom; plus, Moses and Elijah visited Christ and three of the apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration and spoke of intimate things (Matthew 17:1-9). 

Apostolically Speaking,

☩☩ Jerry L Hayes

Signs Of A Generation That Has Lost Its Way

Estimated reading time: 1.5 minutes.

Sons of great men who preached the clear Oneness Pentecostal message, are now pastoring their fathers' churches. This second generation of preachers cannot (or, purposely, do not) write a description of their faith that does not leave one puzzled. These, inheritors of great ministries, do not seem to know where they stand doctrinally, and are willing to lead the masses of people into their uncertain fog.

These pretty-boys of the pulpit have lost their way and are merrily leading the previous generation's following into the ether of our pop-culture Christianity. There is nothing in their meeting houses that would

identify it as a Christian sanctuary and everything that resembles a club for housing the popular rave party. Crosses and other religious art have been replaced with the light show and smoke machines; choir robes have been replaced with women wearing leggings and shorts, and sock-less, skinny jeaned, ball cap wearing, and body-pierced men; Apostle Paul's required liturgical garment of the woman's headcovering has been totally removed, and one often sees women praying and even preaching with bare heads that sport crew cuts; the hymns of the faith that taught sound doctrine, like Haywood's "I See A Crimson Stream of Blood," have been replaced with the 7/11 songs (same 7 words repeated 11 times), and the hymnal has been replaced with the big screen - which has also replaced Bibles in the pews;  the ministers have exchanged vestments for designer jeans and cowboy boots;  Sin is no longer dealt with by anointed preaching, but with twelve-step programs; the Lord's Table and prayer rooms have been replaced with the coffee shop.

Fifty years from now any identification to the Christian faith among these groups will be gone. They have no doctrinal compass, and are the pied pipers of the second generation, leading the hard-fought-for souls of the former generation's offspring into the fog of a spirituality without any religious underpinning.

God Has No Grandchildren !

Apostolically Speaking,
☩☩ Jerry L. Hayes

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The Eighth Day Sabbath

Estimated reading time: 26 minutes.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. —Genesis 17:12

Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. 37 These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: 38 Beside the sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord. 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. —Leviticus 23:36-39

On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein: —Numbers 29:35

And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord God. —Ezekiel 43:27

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: —1 Peter 3:20-21

The “eighth day” (i.e. the day after the seventh: Sunday) has theological significance for the day of worship that is overlook by most Christian teachers. Such important covenant events as: 

• the beginning of a new world with eight souls from the ark (1 Peter 3:20, Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were save by water.),
• circumcision of male children on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12, And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.), 
• the ceremonial Sabbaths in the Old Covenant ceremonial law (i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus 23:36-39 and Numbers 29:35) signaling a new beginning, 
• the Feast of First Fruits, and the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost] (being first day of the week events which are effectively eighth day events) and 
• the renewing of the altar in the Messianic Kingdom on the eighth day (Ezekiel 43:18-27).

The Apostolic Church Fathers saw this truth; so, often Patristic writings reference Sunday as the Eighth Day.  

Tertullian, when praising the Christians’ holy days above those of the heathen, writes: “for to the heathens each festive day occurs but once annually: you have a festive day every eighth day. Call out the individual solemnities of the nations, and set them out into a row, they will not be able to make up a Pentecost.” (Tertullian on Idolatry.)

Notice the pagan practice of gift giving at the days indicated and notice his contrast between these multitude of pagan festivals once a year vs. our only one, the Lord’s Day, every eighth day. When he, at the end, references Pentecost he is but referencing another Lord’s Day, albeit a high one. 

Cyprian writes: “For in respect of the observance of the eighth day of the Jewish circumcision of the flesh, a sacrament was given beforehand in shadow and in usage; but when Christ came, it was fulfilled in truth. For because the eighth day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, was to be that on which the Lord should rise again, and should quicken us, and give us circumcision of the spirit, the eighth day, that is the first day after the Sabbath, and the Lord's Day, went before in the figure; which figure ceased when by and by the truth came and spiritual circumcision was given to us” — Cyprian, Letter LVIII

The theological weight of the “eighth day” is hinted at in the very first chapter of Genesis. When Moses is reciting the establishing of each day, he stated: 

“And the evening and the morning were the first day” v5

“And the evening and the morning were the second day” v8

“And the evening and the morning were the third day” v13

“And the evening and the morning were the fourth day” v19

“And the evening and the morning were the fifth day” v23

“And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” v31

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 2:2-3

Please notice, the author does not establish the finishing for the seventh day as he did the other six. At the finishing of each of the first six days of creation the writer wrote: “And the evening and the morning were the … day.” No such concluding remark is made for the seventh day. I might suggest that this is so because the seventh day, when God “rested … from all his work which he had made,” had not yet ended. Now, mind you, Yahweh had not stopped working; Jesus stated as much in John 5:16-17. The seventh day was a time when the Almighty rested from His work of creation; but His sustaining work continued. This “rest” from the works of creation would remain in effect until the seventh day ended and the eighth day dawned; then new creation would burst forth upon a new age. 

So, when would Yahweh’s sabbath rest end? Has your mind not run ahead of my words? Are you not standing, in your thoughts, already at the tomb? The Angel has come, the stone is rolled away and we look inside: the tomb is empty, the napkin that was about His head is folded and laying in a place by itself.  Maran ‘athâ!

Feast of First Fruits On The Eighth Day

The Feast of First Fruits had over 1500 dress rehearsals (each on a Sunday), but in AD 30 the curtain went up on the actual event to which all previous First Fruits only pointed. The Last Adam had come to make all things NEW. The resurrection on that Sunday morning shouted that the New Creation had begun. The original Sabbath was ended—as the prophet said it would. Yahweh had arose from His creative rest and was moving upon the face of the earth once again with His Spirit, as He had done on the first day of the old creation. Once again the Spirit hovered over the earth to made it pregnant with new life. The Eighth Day had dawned.

The Jewish Sabbath ended; the Eighth Day Christian Sabbath was instituted, established and embraced in perpetuity.

The Apostle John writes: “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. … 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. … 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Revelation 21:3, 5-7). 

The Apostle Paul states the following concerning the Eighth Day new creation: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) When he says “old things are passed away” he speaks of ordinances of sabbaths and new moons in particular. It is of these “old things” that  

Yahweh, speaking in the prophetic present, says: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19). 

The LORD God continues: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17). For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Because of the Eighth Day Sabbath of the Feast of First Fruits and Jesus’ fulfillment of it, all citizens of the New Creation have the sure promise of the physical resurrection, when our bodies will be redeemed from the grave. Pagan philosophy had imagined the immortality of the soul, but never in their most lucid moments did they dream the body would get up and join it. In the New Creation, that is more that a dream, Christ proved its reality by becoming the First Fruits of those that sleep in the grave. To the Romans, Paul declares: “… the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”  —Romans 8:21-23

There is a proclamation made by every believer that takes himself, or herself, to the assembly of believers each Lord’s Day. That proclamation is: “On this day I was resurrected with Christ in the New Creation, and my soul, spirit and body is redeemed in the Beloved.”

Circumcision on the Eighth Day

Paul identified Christian water baptism as the fulfillment of the Eighth Day Circumcision when he wrote to the church at Colossae, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:10-12). In his disputation with Faustus, Augustine explained the change of signs from circumcision to baptism (Colossians 2:11-12), and the change of the Sabbath day from the seventh to the eighth (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2), by suggesting that the “eighth day” in the Old Testament carried with it the idea of new creation and resurrection. He wrote: 

“[Christ] suffered voluntarily, and so could choose His own time for suffering and for resurrection, He brought it about that His body rested from all its works on Sabbath in the tomb, and that His resurrection on the third day, which we call the Lord’s day, the day after the Sabbath, and therefore the eighth, proved the circumcision of the eighth day to be also prophetical of Him.  For what does circumcision mean, but the eradication of the mortality which comes from our carnal generation? So, the apostle says:  “Putting off from Himself His flesh, He made a show of principalities and powers, triumphing over them in Himself.” The flesh here said to be put off is that mortality of flesh on account of which the body is properly called flesh.  The flesh is the mortality, for in the immortality of the resurrection there will be no flesh; as it is written, “Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God”.

The theology of the Eighth Day Circumcision fulfilled in Christian water baptism is seen everywhere in Paul’s epistles. To the Galatians he writes: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:”  (Galatians 2:20). In the Apostle’s understanding, at the close of the old Sabbath, when Christ was crucified, so was he; and by extrapolation, so too were all Christians who would ever believe on the Messiah. Paul’s theology went further to state that, since he died when Christ died, so, too, did he resurrect when Christ resurrected on the Eighth Day. He wrote concerning that resurrection in this manner: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). This made Paul a new creation at the very dawning of the Eighth Day: the day of the New Creation.  Now since it was Paul who died on the cross with Christ, it was no longer Paul who was living, post resurrection, but Christ instead. Again, by extrapolation, so, too, all believers: “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:10). All believers, then, are urged to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), and who is “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” (Colossians 3:10). Now, since this has happen to all who have believed, who are believing, and who will ever believe on Christ, on the selfsame day, i.e. the Eighth Day of the New Creation, it is proper to observe the Eighth Day (Sunday) as the kernel of all things New, and the Sabbath of the New Creation.

While these truths certainly have implication for the theological shift from the bloody seal of circumcision to the un-bloody seal of baptism, and from the seventh day to the first day (eighth day) for the Sabbath, they teach us much about the fulfillment of all things in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The storyline of the Scriptures is the story of the New Creation through the death and resurrection of Christ. By His death on the cross, Jesus brought about the New Creation. 

A deeper dimension in understanding of the phrase “the circumcision of Christ” from Colossians 2:11 is in order here. It is proper to regard the statement as denoting the circumcision that Christ underwent, that is, His crucifixion, of which His literal circumcision was at best a token by way of anticipation (cf. Bruce, 234). His death was a bloody circumcision that brought about the circumcision (made without hands) in the hearts of His people. When he was cut off in bloody judgment under the wrath of God, He was providing all that was necessary for the cutting away of the guilt, corruption and power of our sin. By His resurrection, Jesus ushered in the New Creation, by both raising His people up to newness of life now as well as by securing our bodily resurrection and the New Heavens and New Earth wherein righteousness will dwell at the restitution of all things. 

The “Eighth Day” is pregnant with ceremonial significance in both redemptive history and promise. As with all the types and shadows ordained by God, it was invested with theological significance to serve the redemptive historical purposes of God.

Feast of Tabernacles’ Eighth Day Sabbath

Note especially how the Lord prescribed a first and eighth day Sabbath during the Feast of Tabernacles: Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.  —Leviticus 23:39.

This declaration shouts to the heavens the truth of the first and eighth days having oneness in their theological significance. That oneness being two days of creation: namely, the Old Creation (on the first day) and the New Creation (on the eighth day). 

Then in Numbers 29:35 we read again of the Feast of Tabernacles: “On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein.” The Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder to the Israelites of God coming and dwelling with them in the wilderness. Israel lived in tents; so, in His redeeming mercy, God graciously came and dwelt with His people in the Tabernacle (tent) of Moses.  In doing so, He became like His people. The Israelites lived in tents—so God lived in a Tent.

This was all a presaging of the Incarnation. The Apostle John tells us, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1:14). The purpose of the Incarnation was to restore the lost presence of God to His people. In order for this to occur, the Incarnation was necessary; but/and this should be carefully noted—reconciliation was only possible through the sin-removing, substitutionary death of Jesus. In order for God to dwell with His people their sins must be atoned and His wrath must be propitiated. This is what Christ accomplished in His death. The Incarnation (tabernacling) made this possible. Interestingly, Jesus finished this necessary work and then rested in the tomb on the Old Covenant sabbath. Then, on the First Day of the Week (i.e. the Eighth Day), He arose and His presence was forever guaranteed to believers. The restored presence of God is seen in the manifestation of the two angels, sitting one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus lay, just as the two Cherubim sat over the Ark of the Covenant where the presence of God appeared when the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat. As the Ark of the Covenant was the throne of God in the earth for the Old Covenant, Jesus is the throne of God in the earth for the New Covenant. 

John records for us the event of Christ’s presence at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem and how He (Jesus) identified with it:

Now on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. v38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. v39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) —John 7:37-39

The Feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days, but had a holy convocation on the eighth day. This eighth day was called ‘the Great Day’ of the feast. It is of this eighth day (the Great Day) that John is telling us. During the Feast of Tabernacles (some scholars say only on the seven days of the actual feast, some scholars say only on the Great Day) the priests went in procession to the pool of Siloam. There they filled a golden pitcher with water and brought it into the temple court, ceremoniously  they poured it out while chanting Isaiah 12:2-3, i.e. “With joy shall ye drew waters out of the wells of salvation.” Whether it was in the midst of this ceremonial pouring of the waters, or in lieu of it, (the intended effect is the same) Jesus (Who is the well of salvation [see John chapter 4], His very name means “Yahweh Is Salvation”) stands, arresting the attention of all, and cries: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” Thereby, showing himself to be the fulfillment (even the embodiment) of the Feast of Tabernacles. Tabernacles had had over 500 dress rehearsals; this day it had fully come!

The Living Waters (of John 7:38) are to be understood as coming from Jesus. On one hand this is a continuation of the Moses motif and Jesus being the fulfillment of the water from the rock. But on a higher level Jesus is establishing an identification with Ezekiel 41:1-12 which shows “Living Water” coming from beneath the altar of the temple and giving life to all the land. In this sense Jesus shows Himself to be the fulfillment of the very temple itself. But not only that: Jesus identifies with the River that issues forth from beneath the altar.. Ezeliel’s prophecy, here, is for the time of Messianic blessings (as is that prophet’s vision of the 8th day altar, that we will discuss just ahead). Jesus is dating that Messianic Kingdom as beginning with Himself.

In verse 39 John gives us a commentary on verse 38, “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive … .” Here, the evangelist lets us know that the “Living Water” is the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, AD 30. Thus, this Great Day (the 8th day) feast inaugurated the Messianic kingdom with its 8th day Sabbath.

In the resurrection of Jesus on the first day (i.e. the eighth day), the glory of God’s presence is made manifest to His people. Jesus brings about the New Creation through His Incarnation, death, resurrection and infilling of His Spirit—the ultimate incarnation. By so doing, He fulfills the Feast of Tabernacles. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth the old Sabbath of the Old Covenant was fulfilled and the new Sabbath of the Eighth Day is established. It is proper, then, to reference The First Day of the Week as the Christian Sabbath.

Moreover, the prophet Zachariah foretells of the time in the Messianic Kingdom (i.e. the Church) when the characterizing feast will be the Feast of Tabernacles. In this time the nations of the earth will be required to come to Jerusalem (i.e. the Church) and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This Feast, that represents God dwelling among His people, not only presaged the Incarnation, but also (and just as importantly) the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ, i.e. the Church. In the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles proper, all feasts of old Israel were fulfilled, in that the harvests of the year were complete—having begun at Passover. In the Eighth Day Feast (which the Bible calls The Great Day) the New Creation of the Israel of God (the Church) is presaged. Through the redemptive work of Christ the Church entered into an eternal day of rest (see Hebrews 4:1-11 cf Colossians 2:16-17 [NKJV] “substance is of Christ”), for which all that has gone before has been but a schoolmaster. So, then, the Spirit filled Body of Christ is the realized Feast of Tabernacles. This Feast introduced and established the Eighth Day Sabbath Rest. Amen!

Ezekiel’s Eschatological Temple’s Eighth Day Perpetual Offering

Significance of the eighth day in the prophecy of Ezekiel’s Eschatological Temple can be found in Ezekiel 43:27, 

And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord God. 

This is a prefiguring of the Messianic Kingdom, which, like Zachariah’s Feast of Tabernacles, speaks to the age of the Church of Jesus Christ. Here, where Ezekiel writes “that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your … offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord God” we should think of the holy Eucharist on each Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7) and a definite connection between this and Malachi’s Eucharistic Prophecy: 

“For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 1:11).  

In Ezekiel’s reordering of the festival calendar, time itself is brought under the discipline of the new age, and he goes on to apply this to Christian worship. And although he does not explicitly speak of the Sabbath factor in Christian worship, that is surely one of the main lines along which Ezekiel’s vision takes us: to the realization that just as Jesus is our sacrifice and Prince, and just as we are a spiritual temple in Him, so He has given us a new sacred ‘time,’ a new Sabbath, a Sabbath of the eighth day (cf. 43:27), our Lord’s Day Sabbath.

Apostolically Speaking,

☩☩ Jerry L. Hayes

Read more essays from the Bishop on Christian Sacred Days at the links provide here:

Christians and the 7th Day Sabbath
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/11/christianitys-association-with-seventh.html

First Day of the Week (Sunday) Worship
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/11/first-day-of-week-worship.html

Apologia is a polemical work in the defense of Christian sacred days. Our focus is Sunday worship, Easter and Christmas. Since the rise of the Anabaptist movement of the 16th century a 7th day sabbath element has existed in the Christian faith. There has been little written in the line of a strong apologia for the observance to the traditional times. Bishop Hayes offers his work "Apologia, A Defense of Christian Sacred Days" to meet that need. This book establishes why Christians have observed Sunday as their primary day of worship right out of the gate. Also, within the pages of "Apologia" the reader will discover the true meaning of the terms 'Easter" and "Christmas". Bishop Jerry L Hayes comes to the defense of historical Christianity in this work that is destined to become a classic. 

Order your personal copy of "Apologia" today at the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/Apologia-Defense-Christian-Sacred-Days/dp/1099666589/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Apologia&qid=1572982116&s=books&sr=1-1

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY PURCHASING MY BOOKS FOR YOUR LIBRARY -JLH

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What Happens To The Spirit At Death

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes.

So far, in this chapter, we have considered what happens to the soul at death and have not dealt with the spirit, except to say that it, too, has a change of address. Previously, it has been demonstrated, in this work, that the soul and spirit of man are actually different aspects of the human reality. We have shown that just as the body is the house of the soul, the soul is the house of the spirit. And, just as the body and the soul separates at death, the soul and spirit may separate at death as well. Through the soul, man has self-consciousness—it (the soul) is the locus of personal identity. It is the soul that was made in the “likeness” of God—but lost that rectitude of character in its fall from grace. The spirit is referenced throughout this work as the “god-spark,” by which the individual acquires God consciousness and has fellowship with his/her Creator. Ecclesiastes tells us that the “spirit returns to God who gave it.” From this we are to understand that the spirits of all men return to God upon their death—whether they died in or out of faith. 

As a result of the spirits’ return to God, the souls of the wicked dead are held in hades without their spirits. The separation of the spirits from the souls of the wicked (at death) is a permanent condition that has dire eternal consequence for their state in the resurrection. The tragic, and sad, reality of the Second Death, is the total lack of any God consciousness for eternity (and as a result—no fellowship with God). One may experience the chill of such an existence, by contemplating—what the author thinks is—the sadist verse of the Bible: “Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD” (Gen 4:16, NKJV). Such is the Second Death for those who die outside the graces of the Covenant; they go, forever, out from the presence of their Maker. 

Conversely, in death, the souls of the righteous remain united with their spirits. This is shown in the text from Hebrews 12:23, where the individuals who have been made “perfect” (who make up a segment of the great cloud of spectators that witness the saints’ race of faith’ Heb 12:1) are called “spirits.”  Here, the writer to the Hebrews employs the form of speech known as the synecdoche (part for the whole, or vice versa) in that “spirits” is used for the persons themselves, who have existence (at this moment) as a binary being of soul and spirit. The souls house the spirits, which remain in residents eternally with those who die within the graces of the Covenant. The presence of the “god-spark” (spirit) or the absence of the “god-spark” is the difference between eternal life and eternal death.

Apostolically Speaking,

☩☩ Jerry L Hayes

This essay is excerpted from the Bishop's book "Biblical Anthropology."

Biblical Anthropology is a study in what the Bible teaches concerning the origin, nature (ontology), history and destiny of mankind. Reviewed in this work is the debate over whether or not the human being is bipartite—such as only body and soul, or tripartite—such as body, soul and spirit. Biblical Anthropology addresses the question of whether or not the soul is mortal or immortal; that is, does the soul have existence apart from the body.  What, exactly happens at death? Will there be a resurrection of the body, and if so what nature will the resurrected body take?  These are important questions addressed in this book. Bishop Jerry L Hayes presents a very orthodox view of Christian biblical anthropology which relies heavily on holy Scripture with a generous sprinkling of quotes from the ancient churchmen such as Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Augustine to name a few. 
Order your personal copy of this classic work on biblical anthropology by clicking the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1703392698/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Biblical+anthropology&qid=1572374388&s=books&sr=1-1&fbclid=IwAR3TaRUBLqYEIj2lC1GYgNzYf_E5yAomZHRcaKnBmFj0zJfy9mURNCb_wbM

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY PURCHASING MY BOOKS FOR YOUR LIBRARY. -JLH

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ

The Biblical Understanding of Death

Estimated reading time 4.5 minutes
The biblical definition of death is never one of extinction, but rather of separation. Neither is death ever defined by lexicographers as extinction, annihilation, non-existence or unconsciousness. Death in the Bible is always representative of a separation between two things.

The proponents of “soul sleep” are fond of defining “death” as extinction, annihilation, non-existence or unconsciousness. This is, of course, a non-biblical way of think of death.

Scripturally, “death” is the separation of two things: in physical death the two things are the body and soul (Eccl 12:7); in spiritual death: man and God (Isa 59:1-2); in the second death: man and God (Rev 21:8; 22:14-15); in being dead to sin: Christian and sin (Rom 6:2, 11; Heb 7:26); in being dead to the law: Christian and the law (Rom 7:4). 

The following references are included here only to demonstrate the opinion of Christians in the first centuries. They are not, of themselves, offered as doctrinal authorities. The question of death being an extinction of the soul was considered and rejected by virtually all early churchmen as the following references demonstrate:

• 180 AD, Justin Martyr, The resurrection is a resurrection of the flesh which died. For the spirit dies not; the soul is in the body, and without a soul it cannot live. The body, when the soul forsakes it, is not. For the body is the house of the soul; and the soul the house of the spirit. These three, in all those who cherish a sincere hope and unquestioning faith in God, will be saved." (Justin Martyr, Chapter X.—The Body Saved, and Will Therefore Rise)

• 177 AD, Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XXIV.—Argument for the Resurrection from the Chief End of Man. "For such an end as this, I suppose, belongs to beasts and cattle, not to men possessed of an immortal soul and rational judgment."

• 190 AD, Clement of Alexandria, “But we must as much as possible subject the soul to varied preparatory exercise, that it may become susceptible to the reception of knowledge. Do you not see how wax is softened and copper purified, in order to receive the stamp applied to it? Just as death is the separation of the soul from the body, so is knowledge as it were the rational death urging the spirit away, and separating it from the passions, and leading it on to the life of well-doing, that it may then say with confidence to God, "I live as Thou wishest." (book VII chapter XXII)

• 200 AD, Tertullian, Such severance, however, is quite natural between the soul and the body; for when the body is deserted by the soul, it is overcome by death. The soul, therefore, is endued with a body; for if it were not corporeal, it could not desert the body. (chapter 5, A Treatise on the Soul)

• 200 AD, Tertullian, Chapter LI.—Death Entirely Separates the Soul from the Body. “But the operation of death is plain and obvious: it is the separation of body and soul. Some, however, in reference to the soul's immortality, on which they have so feeble a hold through not being taught of God, maintain it with such beggarly arguments, that they would fain have it supposed that certain souls cleave to the body even after death.

• 200 AD, Tertullian, Chapter LII.—All Kinds of Death a Violence to Nature, Arising from Sin.—Sin an Intrusion Upon Nature as God Created It. “Such, then, is the work of death—the separation of the soul from the body. Putting out of the question fates and fortuitous circumstances, it has been, according to men's views, distinguished in a twofold form—the ordinary and the extraordinary.

• 260 AD, Methodius, whether it sojourns with us, partaking of death, or whether it is gifted with an endless immortality; what condition awaits us when we shall have separated from our bodies relaxed in death; whether we shall retain our perceptions, or have no recollection of our former sensations or of past memories; book 1, Oration on the Psalms.

• 307 AD, Lactantius, For the soul even in opposition to the body desires the worship of God, which consists in abstinence from desires and lusts, in the enduring of pain, in the contempt of death. From which it is credible that the soul does not perish, but is separated from the body, because the body can do nothing without the soul, but the soul can do many and great things without the body. Chapter XI.—Of the Last Times, and of the Soul and Body.

• 307 AD, Lactantius, Therefore, although they are joined and connected together from birth, and the one which is formed of earthly material is, as it were, the vessel of the other, which is drawn out from heavenly fineness, when any violence has separated the two, which separation is called death, then each returns into its own nature; that which was of earth is resolved into earth; that which is of heavenly breath remains fixed, and flourishes always, since the divine spirit is everlasting. Chapter XII.—Of the Soul and the Body, and of Their Union and Separation and Return. 

• Ca. 2nd Century AD, The Clementine Homilies, "For there is every necessity, that he who says that God is by His nature righteous, should believe also that the souls of men are immortal: for where would be His justice, when some, having lived piously, have been evil-treated, and sometimes violently cut off, while others who have been wholly impious, and have indulged in luxurious living, have died the common death of men? Since therefore, without all contradiction, God who is good is also just, He shall not otherwise be known to be just, unless the soul after its separation from the body be immortal, so that the wicked man, being in hell, as having here received his good things, may there be punished for his sins; and the good man, who has been punished here for his sins, may then, as in the bosom of the righteous, be constituted an heir of good things. Since therefore God is righteous, it is fully evident to us that there is a judgment, and that souls are immortal. Homily II., Chapter XIII.—Future Rewards and Punishments.

• Ca. 2nd Century AD, The Clementine Homilies: And what is death but the separation of soul from body? For death does not even at all belong to those things which substantially exist: for death is nothing, … , but the separation of soul from body; and when this takes place, the body, …, is dissolved; but the soul, …, remains in life and exists substantially. Homily XIX., Chapter XX.—Pain and Death the Result of Sin.

Dear reader, it is important that we always keep before us the truth of the immortality of the soul when we read of “death.” We are brought to this knowledge by the testimony of both holy Scripture and pious churchmen of antiquity, recorded above.  (Some may have objections to our references to the Clementine Homilies because of its questionable authorship. However, such references serve as a historical record of popular doctrinal understanding of our topic.) Death, then, is not the extinction of the soul, for either the righteous or the unrighteous, Moreover, it is equally important that we understand when the Bible speaks of eternal life being promised to those who believe on Christ, it is speaking of spiritual life as opposed to spiritual death. Those who understand annihilation for the souls of the wicked and eternal life for the souls of the righteous have misunderstood the meaning of “death.” The faithful believers have eternal life in the presence of their God, while the unbelieving sinners experience an eternal existence in a forever separation from the God they rejected — this, the Bible calls the “Second Death”.

Apostolically Speaking,

☩☩ Jerry L. Hayes

This essay is excerpted from the Bishop's book "Biblical Anthropology."

Biblical Anthropology is a study in what the Bible teaches concerning the origin, nature (ontology), history and destiny of mankind. Reviewed in this work is the debate over whether or not the human being is bipartite—such as only body and soul, or tripartite—such as body, soul and spirit. Biblical Anthropology addresses the question of whether or not the soul is mortal or immortal; that is, does the soul have existence apart from the body.  What, exactly happens at death? Will there be a resurrection of the body, and if so what nature will the resurrected body take?  These are important questions addressed in this book. Bishop Jerry L Hayes presents a very orthodox view of Christian biblical anthropology which relies heavily on holy Scripture with a generous sprinkling of quotes from the ancient churchmen such as Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Augustine to name a few. 
Order your personal copy of this classic work on biblical anthropology by clicking the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1703392698/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Biblical+anthropology&qid=1572374388&s=books&sr=1-1&fbclid=IwAR3TaRUBLqYEIj2lC1GYgNzYf_E5yAomZHRcaKnBmFj0zJfy9mURNCb_wbM

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