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in rhe minds of large numbers of
individuals. Individually, rhese people
conrinued ro live in rheir old environ–
ment, bur rheir arrirudes were
changed. Despire being forced ro re–
spond ro poor environmenral condi–
rions, rhey were happy. This aspecr of
rhe experimenr was successful. This is
the srory of rhe New Tesramenr
church.
Phase Two was, however, some–
whar rraumaric for rhose involved in
rhc cxpcrimenr. The change in rheir
minds wenr counrer ro rhe elemenrs
of rhc enviro nmenr in which rhey
livcd. Many suffered persccurion and
wcre killed or forced ro flce.
Phase Three o f rhe expcrimcnr is
ycr in rhe furure. Ar rhar rime, rhe
change in rhe mind will be combined
wirh a change in rhc environment.
This environmemal change. coupkd
wirh rhe grear advanrage of a corre–
sponding mental change, will pro–
duce rhe utopía al! men long for.
This wi ll be che fulfi llmcnr of Jesus
Chrisr's announcemenr ro man of che
Kingdom or governmenr of God
which will rule over all rhc carrh.
Why Phase One
:\faybe you have never rhoughr of
ir in chis way before? So ler's rake a
closer look.
This unique experimcnr involving
man is a long-range onc encompass–
ing severa! rhousand years of human
hi srory. Bcginning in rhc fifrccnrh
cenrury B.C. a whole narion, of He–
brews, was forcibly ejecred from whar
was rhen rhe world cenrer of civil–
izarion - Egypr. This began Phase
One. Their experiences are recorded
in rhe Bible so we roday can bcrrer
undersrand ourselves.
These people, called rhc narion of
Israel, rhen migrared across rhe desert
of rhe Sinai Península. They success–
fully defeared rhc various ciry-srares
dotting rhe arca called Canaan and
~rrled
in chis Promised Land.
This narion of people acceprcd a
le–
gal sysrem wbicb would have guaran–
reed a physical, psychological, socio–
logical. and spirirual environmenr of
32
perfecrion.
Ir
was based on whar we
know as rhe Ten Commandments
(Exodus 20). Ir ou rlined a cerrain be–
havioral environmenr rhar would
have allowed che inhabiranrs max–
imum persona l freedom. The firsr
commandmenr, for example, srared,
"You shall have no orher gods before
ME."
This would have kepr orher
philosophical sysrems from encroach–
ing upon, disrorring and subverting
rhe sysrem which rhcy had come ro
accept .
The fourch commandmenr ser
clown rhe law of rhe Sabbarh. This
was indeed a practica! law. Ir allowed
che inhabiranrs ro be free from rheir
usual prcssing duries every sevench
day. Ar rhar rime. chey would refresh
themselves on rhe basic points of rhe
sysrem rhcy had accepced.
The fifrh law dealc wirh preserving
rhe righr relarionship berween parenrs
and chi ldrcn, cmphasizing rhe family
as che basic building block of rhe
sociery.
Other laws forbadc srealing, lying,
sexual excesses, and covering of orhcr
people's belongings and goods. These
laws provided a certain physical envi–
ronmenr conducive for human
growrh. They have been described as
being in rwo parrs. The firsr four laws
dealr wirh che philosophy of rhe sys–
rem. The second six were sociological
in nature, dealing wirh such impor–
tanr icems as fami !y srrucru re, crime
and sex.
These ren basic laws were devel–
oped incoa rarher complete sysrem of
law. In che sysrem, rhere were puni–
rive measures for disobedience. Bur
che laws and che penalties were meanr
primarily ro maintain an cnvironmenc
of freedom, prosperiry and purpose
for irs inhabitanrs.
Yer, Phasc One of che sysrem
failed. The narion, nearly five cen–
turies larer, splir inro warring fac–
rions. Ir was unable ro pur inro prac–
rice rhe laws ir had adopced. Large
porrions of che Old Tesramenr chron–
icle rhe rragic failure of chis uropian
experimenr. The Jase vesriges of rhar
uropian srace fcll ro Babylonian inva–
ders in che sixrh cenrury B.C.
Phase Two Begins
Phase Two was usbered in by che
birrh, rcaching, dearh and resurrec–
rion of j esus Chrisr, described in rhe
New Tesramenr. Jesus called our indi–
viduals and creared a new behavioral
environmenr
in
rbeir minds. There
would be no geographical utopía. Ir
would be in rhe person's mind.
Jcsus Chrisr used rhe analogy of
che Comforrer ro explain chis: " Bur
rhe Comforcer, which is rhe Ho ly
Spiri r, whom rhe Farher will scnd in
my name, he shal l reach you all
rhings" Qohn 14:26). Thus, humans
would nor be limiced ro mere mental
and / or psychological power. They
would have opened ro them a whole
new field of power - a spirirual rech–
nology of behavior would be ar rhcir
disposal. This is che "missing dimcn–
sion" in human behavior.
This new power - rhe powcr of
rhe Spirir of God - would eliminare
rhe weaknesses of Phase One, so aprly
describcd by rhe Aposde Paul. He
was well qualified ro explain why ir
failed. Paul was one of rhe mosc edu–
carcd men of his day. He was raughr
by Gamaliel, recognized as one of che
few grear scholars of rhe Old Tesra–
menr in che firsr cencury A.D. (Accs
22:3).
Paul himsclf was parricipating in
Phasc Two of rhis experimenr. His
mind had been changed by a spiricu–
ally rcchnological input. Paul summa–
rized borh che change in his own life
and hb underscanding of Old Tesra–
ment principies in Galatians 2:16-21.
His explanarion of rhe failure of
Phase Onc cenrered around rhc mind
of man ; ycr nor many rheologians rcc–
ogn ize chis facr!
Paul discussed rhe rwo aspecrs of
chis cxperimenr in behaviorism as rhe
firsr and second covenanr. He ex–
plains, "For if rhar firsr covcnant had
been faulrless, rhen should no place
have bcen soughr for rhe second. For
finding faulr wirh rhem (rhar is, che
PLAIN TRUTH July 1972