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What's the Word
For Today?
by
David
Joo
H111
Wher<
~n
you find words to detenbe
today's world? Problcms bubblc, sccthc and
then explodc: in every comer,
in
evcry dircc·
tion. Wbcrc are the phrases which capture
thc feeling of the massive mcgaproblems
push'"& us 10 thc brinl:?
~ctlnt
Dooinsday
Everybody is sethn& into thc aa prc·
diaing doomsday. No longcr
are
thcsc
prophecies
t~c
sole domain of thc strcet–
c:omer prophcl wnh a beard.
a
long robe and
a
ocarly illegible •ign predícting "thc end i$
nur. ·•
Scienusu.. poliucians..
bistorians.
ra.ct
and 1\ction wnters. sr.atesmen
and
nen
busi·
ncssmen sce the haodwrit.ing on the wall.
Some
o(
the1r prediclions seem
more
haar·
raising Iban the b1blicol Apoc:alypse - be–
e:suse chey are speciftc, scientific, and ex.act -
whereas the Bible speaks
i.n
general. pln.net–
widc te:rms.
In fact, for ccnturics tbe wriungs of the
apos~e
Jobn
in
the book of Revclahon were
vae-..c~
as impouible to iaterpret. lq
che
an–
troduction tO
hl$ 1934
translauon of thc
B1ble, James Motrau dismisscd any possi·
bility of actual application of thosc proph–
ccie.s to his world He succincdy summarized
tht view of mosl thcologians of hi$ day in
the following way "In form thi$ uuaordt–
nary
book rcscmbl.. Jewi$h wrillngs of the
samc dass, which profess
to
unveil the fu·
\ure. and thc uppe:r world.
lt
i.s
a
~r1es
or
~4YJl19<>J¡~
YiNPII'·*'9-Yg>ed ,QO<!) ,Ijl,
1
tcrms of Oricntiíl fantasy. and dcpictfng
a
stru&g.Ie
which
cnds in
the return
of Jesu.s in
messianic powcr
and the
decisivc ovctthrow
of
thc anti-dtvi.ne power on
urth.
followed
by • new UJÚ>ersc or bliss and
pel""-.
(f'rom
the lntroduction 10
A N.w Tmns–
lorlon
oflht
B1bl•
by James Moffau,
1934.)
Perbaps Revelation
seemed
that
way in
1934.
But in
1975
thc "weird ... vi.!ions" of
on~
tllird
ofmankind dying in a cat.utrophic
war no
longer scem
JW:t
'"symbohc..
10
Hgtu
of nuclear weapo<IJ-
The
death of hfe tn the
sea
no 1onger sec:ms
to
be
an ••orienc.aJ
ftn·
tuy" in ligbt of the staggering polluuon en–
gendcred by man. An army of 200 millíon
men marching againsl the faithful no longer
•ccm-1
out of Jine with the
ovctwbclmin,g
population or such nations as Chma and
lnd~a.
The
><10pe
and pandeur or the boot
o(
Rcvclation
come i.nto focus bec:au.se
we
can see arouod us soday what
John
s.aw
in
vision
so
many yurs
ago!
4'be Crlsls
11
the
End"
Thc above subhead
i.s
n.ot mjne.
t
bor·
rowcd
it from tbe J>I&CS
of
m
y
favontc book::
"And now. O Dante!, kcep
aU
thtt a <lose
sccret and kccp the book shut as a scct<l. ull
the crisis •• thc cnd" (Daniel
12:4,
Moffau
translatioo). Daniel 80es on .to say.
ul
heard
this, but
1
did not understand it.
So
1
asked,
·o
my lord. what is
10
be tbe lasl phase
bcfore. t.be end?• 8ul he
uid,
'Ask no more.
Oantel.
for
lhe
rcvclauon
is
ro
be
tepe
secret
and
dosc.
nu
TH!
caast.S
AT
rnt ca..ost• ..
(Danid
12:8-9.
Molrau).
"""End-time
cns~
... howevcr. are no
Jon~er
wlely tbe vetbal domain of the
evangehs~
Dr. John Platt,
rc:scarch
biophysicist and as.
sociate director or the Mental Health Re·
search
Jnsututc
at
thc
Univcrsaty
of
M1chigan. Ann Arbor. uscd tbosc same
•ords in an anKie for
Science
map1.1ne in
11s
Nove:mber 28.
1~9
edition.
···A fcw years as,o, Leo Sz.ila((l
e.st•maled
the
'haiC·Iife'
of the human race wuh resp«t
10 nuclear esulation a.s bcing bctwecn JO
and 20
ye3rs,·
wrote John Plau. who
'oes
on
10 't\'Un.
•J
thtnk thls
muJtiplicatiOD or
do-
WEEK ENDING APRIL
5.
1975
tr'lC$Uc:.
and
antemational
cnses
cod.ay
w1ll
sbortcn that short balf-llfc. In the continued
absencc or beuer ways of heading off thesc
rnultiplc crisc.s, our haJr·lirc may no longer
be
10
to 20 yean. but more like
S
to
10
years,
or Jeu. We may havc cvcn lcss than a
50-SO
cbancc of liYlng until
1980....
Thc time
is
short .
The time
i$
bornbly short.'"
Anothcr concemed saenust·wriltr, l.s.aae
AsiMOY, fOtC$CO$ thc end Of 0YiiÍ%aiÍOtl by
the year
2000 -
unless we see harmony
amona
nations
to
the tune of a onc-world
government, the overhJ.uhng of thc concepts
offamUy. scx
and
mothechood
and tbe tum–
íngofalllndusuy
to
!<'lftess scrvtc..!
(Do
you
..,. any or
1ho~
signs
on the bonzon?) His
predic:tion,
wriucn
in
1971.
epuomized
thc
problcms or
manJdnd: uwe don't have
tOdo
anything about it, you know.
ll's
juSI lhat if
we
don'l\
thcrc won'l
be
any dviliution in
another
30
ycars."
(Can Mon SurviW!
1he
YwdOOO?)
The Word fO< TomO<Tow:
Good
But though thtngs may loot bleak for the
future, Ood says cvents are not going 10 cnd
thc way mankind is prcdicting. Gnd says
he
knew
mankind would
devcfop
the power to
blow himsclf off the f•ce of the canh, bul
God tnststs by hi$ rigbt as crcalor lbat he
willnot aUow things to ¡o
qu1te th.at
far. He
pl.ans
lO $\Op
the world
and
St.l Oft..
lf you get busy and rctd hiS Book. you'U
be ab1e
to
anticipate
those world events.
And, more important,
you'll
leam how
Ood in thal samc Word provided the prin–
cipies which will cnable you 10
li•e 1hrough
those
evcnlS
and participare aaively in lbc
good
ncws
beyond. When you
ptclc
up your
daily newspapcr, your wcckly news maga·
z.lne. when you watch TV news (or pro·
grams), you'll b<¡_able
10
say. "l rcad
itfim
in tho Bible."
Does that mean we should lake today's
bad ncws and
the
borrors
yet
lo
come
with
a
shrug or the sboulder? No!
Docs
that mean
we
Jhouldn't
be
aJanned
uuo
aetion? No!
Does
that mean· we should
noE
begin
to
make personal changcs because God is go–
ing
10
do il aJI? Of c:ourse not
11
simply
means that as you begin 10 !<'e God's plan
ror the future , you won't have 10 faee it with
all thc
(IU$1ration
or the ignoronce of thc
11nl:nown tbat manl:ind alone, without God.
must face.
h
means you can have
bopc
beyond the black terror man predicts for the
world's
rucure.
Read tbe Book
God
wams us in
rnany
pla~s
that
in
the
time
frame
JOSl
before
bis
retum, eonditioru
in
sooety would be a
blatan~
unblushing
duplicauon of Sodom and Gomorrab just
beforc. he wiped thc.m out. Read Gcncs1s
18. 19:
Jeremiah
6;13- 16
ond Luke
17:28-
30.
Then pick up your local papcr and read
through the advertisement pagos for the
mov1cs. or
so
10 the
local
drupto~
and look
at thc booka and magaunea for sale and
ask
yourself whether or oot God's 81ble
is
thc
Word for today.
Try reading Daniel, chapters 7 and 8,
along wílh Revelation
13
and 17. Then pick
up
youl'
newspaper a nd
see
ho~·
a u.nion or
European natioru;
is
oomln,&
alon,g, Counl
and scc God says
the~
wtll be ten. How
many
1ft
lherc
now? Hmmm ... Ve.e.rry
iotcresttns•
Out don't get shook! Today's news i.! bad
and gcuing worse.
Yet
as you rcad more
or
thc Book you'll sce more of lhe good news
beyond oul' tcmporary traumas. There are
eotire books that oulline in delail God's
good
news for tomorrow.
lf
any questions
comt
to
your
mind wb1ch
you can't answer for yotlrsclf, juSI drop us a
linc. We'd be glad lo hclp. We read the
Book.
Rcmtmber.
you
too
c.an read about
contemporary and future world condilions
fim
'"
rhe
book. the Bible.
T~o1 ~
the Word
foriOday! O
THREE
OF
THE eleven women who were ordained co che Episcopal
/3SC
July celebmce Eucharisc in New
York
City's Ríversíde Church.
FOOTHOLD IN THE MINISTRY
by
Ca role Ritter
Tht
rec.ent ordinalion of eleven
women as
Episcopal pncsts in defiancc of church rules
hu tumcd thc spothgbt on an cscalattng
c.rcnd. Feminüts of aU denominauons are
beginning to demond an equal eboncc 10
5erve in a
t.radh•onany male-<lommatcd
ministry.
rn the past,
wcll·known
fcmale
church
leaden Uke Mary Baker Eddy ond- Aimee
Stmple MacPberson d1d their work outside
che mains:tteam of
orpnized
Protestantu:m.
Since
thc
1950's.
though. most maJOr Protcs–
tant churches bave
opened thcir
m•nastry
to
women.
StiU,
lcu
than
~
or
thc
nation's
380.000 clerics are women - and mo.st of
these belong
10
the smaller Pentec:ostal
churches.
But Ehe
number
O(
organ.iz.atioM
wttb
women
in
the pulpll
is
rapidly ns1n3 The
.,.,·ortdwidc Anghcan communion and
the
Luthcran church
hllve
both. ordained
women.
and in
Junt
l972 the first woman
was aoceptcd into the Reformcd Jcwish rab..
binate.
Altboug.h a committce of U.S.
Catholic
b1sh0ps
is
studytn¡ whether the pn<Sihood
should be opcncd to women. Pope Paul re–
mains a staunch
holdout. He still secs
women as
••makin¡
a speei.ficoontrabulion to
society by rearing childrcn."
Most of
those
who oppo$e the idea of
"lady
p~achcn"
cite thc apostle Paul's ad–
monuioo to tbe Corinthians: ..
Let
your
• ·omcn kcep
sdcnce Jn
the churches · for
it
lS
not pcrmittcd unto them 10 speak . but they
are commandcd
to
be
under obedjcnc:e. as
also saitb thc law ....
for
it
is
a
shame for
women
to
speak· in t h e church"
(1
Cori.ntbians
14:34-35).
But rcminisu councer wilh Paurs leuer to
tht
Oalatians: ·--rhere
i$
neither
Jew nor
Greek ... bond nor free .. male nor fe–
maJe: for ye are all one in
Chri$t
JC$us..
(Galallans 3:28). And they quote Paul's in–
strucuon.s
10
the
Romans to
rece.ive
Phtbe.
••a
scrvant
of
t.he
church ...
11
Cench.reae...
and note how he called Priscilla his helper tn
Christ Jesus (Romans
16:1·3).
They a!so
clairn 1he
New Te.stamenl
shows
no dis–
approval of prophetesses, the most prOml–
ncnl cumples being Anna (lukc
2'36-38)
and the four daugbters of Ph1ltp tbe evange–
list
(ACU 21:9).
Thc early churcb did provide for the ord1·
nation of women to posihons
or
service in
the diaconato (Rom.
16: 1;
l Timothy 3:
11;
$:9-10).
butthere is no rec:otd ofthem scrv·
ing u evanaetists or pastors.
Wath
the
aposde Paul
the l$SUe
seemed
to
be
one
or
authority. He saw the
Geocsu
pauem ofman as head of thc family (Gen
3:
16)
and exrrapolatcd this pauecn as an
orga?iZJJtional guide for church scrvices. Al–
though
he allowed women to teach other
women
(Ti
tus
2:4) and serve as deaconesscs.
be reserved pre.acbing in a formal cburch
situation for men atone as a
symbol
of the
God-ordatncd structure ofthinp.
But in the ligbt of the rest of thc New
Testament.
even lhLs
prohibition doesn't
sc:e1n to
be
a
blanktt
restriction
on
women
teachi ns
men. PrisciiJa and
her
husband
Aquila both expoundcd unto Apollos the
wayofGod moreperfectly(Aela
18:26).
So
thcre .. scripturaJ support ror the ordi·
nation or women ror ccruin
ecdesi.astJca)
responstbilities. The office
O(
deaCODt:SS CJt·
istS in rccognition of
thcir ri¡hl to serve in
the church. But asidc from spccially called
prophctesses. the Ncw Testament still defi–
nitely !<'tms to reserve the pulpit asan all–
maJe
preserve.
o
13
1
1
1