A Discernible Historical Cycle

 

 

Phases of this Cycle

 

Acknowledgement

 

Indifference

 

Ignorance

 

Doubt

 

Denial

 

Irritation

 

Affirmation

 

Acknowledgement

 

Dr. Robert A. Morey

Death and the Afterlife

  

In his book “Death and the Afterlife”

Dr. Robert A. Morey posits

A cycle across the Christian Church eras

That has become a habit.

 

This cycle, Dr. Morey contends,

Pertains to the issue of hell:

How belief goes through these stages-

And I think I understand him well.

 

However, I wish to make the leap

And extend it even beyond,

For many things we once held dear

Are either going or gone.

 

And so, this presentation

Will not identify all these issues

But will use Dr. Robert Morey’s cycle

To help us to catch the view.

 

Seven stages or phases, he cited

That a people will go through

From acknowledgement to confirmation

Before starting the cycle anew.

 

The nature of hell and its reality

Is the issue that he describes

But there are several other matters

To which this can be ascribed.

 

The Trinity for example

Or, salvation by faith through grace,

The ongoing matter of eternal security

And whether always saved is safe.

 

Once there was certainty

And we stood in acknowledgement

But after taking it for granted,

In came indifference.

 

We developed the assumption

It would be forever understood

And we did not treat to the new recruits

In the way that we truly should.

 

Due diligence went out the door,

We assumed everybody knew

So, we left off that particular matter

And took up another issue.

 

Indifference led to ignorance

After all, how would they have known

When the ones principally responsible

Had not these truths shown?

 

Hence, these wandering sheep,

Now ignorant of the shepherd’s ways

Continue in their presumed ignorance;

No longer reluctant strays.

 

As a consequence of their ignorance

These initiates begin to doubt,

They are unable to defend themselves-

Lack of knowledge weakens clout.

 

Doubt as the Bible shows

Was Israel’s greatest undoing,

Doubt dogged their tracks persistently

And their unbelief was unending.

 

From acknowledgement to indifference

From indifference to ignorance,

Doubt has now set in

And there is little resistance.

 

 

Like Humpty Dumpty on the wall

They have taken the inevitable fall,

They now gravitate towards practices

The body once appalled.

 

They are in militant denial

And now willing to fight for the wrong,

They call good evil and evil good

And in this they are very strong.

 

In here I slip in the gender issue:

Gender confusion I say,

Once not even voiced in the Church-

It’s now some believers’ way.

 

Denying God’s original template

Based on Adam and Eve,

We now have not only Adam and Steve

But Eve and Genevieve.

 

But there is irritation for some:

Maybe a relative few

Ready to strengthen what remains

And reinstate the Bible view.

 

The upsurge of evil in our world

Should rub us in the wrong way,

Not as a soothing and fragrant lotion

In the case of lesbians and gays.

 

They need the guiding light:

That perpetual light is Jesus Christ:

The one who is faithful in the here and now

As well as in the afterlife.

 

After irritation comes confirmation

The last in this historical cycle,

It is the time of necessary refocusing

For God’s adoptive people.

 

In confirmation of those things vital

To living the Christian life,

And the spinal cord of the Christian faith,

The atonement of Jesus Christ.

 

In acknowledgement of his return

When he shall come to claim his prize,

When the born again of faith’s household

With their Saviour shall arise.

 

At which stage we are now

May vary from place to place

But the immorality some are pushing

Is nothing short of disgrace.

 

From acknowledgement to indifference

To ignorance then doubt,

Denial, irritation and confirmation

Before this cycle runs out.

 

Then it’s back to acknowledgement

Beginning the cycle all over again,

How great it would be simply to remove

Some carriages from this train?

 

Delete indifference and ignorance

As well as doubt and denial,

Then add irritation to these four

Thus, shortening this cycle.

 

We are left with just two:

Acknowledgement and confirmation-

The Scriptures speak to both of these

In the matter of our salvation.

 

Stewart Russell © July 4, 2023