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
