9.4 As this fragment lay scattered upon the mountains and has been gathered to become
one, so gather your Church from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. For
the glory and power are yours, through Jesus Christ, forever.

(Deu 33:17)  His glory is as the first-born of his ox, and the horns of the wild ox are his horns; with them he shall butt the peoples together to the ends of the earth. And they are the myriads of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

(1Sa 2:10)  They who strive with Jehovah will be smashed; He thunders in the heavens against him. Jehovah judges the ends of the earth and gives strength to His king; and He exalts the horn of His anointed.

(Job 28:24)  For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under all the heavens;

(Psa 22:27)  All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn back to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.

(Psa 48:10)  According to Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.

(Psa 59:13)  Consume them in Your anger; consume, so that they may not be; and they shall know that God is ruling in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah.

(Psa 65:5)  You will answer us in righteousness by awesome things, O God of our salvation; the Confidence of all the ends of the earth and the sea, of those afar off.

(Psa 67:7)  God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

(Psa 72:8)  He shall also rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

(Psa 98:3)  He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

(Pro 17:24)  With the face of the wise is wisdom, but a fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth.

(Pro 30:4)  Who has gone up to Heaven, and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in His garments? Who has made all the ends of the earth to rise? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name? Surely you know.

(Isa 5:26)  And He will lift up a banner to distant nations, and will hiss to them from the ends of the earth; and, behold, it shall come with swift speed!

(Isa 40:28)  Have you not known? Have you not heard? Jehovah, the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth; He is not faint, nor does He grow weary; there is no searching to His understanding.

(Isa 41:5)  The coasts have seen and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near; yea, they come.

(Isa 41:9)  whom I have made strong from the ends of the earth, and called you from its sides; and I said to you, You are My servant. I elected you, and have not rejected you.

(Isa 43:6)  I will say to the north, Give up! And to the south, Do not hold back! Bring My sons from afar, and bring My daughters from the ends of the earth;

(Isa 45:22)  Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

(Isa 52:10)  Jehovah has bared His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

(Jer 10:13)  When He utters His voice, there is a noise of waters in the heavens. He causes the vapors to go up from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind out of His storehouses.

(Jer 16:19)  O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, Our fathers have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

(Jer 25:31)  A roaring will go to the ends of the earth, for Jehovah has a controversy with the nations. He will enter into judgment with all flesh; He will give the wicked to the sword, says Jehovah.

(Mic 5:4)  And He shall stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God. And they shall sit, for now He is great to the ends of the earth.

(Zec 9:10)  And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. And the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace to the nations. And His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

(Mat 12:42)  The queen of the south will be raised in the Judgment with this generation and will condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a Greater-than-Solomon is here.

(Luk 11:31)  The queen of the south will be raised in the Judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And, behold, a Greater-than-Solomon is here.

(Rom 10:18)  But I say, Did they not hear? Yes, rather, “into all the earth their voice went out, and to the ends of the world their words.” LXX-Psa. 18:5; MT-Psa. 19:4

DID. 10.5 Remember Lord your Church, to preserve it from all evil and to make it perfect in your love. And,sanctified, gather it from the four winds into your kingdom which you have prepared for it. Because yours is the power and the glory for ever.

(1Ch 9:24)  The gatekeepers were to the four winds: east, west, north, and south.

(Jer 49:36)  And I will bring the four winds from the four ends of the heavens on Elam, and will scatter them toward all those winds. And there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

(Eze 37:9)  Then He said to me, Prophesy to the Spirit. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit, So says the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain ones, that they may live.

(Dan 7:2)  Daniel spoke and said, In my vision by night I was looking. And, behold, the four winds of the heavens were stirring up the Great Sea.

(Dan 8:8)  Then the he-goat became very great. And when he was mighty, the great horn was shattered. And in its place came up four outstanding ones toward the four winds of the heavens.

(Dan 11:4)  And when he stands up his kingdom shall be shattered and shall be divided to the four winds of the heavens, and not to his posterity, nor according to his authority with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be pulled up and given to others besides these.

(Zec 2:6)  Ho! Ho! Flee then from the land of the north, says Jehovah. For I have scattered you as the four winds of the heavens, declares Jehovah.

(Mat 24:31)  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.

(Mar 13:27)  And then He will send His angels and will gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of earth to the end of heaven.

(Rev 7:1)  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on every tree.

C O M M E N T:

As these instances illustrate, the ‘four winds’ idiom carries a cosmological and obviously astronomical significance perhaps representing four compass directions, and therefore, completeness. Winds sometimes scatter (Zec, Dan 11) or stir, rather than gather, but God also summons together the four to breathe life into the dead (Eze).

But the authoritative ‘textbook’ on the winds actually comes in 1Enoch chapter 75:

1And at the extremities of the earth I beheld twelve gates open for all the winds, from which they proceed and blow over the earth.

2Three of them are open in the front of heaven, three in the west, three on the right side of heaven, and three on the left. The first three are those which are towards the east, three are towards the north, three behind those which are upon the left, towards the south, and three on the west.

3From four of them proceed winds of blessing, and of health; and from eight proceed winds of punishment; when they are sent to destroy the earth, and the heaven above it, all its inhabitants, and all which are in the waters, or on dry land.

4The first of these winds proceeds from the gate termed the eastern, through the first gate on the east, which inclines southwards. From this goes forth destruction, drought, heat, and perdition.

5From the second gate, the middle one, proceeds equity. There issue from it rain, fruitfulness, health, and dew; and from the third gate northwards, proceed cold and drought.

6After these proceed the south winds through three principal gates; through their first gate, which inclines eastwards, proceeds a hot wind.

7But from the middle gate proceed grateful odour, dew, rain, health, and life.

8From the third gate, which is westwards, proceed dew, rain, blight, and destruction.

9After these are the winds to the north, which is called the sea. They proceed from three gates. The first (80) gate is that which is on the east, inclining southwards; from this proceed dew, rain, blight, and destruction. From the middle direct gate proceed rain, dew, life, and health. And from the third gate, which is westwards, inclining towards the south, proceed mist, frost, snow, rain, dew, and blight.

(80) First. Or, “seventh” (Knibb, p. 178).

10After these in the fourth quarter are the winds to the west. From the first gate, inclining northwards, proceed dew, rain, frost, cold, snow, and chill; from the middle gate proceed rain, health, and blessing;

11And from the last gate, which is southwards, proceed drought, destruction, scorching, and perdition.

12The account of the twelve gates of the four quarters of heaven is ended.

13All their laws, all their infliction of punishment, and the health produced by them, have I explained to you, my son Methuselah. (81)

What we have here is intriguing intertextuality which could be the key to understanding a great deal;

The “Four Winds” and the “End of the Earth” Idioms

First, note the DIDACHE and Mark and Matthew, on the ‘gathering from four winds’ and ‘ends of the earth.’  The implication to me is that Mark and Matthew know this language and its echoes in the DIDACHE Eucharistic prayer. This, in the DIDACHE, is the true gathering of the Church from the four winds and the ends of the earth. 

How, then, do the two distinctive phrase find their way into Mark and Matthew where they both operate in an entirely different context, that is, referring to what some today fashionably would call the Rapture. 

There are several possibilities. One can only speculate.  It may be that a redactor has transplanted the two idioms from their original place in the DIDACHE Eucharist, to the Matthean/Markan ‘Rapture,’ because the DIDACHE is being discredited. This I consider only a remote possibility. A more likely one is that these two phrases are inserted into Matthew as code-terms for the benefit of those who have been properly initiated into the DIDACHE baptism and its exclusivistic ‘anti-canine’ policy (DID. 9.5). Thus, when when those initiates read/hear the Gospel of Matthew (the primary Gospel, but post-dating the DIDACHE) they will understand that the portrayal of the Rapture is actually a figurative device alluding esoterically to something else.

Regarding the Markan version of the same:

Note that it, the Markan, is almost verbatim, but the differences strongly indicate (at least to me) that Mark has reworked Matthew.  (Note: Contrary to mainstream scholars, I believe in Matthean priority and Markan dependence; and I believe, again with a minority, that Mark and Luke may have been written in order to (for lack of a more discreet word) subvert the DIDACHE-Gospel.)

Mark has incorporated Matthew’s phrase into his own work.  In the above side-by-side comparison, see where I have copied the texts using a literal word-for-word translation. 

Note that Mark eliminates the Matthean allusion to the trumpet.  Believe it or not, ‘trumpet’ is a loaded word because it strongly resonates with the authentic Apostolic DIDACHE Parousia.  ‘Trumpet’ is a word which I sense may have got Paul into embarrassment in 1Th, where he was sounding imitatively apostolic in his description of the Parousia, which–as the spirit-anointing upon me leads me to suggest– was based on the DIDACHE.  But Paul erred (quite ironically!) in leaving out a very important allusion to the revelation of a Deceiver in DID. 16.3-4). And Paul was basically caught up short for his error. This necessitates writing a second letter to cover his mistake (2Th2:1ff).  In any case, Paul has over-played the trumpet, which is a memorable sign spoken of as preceding the End, as the DIDACHE announces, and which Paul picks up and embellishes in 1Th and 1Co 15.52, his rather derivative (not to say plagiarized) Parousias. (Of course, so does Luke abandon trumpets.)

Perhaps because Mark knows about the sore history of the trumpet and the troubling note it stirred for Paul, Mark deletes the reference in his Parousia.

Now the interesting question concerns Mark’s use of the two idioms of  ‘gathering of the elect from the four winds’ and also ‘from the ends of the earth.’  The first question is, does Mark even recognize that these come from the DIDACHE Eucharist?  My tentative answer is, I think not!  Here, I think is what happened.

First, I believe that Matthew quite consciously re-adapted and then integrated the DIDACHE Eucharistic prayer idiom in question, into a Matthean Parousia written some years later.  In so doing, Matthew uses this Eucharistic allusion in a manner consistent with his whole exquisite Parousia Eschatology laid out in chapters 24-25. Because of this consistency, aptness and evidence of careful thought, the use of the two idioms in both Matthew and DIDACHE is not a mere coincidence but intended.  The Eucharistic prayer was prayed as it was, and it was memorized and internalized; and too, the Matthean hope and expectation of the Lord’s gathering of the saints from the four winds, was a fervent and ultimate hope. The two interrelated events–a weekly Sabbath Maranatha feast, and final rendezvous of the saints with Lord –is really the ultimate endpoint of Christian existence, even more so, one might say, than the Judgment, which, in a sense, is a life of preparation for meeting the Lord.

(Such a shame and pity, then, that the correct DIDACHE Eucharist was eventually subverted in later Christian practice; more on that, perhaps, elsewhere.)

Then, along came Mark, writing a variant on Matthew. In this text, Mark aims to archaize and consciously to incorporate certain primitive oral-flavored diction, the better to impart the subtle suggestion to hearers/readers and modern scholars, that Mark’s own gospel’s comes earlier, thus has priority, and hence greater authenticity, vis-a-vis the DIDACHE-Gospel of the Twelve; though actually it does not.

In so doing, Mark innocently copies the Matthean sentence in question almost verbatim: ‘And then He will send His angels and will gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of earth to the end of heaven.’  In so doing, Mark leaves out only the word trumpet. What is Mark’s redactive purpose? I think Mark simply wants to seem authentic by imitative copying here, and so he follows the Matthean original without reflecting adequately on the undesired suspicion this casts upon his archaizing project.  He does not grasp the fact that these two tell-tale idioms, which Matthew has shifted out of the Eucharistic prayer of DIDACHE and into the Parousia, were already in the  Eucharistic prayer.

There are several possible reasons why, in naturalistic terms, Mark (the not-quite-clever-enough scribe) may have overlooked this leaving-of-a-fingerprint ; we could speculate quite a bit, but in any case, it happened, for some divine purpose, and Mark made a slip-up, for which I think we should rejoice.

There is also the possibility that the idioms of ‘four winds’ and ‘ends of the earth’ were simply quite commonplace, so that their usage by any author in any context is not remarkable; see Eucharist category concordances for both phrases to get a sense of their commonality.

But if, as I believe, the use of these idioms signifies intertextuality of DIDACHE with Matthew, which Mark has then re-worked, then the implications are I think momentous; for one thing this would affirm Matthean priority, against the grain with most scholars.

Consider, for another, the Matthean Parousia in chapters 24-25.  I suspect most scholars assume many of the words could not have been said by Jesus, at least not in the form presented. (I don’t mean to impugn the profession, but most scholars seem to take an extremely minimalist position almost reflexively.)  However, in this case, if, as all the evidence I marshal seems to show, the DIDACHE is authentic, then it would make perfect sense that its Eucharistic prayer would use the very language the Christ Himself used, albeit in the context of the Parousia.  It is quite remarkable to me that the two idioms about the gathering of the saints from the four winds, and the ends of the heavens, should both occur together in the Eucharist prayer (in different portions) and then be joined in the Parousia. The use of these phrases in the prayer actually gives the attribution in Matthew 24 greater credibility, I would say.  The most plausible explanation for why the phrases occur in both places is that the same community participated in writing Matthew and the DIDACHE, and still recalled the Lord’s words in some context, of gathering the saints from the four winds and from the ends of the heavens. And so the community  consisting of the Twelve apostles and their church  included these words in their Maranatha prayer.  And this same theme naturally came to mind in the Eschatological language of the End.  The Miraculous Feeding anticipates the eternal banquet with Jesus. This is why the Eucharistic cry is, ‘Maranatha!‘   Come Lord!  Come to us in our feast.

Paul writes:

2Th 2:1-17  Now we beseech you, my brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,  (2)  that you should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word or letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ is at hand. 

(3)  Let not anyone deceive you by any means… [continues in side-by-side comparison]

As you compare, note that Paul is writing to revise a point raised in first Thessalonians (1Th); and, in that first epistles, as I show in a separate article, Paul closely follows and imitates the structure of the DIDACHE   which is of course strongly indicative of the effect and authority the DIDACHE carried). 

Paul wraps up:

(13)  But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,  (14)  to which He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (15)  Therefore, my brothers, stand fast and hold the teachings which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.  (16)  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, who has loved us and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,  (17)  comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.[end]

C O M M E N T :

Note, via my color-coding, how Paul’s interrelated ideas regarding (a) lawlessness (7-8), and then (b,c) Satanic revelatory signs (9) and lies/deceit (9-10) all follow the DIDACHE in the same logical sequence. This strongly indicates the DIDACHE in early circulation and, as with other comparative examples with Paul, in precedence to him.

Why then did Paul write 2Th?  Scholar Gerd Luedemann has suggested (in my reading of Luedemann anyway) that Paul was apparently embarrassed by his first letter, because, in it, Paul had imprudently put on the record his off-the-cuff theological imagining regarding the Second Coming (Parousia). Unfortunately for the Pauline entrepreneurs, this account by him soon turned out to be at odds with some other Parousia account in circulation. 

The latter had apparently been received in Thessaly, to Paul’s chagrin.  This other account was almost certainly the DIDACHE or ( remotely but conceivably), a proto Matthew.  In 1Th Paul had grandiosely attributed his Parousia to “the Word of the Lord” 1Th 4:15). So, this gaffe of his on paper was quite serious, and could easily be used to discredit his ministry.

In this regard, note also that 1Th and 2Th are both written quite self-consciously by Paul, not really for the benefit of the putative addressees’ edification regarding their spiritual needs at all, but, I would say, with quite a different aim in view: namely, to valorize Paul and to auto-historicize and create a paper-trail recording things like the powerful positive effect of Paul’s ministry in Greece (1Th 1); his suffering (1Th 2:2  ), his sincerity (2:5-6), gentleness, love (2:7-8), self-support (2:9), piety, and experience of persecution from the Jews just like Jesus did (2:15-16).

(Just an aside on the last, 2:15-16:  Paul’s intriguing and I would say hard-to-reconcile claim here is that the Jews prevented him from preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, because the Jews wanted Gentiles to remain ever-sinful i.e. “filled up with sin.”  This makes absolutely no sense.  Firstly, the documented early persecution was suffered by Jewish Christians who were preaching the Gospel to other Jews. There is no reason for Jews to care much about Gentiles converting to a Pauline and/or a Christian religion which the Jews don’t believe, is there?   Why should Jews give a hoot?  Secondly, Paul is preaching  a gospel of sola fide, i.e., faith without the Torah. Logically, Jews who believe in the Torah and who want Gentiles to remain “filled up with sin” as Paul claims they do, should welcome Paul’s preaching! This statement  as so much from Paul  makes no sense.)

At any rate, due to the seriously damaging discrepancies between Paul’s Parousia account in 1Th 4:14-17 and some more authoritative Parousia account in circulation (wherever it was, at this point), Paul hints in 2Th 2.2 that the first letter which contained this error may not even have been from himself!  This, at least, is Luedemann’s suggestion; see Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles and Paul, the Founder of Christianity. I find Luedemann’s view appealing; however, as I recall from reading one book (the relevant portion of which, if time permitted, I would post here) Luedemann does not cite the DIDACHE in this connection–a very curious oversight on his part; but then again, most New and Old Testament scholars I read, seem woefully incognizant of the DIDACHE’s full impact.

Please read my article on 1Th to see how closely tied to the DIDACHE Paul’s writing is.  Also, in another post that I think I will be able to get around to writing, I may explore specific insertions which Paul adds to the Parousia in several texts, insertions and allusions coming from Daniel.  It will be interesting to explore comparisons of the Synoptics and Paul. I don’t know what I will find. If you have suggestions, please offer them1  There may have been coordinated collaborative effort to harmonize the Parousia ‘Deceiver’ in the argot of the Abomination that Causes Desolation, foretold in Daniel.  This emendation, tending to subvert the DIDACHE perhaps, may signify a later stage in the conflict in which the aim is more openly and combatively to subvert the DIDACHE Gospel. Maybe we’ll see something.

If Mark came first, why would Matthew drop his phrase ‘ashamed of Me and My Words’?

It would have to be argued that Matthew did this in favor of inserting the idea of rewarding “to each according to their works.” These are unique to Matthew (and DIDACHÉ; see also Matt. 6:1-4), but are not found here in Mark or Luke, and I cannot find them elsewhere in these tracts.

A far more plausible explanation would be that Matthew and the DIDACHE came first, and that Luke and Mark came forth afterwards, as contrivances aimed at undercutting the DIDACHÉ- Gospel, and especially at undoing the strong vocabulary linkage between DIDACHE and Matthew in sharing the phrase, “to reward each according to his deeds.”

In the thesis asserting Markan priority, the suggestion must be offered that Matthew dropped ‘ashamed of me and my words,’ but this he allegedly does for no plausible or obvious reason, despite this phrase occurring in both the allegedly prior Markan source and later in Luke. It must therefore be argued that Matthew went out of his way to delete these words.  What theological reason would he have had? 

In this regard, consider that Matthew earlier has included a very similar idea already, in 10:32-33, referring to reciprocal non-confession in heaven (see purple text). Matthew should have had no qualms with any allusion to the negative consequences of being ‘ashamed of me.’ He had no reason to delete this, as Markan priority would assert. 

Again, the stronger case is that Mark and Luke, which are both programmatically supportive of Paulianity, are both being used to thwart Matthew and the DIDACHÉ. Mark and Luke have deliberately excluded the allusion that first appeared in DIDACHÉ, a phrase decisively damaging for Paul, namely, the eschatological reward for one’s deeds.  This notion amount to a doctrine of justification by the works, and in the case of the DIDACHÉ, these are works of the law which Christ has issued as Halacha to Israel, and as catechism to Gentiles. It is therefore profoundly contradictory to Paulianity.

Even more directly, the reason for Markan-Lukan deletion of this phrase is the urgent necessity to delegitimize the DIDACHÉ as a fair representation of the Lord’s teaching; for the Gospel of Matthew’s publication on the heels of the DIDACHE amounts to an emphatic testimony by the Apostles that the DIDACHÉ instructions– which Paul has contested ferociously– actually do come from the Lord. Here, in Matthew, comes the full blown edition, with context, as a solemn, ‘whole truth’ witness.

The Markan-Lukan gospels truly are at best redundant in the first place, and in practical fact have subtly sabotaged the true [DIDACHÉ-Matthean] Gospel. It is for this reason, I believe, that they have been published. Of course I may be deceived, but at least this text upholds my case, with the strongest logic.

DID: 16.8 Then the world shall see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven, and all the holy ones with him, on his royal throne, to judge the world-deceiver
and to reward each according to his deeds.

The ‘Throne of Glory’ idiom derives largely from a vision of Enoch, who sees the Lord (the Son of Man) judging the world. (1En 69:27,29; see also 47.3; 55.4; 61.8; 60.2; 62.2,3,5)

Note also these citations in Matthew and Revelation closely linking the eschatology of 1Enoch with that of the DIDACHE Gospel:

Mat 19:27-30  Then answering Peter said to Him, Behold, we have forsaken all and have followed You. Therefore what shall we have? 

(28)  And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  (29)  And everyone who left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.  (30)  But many who are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Mat 25:31-46  But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His glory.  (32)  And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats.  (33)  And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left.  (34)  Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  (35)  For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in;  (36)  I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.  (37)  Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink?  (38)  When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You?  (39)  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?  (40)  And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.  (41)  Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.  (42)  For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink;  (43)  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.  (44)  Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?  (45)  Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.  (46)  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.

(Rev 4:9)  And whenever the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

(Rev 5:13)  And I heard every creature which is in the Heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and those that are in the sea, and all who are in them, saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.

Other glory / throne associations:

(Psa 89:44)  You have made his glory to cease, and have thrown his throne down to the ground.

(Jer 14:21)  Do not abhor us for Your name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; remember, do not break Your covenant with us.

(Dan 5:20)  But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was put down from the throne of his kingdom, and they took his glory from him.

(Zec 6:13)  Even He shall build the temple of Jehovah; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne. And He shall be a priest on His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

C O M M E N T:

As the examples below show, vine and Branch allusions in the Old Testament sometimes refer to the Messianic Monarchy and its restoration. The DIDACHE harkens to King David and to Melchizedek, king of (Jerus?) Salem as the ‘branch’ or vine, and Jesus is the restoration.

The DIDACHE and its Eucharist seem to stem more authentically from these kingly antecedents, in the mind of the Twelve and of the Lord. 

Partaking the Eucharist of bread and wine signified membership in the covenant community, in a rite recalling an older model. 

However, in what was arguably a corruptive manner apparently derived from the apostle Paul, this authentic and original monarchic/ messianic implication of the Eucharist was supplanted.  In its stead, the post-Apostolic Church sought to re-institute priestcraft, and thereby to eliminate or obscure the implication of Christ Himself as the living and ruling King.  The establishment of a papacy actually competes with, or is redundant of, the spiritual Lordship of Christ.

IN this sense, the eventual Eucharist as we know it expresses the very opposite meaning Christ intended.  The post-Constantinian Eucharist form became an inversion of the original, bringing about an institutionalized  return to priestcraft, by a theological ‘hoc est corpus’ formula in which the Eucharistic elements were made to signify a bloody sacrifice.  Again, the authentic original Eucharist was a re-enactment of the feast that old pre-Exilic Israelite kings celebrated (David, Melchizedek).  Another, similar implication is the eschatological banquet.  I believe that the respective implications of the two rites–the celebratory feasts of the monarchy on the one hand, vs. the recurring sacrifice of atonement, are rather antithetical.

In my understanding, the death of Christ signifies not an event to be commemorated, but just the opposite: the end of the age-old terrifying concept of a recurring [human or vicarious animal] sacrifice.

Thus too, in a rather hostile way, Christ’s gospel properly marks the end of a need for priests offering the the sacrifice host.  Rather, in place of them, Christ begins a New Covenant without such offices.  Instead we have the spiritual monarchy of the Risen Christ, supplanting priests.   The spirit of Christ enters prophets in the Church and makes them the new high priests (DID. 13.3).

The same idea  is conveyed in Revelation 1:4-6:

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming; and from the seven spirits which are before His throne; (5)  even from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the First-born from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, (6)  and made us kings and priests to God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

(Note this does not say the Lord washed the sins of only ’some’ of us who are initiated, nor that only ’some’ of us are made kings and priests.  The stronger implication is that the offices of priest and king are collectively shared in the fellowship of those who are washed free of sin by His blood.  Also, though, note that in Rev 5.10 the ‘kings and priests’ vocabulary comes from the mouths of the 24 elders in heaven and the four living creatures; this, along with the idea of the Seven Angels to the Seven Churches, may signify that the Lordship, kingship, and priesthood, while shared collectively on earth, are ‘administered’ and rule-over from heaven, by a celestial council.)

Concordance of “Branch” (and the related idea of springing therefrom):

Strong’s H6780     צמח
tsemach

Total KJV Occurrences: 9; branch: 5; Isa_4:2, Jer_23:5 Jer_33:15, Zec_3:8, Zec_6:12

Isa 4:1-6 [DID. 9.2]

(1)  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing; only let us be called by your name, to take away our shame. [DID. 10.2]
(2)  In that day shall the Branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely for those who have escaped from Israel.
(3)  And it shall be, he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem;
(4)  when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
(5)  And Jehovah will create over all the site of Mount Zion, and on her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for on all the glory shall be a defense.
(6)  And there shall be a booth for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge, and for a hiding place from storm and rain.

Jer 23:1-40 (v 6.=DID. 10.2)

(1)  Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture, says Jehovah.
(2)  Therefore so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed My people, You have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will bring on you the evil of your doings, says Jehovah.
(3)  And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold. And they shall be fruitful and multiply.
(4)  And I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they shall fear no more, nor be afraid; nor shall they lack anything, says Jehovah.
(5)  Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and act wisely, and shall do judgment and justice in the earth.
(6)  In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name by which He shall be called, JEHOVAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(7)  Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that they shall no more say, Jehovah lives, who brought the sons of Israel up out of the land of Egypt;
(8)  but, Jehovah lives, who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries where I have driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.
(9)  My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of Jehovah, and because of the Words of His holiness.
(10)  For the land is full of adulterers. Yes, because of cursing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their power is not right.
(11)  For both prophet and priest are ungodly; yes, in My house I have found their evil, says Jehovah.
(12)  So their way shall be to them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall in them; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.
(13)  And I have seen frivolity in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.
(14)  I have also seen in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in falsehood. They also strengthen to the hands of evildoers, so that none returns from his evil; they are all of them like Sodom to Me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.
(15)  So Jehovah of Hosts says this concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them wormwood, and make them drink poisonous water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone forth into all the land.
(16)  So says Jehovah of Hosts, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you vain; they speak a vision from their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
(17)  They still say to those who despise Me, Jehovah has said, You shall have peace! And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart, No evil shall come on you!
(18)  For who has stood in the counsel of Jehovah, and hears His Word? Who has listened to His Word and heard it?
(19)  Behold, the tempest of Jehovah has gone forth in fury, a whirling tempest. It shall whirl on the head of the wicked.
(20)  The anger of Jehovah shall not return, until He has done and until He has set up the purposes of His heart; in later days you shall understand it perfectly.
(21)  I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
(22)  But if they had stood in My wisdom and had caused My people to hear My Words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.
(23)  Am I a God near, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off?
(24)  Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.
(25)  I have heard what the prophets said, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
(26)  How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? But they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,
(27)  who plot to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.
(28)  The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says Jehovah.
(29)  Is not My Word like a fire? says Jehovah; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
(30)  So Jehovah says, Behold, I am against the prophets who steal My Words each one from his neighbor.
(31)  Jehovah says, Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongues and say, He says.
(32)  Jehovah says, Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies and by their lightness. Yet I did not send them nor command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says Jehovah.
(33)  And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? You shall then say to them, What burden? I will even forsake you, says Jehovah.
(34)  And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house.
(35)  So you shall say each one to his neighbor, and each one to his brother, What has Jehovah answered? And what has Jehovah spoken?
(36)  And you shall mention the burden of Jehovah no more. For every man’s word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the Words of the living God, of Jehovah of Hosts our God.
(37)  So you shall say to the prophet, What has Jehovah answered you? And what has Jehovah spoken?
(38)  But since you say, The burden of Jehovah; therefore so says Jehovah, Because you say this word; the burden of Jehovah; and I have sent to you saying, You shall not say, The burden of Jehovah;
(39)  therefore, behold, I, even I, will completely forget you, and I will forsake you and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of My presence.
(40)  And I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a never-ending shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Jer 33:1-26 [v 15 cf. DID. 10.2]
(1)  And the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
(2)  So says Jehovah the Maker of it, Jehovah who formed it in order to establish it; Jehovah is His name:
(3)  Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and inscrutable things which you do not know.
(4)  For so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to defend against the siege-mounds and against the sword:
(5)  They come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, and for all whose evil I have hidden My face from this city.
(6)  Behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them and will show them the riches of peace and truth.
(7)  And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
(8)  And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned, and by which they have transgressed against Me.
(9)  And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the riches that I bring to it.
(10)  So says Jehovah: Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say is a waste without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast;
(11)  the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, Praise Jehovah of Hosts, for Jehovah is good, for His mercy endures forever; and the voice of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return, as at the first, says Jehovah.
(12)  So says Jehovah of Hosts: Again in this place which is a desert without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall be a home of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
(13)  In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who tallies, says Jehovah.
(14)  Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will establish the good thing which I have spoken to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
(15)  In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. And He shall do judgment and righteousness in the land.
(16)  In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name with which she shall be called, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS [DID. 10.2].
(17)  For so says Jehovah, David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
(18)  nor shall the priests the Levites lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle grain offerings, and to do sacrifice forever.
(19)  And the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,
(20)  So says Jehovah: If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season,
(21)  then also may My covenant with David My servant be broken, that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and My covenant with the Levites the priests, My ministers.
(22)  As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.
(23)  And the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,
(24)  Do you not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah has chosen, He has even cast them off? So they have despised My people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
(25)  So says Jehovah: If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not given the ordinances of the heavens and the earth,
(26)  then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will bring back their captivity, and have mercy on them.

Zec 3:1-10 [DID 9.2]
(1)  And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
(2)  And Jehovah said to Satan, May Jehovah rebuke you, Satan! May even Jehovah who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?
(3)  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy clothes, and stood before the Angel.
(4)  And He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy clothes from him. And to him He said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with ceremonial robes.
(5)  And I said, Let them set a clean turban on his head. And they set a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the Angel of Jehovah stood by.
(6)  And the Angel of Jehovah charged Joshua, saying,
(7)  So says Jehovah of Hosts: If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My charge, then you shall also judge My house, and shall also keep My courts, and I will give you places to walk among these who stand by.
(8)  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men of symbol.
(9)  For behold! I will bring forth My Servant the Branch. For behold the stone that I have set before Joshua: On one stone are seven eyes [Rev. 5.6]. Behold, I will engrave its engraving, says Jehovah of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
(10)  In that day, says Jehovah of Hosts, you shall call, each man to his neighbor, to sit under the vine and under the fig tree.

Zec 6:9-15
(9)  And the Word of Jehovah came to me saying,
(10)  Take from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, from the exiles who have come from Babylon; and in that day you go and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah.
(11)  And take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
(12)  And speak to him, saying, So speaks Jehovah of Hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is The BRANCH! And He shall spring up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of Jehovah.
(13)  Even He shall build the temple of Jehovah; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne. And He shall be a priest on His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
(14)  And the crowns shall be for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah to Helem and to Tobijah and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah.
(15)  And the distant ones shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah, and you shall know that Jehovah of Hosts has sent me to you. And this shall be, if you will carefully obey the voice of Jehovah your God.

(Other renderings of Hebrew tsemach: “grew,”  Gen 19:25, Eze 17:10; “spring,” Eze_17:9 “springing,” Psa_65:9-10)

VINE

Psa 80:14-19
(14)  Return, we beg You, O God of Hosts; look down from Heaven, and behold, and visit this vine,
(15)  and the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the Son that You make strong for Yourself.
(16)  It is burned with fire, and cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your holy face.
(17)  Let Your hand be on the Man of Your right hand, on the Son of man whom You have made strong for Yourself.
(18)  So we will not go back from You; make us live, and we will call on Your name.
(19)  Turn us again, O Jehovah, the God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.

Of course as a believer in the DIDACHE, I eventually had to get around to having a DIDACHE baptism. (Though, as an infant in 1951, had been given the of a Methodist-Episcopal Church.) 

The day itself, June 20, 08, was rather magical and well ordered.  For weeks prior, I had been under a sense of pressure to meet a deadline on an assignment, due 5:00 p.m. PDT June 20.  (If I had missed it, even by a few days it would not have mattered to my client; but the DIDACHE instructs us to let our words be fulfilled with action [2.5]; and so I forced myself to perform as promised, for that reason; and it felt good to do what is required.  The Lord arranged so that, somehow, at precisely 5:00 pm and not a moment earlier, my work was delivered by a series of emails.  This serendipity seemed like a sign.)

F a s t i n g

For this baptism I fasted in preparation as required (DID. 7.4). Incidentally, there is strong support for this practice in the history of the pre-Conciliar Christianity. The significant of fasting, as I understand and experience it, is that it works spiritual cleansing or purging. Daily life sullies us; fasting ejects evil spirits. And if we ourselves are not so plagued, then our fasting can benefit others. We should thus fast on their behalf, especially if they hate us. (DID. 1.3).

After fasting all day (incidentally, the longest day of the year), I recited the catechism (DID 7.1) at 7:30, in preparation. At precisely 7:59 I entered the water. (The time marked the solstice, the northern latitudes being closest to the sun; and we know from recent archaeology that the sect from which our Lord originated, were devotees of solar rather than lunar astronomical observance.)  And 7:59 corresponded with the sunset in my city, La Mesa, California.  

A u t o – B a p t I s m

I baptized myself.  Just me, going under.

I had thought about asking someone else to baptize me, but that would have caused problems and contradictions, because, implicitly and explicitly the baptizer in this rite is a believer in the DIDACHE catechism; and, so far, I am the only person I know who believes the DIDACHE as the authentic founding charter of the true Church, to be obeyed.  So, as Matthew’s Gospel notes, it is important to conform to the Word:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him.  (14)  But John restrained Him, saying, I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me? 

(15)  And answering Jesus said to him, Allow it now, for it is becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed Him.  (16)  And Jesus, when He had been baptized, went up immediately out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. (Mat 3:13-16 )

And so I am self-baptized obedience to the DIDACHE, in the name of the Lord; and also in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (as there is a possibility that the two formulae evolved and are both preserved in the DIDACHE). 

As I underwent baptism, I did not see the Holy Spirit descend as a dove (but this happened earlier, in a wonderful dream on Oct. 9, 07, about which perhaps I will write).  Instead of a dove, two cute and playful little neighborhood children splashed in the pool with me a few feet away. I can’t think of witnesses I would rather have had.

Then home and dinner. Then spent the weekend fiddling with CMS software for a DIDACHE Gospel website in progress to supersede the weblog.

And the Spirit was being gentle and loving, but also, was bringing many things to mind, sins, directing me to examine my conscience and on cleanse it and keep it clean, by experiencing remorse for my sins.  

All Saturday and Sunday, ‘interesting’ signs followed. Among these events, concerning an altogether different Scripture issue, are told in a separate post (The ‘Atoning Blood’ of Paulianity vis-a-vis Salvation in the DIDACHE).

It was then on either Saturday or Sunday that I felt strongly led to the Psalms.

Easily, in reading the very first one, I made this personal discovery that they underlie the DIDACHE. (And hence are of course the basis of true saving Gospel of God in the Lord Christ).  This is really no earth-shaking insight; doesn’t every adult Christian knows that the events in the Gospel of Matthew often parallel the Psalms. The Lord often quotes them. 

But, somehow, in the past 9 months of my DIDACHE studies it had escaped my attention just how thoroughly based on the Psalms of David, the DIDACHE truly is. 

(And note ‘of David’; because Psalms of Asaph and Psalms for the sons Korah are also in the book, and there is another story to be told here as well, I think.)

It was, I’ll admit, a strange auto-baptism, as it is a strange one-man religion. Somehow, over the weekend, I receive a newsgroup mail with the signature quoting Martin Luther’s most famous words, I think it goes ‘Hier stehe ich, ich kanst nicht anders.’ So for me, Hier werde ich getauft. Was sonst kann ich tun?

Both the DIDACHE and New Testament underscore the goal and purpose of the Gospel and its brand of salvation: it is that a person attain perfection.

In the DIDACHE, perfection can be refined as moral, spiritual and economic.

The stakes are absolutely enormous; nothing could be more so: those who attain perfection will enter eternal heavenly life; those who fall short will be excluded (see DID. 16.2). Whether a ’second chance’ of some kind, or reincarnation(s) and/or corrective purgatory are available to those who do not enter immediately,we are not told.

Purgatory and Protestant Over-Reaction?

There is, of course, voluminous testimonial evidence regarding a Purgatory, revealed in visions of Christian saints and mystics.  In the Protestant Reformation, the notion of Purgatory was famously a central issue of dispute, as the Sale of Indulgences amounted to a kind of quasi-extortionistic ‘bailout racket,’ if you will,  to which Martin Luther objected.

Curiously, the DIDACHE expresses a similar idea in stating that one should ‘ransom’ ones’ sins by giving money to the poor (DID. 4.6).

This notion makes perfect sense to me.  However, to Protestants it is so repugnant that it sparked of the entire Reformation!

The Root Idea of Perfection

Underlying the Reformation-era conflict is the basically same issue behind the 1st century conflict, between the DIDACHE-Gospel Apostolate notion which stresses, four time, the necessity of being ‘perfect’ “Or Else!”    and Paulianity, with it’s radically different solution. 

It is hard to think of a more crucial issue in all of human life!  For not only is attainment of moral-spiritual-economic perfectionism the basis for deciding one’s eternal fate in Christianity, but in Hinduism and in the ancient philosophy of the Greeks as well. 

When you think about it, what could possibly be more important?  This is Jesus’ point precisely, too, when he declared: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he lose his soul?” And also, “He who tries to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall find it.” And in several other texts.

Thus we see a remarkable consistency of positions regarding the necessity and goal of attaining ‘perfection in triplicate’ (moral, spiritual, economic) in some moral philosophies, religions, and in “both” rival Christianities; in the latter case, the only question is, how is this to be done?

For the most liberal Christians the answer is sola fide:  faith alone.  This came from Paul and was picked up and made into the Protestant creed, by Martin Luther.

Yet, it was and is roundly rejected by other apostles, especially by James in his letter; and also in more moderate terms in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere.

This perfection-getting is truly the central question of life!

If you attain perfection    by whatever means!      you surely will attain God’s favor!  In the Judgment, He will decide whether you need to “go back to Reform School,” i.e., to Purgatory or reincarnation.  Or, He may decide that you are irreparable and beyond remedy.  Or, He may declare you perfect.

Conclusion: Are Delusion and Folly Pervasive Today among ‘Paulianity Protestants’?

The DIDACHE-Gospel and other reliable sources all tell us that ‘you reap what you sow.’  Despite this, Martin Luther was so caught up in his over-reaction to some questionable Catholic doctrines, that he brazenly advised the ridiculous opposite extreme and (reportedly at least) wrote, Sin boldly’!   Such was the certainty and trust that he put in his own reading of Paul (a dubious source, obviously, in the first place!) 

Thus today, a strong theme of Protestantism and of all of Christianity tells us that we are ‘free from the law.’ 

The real nub of the problem is that, while we are indeed free from the worthless Torah of its 613 rituals and commandments, we who are disciples of Christ and the Teaching He brought, are emphatically subordinate to His Commandments.

And these are not     like the Torah’s “sheaves-and-shekels sheikhdown”     useless and vain religious tenets.  They are virtues, practices, policies and moral codes, the obedience to which will save our souls and save the world.

Yes, we fall short; as James put it, we all stumble in many ways.  But this does not entail that the ‘Law is a curse’ or that we should toss it aside, in the name of ‘faith alone.’  This logic from Paul and the Reformation is truly catastrophic, both for the world (which has become unsustainably over-developed, in large part due to the developmental, imperial, technological and capitalistic excesses of Protestantism-inspired nations) and for individuals.

What a tragedy that we were deceived and led astray from the Word of Life in the DIDACHE-Gospel.  May the Father be merciful in forgiving us and granting us  time and opportunity henceforth to make amends!  Amen

Concordance of perfect, Perfection”  in the DIDACHE and New Testament

DIDACHE:

1.4 Avoid the fleshly and bodily passions. If someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other to him also, and you will be perfect. If someone forces you to go
one mile, go with him two. If someone takes your coat, give him your shirt
also. If someone takes away from you what is yours, do not ask for it back,
since you cannot.

6.1 See that no one leads you astray from this way of teaching, since the one
who does so teaches apart from God. 6.2 If you are able to bear the whole
yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect, but if you cannot, do what you can.

10.5 Remember Lord your Church, to preserve it from all evil and to make it  perfect in your love. And, sanctified, gather it from the four winds into your kingdom which you have prepared for it. Because yours is the power and the glory for ever.

16.2 You shall assemble frequently, seeking what your souls need, for
the whole time of your faith will be of no profit to you unless you are perfected
at the final hour.

Matthew’s Gospel:

(Mat 5:48)  Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

(Mat 19:21)  Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

(Mat 21:16)  And they said to Him, Do you hear what these say? And Jesus said to them, Yes, have you never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have perfected praise?”

New Testament:

Perfect

(Mat 5:48)  Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

(Mat 19:21)  Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

(Luk 6:40)  The disciple is not above his master, but everyone who is perfect shall be like his master.

(Joh 17:23)  I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.

(Act 3:16)  And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, this one whom you see and know, His name made firm. And the faith which came through Him has given him this perfect soundness before you.

(Rom 12:2)  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

(1Co 2:6)  But, we speak wisdom among those who are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, that come to nothing.

(1Co 13:10)  But when the perfect thing comes, then that which is in part will be caused to cease.

(2Co 12:9)  And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.

(2Co 13:11)  Finally, brothers, rejoice. Perfect yourselves; encourage yourselves; mind the same thing; be at peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

(Gal 3:3)  Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now perfect yourself in the flesh?

(Php 3:12)  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I am pressing on, if I may lay hold of that for which I also was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

(Php 3:15)  Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be of this mind. And if in anything you are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you.

(Col 1:28)  whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

(Col 4:12)  Epaphras greets you, he being of you, a servant of Christ, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

(1Th 3:10)  night and day praying exceedingly for me to see your face and to perfect the things lacking in your faith?

(Heb 2:10)  For it became Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, to perfect the Captain of their salvation through sufferings.

(Heb 7:19)  For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw near to God.

(Heb 9:9)  For it was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him who did the service perfect as regards the conscience,

(Heb 9:11)  But when Christ had become a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building

(Heb 10:1)  For the Law which has a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they are never able to perfect those drawing near.

(Heb 11:40)  for God had provided some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us.

(Heb 12:23)  to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

(Heb 13:21)  make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

(Jas 1:4)  But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.

(Jas 1:17)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.

(Jas 1:25)  But whoever looks into the perfect Law of liberty and continues in it, he is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This one shall be blessed in his doing.

(1Pe 5:10)  But the God of all grace, He calling us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, He will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

(1Jn 4:17)  In this is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that as He is, so also we are in this world.

(1Jn 4:18)  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love.

Perfected:

(Mat 21:16)  And they said to Him, Do you hear what these say? And Jesus said to them, Yes, have you never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have perfected praise?”

(2Ti 3:17)  that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.

(Heb 5:9)  And being perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him,

(Heb 7:28)  For the Law appoints men high priests who have infirmity, but the word of the swearing of an oath, after the Law, has consecrated the Son forever, having been perfected.

(Heb 10:14)  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

(1Jn 2:5)  But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.

(1Jn 4:12)  No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.

(1Jn 4:18)  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love.

9.3 And concerning the fragment: We give thanks to you, our Father, For the life and knowledge, which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever. 9.4 As this fragment lay scattered upon the mountains and has been gathered to become one, so gather your Church from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. For the glory and power are yours, through Jesus Christ, forever.

C O M M E N T :

This prayer voices the vision of authentic Christianity as the apostles learned and communicated it.  Everything   the Teaching (DIDACHE); the gathering into an assembly; the baptismal catechism    culminates in the Eucharistic “fragment.” 

So much could be written about this (if only time would permit!)

The sense of the ‘fragment’ which ‘lay scattered upon the mountains’ is of course open to interpretation.  In my own spiritual instruction, the angel which God has given to me speaks to me that the prayer basically refers to the miraculous Feeding of the Multitude (Mat. 14, Mar. 6,8, Luk. 9, Jn. 6). 

But this also evokes the mythic feeding of the children of Israel who wandered in the wilderness and were fed by manna which fell from heaven and was scattered on the ground. (Exod. 16).

See also ‘Radically incompatible Institution Narratives’