Letters to the Editor
On, "Is Christ Divided" and "Anna's Story"
Read Time: 4 minutes
IS CHRIST DIVIDED?
We received a number of letters and social media posts in response to the January “Is Christ Divided?” editorial. We have excerpted a few of those received below.
I think people tend to like to live by rules and traditions. This is the beginning of the problem outlined here. Christadelphians began in an era of great sectarian competitiveness. It was a race to be right. For all these years, Christadelphians have concentrated on correctness. We have tried to summarize the God of the Cosmos into a tiny Statement of Faith. It’s hardly surprising that this has often failed. Our insistence on correctness is really just another way of living by law.
If our whole focus was where it should be, all of our problems would disappear. Jesus should be the center and soul of our Christian existence—He is the embodiment of God and of God’s gift of Grace. Grace has nothing to do with rules or laws. If Jesus was at the center, we would find unity in a shared value. Each of us has personal views of many things within the Christadelphian framework but they simply don’t matter so long as our focus is entirely on Jesus.
David Crouch,
Canterbury Ecclesia, Melbourne, VIC
The application of the command of our Lord Jesus Christ to “love one another” should be the first of the first principles
for those who seek to be part of the body of Christ.
John Laben,
Richmond-Petersburg Ecclesia, VA
ANNA
I feel the article about Anna gives an incomplete picture, not recognizing the significance of Anna being a prophetess or female prophet.
The text does not support the idea that “prophetess” was a title bestowed on her by other women. There is every reason to believe that Anna was a female prophet in the OT tradition. God chose individual men and women in whom He would place His spirit such that they could speak forth His message. (Num 11:29) “Moses replied… I wish that all the LORD’S people were prophets and that the LORD would put His spirit on them.” (Jer 1:5,10 NASB). “[God] have appointed you a prophet.” (Amos 7:16) has a parallelism between prophecy and preaching.
This is what Anna did: “giving thanks to God and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel.” (Luke 2:38 NASB).
I would suggest that the description of Simeon, “the Holy Spirit being upon him” fits the definition of a prophet, although Luke does not name him as such. Anna being named a prophetess means she had God’s spirit within her, although Luke does not feel the need to say so.
Janet Johnson,
Adelaide Ecclesia, SA
AUTHOR RESPONSE: ANNA
I appreciate what Sis. Janet has said, and I believe Anna was a prophetess, just as much as Simeon was a prophet. I certainly did not mean to imply that she was “second class” in any way.
Anna seems to have lived in the Temple, listening to scholars and sometimes joining them in their discussions—at least I “see” it that way. Anna witnessed a wonderful event: the arrival of God’s Son carried in the arms of his mother. Anna “saw” in her mind the “sword” that would pierce the soul of Mary. And after Simeon had “departed,” Anna went about the business of telling everyone who would listen that she had seen the Lord’s “salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.”
“Prophets” and “prophetesses” both see visions of the future and go about teaching their contemporaries.
Coming up to them [that is, Simeon, the baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph] at that very moment, she [Anna] gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38).
And I would venture to say that Anna the prophetess spoke and taught more about the “redemption” to come than Simeon was able to convey. In fact, I would say that she was a female “Elisha” to a male “Elijah” after he “departed.”
George Booker,
Austin Leander Ecclesia, TX
NOTE
Please be advised that the San Francisco Ecclesia at Marinwood, CA, has recently changed their name to the North Bay California Ecclesia. The recording brother is Bro. Jerry Hirst (yesitsjerrybuilt@gmail.com).
NEW BOOK
One Family, by Bro. Jason Hensley is a scriptural exposition of the relationship between Christians and Jews. It examines the historical context of the New Testament, the literary contexts of various passages dealing with Jews, and the overall Biblical context to demonstrate that the first-century ecclesia saw itself as part of one family with the Jewish community. This book gives the Scriptural backing for the Christadelphian community’s actions described in Part of the Family.
Available from Amazon (link on the Tidings Bookstore at https://tidings.org/publications/) or the Christadelphian Library at christadelphianlibrary.com