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    A. THE LANDSCAPE

    A Definition of History

    History is a record, account or narrative of all known and/or understood past events, developments and experiences whether as smaller units or as larger aggregates. Isagogics is a branch of theology that is preliminary to actual exegesis and deals with the literary and external history of the Bible. History is therefore important before you do theology. In its broadest sense, history is the story of everything that may be viewed through a number of cognitive lenses. History is:

    • 1. The past (e.g. Yahweh has acted in history);
    • 2. The accessible past (recorded, remembered and reconstructible);
    • 3. The process of finding out what happened in the past, a searching out of the facts ('antiquarianism');
    • 4. Sacred/Supernatural, the interpretation of history in the light of a certain scene where Yahweh is principal actor (e.g. Bible and pre-Enlightenment writing) consisting of dispensationalist schemes;
    • 5. Professional - what happened, how, why, what difference does it make, etc.. This has usually been done in a naturalist (atheistic) setting (with the exception of Gibbon's Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire), and works only if it is not subject to reductionism; and (most recently)
    • 6. Critical Realism, combining Professionalism with Supernaturalism (e.g. N.T.Wright). This is the Messianic Evangelical way of 'doing history'. (See N.T.Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, SPCK: 1992).

    Thus history may be said to be the intellectual form in which a civilisation renders account to itself of its past. It comprises every form of historical record: that of the analyst, the writer of memoirs, the historical philosopher and the scholarly researcher. The purpose of the historian, to the very best of his ability, is to relate past events as they actually happened. Doctrines such as the Incarnation and the Resurrection therefore commit the Christian/Messianic to seriously studying history.

    The high quality work especially of professional historians and believers like Anglican Bishop N.T.Wright, now makes it possible to successfully bridge and integrate the 'sacred' and the 'professional' hinted at by Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself:

      "'Now my soul is troubled. And what should I (Yah'shua/Jesus) say - 'Father, save Me from this hour? Father, glorify Your Name.' Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' The crowd standing there heard it, and said that it was thunder. Others said, 'A malak (angel) has spoken to Him'" (John 12:27-29, NRSV).

    Men of emunah (faith) will hear the voice of Elohim (God) but exclusively naturalist/atheistic 'professional' historians will only hear the thunder. But we can do both if we understand that sacred history is valid on its own assumptions as professional history is valid on its. Thus the tomb can be proved empty but Christ's resurrection can't be proved using the naturalist's methods and assumptions about reality. On the other hand, forensic methods can establish, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the resurrection took place. (See, for example, Sir Norman Anderson, Jesus Christ: The Witness of History, IVP: 1985 & Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus, Zondervan: 1998). The rôle of history is thus limited but nevertheless valuable since the past is all we have with which to judge the present.

    There is also, unfortunately, a lot of bad history being done by both 'professionals' and amateurs, which may be broken down into three categories:

    • 1. Silly history (e.g Yah'shua/Jesus was made up by early Christians);
    • 2. Partial history (e.g. Marxist history based on on the idea that religion is an opiate); and
    • 3. Wrong history (e.g. involvement in social issues promotes revivals).

    Our challenge as believers is to do intelligent, thorough and accurate history using the best tools available.


    B. A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ISSUES INVOLVED

    Luke the Historian

    Christianity is fundamentally an historical religion rooted squarely in time. It is not a collection of myths as may be true of other religions. Luke outlines his task as an historian in very clear terms:

      "Since many have undertaken to set down an ordely account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Davar (Word), I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account to you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed" (Lk.1:1-4, NRSV).

    An Example of Biblical History

    An example of Luke's care in fulfilling his task may be found as he gives historical details that may indeed be verified, and have been verified in modern times:

      "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberias, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the Davar Elohim (Word of God) came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness..." (Lk.3:1-2, NRSV).

    Two Different Lucan Ascension Accounts?

    Luke, then, is writing about actual events that have taken place in an actual past. This does not mean - nor can it mean - that Luke was 'objective' or 'neutral' in any 'critical realist' sense any more than any other historian, ancient (like Josephus, for example) or modern (like N.T.Wright). However much one tries, there is always a certain amount of bias in writing history of all kinds. Whoever wrote the ending to John's Gospel resorts to hyperbole (exaggeration), as was typical of that culture:

      "But there are many other things that Yah'shua (Jesus) did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (Jn.21:25, NRSV).

    Indeed, Luke appears to tell two different versions of the same Ascension event, which seem to take place at the first Messianic Yom haBikkurim, on Resurrection Day ('Easter') (Lk.24:51) itself in his Gospel, but also 40 days later in Acts (1:3). [1]

    Linking '1 Luke' and '2 Luke'

    Why the apparent discrepancy? That will depend what 'lens' you are using if you are seeking an 'explanation'. Luke has two slightly different purposes or story-lines in his Gospel and in Acts. In the Gospel, Luke is linking the Ascension to the Resurrection Story or Metanarrative (and so leaves out the 40 days' post-resurrection ministry for another account), and in Acts (the 'another account') he links the Ascension to the Israel Exodus Story or Metanarrative (with its 40 year wandering - contrast this with the 40 day post-resurrection ministry to the apostles). Additionally, verses 50-53 serve simultaneously as an ending and a continuation of his account in Part 2, namely Acts. Properly, they should be set side-by-side as '1 Luke' and '2 Luke', 2 Luke (Acts) expanding on the end of 1 Luke (the Gospel of Luke). This is history told from two angles, and for the purpose of the Story or Narrative, such short-cuts as we find in Luke 24:50-53, are perfectly in accordance with the way first century Yehudim (Judahites, 'Jews') wrote history. No deception or inaccuracy were involved. [2]

    Understanding Ancient Historical Narratives

    That is why it is important to study historical methodology, since ancient historians don't always record history in quite the same way we do because what they are writing is a Story in a particular and familiar way, so that it could be easily memorised in the pre-Gutenberg days before people could afford their own printed Bibles. Today we have a glut of books and online information, then they did not.

    Two Overlapping Accounts

    In Acts Luke begins:

      "In the first book (The Gospel of Luke = '1 Luke'), I wrote about all that Yah'shua (Jesus) did and taught from the beginning until the day He was taken up into heaven, after giving instructions through the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) to the apostles whom He had chosen" (Ac.1:1-2, NRSV)

    In the second account he informs Theophilus (to whom both books were addressed) that after the resurrection, Christ gave instructions to His talmidim (disciples), expanding upon the original account up to verse 11 by explaining the 40 days that were needed in order to do this. An atheist, looking for faults in the New Testament accounts, is quick to assume that some kind of conspiracy is going on here to cover up a contradiction - hardly something Luke, the meticulous physician, would allow himself to do, and hardly the sort of error (were it actually to have been one) to have remained 'uncorrected' by later Christians trying to fabricate a story.

    Telling the Same Story From Different Angles

    We know that no kind of conspiracy was at work because the Yehudi (Judahite) historian Josephus allows for the same kind of 'problem' in his own writings. Thus he tells a particular story in one way in one of his books and in another way in another book. This does not mean, in either Luke's or Josephus' case, that one or two of the sets of events did not happen, but rather they are simply being presented from a different angle. So Luke is at liberty to tell the Story in two different versions of the same event. For neither historian did accurate history cease to matter for them. Their histories are sound, particularly Luke's.

    Mistaken Beliefs About the Ascension

    While we are in the business of talking about Ascension, let's examine another facet of this story that only history can really explain. What does it mean that Yah'shua (Jesus) went up 'into a cloud' like a spaceman in Acts 1:6-11? Was this what literally happened? Or was this a metaphor for something else? We 21st century believers who have a scientific background will be forgiven for thinking that 'heaven' is in some sense 'above' and 'beyond the atmosphere' on some other world in the solar system or universe. But 1st century Yehudim (Judahites) had no such understanding because they had little in the way of scientific knowledge or training. Indeed, they did not believe that heaven was 'up there' at all. The belief of Israelites back then was that 'heaven' - Yahweh's world - was in the same physical space as earth but in a different or parallel dimension. So when 1st century Yehudim (Judahites) talked about leaving this world to go to the shammayim ('clouds', 'skies', or 'heavens') they simply meant moving from this world into Yahweh's parallel world, a world not very far away at all. Elohim (God) does not, then, live on some distant planet called 'Kolob' as the 19th century Mormons taught at a time when some modern astronomy was known. Thus stained glasss windows in some churches depicting the Ascension that show Yah'shua's (Jesus') feet sticking out of a cloud reflect a literal Western, materialist, Enlightenment worldview, not a Middle Eastern one. Thus the Messianic Evangelical belief that heaven is right here in the same physical space we live in is confirmed by historical evidence about the beliefs of the ancients and confirmed in Scripture. The same is true of 'hell' - it's in a parallel dimension even though we speak of it as being 'down' in the same we speak of heaven being 'up'.

    History and the 'Rapture'

    The historical Israelite view confirms what the rest of the Bible teaches about the supernatural world of Yahweh touching all points of our own material world simultaneously. While on earth, Yah'shua (Jesus) could only ever be in one place at one time, but now that He has passed or 'ascended' into Yahweh's dimension means that He can physically be in multiple places at the same time. Thus a knowledge of history can also help us better understand the final so-called 'rapture' on two levels because the 'meeting in the air' of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) uses the common imperial language of a royal conqueror returning to his city while he is met briefly by a welcoming party outside the city gates which then escorts him back into his city in triumph. This tells us that the believers who are alive when Messiah returns do not pass fully into Yahweh's dimension but meet Him at its interface with earth, in the air, and then immediately return back with Him to the earth together with all the resurrected qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones). An historical knowledge therefore becomes extremely important in correcting false interpretations of scripture: believers aren't therefore going to be magically 'raptured' to another world, nor will they be gone for more than a few minutes or hours at most. It may even seem to be instantaneous because of the distortions caused by temporal and timeless spheres making contact. The sole point of this 'meeting in the air' is to stress that the faithful ones will be going out to meet Yah'shua (Jesus) the Conqueror as He returns to His Kingdom on Earth as Regent. That's all. So you can forget all the theological pulp fiction of the 'Left behind' series and its ilk. Are the Tribulation survivors going to be elevated into the air? Apparently, but not into outer space to some ET-type world for 3½ or 7 years.

    Why History Matters

    Doing proper history therefore becomes extremely important in doing accurate Scriptural exegesis. Physical events, such as the Creation, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the virgin birth and the physical resurrection of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), to name but four more, underpin biblical doctrine and theology. Eternity, along with the Millennium, are to be on earth, as the temporary heavenly and material worlds combine into a new one at the end of the Millennium. Without these there is no Christianity. That is why history matters and why we must never attempt to spiritualise it away as mere myth or do it inaccurately. We are witnesses of an historical religion and must therefore do history well.

    Endnotes

    [1] One theory posits that there were two separate ascension events, one before dawn on Resturrection Day ('Easter') when Mary Magdalene was not allowed to touch the resurrected Saviour, and one 40 days later. The explanation offered is that Yah'shua (Jesus) first had to place His blood on the Heavenly Ark of the Covenant (Heb.9:11-12), then returning at sunrise at which time the other women who were present were allowed to touch His feet. Though this is an interesting theory, there is no evidence that such an explanation was ever advanced in the early Messianic Community (Church), whether by the apostles or the post-apostolic fathers. There is no reason why Hebrews 9:11-12 and the Resurrection could not have happened simultaneously, given we are told that while on earth Yah'shua (Jesus) was simultaneously in heaven: "no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which (who) is in heaven" (John 3:13, KJV; also see CLNT that confirms this literal translation - modern versions tend to blurr the original meaning).

    [2] Only Luke (in his Gospel and in Acts) describes the Ascension as a 'done', historical event though Yah'shua (Jesus) prophetically refers to His future Ascension three times in the Gospel of John (Jn.3:13; 6:62; 20:17), though the epistles also refer to it theologically (Rom.8:34; Eph.1:19-20; Col.3:1; Phil.2:9-11; 1 Tim.3:16; 1 Pet.3:21-22) which they all equate with the post-resurrection exaltation of the Son of Elohim (God) to the right hand of the Father). The reference at Mark 16:19 is a later scribal addition made to an incomplete record in order to round it off. This makes Luke's account the only Gospel material on the subject where it links Luke and Acts together making it very unlikely he was talking about two separate ascension events.

    Recommended Reading

    [1] N.T.Wright & Michael F.Bird, The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature and Theology of the First Christians (Zondervan Academic, SPCK, London: 2019)

    (1st edn. 3 November 2017 | 2nd edn. 30 July 2020 | 3rd edn. 23 November 2020)

    The sermon is available on video from New Covenant Press

    SM063 (2nd edn.)

    History: A Root of Faith, a Branch of Reality
    1. The Meaning of History in the Christian Experience (Art)
    2. A Question of Life, Religion, Science & Philosophy (AI)
    3. The Early Christian Church and NCAY Today (Art)
    4. January 1996 Review of Changes in NCAY (Art)
    5. From Independent Church to NCAY: A Brief History (Art)
    6. The Sub-Apostolic Christian Church and the New Covenant (Art)
    7. Chart Showing the Origins of NCAY (Art)
    8. New Testament Christianity (Art)
    9. To the Islands of the Sea: The 1991 Mission to Newcastle (Art)
    10. Baptism of the Dead: Was it a New Testament Practice? (Art)
    11. Yahweh's Call to Bergen (Art)
    12. A Christian Scam: Exposing Wyatt Archaeological Research (Art)
    13. Denominations and Ministries: Are They of God? (Art)
    14. Understanding Yesterday Through Today (Art)
    15. Gospel Teaching at Different Levels: Historical Evidence (FAQ)
    16. History and Centralised Ecclesiastical Authority (FAQ)
    17. The 1995-6 Reorganisation of NCAY (FAQ)
    18. The Council of Nicea: Was It Guided by the Holy Spirit? (Art)
    19. Filioque: A Controversy that Illuminates the Godhead (Art)
    20. Financial Collapse, Home Ed, Evolution, Philosophy & Fleeing Babylon (AI)
    21. The 567 BC Vision & the Dangers of Modern Apostacy (Art)
    Also see the Church, Postmodernism and Critical Realism Pages

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