Stephen Jones — Ecclesiologie
b1 — Creation’s Jubilee
Drie Kerken: Pascha, Pinksteren, Loofhutten
Jones onderscheidt drie historische fasen van de Kerk op aarde, verbonden aan de drie Israëlitische feesten:
“Level Two is the corporate fulfillment in the Church, or the Kingdom of God. On this level we see God’s dealings with three Churches, or three stages of the Kingdom on earth.” — Stephen E. Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, hfst. 6
Eerste Kerk — Pascha-tijdperk:
“The Passover-level Church, or Kingdom, began with Moses at that first Passover, when Israel came out of Egypt. This first Church is called in Acts 7:38, ‘the church in the wilderness.’ This Passover-Age Church ended with Jesus’ death on the Cross at Passover about 1,500 years later. It was an era where the Holy Spirit was WITH the people, but not IN them.” — hfst. 6
Tweede Kerk — Pinksteren-tijdperk:
“The second Church is the Pentecostal-Age Church, which began seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, when the Spirit of God was sent on the day of Pentecost. On this day God renewed the Kingdom by giving it greater power and placing the Holy Spirit within the people. No longer was the temple an external house made of wood and stone. Now the people themselves were the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16).” — hfst. 6
Interpretatie: De Kerk als tempel van God (1 Kor. 3:16) is voor Jones het ecclesiologische kenmerk van het Pinkster-tijdperk — een internalisering van de goddelijke aanwezigheid.
Derde Kerk — Loofhutten-tijdperk:
“The third Church is the Tabernacles Age Church. At the beginning of this age God will pour out the fullness of His Spirit upon the overcomers. They will rule with power in the earth and bring all things under the feet of Jesus Christ. Their ministry will bring righteousness and the fullness of truth into the earth.” — hfst. 6
Kerk als Tarwe-oogst: ecclesiologische positie van het ‘gewone’ kerklidmaatschap
Jones stelt dat de Kerk in haar geheel overeenkomt met de tarwe-oogst en de tweede opstanding:
“The Church in general will be raised in the second resurrection. Jesus calls them ‘the just’ who receive Life at the same time ‘the unjust’ are judged at the beginning of that final age in ‘the lake of fire.‘” — hfst. 6
“The firstfruits of Pentecost signify the second resurrection, when the Church is raised up to stand before the face of God.” — hfst. 6
Over de leavened (gezuurde) toestand van de Kerk:
“Pentecost was not designed to bring perfection, i.e., an unleavened condition. Pentecost gave us only an ‘earnest’ of the Spirit, a downpayment, rather than the fullness.” — hfst. 6
“The Pentecostal Age should have been a time when the Church learned the law of God and how to be led by the voice of the Spirit. Too often, however, the leadership in the various Church factions put away the law and removed from Christians the right to hear God’s voice for themselves.” — hfst. 6
Interpretatie: Jones ziet de institutionele Kerk van het Pinkster-tijdperk als structureel tekortschietend — leavened, onvolledig, een ‘Saul-koningschap’ dat het Davidische koninkrijk voorbereidt maar niet kan zijn.
Overwinnaars (Gerst) versus Kerk (Tarwe): twee ecclesiologische categorieën
Jones maakt een fundamenteel onderscheid tussen de ‘gerst-gemeente’ (overwinnaars) en de Kerk in het algemeen (tarwe):
“The Significance of Wheat in the Bible — A study of wheat in the Bible teaches us about the Church in general and the manner in which the Church is raised and judged briefly in the second resurrection.” — hfst. 6
Over de gerst-gemeente (overwinnaars):
“The barley people are called to rule and reign with Christ. As for the calling of the barley company, we read that Gideon and his army were called ‘a loaf of barley bread’ (Judges 7:13). God is raising an army of overcomers who will rule with Christ to subdue all nations under His feet.” — hfst. 6
Over de exegetische basis in 1 Kor. 15:23:
“Paul is here referring to Passover and Pentecost, the harvest of the barley and the wheat. The first ‘squadron’ to be raised from the dead are the barley Overcomers; the second is the Church in general, the wheat harvest.” — hfst. 6
“The first is the anointed firstfruits; the second is leavened company, the Church in general.” — hfst. 6
Kerk en Koninkrijk: de Saul-typologie
Jones gebruikt de Saul-David-typologie als ecclesiologisch kader voor de Kerk in het Pinkster-tijdperk:
“The kingdom was indeed established at Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts. But it was not the perfected kingdom, typified by the Davidic rule. It was instead an imperfect kingdom, full of leaven, as history has shown, typified by the reign of Saul in the Old Testament.” — hfst. 6
“As in the days of Saul and David, the nation must await the end of Saul’s reign before the Davidic reign can begin. It is the age of the Church, the wheat harvest.” — hfst. 6
De verwerping van Stefanus’ boodschap als ecclesiologisch keerpunt:
“Stephen’s kingdom message in Acts 7 was rejected when he urged the high priest to follow Joshua-Jesus across the Jordan. And so we were sentenced to wander in the wilderness—again!” — hfst. 6
Kerkraden en de veroordeling van hersteltheologie
De Vijfde Algemene Kerkvergadering (553 n.Chr.)
“Church Councils Condemn Origen — Origen was finally condemned in the Fifth General Council in 553 A.D., attended by only 148 bishops.” — hfst. 12
“It was left to the Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD) to condemn Origen’s belief in the restoration of all things. He did so specifically in Anathema IX, ‘If anyone says or thinks that the punishment of demons and of impious men is only temporary, and will one day have an end, and that a restoration will take place of demons and of impious men, let him be anathema.‘” — hfst. 12
Interpretatie: Jones benadrukt dat het de keizer was — niet de Kerkvergadering zelf — die de hersteltheologie specifiek veroordeelde.
“The Church Council itself spelled out fifteen Anathemas against Origen, but none of them condemned his teaching that all men would be saved. In fact, they also said nothing about Origen’s belief that even demons would ultimately be restored.” — hfst. 12
Interne tegenstrijdigheid van de Kerkvergadering
“Ironically, the same Church Council, in Session 1, claimed to follow ‘in every way’ the writings of the two Gregorys, who taught that all men would be saved.” — hfst. 12
Jones citeert de verklaring van de Kerkvergadering zelf: “We further declare that we hold fast to the decrees of the four Councils, and in every way follow the holy Fathers, Athanasius, Hilary, Basil, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyassa, Ambrose, Theophilus, John (Chrysostom) of Constantinople, Cyril, Augustine, Proclus, Leo, and their writings on the true faith.”
Interpretatie: Jones ziet hier een fundamentele tegenstrijdigheid: de Kerkvergadering veroordeelt Origenes, maar bekrachtigt tegelijk de Gregorii die dezelfde herstel-leer deelden. [SPANNING: interne inconsistentie van de officiële kerkpositie]
De Zevende Kerkvergadering (692 n.Chr.)
“In Canon 1 of the Seventh Church Council in 692 AD, held in the city of Trullo, the Council upheld the decision of the Fifth Church Council (above) against Origen.” — hfst. 12
Jones citeert Aristenus: “The fifth [Council] was held in the time of Justinian the Great at Constantinople against the crazy Origen, Evagrius, and Didymus, who remodeled the Greek figments, and stupidly said … that there would be an end of punishments, and a restitution of the devils to their pristine state.”
Kerkhistorische analyse: schapen en wolven in de Kerk
Jones beschrijft de tegenstelling tussen restoratietheologen en eeuwigtorment-theologen als ecclesiologische scheidslijn:
“It would be naive to claim that all who were restorationists were godly, while all eternal tormentists were scoundrels. Yet in reading Church history it is surprisingly easy to pick out the wolves among the sheep just by the testimony of their lives.” — hfst. 12
Restoratietheologen (Jones noemt als ‘schapen’): Clemens van Alexandrië, Origenes, Gregorius van Nazianzus, Gregorius van Nyssa, Theodorus van Mopsuestia.
Eeuwigtorment-theologen (Jones noemt als ‘wolven’): Tertullianus, Hieronymus, Theophilus van Alexandrië.
Over Theophilus als kerkpolitiek actor:
“Theophilus called together a synod of a few loyal bishops, condemned Origen as a heretic, and forbade anyone henceforth to read his works. When a group of 300 Nitrian monks refused to acquiesce in denouncing Origen, he then sent armed men to attack and kill them.” — hfst. 12
Interpretatie: Voor Jones is de veroordeling van de hersteltheologie niet primair theologisch gedreven, maar kerkpolitiek — een resultaat van macht, wrok en angst.
Ecclesiologische implicaties van de apokatastasis
Jones maakt een onderscheid in terminologie met directe ecclesiologische relevantie:
“Justification is a legal term relevant to sinners. Sinners need justification before the law. Reconciliation is a term that applies to enemies. Enemies need to be reconciled to each other. Salvation is a broad term often translated ‘deliverance’… Resurrection is something that the dead need.” — hfst. 12
Over de reikwijdte van verzoening:
“When Paul wrote about ta panta, ‘THE ALL’ being reconciled to God, whether they were beings in heaven or in earth, it seems self-evident that he spoke of both heavenly beings and earthly beings.” — hfst. 12
Interpretatie: De ecclesiologische implicatie is dat het herstel van alle dingen (apokatastasis) niet de Kerk als eindpunt van Gods plan positioneert, maar als tussenstation — een van drie ‘oogsten’ die gezamenlijk leiden tot ‘God alles in allen’ (1 Kor. 15:28).