International Conferences for Clergy

QUESTION: 1. Based on your lecture are you saying that if the Jews accepted Jesus, all other nations would have been left out?

ANSWER: No, Jesus would go to the Gentiles on the foundation of a unified faithful Israel (see Isa. 56:6-7 for example).

QUESTION: 2. In John 10:16 Jesus speaks of other sheep of another fold. Of whom was Jesus speaking?

ANSWER: You may have misunderstood my point. When I referred to Matt. 10:5 and 15:24 in which Jesus states that He has come only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel, He was not saying nor was I implying, that Jesus mission was only to the Jew. Jesus certainly came for the world and God had prepared the entire world for His coming. The process of the unfolding, however, was to be in Israel first, then from Israel to the world. This is why Jesus said that salvation is from the Jews. It is also why we see in Isaiah 49:6 the same pattern, that Christ goes to the world on the foundation of a unified, faithful Israel that has accepted her King.

QUESTION: 3. You said only one of John's disciples became a disciple of Jesus. But John 1:37 says that there were two.

ANSWER: Andrew is the only one of the two who is later identified to be a follower of Jesus. The only thing mentioned about the "other" is that he stayed for the day and after that we never hear about him again. Some have, erroneously identified this "other" disciple with "the disciple whom Jesus loved". Traditionally thought to be John the Apostle, but this would be out of harmony with the synoptic which indicate that John the Apostle was witnessed to directly by Jesus.

QUESTION: 4. At what point did Christ enter the Kingdom of Heaven while on Earth?

ANSWER: Scripture is not entirely lucid on this point. I would say certainly by John 3:13, although Hebrews 5:7-9 seems to suggest that Christ obtained perfection at Calvary.

QUESTION: 5. What was Jesus' real name?

ANSWER: Joshua. The name "Jesus" is the Greek form of Joshua and therefore, was never used by the Lord as His name. Jesus of course did not speak Greek, The Hebrew form is Yehosua.

QUESTION: 6. Was Jesus able to sin as a man? Was Jesus able to sin as a Son of God on earth?

ANSWER: Jesus was able to be tempted (Matt. 4:1-11; Heb. 4:15) but Jesus never sinned. He became impervious to temptation and sin.

QUESTION: 7. If Jesus could not have possibly sinned, why did satan tempt Him? Did not satan know Jesus could not sin?

ANSWER: I said that Jesus was perfect and therefore beyond the possibility of sin. I did not say whether or not Jesus, like Adam, had to grow to accomplish that perfection and therefore in His growing period had to show faith and overcome temptation.

QUESTION: 8. When Jesus said, in John 2:19-21, that the temple would be destroyed and in three days raised up, was He predicting the cross?

ANSWER: Jesus was revering to His body (temple) not the actual temple. Also Jesus mentions that this would be a sign to a faithless and unrepentant generation. Jesus is indicating, once again, that if Israel does not have faith in Him, the sign of Jonah (His death and resurrection) will become necessary. Conversely, if Israel had faith and is repentant, they will not need the sign of Jonah and the Kingdom will be established at that time (in spirit and on Earth).

QUESTION: 9. Is Jesus God, co-equal with God?

ANSWER: Jesus is one with God. He is perfect Son of God. As far as co-equal with God, we have to look at Jesus words in John 14:28?

QUESTION: 10. Divine Principle teaches that Jesus is not God Himself. How do you reconcile this with Isaiah 9:6?

ANSWER: Yes, Divine Principle does teach that Jesus is not God the Father and Creator, but we do affirm the Deity of Christ as God the Son. That being said and keeping in mind that we did not cover Christology in this conference and that there is not general consensus agreed to by all Christians with regard to this issue, I refer you to the following scripture which must be considered to be able to appreciate and understand the relationship between God the Father and God the Son: John 14:28; Hebrews 1:5, 5:7-10; Matt. 24:36, 26:40; John 17:20 (our relationship with each other should be modeled after the relationship of God and Christ) John 5:26 (life granted to Jesus by God); Mark 10:18; Rev. 2:26-27 (Jesus gives us authority as He received it), Rev. 3:21 (God's throne is unique from Jesus' throne).

QUESTION: 11. Christ did not fail. Almost 300 prophesies were accomplished in His life, death and resurrection.

ANSWER: I agree that Jesus did not fail. If you would purchase a tape of my presentation on Monday, you will see that I stress many times the victory of Christ at Calvary. I did, however, also stress that Israel did fail in her providential role. I also stated many times that the cross was preplanned and foretold by the prophets. Your question and statement is not in disagreement with the ideas that I expressed on Monday.

QUESTION: 12. Do you believe that Jesus failed?

ANSWER: As I expressed from the podium, Jesus got the victory, in spite of our failure. Jesus was in no way remiss in His role as savior. Our focus is on the failure of Israel to believe in Him and bringing into realization that there were real providential implications as a result, the intention of which is not to condemn Israel, but to recognize that we, all of us, are in the role of the New Israel and must not repeat the mistakes of the past.

QUESTION: 13. What would have happened to the Christians had not the Jews rejected their King?

ANSWER: Out of Judaism would have emerged the culture of Jesus, that is, the culture of Heaven. As it is, Christianity is a medium that seeks it's ultimate fulfillment in that coming culture. Had Israel had faith in Jesus, that interim of 2000 years (until today) would not have been necessary.

QUESTION: 14. If Jesus was not rejected by Israel, how could there be Christianity? It was planned from the very beginning.

ANSWER: There are many reasons why we would differ with this view, which no doubt would be different reasons then from the reasons other doctrines would differ with your view. Certainly the dispensation of Christianity is the pre-planned will of God. It is, however, not the primary will of God in the beginning. God's will in the beginning was that Adam and Eve not fall into sin, God's primary will at the time of Christ was that Jesus be accepted and the Kingdom be established. God's plan for Christianity was only if the first Israel failed in her mission, which sadly became the fact. It was with sorrow unto death that Jesus began the Christian dispensation whose ultimate role is to fulfill the original destiny of Israel, that is: The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in the Spirit World.

QUESTION: 15. John 12:40 says that "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, not understand with their hearts." In view of this scripture, how can you say that God wanted Israel to accept Jesus?

ANSWER: This was in the last year of Jesus' ministry. By the time the destiny of the cross had been invoked and the time period for repentance had passed. As in the time of Jeremiah (Jer. 25) the time period for repentance and remaining in the land had passed and the necessity of the Exile period became predetermined. The last year of Jesus' ministry represents that same principle and repentance was no longer possible.

QUESTION: 16. You mentioned that Jesus died because of Israel's rejection of the faith, because He forgives those who believed in Him during His earthly ministry. How can I be saved today and be forgiven, had the Israelites accepted His message of repentance and faith in God?

ANSWER: In the same way as the woman in Luke 7:44-47 was saved.

QUESTION: 16. If, as you say, Moses wanted the people to believe in Jesus and prophesied as such, how are we to explain Luke 24:46-47?

ANSWER: First, let's confirm that in fact Moses did teach that Israel should believe in Jesus and prophesied as such. In Deut. 18:15,18,19 Moses says the Lord will raise up a prophet from among your own brothers..."you must listen to him!" Acts 3:22 confirms that, in fact, Moses was speaking about Jesus who was to come. This is also supported by Jesus own words in John 5:45-46..."If you had believed in Moses, you would have believed in me, for he wrote of me." The proper question should then be, why does Luke 24:46-47 so drastically present such a different view? The Bible can not be contradictory. To understand this, we must understand the Divine Principle view of the phenomenon of dual prophesy in the Old Testament. Dual prophesy reflects the expression of the law covenant, blessing or curse centering on Israel's responsibility to believe God's word. If the condition of belief exists in Israel, it will result in blessing, that is the Kingdom of Heaven. If the condition of unbelief exists in Israel it will result in curse. Prophesy reflects both potentials, but it will be Israel which determines the outcome. Thus, we see that Jesus speaks to both potentials. In the early part of His ministry we see Matt. 1:17, 23:37; Mark 1:15; John 6:29, 8:37-42. But once the condition of unbelief was irrevocable, we see from the last year of His ministry (Matt. 16:21) the predictions of His death and reference to Old Testament prophesy begins.

QUESTION: 18. Had Israel accepted and believed Jesus, what would have become of all the corrupt nations and people of that time? Would they have been destroyed, banished, or made slaves?

ANSWER: See Zechariah 8:20. Israel as the Chosen Nation would have to fulfill a messianic role to the nations of the world, which means the mission of evangelism centering on Christ.

QUESTION: 19. If Jesus was concerned primarily with Israel's response to Him, how do you explain Acts 10:34..."God is not a respecter of man?"

ANSWER: Jesus concern for the faith of Israel over the gentile, in the early part of His ministry, is not because He liked them better or didn't care for the gentile. The plan and strategy of His ministry was to come on the foundation of Israel, and then on that foundation, go to the world. It was the faith or faithlessness of Israel that bore the providential implication for the Kingdom or the Cross, blessing or curse.

QUESTION: 20. Is Christ the Savior of the world or is He just another deliverer in a long line of saviors? Your thesis seems to state that the plan of salvation was merely an emergency plan based upon the response of man, rather that God's act of grace on behalf of man's dilemma; later fulfilled the cross.

ANSWER: Christ is the savior of the world. It is not me that says Israel's faith or lack thereof will play a role on determining which destiny will be achieved, it is the word of God in Deut. 28. That Jesus called for faith that was not forthcoming in Israel thus postponing the Kingdom to the future and the Second Coming, in no way diminishes the grace represented at Calvary.

QUESTION: 21. What is the true name of God? We all know that the Son must be named after his father. Could the name of God be "Christ"?

ANSWER: Christ is the first point where God and man meet. Jesus called God "Father".

QUESTION: 400 years before the Messiah, God prepared the four corners of the world. Why, if Christ only came to be received by Israel, turning to the gentiles only after Israel rejected Him?

ANSWER: You misunderstood my point. I did not say that Jesus came only for the nation of Israel. Jesus came first to the nation of Israel, and if they had believed in Him, then Israel, as the Chosen Nation would fulfill the messianic role to the world through evangelism (see Zechariah 8:20, as an example).

QUESTION: 23. What is the Sabbath now?

ANSWER: This is not a big issue for us. Basically, all past traditions were started to bring about a certain condition of heart in man. This is why, when the apostles together with Jesus, were accused of violating many laws and traditions, Jesus' response was "the Son is Lord of the Sabbath." The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The purpose for the Sabbath, again, was to bring about a certain condition of reverence for God, that we should have every day. If that condition of heart is achieved, then we do not need to worry about the Sabbath because the purpose for the Sabbath will have been fulfilled in us.