Living as Wheat Among Weeds

Marilyn O. Flower

Description

Faithfulness tested and proven will drive the prosperous to seek the all-sufficient Savior, the one and only source of hope and peace in troublesome times.

This book, a rebirth of Flower’s master’s thesis “The Woman Clothed with the Sun with the Moon under Her Feet: A Postcolonial African/Western Contextual Discussion of Revelation 12” published in 2010, employs an interdisciplinary approach to contrast African and Western Christianity. African and Western beliefs and practices, compared using Revelation 12, vary significantly in some areas. The study of these differences illuminates the hope found in Christianity which radiates from the grace of God and Christ’s command for Christians everywhere to love one another.

Sujets

• Christian Living
• Social Issues
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 25 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664272262
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

LIVING AS Wheat AMONG Weeds
 
 
 
 
AFRICA, THE WEST, AND THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12
 
 
 
MARILYN O. FLOWER
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Marilyn O. Flower.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7227-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7228-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7226-2 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022912771
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 07/25/2022
 

To biblically orthodox Christians worldwide
who love and trust God first
before loving and serving others
CONTENTS
Preface
PART I: SETTING THE WORLD STAGE
Chapter 1 : Introduction
Chapter 2 : Background Essentials
The Majority World, Postcolonialism, and Postcolonial Biblical Criticism
Liberation Theology
Africa—An Example of Present Christian Majority-World Reality
Chapter 3 : Revelation 12: An Exegesis
Methodology, Genre, Author, Timeline, and Organization
Examining the Text
Good and Evil—Worldviews Make the Difference
PART II: MAJORITY WORLD—AFRICA
Chapter 4 : African Christian Theology
African Christianity Is Dynamic
Postcolonial Biblical Criticism and Inculturation
African Theology’s Influence
Chapter 5 : Revelation in Africa
Faith and Identity
Theological Perspective of Revelation
Grounded in the Bible
PART III: AFRICA, THE WEST, AND REVELAT ION
Chapter 6 : Comparing Western Christianity to African Christianity
The View from the West
Revelation’s Relevance in the West
Whom to Trust
Chapter 7 : A Global Reality
The Significance of a Biblical Worldview
Thirty Minutes until Death
God’s Plan Is Perfect
PART IV: WHEAT AMONG WEEDS
Chapter 8 : The Woman Clothed with the Sun
Jesus Is the Only Hope
The Woman of Revelation 12
Being in and of Christ
Chapter 9 : Living as Wheat among Weeds
Reconciling African and Western Theologies
Reaching the Ends of the Earth Together
Christians—Wheat among Weeds
PREFACE
The Bible is the fountain of all knowledge about God, His character, and the meaning of life. If we are in Christ, we want a personal relationship with God and we want to know Him. My understanding of the Bible has given me complete trust in Jesus as Lord of my life. It has equipped me to live fearlessly for God and in His power. No person can ever fully understand another, but God, who fully understands us and our circumstances, is a constant companion to those who choose Him.
The only words that Jesus directed anyone to write are in Revelation, a book that is dismissed by some but one which holds others spellbound. Revelation is often poorly understood and misinterpreted. The powerful metaphor of the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12 summarizes the Bible’s message. While the Revelation 12 woman may mean different things to different people, she is a godly creation who is clearly pursued by something that is anti-God. John’s vivid imagery captivates the attention of everyone who believes God is sovereign and the beginning and end of everything. In this book, generalizations allow me to consider how African Christians understand Revelation 12 and the Bible differently than Western Christians do.
It is difficult to find a term to refer to those who know God through Jesus and who honor His Word (the Bible). I use the word Christian to refer to them, the saints of the church, those whom Jesus will tell His Father that He knows when they appear before His judgment seat. But everyone calling themselves “Christian” may not be Christian. True Christians study the Bible because they want to know the God revealed in its pages. Reading the Bible is not popular today. Being a Bible-believing Christian is even less so, but in a culture where millions of books, magazines, and articles are being published, the Bible, the basis of Western society, including government, science, and education, should be read by everyone.
The more difficult my life became, the more I depended on God. God could have stopped the evil, sickness, and death of loved ones. He alone knows why He allowed them. Eventually, I fully trusted God in His all-sufficient provision, which includes the Old and New Testaments (the Hebrew scriptures Jesus knew, and the New Testament written after His resurrection). Everything that anyone thinks, says, and does is known by God before it happens. Christians are assured in this knowledge, living their lives like prayers, with every conversation known to God (Mal. 3:16). There is great comfort in knowing that God knows how and when your life will end.
All people have a finite number of days for which they will be held accountable, and every life has purpose and meaning, no matter its length. Each individual must accept or reject the solace and strength for daily living that God provides. This is the biggest decision that anyone will ever make. Christians first pray for others, that they may have faith and their needs met, and then for themselves—for guidance, strength, and God’s love—so that they might be His instruments to spread the good news that is Jesus Christ.
I am grateful to everyone with whom I fellowship, in life and ministry—especially to those faithfully preaching and living out God’s Word. Believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to stand firm on the Bible in the redeeming love of the Word made flesh, Jesus, who fully knows our humanity. They believe the Bible is true as Jesus teaches. I thank God for Christians involved in the worldwide battle for God, His truth, and love. In my writing ministry, I am exceptionally grateful to Iona Bulgin for her patience, editing skills, and firm but gentle nudges so that Living as Wheat among Weeds shines clearer and more brightly than did my 2007 theological thesis.
This book is a rewriting of that thesis, “The Woman Clothed with the Sun with the Moon under Her Feet: A Postcolonial African/Western Contextual Discussion of Revelation 12.” That work helped me realize the significance of Jesus’s revelation to John, especially the woman of Revelation 12. The book of Revelation is not a bookend to prop up the rest of the Bible. On the contrary, Revelation, with Genesis, holds the Bible together as one. My thesis compared African Christian biblical interpretation with Western biblical interpretation. I was intrigued by this topic because African Anglicans, the majority of whom stand firmly on the Bible, were becoming increasingly vocal against the growing liberality of Western Anglicans.
My hope is that this book will give readers much to think and pray about, because thinking and praying Christians find it much easier to be faithful to God. This earth is not our home. Safety policies that are often developed in wartime admonish people not to get attached to worldly things because little can be taken when fleeing for one’s life. Similarly, yet far more consequentially, nothing will be taken with us when we die—except our faith.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32 ESV )
Part I SETTING THE WORLD STAGE
1
INTRODUCTION
F or almost two thousand years, Christians have endeavored to understand and follow the Bible so that they might know God better and be well equipped to serve Him faithfully. Being true to the Bible today is as much a struggle of the body, heart, mind, and soul as it was for first-century apostles, early church fathers, and disciples in every century. Except for the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians could never remain faithful to God.
The presence of the Holy Spirit within a person is the essence of being Christian, yet this gift is not well understood and is rejected by some. Luke, Matthew, John, and Paul, describe the Holy Spirit’s work in Christ’s followers. 1 Paul explained how grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit destroys faith (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19). Like our physical bodies, our spirits must be nourished, but spiritually.
If we feed our spirits well, they flourish. If we starve them, they wither and die. The advent of the printing press, coupled with people being able to own Bibles, allowed many to feed their spirits biblically. Increasingly, however, the Bible is under attack, sometimes especially by Christians. It is no longer deemed the nourishment it once was. Instead, some feed their spirits with human wisdom and emotionalism.
This book confirms that nothing outside of the Bible nourishes the Christian spirit like God’s Word does. For those familiar with the Bible, it may motivate a revisit. For someone who has never opened a Bible, hopefully it will prompt a first-time visit. It is only through the Bible, the Holy Spi