Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
The penultimate image in John’s gospel is perhaps the one at the end of the first chapter, right before the miracles begin: “You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” This scene conceptually frames the miraculous signs that follow.
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I would like to compare my vision here, with what I see Lee doing. He arranged his vision around Paul. Ephesians through Philippians was Lee's "heart of the divine revelation". Much was made of Paul's authorship of 14 books of the NT (assuming Hebrews). But I see a young man who was a disciple of John the Baptist in the first chapter of the fourth gospel, who was not only one of the 12 original disciples but one of the 3 (mountaintop shekinah, Jairus' daughter [Luke 8:51], etc). And after Paul was gone this man John was still serving, and still writing. So I center my vision on him and not Paul.
And the narrative of the fourth gospel, for me, climaxes in the vision at the end of the first chapter. Everything else flows out of, and back to that vision.
So I see Christ speaking to the angel of the seven churches in Revelations 2 and 3, which churches were then told to hear what the Spirit was speaking to them. And Philip was told by an angel to go to the south road out of Jerusalem (Acts 8:26), and then the Holy Spirit told Philip to run up the the chariot of an Ethiopian (8:29).
Now, my emerging vision is no less real to me than Lee's was to him. But I don't pretend it is the last word, either. I am simply trying to say that now free of Lee's dogma I am able to read the Bible again. And what I begin to see is what I begin to see. And I see my vision in the church, and not apart from it.