... that in Bro. Johnson's notes on Tabernacle Shadows, page 133, he's referring to the existence of the actual Youthful Worthy class, understanding the grammar and looking nearby will show this view to be incorrect.
Page 133: "It will also be remembered that it is he who brought to our attention the fact that there has been since 1881 a class of non-spirit-begotten consecrated ones, whom we call Youthful Worthies."
Some brethren get caught up in the word "class" in this sentence. They ignore the "a" before it and "consecrated ones" after it. Bro. Johnson does not use the definite article "the" and write "the Youthful Worthy class" to mention a separate and distinct entity, but instead is referring to the "ones" of individuals. Clearly, this is the meaning of the sentence. He even goes on to point out that it is only later on, in the Epiphany, when they have a unique distinction.
Second, these notes were first published in the November 1936 PT. Had Bro. Johnson thought of them as being a separate and distinct class in 1881, we should find other references nearby to prove this view. Of course, we do not.
Fifteen pages earlier in the October issue, he addresses the subject in the Questions of General Interest, showing how the spirit-begotten could only see spiritual things up until 1881. Had there been Youthful Worthy individuals before 1881, they should have been able to see those deeper things. But, those individuals were not to be found.
Fifty pages later in the February issue, he also addresses this same subject in the Questions of General Interest. Here he references St. Paul on 1 Cor. 2:14, "for between Pentecost and 1881, to which time alone his words are limited, all the consecrated were new creatures; hence during that time the term new creature and the term consecrated applied to the same persons and were interchangeable."
No comments:
Post a Comment