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birds fly (1: 20), for birds do not fly as far as the sun and moon (1: 15). It will be seen that
in Gen. 1: we have the first and original heaven, and then the heaven of the present
creation, which is itself subdivided. If our critic had read what we have written, there
would have been no need to ridicule the idea that the church is "far above all" heavens,
and therefore outside of heaven altogether, for such an idea is quite meaningless, and not
what we have taught. We have definitely associated the church of the one body* with the
"heaven" of Gen. 1: 1 and with the new heavens, and have dissociated it from the
heavens that pass away after the millennium. Perhaps it will be more convincing to quote
a statement that has been in print for over twelve years:--
"One of the distinctive marks of the calling of the one body is its heavenly destiny.
The word `heavenly' is not full enough to convey all that the word used in Ephesians
implies--super-celestial is nearer. In the original of the New Testament two words are
employed, both translated `heavenly' (ouraniois and epouraniois). The added word epi
signifies upon or over, and refers to the heavens that are above the firmament, and
beyond the limitations of the present creation (compare Gen. 1: with Psalms 148: 4,
I Kings 8: 27, and Heb. 7: 26)."--See Volume VII, page 8.
These words are surely definite enough. The critic we have in mind remarks in
connection with one phase of our teaching:--
"Frankly, I do not know what The Berean Expositor teaches. Neither can I find
anyone else who is clear."
What is there that is obscure in the above quotation from Volume VII?
The same
volume touches upon the subject again:--
"On many occasions the Scriptures speak of God `stretching out the heavens'.
Psa. 104: 2, `Who stretched out the heavens like a curtain'; also Isa. 40: 22; 42: 5;
45: 12; 51: 13; Jer. 10: 12; 51: 15; Zech. 12: 1 . . . . . When we grasp the significance of
the firmament, and the purpose that is carried out within its expanse, we may then see the
perfect fitness of the statements of Ephesians, where in the words `the heavenly places'
(epouraniois, a word which literally means `upon the heavens'), we are taken beyond the
firmament . . . . . Ephesians always speaks of the blessings of the one body as being in the
epouraniois, the sphere above the heavens. Peter, however, does not pierce the
firmament, the inheritance he speaks of is reserved `in the heavens', not in the sphere
above the heavens" (Volume VII, page 45).
It is not, surely, expecting too much from any reader who realizes the value of a
context to assume that our statements concerning a sphere "above the heavens" will be
understood to refer to the heavens that belong to this present age, the firmament of
Gen. 1: 8. The critic who labours to destroy something which we do not teach may be
very sincere, as the closing paragraph of this criticism assure us, and may really believe,
as he says, that our teaching is "malignant" and that The Berean Expositor is now
"committed to apostasy", but what of his fitness to criticize?
We give another quotation on this subject from The Berean Expositor:--
[* - This is also criticized, but Eph. 4: 4 is, for us, sufficient.]