The Voice of Elijah® April 2000 Newsletter

I’ve Got to Hand It to You; You Have No Idea How Much You Need It

This is the first article in a two-part series whose purpose is to show that Early Church leaders clearly understood the Prophets concealed the meaning of what they wrote behind parabolic imagery. It quotes both The Epistle of Barnabas and Justin Martyr’s Dialogue With the Jew Trypho, but most of the article is given over to a couple of excerpts—with commentary—from the first two books of Irenæus’ monumental work “Against Heresies.” Irenæus’ point is, it is impossible to gain a knowledge of the Truth apart from the parabolic imagery in The Apostolic Teaching that was being handed down in the Church at that time.

Questions & Answers

The first two questions in the column concern the parabolic imagery the Prophets and Apostles used to describe Hell and what happens to the soul after death. The final question concerns the significance of the plagues in the parabolic pantomime of the Passover Parable.