Saviour of All Fellowship
December 2001

Dear Friends in Faith,
   Tony: I found an old Roman Catholic paraphrase of Philippians 2:10 which reads: “So that the person expressed by the name of Jesus being recognized throughout creation as the Son of God, should receive the homage and adoration of creatures, whether in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, in hell, or purgatory.” The latter words of this interpretation represent a single Greek word which is rendered in the Concordant Literal New Testament by the word “subterranean.” It seems to me that Paul is speaking of the whole of humanity in the widest possible scope. I don’t think Paul had access to Dante’s Inferno and so would not have the idea of “hell” or “purgatory” for the word “subterranean.” But whatever it is, Paul assures us that all will acclaim that Jesus is Lord and that those who acclaim this is due to holy spirit as Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 12:3. Therefore, most likely this day is when God is All in all.
    Dean: The phrase “underneath the earth” in Revelation 5:13 is often used as a parallel to the compound word “down-terranean.” Perhaps an even better cross-reference is to another scene from the Unveiling which speaks of “the dead” standing before the great white throne (Rev.20:11). Of course, Paul is not speaking of a time of judgment in Philippians but of a time of glorious subjection, and as such he looks beyond the events described in Revelation 20. Yet the term “subterranean” does seem to indicate those who have been dead (in the “second death”), which would indeed be the rest of mankind, who had not been “vivified in Christ” (1 Cor.15:22-24) until this great bowing and acclaiming occurs. The English words “hell” and “purgatory” are obviously too much loaded with theological baggage to be helpful here, but if we understand the word “subterranean” as a figure of speech referring to those who have been dead, this passage is truly opened up as describing the exaltation of Christ and the glory of God the Father.
    We will be glad to hear from our readers on their thoughts about this passage in Philippians and the sense of the word “down-terranean.”
    Thank you for your support and encouragement this past year. God willing we will continue these newsletters in 2002.
    We would like to bring to the attention of our readers a video tape ministry of one of our friends. For several years now, Jean Douglas has been going to fellowships around the Eastern United States and video taping the meetings. If anyone would be interested in getting these tapes, you would write to: Jean Douglas, P.O. Box 221, Oakwood, GA 30566. A donation to help defray the cost of the tapes and shipping would be appreciated if possible.
    Over the Thanksgiving weekend I (Tony) went with a friend to Toronto, Canada for a meeting sponsored by George Apic in which J. P. was the speaker. There were quite a lot of us from the states and Canada to support J. The meeting went well and the fellowship both before and after the meeting was great as well.
   J. and his sister K. were there to promote his book

In His Grace and Peace,
Dean Hough and Tony Nungesser

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