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Potentiation - whether chemical, biochemical, or physiological - is well documented in science.
However, potentiation exists in society. Examples of which can be found in Scripture. Scripture doesn't just provide examples, for it explains the process as well.
[Historically, 'potentiation' is the terminology with which I am most familiar.]
'Potentiation' is a term which may be found in relation to drugs or chemicals or physiology. Simply put, the effectiveness of a substance is enhanced by the presence of another substance. Each substance is effective in its own right, hence catalysis is not applicable in this context.
Potentiation is an observable phenomenon and is therefore spiritually neutral, being neither good nor evil.
Potentiation is not restricted to the realm of science, for it can take place in society. However, its occurrence is rare due to the divisions and disunity which are so prevalent in the community
Potentiation can occur between two or more people. Those who have actually experienced potentiation will know and understand what I mean‡. Several husbands have told me that they are better than they would otherwise be because of their wives - but they were also worried by the thought of losing their wives!
[‡ This is something which I have personally experienced. (AEC)]
Unlike potentiation in the world of science, which is strictly neutral, mankind can use potentiation for either good or evil.
But what powers potentiation in human relationships? What is the underlying driving force behind it? Conversely, we might ask, 'What destroys potentiation and causes a reduction in effectiveness?'
Among Jesus' last words there is a clue!
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23 NIV)
[Assignment:Discuss the importance of Jesus' desire for unity. What has been the response of the church down through the years? And where is the church heading - and why?]
When people work together in concert, the result can far exceed the sum of people working separately.
The driving force behind this potentiation is 'unity'. In other words, when there is complete unity, there is a sharp increase in effectiveness and productivity.
Think of unity as desired by Jesus, for this will lead to maximum effectiveness in the world:
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23 NIV)
Any disunity will be reflected in reduced effectiveness and fulfilment in life.
We are required to bear fruit in our lives. And if there is no fruit - even though our names may be in the Book of Life - then there will be no forgiveness on the Day of Judgement:
19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:19-23 NIV)
Disunity reduces effectiveness. And that disunity may reduce effectiveness to the point where there is no fruit (eg, Matthew 7:19-23). Yet that is not the end of the tale of woe, for disunity will introduce error - error which will lead people into sin. By way of example, there are churches in which Christ’s body and blood are consumed existentially (transubstantiation) or metaphorically (consubstantiation) as part of the Eucharist.
The evidence for unity driving potentiation is clearly laid out in the account of the building project in a valley in the land of Shinar. In a valley in the land of Shinar we find potentiation leading to unrestrained evil:
Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.”—Brick served them as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.—4 And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world.” 5 The LORD came down to look at the city and tower that man had built, 6 and the LORD said, “If, as one people with one language for all, this is how they have begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach.” (Genesis 11:1-6 (Tanakh))
In other word, nothing will be out of their reach!
The evidence that 'unity' is the driving force is complete when we read how the Lord God used division to kill this evil potentiation. The Lord thwarted their efforts by imposing division and fragmentation:
“Let us, then, go down and confound their speech there, so that they shall not understand one another’s speech.” 8 Thus the LORD scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel, because there the LORD confounded the speech of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:7-8 (Tanakh))
[Assignment: The Lord God did not eliminate [evil] potentiation (Genesis 11:7-8 (Tanakh)); He merely delayed the inevitable.]
5 I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. 6 “Where are you going?" I asked. “To measure Jerusalem," he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.” 7 But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him. 8 The former said to him, “Run to that young man and tell him:
“Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains.” (Zechariah 2:5-8 (Tanakh))
The context is this world and this life. In the account of the New Jerusalem in Revelation, various measurements are given as to its size. But, in Zechariah, there has been a shift to the Spiritual Level. And so, at the Spiritual Level, we are not constrained by physical limitations - there is room for all of us in Zion! Not only is there room, but the Lord offers His undying protection and presence:
9 And I Myself—declares the LORD—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it. (Zechariah 2:9 (Tanakh))
The Lord's Wall of Fire and the Priesthood in the Order of Melchizedek will ensure unity and maximise potentiation and therefore effectiveness.
The Lord has appointed watchmen to stand upon the walls of Jerusalem:
1 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent,
For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still,
Till her victory emerge resplendent
And her triumph like a flaming torch.
,.,
6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen,
Who shall never be silent
By day or by night.
O you, the LORD's remembrancers,
Take no rest
7 And give no rest to Him,
Until He establish Jerusalem
And make her renowned on earth. (Isaiah 62:1; 6-7 (Tanakh))
These watchmen - standing upon the [Spiritual] Wall of Jerusalem - will be able to look inwards, as well as outwards.
Recall, too, that Zion is the dwelling place of the Lord God, His heart, and His Name:
2 the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The LORD said to him, “I have heard the prayer and the supplication which you have offered to Me. I consecrate this House which you have built and I set My name there forever. My eyes and My heart shall ever be there. (1 Kings 9:2-3 (Tanakh))
So we don't have to wait for the New Jerusalem in order to dwell with Him! We can - under the Covenant - dwell with Him here and now at the Spiritual Level, even as Zechariah implied!
There will be a short reprieve:
1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3 NIV)
With the release of the lord Satan from his prison cell, there will be opposition to the Lord and the Church. Their unity against God will lead to such a degree of potentiation that nothing will be impossible for them:
1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. (Revelation 11:1-10 NIV)
The unity of the people - as in the days of Babel - will drive potentiation so that nothing will be impossible for them. Had not the Lord God shortened the days, then the faithful would be wiped out:
21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now---and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22 NIV)
When people work together in concert, the result can far exceed the sum of people working separately.
The driving force behind this potentiation is ‘unity’. In other words, when there is complete unity, there is a sharp increase in effectiveness and productivity.
If there isn't complete unity, then a measure of disunity exists. And this will be reflected in reduced effectiveness.
The evidence for unity driving potentiation is clearly laid out in the account of a building project in a valley in the land of Shinar. In a valley in the land of Shinar we find potentiation leading to unrestrained evil:
Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.”—Brick served them as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.—4 And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world.” 5 The LORD came down to look at the city and tower that man had built, 6 and the LORD said, “If, as one people with one language for all, this is how they have begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach.” (Genesis 11:1-6 (Tanakh))
Nothing will be out of their reach!
The evidence that 'unity' is the driving force is complete when we read how the Lord God uses division to kill potentiation. The Lord thwarted their efforts by imposing division and fragmentation:
“Let us, then, go down and confound their speech there, so that they shall not understand one another's speech.” 8 Thus the LORD scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. (Genesis 11:7-8 (Tanakh))
But what can be said about disunity? Disunity results in output which is less than the sum of what might be achieved separately. In other words, disunity is counter-productive, reducing what otherwise might be achieved. Disunity produces interference which causes a significant reduction in effectiveness.
The reasons why disunity is so counter-productive are not difficult to understand. When people are working against one another, then energy and resources will be wasted in the ensuing disagreements, conflict, power struggles, unnecessary duplication, and overlap.
[Assignment:Any disunity, whoever small, will lead to a sharp reduction in effectiveness. Discuss.]
[Assignment:The new-covenant church's acceptance of divisions within its ranks, confirms that the new-covenant church are not discussing matters with the Lord God. Discuss.]
[Assignment:Divisions within the new-covenant church. Discuss.]
[Assignment:Dissonance within the new-covenant church. Discuss.]
[Assignment:Backsliding within the new-covenant church. Discuss.]
[Assignment:Betrayal within the new-covenant church. Discuss.]
Paul does not understand the unity of marriage at both the Physical and Spiritual Levels. Neither does Paul understand the Covenant and its Law. He uses his defiled version of the Covenant to redefine marriage within his new covenant:
2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. (Romans 7:2 NIV)
Within the Covenant, marriage transcends death! Jesus explains the unity of marriage within the context of Covenant Law:
4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:4-6 NIV)
Since husband and wife are one person, that one person can continue as such throughout Eternity in the New Jerusalem!
The unity of marriage at the Physical and Spiritual Levels.
To all intents and purposes it looks as if there are two people. This is not the case, as can be seen at the Spiritual Level. And it will be the HusbandWife soul which will transcend death.
As for divorce, that was not a law but was a concession occasioned by the hardness of the men's hearts towards their wives, and which was revoked by Jesus:
7 "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." (Matthew 19:7-9 NIV)
Jesus' words necessarily imply the continuation of their unity at the Spiritual Level, and into the New Jerusalem.
Paul sows the seeds of division between a man and his wife:
29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; (1 Corinthians 7:29 NIV)
32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs---how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world---how he can please his wife--- 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world---how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:32-35 NIV)
38 So then, he who marries his fiancée does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better. (1 Corinthians 7:38 NRSV)
Paul does not understand the unity of marriage! A man and his wife are equals within the marriage, each complementing and supporting the other, and each recognising the gifts and abilities of the other. Division within the marriage will destroy all hope of potentiation, leading to a reduction in the couple’s effectiveness in the world.
Yet where there is unity in the marriage - as explained by Jesus - then potentiation will lead to greater fruitfulness than that achieved by the sum of each separately.
Paul's enslavement of women kills potentiation stone dead, with a dramatic reduction in the couple's effectiveness:
33 ... As in all the congregations of the saints, 34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:33b-35 NIV)
Since the Spirit was poured out on men and women alike, the enslavement of women kills the effectiveness of the Spirit in the marriage:
28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29 NIV)
Notice the equality of men and women where the Spirit and His work are concerned, and the implied unity between a man and his wife (Joel 2:28-29 NIV).
Paul's enslavement of women is nothing less than a Machiavellian attack on the Lord Spirit, and so demands enrolment in the Blacklist. Paul has spoken against the Lord Spirit. Jesus unequivocally states the penalty:
31 For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven-now or ever. (Matthew 12:31-32 GNT)
Unfortunately, Peter was led astray by Paul. Paul's betrayal is revealed in Peter's own words:
1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (1 Peter 3:1-7 NIV)
[Assignment:Analyse 1 Peter 3:1-7 NIV.]
Peter goes even further, to unreservedly endorse Paul, his teaching, and his doctrine:
15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16 NIV)
[Essay: Peter's unreserved endorsement of Paul, his teaching, and his doctrine.]
[Essay: Pauline doctrine is divisive; the Covenant is unifying.]
In the matter of marriage, it is important to discover whether the Lord offers any specific guidance. So, first and foremost, it is important to discuss the matter with Him.
If He doesn't offer any specific guidance, then one is free to exercise one's God-given autonomy within the context and framework of the Covenant. However, as Dr Tournier has remarked, celibacy is no easier to deal with than marriage - both are difficult! Each comes with its own set of problems.
[Essay: Marriage or celibacy? Just different sets of problems.]
Hopefully, knowledge and understanding of Jesus' desire for unity will command our own obedience to His wishes and to His Covenant!
[Dissertation: Paul's doctrine of 'love' allows Paul et al to justify error and wrongdoing which the Covenant will not countenance.]
Version: 2024-08-03