"Partial" FULL-FILL-ment is an oxymoron

[Richard Amiel McGough]

To fulfill is to fill full. If something is fully filled, it is not partially filled.

Here is Webster's definition:

• Main Entry: ful·fill
• Variant(s): or ful·fil \fu̇(l)-ˈfil also fə(l)-\
• Function: transitive verb
• Inflected Form(s): ful·filled; ful·fill·ing
• Etymology: Middle English fulfillen, from Old English fullfyllan, from full + fyllan to fill
• Date: before 12th century

1 archaic : to make full : fill <her subtle, warm, and golden breath…fulfills him with beatitude — Alfred Tennyson>
2 a : to put into effect : execute b : to meet the requirements of (a business order) c : to bring to an end d : to measure up to : satisfy
3 a : to convert into reality b : to develop the full potentialities of
synonyms see perform

I think this might have some bearing on some of our conversations (which are moving along marvelously, I might add).

As an aside, one of the primary messages of the 5 NT Historical Books, (the sixth division of the Bible Wheel) exemplifies how Christ FULFILLED the prophecies of the Old Testament:



You can read more about this in my article called The Sevenfold Canon.

Richard

[TheForgiven]

To fulfill is to fill full. If something is fully filled, it is not partially filled.

I remember my days of walking with a "partially filled" glass. But thanks to the Biblewheel forum, my glass is always full.

Joe

[Richard Amiel McGough]

I remember my days of walking with a "partially filled" glass. But thanks to the Biblewheel forum, my glass is always full.

Joe

Ha! That's a good pun, my friend.

But though it's possible that you had a "partially filled" glass, I can assure you that you never had a "partially FULL-filled" glass any more than you ever had a "round square."

Richard

[TheForgiven]

Ha! That's a good pun, my friend.

But though it's possible that you had a "partially filled" glass, I can assure you that you never had a "partially FULL-filled" glass any more than you ever had a "round square."

Richard

Let me check my closet. It's a bit dusty, but I'm pretty sure I have a round-square.

Joe

LONG LIVE THE ISRAEL OF GOD!

[DaveO]

Not so fast my friend!

3 a : to convert into reality b : to develop the full potentialities of

Developing is a process that involves an unspecified amount of time.

For example you didn't develop your misguided theories of preterism instantly. It was a process that required many hours and is in fact (apparently) not yet complete.

So you see fulfillment need in no way be fast. It could (and IS) taking thousands of years, by human reckoning, for Christ to develop the full potentialities of His purpose!

[TheForgiven]

Developing is a process that involves an unspecified amount of time.

For example you didn't develop your misguided theories of preterism instantly. It was a process that required many hours and is in fact (apparently) not yet complete.

So you see fulfillment need in no way be fast. It could (and IS) taking thousands of years, by human reckoning, for Christ to develop the full potentialities of His purpose!

You are correct DaveO. Preterism wasn't something that came up out of the blue. That is why it's more often referred to as "realized" eschatology. But which is worse? Realizing the errors of the past, or constantly repeating the errors? Those of the non-fulfilled eschatology have spent nearly a lifetime trying to determine when Jesus would return. Sign after sign caused many Christians to assume that prophesy must be fulfilled within their lifespan. Yet more than 2000 years has gone by, and the same mistakes keep repeating itself through false predictions.

It's not as though I blame them, for I too was once dominated by the spectacles of thrills and chills. I remember thinking that the world would end by Nuclear war. But I realized over the years, during my departure from the failed predictions of the past, that something was terribly wrong. It wasn't that signs were being missed; they were being misidentified.

If a nation breaks into serious war today, especially if it involved modern day geographical Israel, dooms day prophets assume that the signs of the times are upon us. It's even worse when non-believers, by popular belief, assume that the end of the world is near. So Christian, and non-Christian's alike, who embrace the dooms day theories, all speculate that the end of the world is just around the corner. The problem with this type of behavior is it entices believers to waste more time watching, rather than growing, as though God's purpose is to play guessing games with man. But at not time throughout the history of mankind, as God played such a game. Additionally, at no time in the history of mankind did God use deceitful tactics to trick man into being destroyed; that is not His way. For His way is patients, goodness, gentleness, love, peace, discipline, self control, and all that is good towards us.

Finally, the "purpose" of God through Christ was to create in Himself a new body of believers. He established a relationship with a race of slaves, in order to paint a picture of His goodness. And when that race became disobedient, He drove them out to clear the field and start anew. That is how God communicated His intentions to the world, and to declare His wonderful name, in the hopes of turning man away from gods made of hands, to the One and True God who made us from the beginning.

I look forward to reading more of your posts, and I'll try to be more organized in my presentations. You covered a great deal of ground on the other Thread between you and Richard, and I was enticed into responding to every point. But most choose not to read such lengthy posts, so I think it best, as Richard does, to discuss one topic at a time.

God bless.

Joe