Book Review: The End of the Search

The one disciple who understood Jesus’s message with the greatest clarity was John, “The Beloved Disciple.” This is the very John who wrote the Gospel of John, First, Second and Third John, and the Book of Revelation. “John did something that no other writer in the New or Old Testament ever did,” writes Marchette Chute, the author of “THE END OF THE SEARCH. “He defined God. The prophets and apostles had all attempted to explain the relationship of God to his worshipper. John went straight back to the source and began with God himself. ‘God is spirit.’ (John 4: 24). ‘God is light.’ (I John 1: 5) ‘God is love.” (I John 4: 8)’ “Nine words were enough for John’s creed.”

There is a directness to Ms. Chute’s writing that is refreshing. There’s no mysticism or religious dogma to cloud her account of the Bible’s message. Clearly, she’s made a concentrated study of the Bible and of the Apocrypha and various non-denominational Bible commentaries. She reveals a number of facts hitherto unknown to me (a lifelong Bible reader), notably how Persian religious beliefs influenced Pharisaic doctrine that in turn influenced Christian doctrine. Chute points out several instances in the New Testament where Biblical writers quote directly from two Pharisaic books: THE BOOK OF ENOCH (written between the 2nd and 1st century B.C.) and THE TESTAMENT OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS (written 100 years before Jesus).

Indeed, the Pharisees were the first to promulgate the doctrines of immortality of the soul, resurrection of the body, heaven and hell, angels, demons, eternal punishment of sinners, and a Messiah who would judge the world on the Last Day. These ideas were not Scriptural in origin, writes Chute. Many had their origin in Persian religious creeds, which were pagan. Over time, these beliefs made inroads into Pharisaical religious doctrine, particularly in the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ. As a direct result, the Pharisees were blinded to the true nature of God as taught by Jesus—as a God of love who forgave sinners (but not sin), and who spoke of a kingdom not of this world. Which makes it astonishing to discover several of these Pharisaical beliefs given credence by the writers of the synoptic Gospels—Mathew, Mark and Luke. Paul too was influenced, which is understandable: he had been a Pharisee, trained in the rigid separatism of the Law. The one disciple remarkably free of Pharisaical doctrine was John, so free in fact, that he was the only one divinely authorized to write The Book of Revelation.

THE END OF THE SEARCH delves on The Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul, the rest of the letters, and The Book of Revelation. It’s probably best to have read THE SEARCH FOR GOD first, also by Marchette Chutes. It covers the Old Testament and the first four books of New Testament, and sheds even greater light on the influence Pharisaical doctrine had on the Synoptic Gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke.

The first half of THE END OF THE SEARCH, which covers the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul and of the others, describes how, after the resurrection of Jesus, the early Christian church took shape under the leadership of Peter, and then of Paul, who expanded the movement with branch churches throughout the Roman Empire. About the Pauline letters, Chute writes: “To read Paul fairly, it is necessary to remember two things. The first, and most obvious, is that his letters were letters, not essays or formal tracts. Most of Paul’s teaching was done by word of mouth. The second point, and it is one that is frequently forgotten, is that the man who wrote the letters was by birth and training a Pharisee.”

Paul and the other apostles were Jews before they became Christian and a large part of their creed that is supposed to be the contribution of Christianity is actually Jewish. Writes Chute: “The idea of the immortality of the soul, of heaven and hell, angels, demons, Satan as the prince of evil spirits, the New Jerusalem as the home of the blessed, resurrection of the dead, eternal punishment of sinners, the Messiah as the ‘Son of Man’ who was to judge the earth—all these were orthodox Jewish doctrines in the first century and the apostles believed them as Jews, not Christians.”

The exception was John. Chute points out that John, who traveled with Peter, is surprising silent in “The Acts of the Apostles.” This was not by accident, Chute implies. John was not so much concerned about the formalities of creating a church as he was about fostering the teachings of the Master, Christ Jesus. With John, there was no need to wait for a Last Day to discover the fatherhood of God. “Dear friends, we are God’s children now” (I John 3: 2). As each man found this reality of sonship for himself he would be as Jesus was. “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” I John 3: 2). To make himself like Jesus was the one duty of a Christian, and it could be done only by understanding the reality that Jesus taught and understood. “The son of God has come and has given us power to recognize him who is true” (I John 5: 20).

The second half of “The End of the Search” is taken up with an analysis of John’s revelation. Revelation is comprised of The Seven Visions, which Chutes examines: (1) the receiving of the scroll; (2) opening of the seven seals; (3) the sounding of the seven trumpets; (4) the birth of the man child, and the appearance of the dragon and his deputies; (5) the vials of judgement, and the destruction of Babylon; (6) victory over the deputies of the dragon, the millennial kingdom, and the final destruction of the dragon; and (7) the appearance of the holy city.

At 95 pages, Chute’s book would seem short for taking on such grand topics as the letters of the apostles and The Book of Revelation. Perhaps. However, those 95 pages are (to quote yet another meaningful line from the Bible) “pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. . . .”

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