The Fathomless Depth of an Alphabetical Ocean

We have now arrived at the last of the biblical images for God that we will consider in this series on such. The image we consider today, appropriately enough, is found in the Book of Revelation which is not only the last book of the Christian scriptures but also the last book accepted into the authoritative canon of such scriptures. This image revolves around six particular words which, while found separately throughout scripture, are found combined only here in the closing paragraphs of the Revelation. In our most common English translations it reads:

I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

First, we have actually come full circle back to the very first biblical image for God we entertained and what I would identify as the primary of all biblical images for God in scripture. God as the Hebraically conceived I AM - as the One who is best understood less as a noun than as verb, as One who will be actively present in whatever way, means, or capacity this One will be. Every image we have investigated constantly sashays around this primary image of a God active and present in ways that, at times, we comfort us and, at other times, may very well confront, confuse, and challenge us. This is the God to whom scripture again and again bears witness. So…

Alpha, Omega, First, Last, Beginning, End… Of these six words, the latter four are translated out of the original Greek but the first two are transliterated from the original Greek. Personally, I find something inconsistent and, thus, potentially misleading about such a translation. Why do we not transliterate all of these words? Why do we translate only some of these words? As Alpha is the first word of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last (the word “alphabet” is itself derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet), why not have it begin with: “I AM the A and the Z”? Or, better still, what might we hear if we transliterate all six words?

Greek, as a language, contributed mightily to the development of the Romantic languages of Western Europe. Though English is not linguistically considered a Romantic (derived from “Rome” and not the feelings we associate with the rush of love) language, more than half of all English words are derived from what are Romantic languages. It is for this reason that I like to claim that those of who speak English are - to one degree or another - already well on our way to being Greek scholars. Therefore, if we were to maintain a consistent transliteration of these six particular Greek words in this passage, we may well be expanding and deepening our actual understanding of what this image for God is driving at in a way which the common English translations do not quite attain.

I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the Protos and the Eschaton, the Arcane and the Telios…

First, Alpha and Omega…

The history of Jewish spirituality bears witness to a deep fascination with words, both spoken and written. Hebraic people understood creation itself to have been the result of God’s utterance. Creation is spoken into existence by the mere word of God. It is for good reason that we tend to think of the Jewish people as not only the “People of the Book” but also as a people who excel in the prolifically wordy pursuit of academic and intellectual excellence. In time, as cited in the introductory notes to these sessions on the biblical images of God, this interest in words would prompt schools of Jewish mystical thought to claim that a different image for God can be found in each and every letter of the scripture. It is likely to have been this intense interest in words and what the different combination of letters might reveal about God which prompted the writer of the Gospel of Matthew, arguably the most Jewish of the four Gospel evangelists, to have Jesus claim that “not one iota, not one stroke”, not one dot of what is found written in scripture will ever pass away in time. For the Jew, each letter could bear the reflection of the fathomless depth of an image for God.

The claim that God is the Alpha and the Omega is, in Jewish consciousness, equivalent to saying that God can be found in anything we can give voice. From A to Z, any combination of letters can be a revelatory experience of God. If we can think it, say it, write it, God is there. Perhaps, God is present in a way which is more revealing of who we are than who God actually is. Sometimes in the words we utter in our minds and hearts or on our lips, we come face-to-face with a rather unbecoming of our selves. But, even there, we can catch a glimpse of that reflection of ourselves as God intends us to be, creatively calling us to become. At times, having eyes to see and ears to hear, we can discern the ever-present creative word of God in the mysterious murmuring of all that envelops us. We will, of course, never be able to come away from such experiences with anything we can claim is a full understanding of God - anymore than we can claim to fully understand the fathomless depth of an ocean simply by glancing into a single drop of sea water, but oh-what-worlds can be seen and held in a single drop of ocean water and in every single experience that awakens us to the perpetual presence of God among us.

In like manner, Protos and Eschaton...

Protos, as in prototype, means the first thing. Eschaton refers to the last thing. In both cases, the emphasis is on a singularity. Somewhere along the line and, sadly, to this day, the Christian Church became a bit overly fascinated to “the last things” - in the plural. Eschatology, derived directly from this Greek word, is popularly understood as a study of “the last things”. The overwhelming focus of most eschatological schools of thought focus almost entirely on the supposed last events which will usher in the end of the world and the consummation of space and time as we know it. All manner of unbiblical claims have been generated by these extra-biblical fascinations including, but not limited to, a supposed Rapture, the reign of some particular anti-Christ, and a world-ending battle referred to as Armageddon. Those matters, however, require a separate study in themselves. For now, it is sufficient to understand the eschaton of Revelation to be a singular last thing - whatever and whenever that might be. Just as the Alpha and the Omega implies that God’s image can be discerned in what combinations of letters we might ponder of those we generate from among the letters from a to z, so also God’s image can be discerned in the very first thing, be it even the prototype, the blueprint of all creation, right down to the very last thing, and every singular thing in-between. All things that have ever been, are now, and will yet become bear the imprint of the image of God. Again, somewhere along the line, the Christian Church wanted to claim that the Bible claims that only humankind is created in the image and likeness of God. While the scriptures do claim that we are created in the image and likeness of God, nowhere does it suggest or imply that other things are not likewise created in the image and likeness of God. If we stare long enough into that singular drop of ocean water, we will see reflected there the image of God and it is so much more rich and revelatory than just our own reflection staring back at us. To claim to image of God as the Protos and the Eschaton is to claim, if we but had eyes that see, that God’s image is imprinted on everything that is.

Lastly, the Arcane and the Telios…

The arcane is a reference to the origins of whatever is. It is easy to conclude that everything which exists has an origin somewhere. However, those origins are so wrapped in mystery that nobody can really claim for certain what that origin was. Whenever we make reference to the origins of our family tree or the origins of the universe or the origins of being, we are making reference to that which is archaic, that which is encased in the anciently arcane box holding the blueprints of God’s own creative intentions. Any attempt to fully grasp and claim full understanding of such a mystery needs to first satisfactorily answer the question God poses to Job in his own attempt to claim such understanding: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?”

The Telios, on the other hand, may seem an entirely foreign word to us. However, this word has for some time fed philosophical thought, academic institutions, and even the organizational envisioning policies of many businesses. In contemporary English parlance it is identified as teleology. It is the practice of envisioning, identifying, and enacting goals, aims, and purposes. Biblically speaking, we find the word telios all over the place. However, English translations of this word are highly inconsistent and, at times, not exactly helpful in their contexts. For instance, Jesus, in the popular King James Translation - and many other translations based on that, has him claiming that we ought to “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect”. Now, would Jesus ever set divine perfection as a standard for human effort? Personally, I find it a total waste of breath to make such a demand. Besides, one slight misstep and perfection per se becomes forever out of reach. However, as the word translated here as “perfect” is in the Greek “telios”, Jesus’ words become a lot less inane and a lot more encouraging. “Be purposeful as God is purposeful”. I mean, unlike having an imperfection negate the possibility of perfection, losing a sense of purpose does not thwart the possibility of reclaiming it. Read as such, we catch not only a glimpse of God, we also can see something of what God intends us to be reflecting back at us. We are to be purposeful, to hone an aspiring sense of the fulfillment God intends for us.

I AM the Arcane and the Telios. I AM in the very blueprints of all that has forever been intended as well as the purposed fulfillment that shall be accomplished in all that bears that blueprint. This image purports that all things bear this imprint and are caught up in the midst of purposefully becoming all that God as always intended them to be…

“The Word that issues from my mouth: It does not come back to me unfulfilled, but performs what I purpose, achieves what I sent it to do. Yea, you shall leave in joy and be led home secure…” - Isaiah