“Those Who Keep the Commandments of God and Bear Testimony to Jesus”: On Christian Maturity in the Light of Rev 12:17; 14:12

Abstract

The author of the article asks what it means to be a mature Christian. This is a fundamental question in the face of galloping secularization and de-Christianization in the Western world, including Poland. To answer this question, the author analyzes the texts of Rev 12:17 and 14:12, which define the identity of Christians as “those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (12:17) and “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (14:12). On the basis of his analysis, the author concludes that there is a progressive synonymous parallelism between the syntagms “keep the commandments of God,” “bear testimony to Jesus,” and “keep the faith of Jesus,” whereby the second segment complements, adds to, or specifies the meaning of the first segment. All three syntagms refer to the life and existence of Jesus, to the whole work of Jesus, which reaches its culmination in His paschal mystery. In this perspective, a mature Christian is one who takes Jesus’s way of existence, the logic of His life, as his own. Reflecting on the biblical text in the contemporary context, the author comes to the conclusion that the adoption of the message of Rev 12:17 and 14:10 by Christians in their everyday life demands a return to Christian initiation, which—in ancient times—took the form of the catechumenate. He cites formation within the Light-Life Movement in Poland and the Neocatechumenal Way as two examples of how it can be accomplished.