gentiles

[Uhura]

What did it mean then in Biblical times? And now?

[Jane_Doe]

Overarching theme: "jew" = people of God, "gentile" = people not of God.

 

In Old / early New Testament times, God's people were delimited along bloodlines, parents teaching their children who married other people in the bloodline, had kids and started the whole process all over again.  So "Jew" also became an ethnicity, and "gentile" was someone not from these families.  Jesus was descendent from these jewish lines.  

 

After Jesus' ascension, Peter had a revelation that the Gospel was to be taught to all people, regardless of their ancestry.  Meanwhile, majority of the genetically-Jewish people did not accept Jesus.  So the definitions got somewhat mixed up:

 

"Jew" in LDS-spiritual speak means people of God (those that have accept Christ) regardless of their ancestry.

"Jew" in practically every other one's dictionary: an ethnicity.

"Gentile" in LDS-spiritual speak: someone who has not yet accepted the LDS Gospel

"Gentile" in practically every other one's dictionary: ????  It's not in the dictionary.

 

Do that help?

[prisonchaplain]

I'm a gentile in everyone's dictionary. 

[skalenfehl]

Nephi considered anyone not a Jew (meaning them from whence he came) a Gentile. In other words, anyone who is not of the "covenant people" of the Lord is a Gentile. 

[Vort]

I have never heard LDS use "Jew" to refer to themselves. That term seems reserved for those descended from ancestral Hebrews. We do sometimes use the term "Israel" to refer to ourselves. In the early restoration, especially the early Utah period, "Gentile" was often used to refer to a non-Mormon. Not sure if that is really used anywhere any more.

[The Folk Prophet]

That term seems reserved for those descended from ancestral Hebrews.

 

This will seem a bit nit-picky -- so forgive -- but Hebrew is technically a language, and comes from the person Eber, who was an ancestor of all Israelites. "Jews" descend from Judah. Of course, tradition has come to specify "Jews" as "Hebrews", though the term still correctly refers to all Israelite descendants, but outside of Mormondom, that means Jews. So you're not wrong, per se, except that it would technically be correct (debatable so) to call those of Ephraim ancestral Hebrews, but it would not be correct to call those of Ephraim "Jews".

[The Folk Prophet]

Oh...one other though on that though. I do believe that there are times where the scriptures, although speaking of the the Jews, is using the term generically to speak of Israelites, and it is not improper to liken those scriptures, accordingly, to the kingdom of God at large (meaning the LDS). It still remains incorrect to call the LDS people "Jews" in any regard though (except, of course, any who descend from Judah).

[Traveler]

It is my understanding that both heaven and earth are divided into 3 parts - so also is the resurrection.  The term Gentle is first used in scriptures to describe and differentiate the seed of Japheth from Shem and Ham - each son of Noah representing a different covenant and thus the 3 parts of mankind on earth.