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RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father

 
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RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/22/2008 11:58:18 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: bob97

if we go by the human description of personality:


Strawman. You've taken an arbitrary definition of "personality" that is not the same as the theological definition of the word "person". I will admit that "person" is not the perfect word to use in reference to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but it is not a completely inappropriate term, when used with it's specialized theological definition. (Unlike the term "manifestation", which is blatantly the wrong word to use, and no Christian doctrine should use)

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RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 12:02:53 AM   
Ps103


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RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 10:21:05 AM   
bob97


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figmentPez

Brother, I certainly acknowledge my lack of understanding of these issues. In particular is my lack of understanding of creation and eternity. My concept of time is in a single dimension and I have to think God’s is multiple dimensional, so events in God’s time frame could certainly be different then what I observe and understand. An example is how our names are written in the book of life before creation.

Because you seem to have a much better grasp and understanding, I think it would be wise if you were to teach me how the pieces of this puzzle fit together. My whole purpose is to learn.

Bob

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Post #: 28
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 11:09:10 AM   
jachinboaz

 

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If you wish to discuss this privately I will be willing to since I have just been warned about it. I know the difference between the Son of God and the Son of Man and the Holy Ghost. I was a serious trinity believer before.

< Message edited by Ps103 -- 4/23/2008 1:42:37 PM >
Post #: 29
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 6:18:43 PM   
CurlyQ19

 

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who will you see when you get to heaven?
Post #: 30
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 10:58:45 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: figmentPez

Before I respond to any posters, I want to put for this challenge to all who deny that God eternally exists as the three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One simple question, a question that Jesus Christ asked His disciples.

Who do YOU say that the Son of Man is?

Daniel 7:13-14
13"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14"And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

Read this passage and tell me who the Son of Man is. Please be detailed, and make sure that any terms you use in your reply are clearly defined by your answer. Also, answer these questions: Who is the Ancient of Days? Does the Son of Man deserve what He receives in this passage? Why or why not? Do you see any parallels between this passage and Revelation chapter 5?


Not a single one of you are willing to answer my question? I'm severely disappointed. Peter was able to answer this question, shouldn't all Christians be able to do the same?

What is it about this question that makes it so hard to answer for those who reject trinitarian doctrine?

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Post #: 31
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 11:01:45 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: bob97

figmentPez

Brother, I certainly acknowledge my lack of understanding of these issues. In particular is my lack of understanding of creation and eternity. My concept of time is in a single dimension and I have to think God’s is multiple dimensional, so events in God’s time frame could certainly be different then what I observe and understand. An example is how our names are written in the book of life before creation.

Because you seem to have a much better grasp and understanding, I think it would be wise if you were to teach me how the pieces of this puzzle fit together. My whole purpose is to learn.


Why not start by reading the writings of those who have a greater grasp on this than I. Views that have been held by all of Christianity since the time of Christ:

The Apostle's Creed
The Nicene Creed
The Athanasian Creed

If you have questions on how scripture is the source of any point in these creeds, feel free to ask.

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Post #: 32
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 11:03:57 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: jachinboaz

If you wish to discuss this privately I will be willing to since I have just been warned about it. I know the difference between the Son of God and the Son of Man and the Holy Ghost. I was a serious trinity believer before.


If you did know the truth about who the Son of Man, the Son of God and the Holy Ghost are, then you would not be afraid to post it here. I'm sad to hear that you have turned from Christianity and decided to follow myths. My challenge still stands, tell me "Who do you say that the Son of Man is?", feel free to PM me if you are too afraid to speak publicly about your beliefs.

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Post #: 33
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/23/2008 11:05:11 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CurlyQ19

who will you see when you get to heaven?


This question was part of the original post, and it has already been answered. I did so in post #7:

quote:

You will most certainly see both the Father and the Son when you see heaven. We can say this for certain because this is what John saw in his Revelation, it is what David saw in his prophetic vision of the future, and it is what Jesus Christ said we will see:

Revelation 5:13-14
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 14And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen " And the elders fell down and worshiped.

We can see here, both "Him who sits on the throne" (the Father) and the Lamb (the Son).

Daniel 7:13-14
13"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14"And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

This vision of Daniel's is the same scene that John saw. The Son of Man is Jesus Christ, is the Lamb. The Ancient of Days is the Father, is the Him who sits on the throne. Revelation chapters four and five are parallel to Daniel 7:13-14. Both John and Daniel saw the Father and the Son as distinct persons, so will all of creation when we come before the throne of God.

Matthew 26:64
Jesus said to him, " You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN."

Here, Jesus Christ tells us the same thing. He is directly referencing the prophecy of Daniel. That prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14 is the reason that Jesus Christ called Himself the Son of Man.


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Post #: 34
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/24/2008 10:47:41 AM   
bob97


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figmentPez...

Reference to the Athanasian Creed:

quote:

The first half of the creed confesses the Trinity (one God in three persons). With didactic repetition it ascribes divine majesty and characteristics to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each individually. At the same time it clearly states that, although all three are individually divine, they are not three gods but one God. Furthermore, although one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct from each other. For the Father is neither made nor begotten; the Son is not made but is begotten from the Father; the Holy Spirit is neither made nor begotten but proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque).

Didactic as its content appears to contemporary readers, its opening sets out the essential principle that the 'Catholick faith' does not consist in the first place in assent to propositions, but 'that we worship One God in Trinity, and Trinity and Unity'. All else flows from that orientation.
The Athanasian Creed is in large part a response to charges of polytheism, and attempts to rationalize the three distinct divinities.
Although the Creed uses terms, such as person and substance, it does not try to define them philosophically.

Its teaching about Jesus Christ is more detailed than in the Nicene Creed, and reflects the teaching of the Council of Ephesus (431) and the definition of Chalcedon (451). The 'Athanasian' Creed boldly uses the key Nicene term homoousios ('one substance', 'one in Being') not only with respect to the relation of the Son to the Father according to his divine nature, but that the Son is homoousios with his mother Mary, according to his human nature.


There is nothing contained in this Creed that would refute anything that I have stated, in fact it supports my statements in that Christ and the Holy Spirit are of one substances or one in Being with God the Father.

Bob

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Post #: 35
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/24/2008 11:26:28 AM   
JimboFletch


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CurlyQ19

who will you see when you get to heaven?

You will see God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three entities (or beings or however you want to express it) yet without any variance in holiness or purpose or will.

It's a little like trying to describe white light - light that is composed of different colors. The individual colors are distinctly present yet their unity makes them appear as a single color, white. Distinct, but One.
Post #: 36
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/24/2008 11:49:28 AM   
JimboFletch


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Another thought:

Also, if one of the individual colors are removed, you have something else - it's no longer white light.
Post #: 37
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/24/2008 4:36:50 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: bob97

There is nothing contained in this Creed that would refute anything that I have stated, in fact it supports my statements in that Christ and the Holy Spirit are of one substances or one in Being with God the Father.


The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are indeed one being, of one substance, but that's not how you've phrased it here and in other threads. You've have said that the Son and the Holy Spirit are merely manifestations of God, which is not true, and contrary to the declaration of the Athanasian Creed that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are persons.

You have also denied that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are eternally who they are. The Athanasian Creed declares that "The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal." You have implied that there was a time when the Son and the Holy Spirit were not (though, I'm at a loss to figure out who you might think the Father was the father of, if there was a time when the Son was not).

You've also implied that Jesus Christ is merely the flesh that made the image of God visible. This is not true, since it denies the eternal nature of God, but it is also impossible because the Son is begotten of the Father and, as I've said before, deity cannot beget humanity, anymore than a stalk of wheat could beget a goldfish.

Furthermore, if your views on the nature of God were in line with Christian doctrine, then you'd have no problems answering my questions. Most importantly "Who do you say that the Son of Man is?" but also my questions in post #24

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Post #: 38
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/24/2008 4:41:54 PM   
figmentPez


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Cowgurl4christ,
I really hope that you are still reading this thread, despite the arguments. The nature of God is highly important to the Christian life, because our focus in faith needs to be on God. If we do not know who God has revealed Himself to be, how can we love, follow and believe in Him?

If any of the posters promoting false teaching have PMed you, please check their claims against scripture. I further encourage you to bring those teachings before these forums, so that we can show you the scripture that will either affirm or deny whatever someone is trying to teach you.

I remind you of the teachings of scripture:

Galatains 1:8-9
8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
9As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

Preaching a God that is contrary to the God taught by scripture is teaching another gospel. Those who deny the triune God of scripture are denying the true God.

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Post #: 39
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/24/2008 9:07:45 PM   
bob97


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figmentPez...

quote:

Furthermore, if your views on the nature of God were in line with Christian doctrine, then you'd have no problems answering my questions. Most importantly "Who do you say that the Son of Man is?


Jesus Christ is God!


quote:

But also my questions in post #24:Who had glory with the Father before the world began?


Jesus Christ!

Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are both God and They both proceed from the Father…there is only one God.

I have never denied these facts and have stated them to be true in prior post.

Bob

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The LORD clears the road for me!
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Post #: 40
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/25/2008 1:11:55 AM   
bob97


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A study of the first chapter of Hebrews will give us a very clear picture of the position of Jesus Christ.

Mod note: following is quoted from another source

quote:

The first chapter begins to show the contrast of Jesus as God and King to the other created beings in this world including angels. It is only when we see Jesus for who He really is that we will be able to follow Him with the confidence that we are not following a mere man but the Creator of this world who bids us to follow.

Our writer points out that Jesus is this awesome God in whom we've trusted. He is no less than the Creator Himself as we see in HEB 1:2 "but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."

And so we continue to see how Jesus is the One who is not only the Son of man, but also King and Lord and Savior who is God our hope, the Son of God.


Bob

EDITED TOS 8

< Message edited by Kath -- 4/26/2008 4:53:37 PM >


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Post #: 41
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/26/2008 2:37:40 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: bob97
quote:

Furthermore, if your views on the nature of God were in line with Christian doctrine, then you'd have no problems answering my questions. Most importantly "Who do you say that the Son of Man is?


Jesus Christ is God!


Okay, so your assertion is that the Son of Man is God. Okay, then who do you say that the Ancient of Days is?

quote:

A study of the first chapter of Hebrews will give us a very clear picture of the position of Jesus Christ.


A study you didn't do yourself, but simply copied and pasted from another site without giving credit. Many of the things it says are true. The Son of God is indeed creator, as is the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of one nature. Let me start with what the author of this work gets wrong.

quote:

And so we continue to see how Jesus is the One who is not only the Son of man, but also King and Lord and Savior who is God our hope, the Son of God.


This passage in Hebrews isn't necessary to prove that the Son of Man is the King, LORD, Savior and God, because that is proven by the context of the origin of the Son of Man as messianic prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14. This author clearly has no idea what it means for Jesus Christ to be the Son of Man.

quote:

The exact representation of his being, or nature, carries with it the idea of being indistinguishable.


This is not true! If the Father and the Son were indistinguishable, then scripture would not distinguish between the two!!! Which brings me back to all the questions from post #24 that you have never answered!

John 6:38-40
So, who came down from heaven, and who sent him? Whose will is being done, and whose will is not being done? Who will be raising up believers on the last day?

John 8:16-19
Who testifies in this verse? Who are the two witnesses that Jesus Christ is talking about?

Luke 23:46
Whose spirit is being committed here and who is being addressed?

The last one you did manage to answer:

quote:

quote:

Who had glory with the Father before the world began?


Jesus Christ!


Quoting back to me the passage that I originally included with the question didn't really answer the question, because you missed the important part of what scripture is saying! The article you quoted says that the Father and the Son cannot be distinguished, but scripture says that the Son was with the Father before the world began. How could someone be with someone else, if there is no "else" between them? If there is no distinction between the Father and the Son, then why does Hebrews have the Father saying things about the Son? Why is the Father not saying these things about Himself?

Furthermore, you've previously claimed that the Son only came into existence when God became incarnate, but this passage shows that the Son is eternal in existence because He existed with the Father before the world began.

This is why a trinitarian doctrine is insisted upon by earnest study of scripture. Scripture declares that there is one God, and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each that one God, that they are of one being. However, scripture also insists that they are distinct from each other, such that the Father is not the Son, despite them both being a singular God. How this can be may be beyond human comprehension, but it is none-the-less what God has declared about Himself.

< Message edited by figmentPez -- 4/26/2008 2:44:02 PM >


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RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/26/2008 4:51:51 PM   
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bob97

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Post #: 43
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/26/2008 11:39:12 PM   
Sabellius

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: figmentPez
as I've said before, deity cannot beget humanity, anymore than a stalk of wheat could beget a goldfish.


Before I generally comment to this, can you explain what happened with the Holy Spirit hovered over Mary? What can we say about chromosomes (x and y) here and the necessary participation from both parties? In the end I think you argument will prove to be vacuous really.
Post #: 44
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/27/2008 12:08:20 AM   
bob97


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figmentPez,

quote:

Okay, so your assertion is that the Son of Man is God. Okay, then who do you say that the Ancient of Days is?


The Ancient of Days is God the Father of course and Jesus Christ is Son of man

quote:

John 6:38-40
So, who came down from heaven, and who sent him? Whose will is being done, and whose will is not being done? Who will be raising up believers on the last day?

John 8:16-19
Who testifies in this verse? Who are the two witnesses that Jesus Christ is talking about?

Luke 23:46
Whose spirit is being committed here and who is being addressed?


God of course sent His Son, Jesus Christ and of course Christ is doing the will of the Father. I have never denied any of this, in fact I have stated it to be fact; God sent the Son to do the will of the Father.

quote:

Furthermore, you've previously claimed that the Son only came into existence when God became incarnate, but this passage shows that the Son is eternal in existence because He existed with the Father before the world began.


Of course Christ existed before the creation of the world, He created it. Do you understand the concept of multiple dimensional time as opposed to lineal time?


Now a question for you. Do you believe Hebrews I:3 to be true and if so how do you explain it in context to your understanding?

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Also, how do you understand Col 2:9;

Col.2:9: "For in Him (Christ) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form"

Bob

_____________________________

The LORD clears the road for me!
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Post #: 45
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/27/2008 2:47:05 AM   
Ephesians4_32


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quote:

ORIGINAL: figmentPez

quote:

ORIGINAL: mvic

No one can really answer this for you with any certainty, and neither can anyone really answer your other questions.


I've all but given up posting on these forums. For years I have posted in defense of trinitarian doctrine, and it is ignorant posts like this that have led me to such despair that I just can't take the emotional strain of defending truth, along with all the other troubles in my life. However, cowgurl4christ deserves to hear the truth.


I hear you and I empathize. I know about the emotional strain, but I want you to know how very, very much I appreciate your posts about the Triune God! You have eased my burden! I'm adding you to my prayer list. You have done so much for the Lord on these forums! I can't thank you enough.

quote:

ORIGINAL: figmentPez
This is why a trinitarian doctrine is insisted upon by earnest study of scripture. Scripture declares that there is one God, and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each that one God, that they are of one being. However, scripture also insists that they are distinct from each other, such that the Father is not the Son, despite them both being a singular God. How this can be may be beyond human comprehension, but it is none-the-less what God has declared about Himself.


Amen!
Post #: 46
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/27/2008 3:48:56 PM   
Heavendweller

 

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quote:

Ephesians4_32
I want you to know how very, very much I appreciate your posts about the Triune God! You have eased my burden! I'm adding you to my prayer list. You have done so much for the Lord on these forums! I can't thank you enough.

Figment,
I thank you along with Ephesians. And thanks for the links to the Creeds. God has given you a gift in being able to articulate the Trinity and the Deity of Christ, all which are increasingly being attacked by those who would call themselves "Christians." They need to take heed to the warnings of St. Athansius and the Apostles.

God bless you,
Heavendweller
Post #: 47
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/27/2008 8:44:48 PM   
Sabellius

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: figmentPez

This is why a trinitarian doctrine is insisted upon by earnest study of scripture. Scripture declares that there is one God, and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each that one God, that they are of one being. However, scripture also insists that they are distinct from each other, such that the Father is not the Son, despite them both being a singular God. How this can be may be beyond human comprehension, but it is none-the-less what God has declared about Himself.


I am not disagreeing with your post per se as it stands against Bob. I did want more from you though about this paragraph above. You suggest that "earnest study" is what brings about this doctrine yet Scripture declares it, you presumed the trinity of three, within one being. It is without human comprehension but is declared? I am not sure if the meanings of those terms are really compatible.

Also, is a person a being, or at least has being? Does God have three eternal sub-beings then? Or is there some problem here with word the word persons in relation to God's singular being.

Actually the 4th Century Cappodocian fathers posited that the subsistence of the hypostasis of God was indeed mysterious. It seemed to lay beyond human speech and comprehension.
Post #: 48
RE: A Few questions regarding Jesus and God the Father - 4/27/2008 11:06:05 PM   
figmentPez


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quote:

ORIGINAL: bob97
quote:

Okay, so your assertion is that the Son of Man is God. Okay, then who do you say that the Ancient of Days is?


The Ancient of Days is God the Father of course and Jesus Christ is Son of man

quote:

John 6:38-40
So, who came down from heaven, and who sent him? Whose will is being done, and whose will is not being done? Who will be raising up believers on the last day?

John 8:16-19
Who testifies in this verse? Who are the two witnesses that Jesus Christ is talking about?

Luke 23:46
Whose spirit is being committed here and who is being addressed?


God of course sent His Son, Jesus Christ and of course Christ is doing the will of the Father. I have never denied any of this, in fact I have stated it to be fact; God sent the Son to do the will of the Father.


Okay, keep those answers in mind. "Oneness" and many other heresies deny those truths in one form or another. That's why the "oneness" proponents on these boards have been so terrified to tell me who they say that the Son of Man is. Not only do they know their answer violates TOS, hopefully the Holy Spirit is working on their conscience to make them aware that God is not pleased with the answer their heresy leads them to. You wouldn't believe some of the answers I've gotten to that question on these forums in the past. One claimed the Son of Man was Israel, another claimed the Church, a third said that the son of man was just a flesh body and yet another claimed that prophecy was vague and unreliable and we couldn't really say anything about God from reading about visions of heaven.

Other wrong answers I've gotten. In response to John 6, I've been told that it was a flesh body sent from heaven, and that it was Christ's humanity that was submitting his will to the spirit of the Father dwelling inside him, with no answer as to why the same one who says that He came not to do His own will is the same one who says He will raise believers on the last day. "Oneness" heresy has to twist basic grammar to be able to reach their conclusion, making the speech of Jesus Christ into that of a madman. Furthermore, they don't even realize that by claiming that there is a flesh body with it's own will apart from the spirit living within it (indeed, with another spirit as well, according to Luke 23) they have effectively declared that this flesh body that they call the "son of man" is a person in it's own right, but a person that is not God. They then go on to say that this body died on the cross, and that God did not die for our sins!

Let's look at that last assertion of "oneness", that God did not die on the cross:

Revelation 1:17-18
17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last 18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Now, "the first and the last" is a title claimed by the LORD in Isaiah (41:4 & 44:6), and the living One is a possible translation of the name of the LORD (YHWH, the tetragrammaton). The LORD God says that He was dead, and now He is alive forevermore. God really and truly did die on the cross for our sins. The Father did not die, but the Son did, and the Son of God is inherently God.

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Furthermore, you've previously claimed that the Son only came into existence when God became incarnate, but this passage shows that the Son is eternal in existence because He existed with the Father before the world began.


Of course Christ existed before the creation of the world, He created it. Do you understand the concept of multiple dimensional time as opposed to lineal time?


I'm a SciFi fan (and a fan of "hard" Sci-Fi, not just Trek and other fluff), so I'm familar with all sorts of different theories on how time can be non-linear. However, none of that should come into play in our understanding that the Son of God must eternally be the Son of God. The Father / Son relationship within these two persons of the triune God is exactly that, a relationship that exists within God. This is the very nature of God, not something to do with God's relationship to creation. Creation was NOT and then was. God WAS and IS and IS TO COME (Rev 4:8, among other places), the eternal and unchanging God. God exists independent of creation, and is not reliant on it. God's nature is to be who He is, as He says "I AM WHO I AM". If the Father/Son relationship within God were dependent on creation, then that would mean that God changed, and that is impossible. The God who WAS when creation was NOT is just the same now as He was before creation (and, arguably, time is part of creation). The Only Begotten Son of God, God of God, must be begotten of God independent of creation, because saying that the relationship within God relies on creation would mean that God changed.

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Now a question for you. Do you believe Hebrews I:3 to be true and if so how do you explain it in context to your understanding?

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Also, how do you understand Col 2:9;

Col.2:9: "For in Him (Christ) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form"


To answer those, I reference two chapters in scripture I've already quoted other verses from:

Daniel 7:9
9"I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.

Revelation 1:13-15
and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

Once again, we have the Ancient of Days, and the Son of Man. The Father and the Son. These two passages show us the spiritual appearance of the Father and the Son, and they are the same, they "look" just alike. It is nature of creation that sons resemble their fathers, to a certain extent, and that is to point us to the original father/son relationship, is that between the Father and His Only Begotten Son. The Son is deity, just as the Father is deity. They are not only of the same type, they are of the same substance, united as one God with the Holy Spirit (who is not begotten, but proceeds). The things about the Father that make Him who HE IS, are also true about the Son. The Son is the fullness of Deity, because there is nothing about the essential nature of God that the Son is not.

Indeed, the Son was the fullness of deity before becoming incarnate. Colossians 1 tells us that "by Him all things things were created..." (v.16), "... For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him." That is not referring to the incarnation, because the incarnation did not exist when all things were created. The Son was the Son, and had all the fullness of deity dwelling in Him, before that deity dwelled in human flesh.

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