Category Archives: Christology

Oneness in Colossians

Ruins at ColossaeThe book of Colossians, originally a letter to the church in Colossae, is a great book to study when examining the doctrine of the oneness of God. This is a part of a continuing series, which can be found here on the oneness page.

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;” (Col 1:19 KJV) In this verse, Paul, a well educated Jewish teacher or rabbi, stated the message found in John chapter 1 succinctly. The entire divinity of God was found in Jesus Christ. He is both 100% man at the same time as being 100% God. There is no division in the spirit of God, or substance who makes up Jehovah. The LORD (YHWH) is not three emanations of a single spirit. He is one and he dwelled fully and inseparably in the human body of Jesus Christ.

Apostle Paul

Apostle Paul

“In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:” (Col 1:22 KJV) It was because the holy, pure and righteous God came and manifested himself in the body of Jesus that we have complete remission of our sins. When we identify with him, as found in 1 Corinthians 15, we take on the blood and are covered by it, and the protection it afforded on the passover.

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” (Col 2:8–12 KJV) This parallels the account written to the Corinthians by Paul. Again, Paul is declaring that we are buried with Jesus in baptism, and we rise from our old dead self through the blood shed by the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. Jesus is the express image of God, and is in the form of God. God manifested Himself in flesh so as to be the sacrificial lamb of the world. This plan or idea was in the beginning when God devised the  plan to redeem a fallen mankind.

“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” (Col 3:9–11 KJV) The Apostle reiterates the need for putting away our old lifestyle and habit. We are new creatures in Christ, or we should have a new mind and attitude toward life and how to live it when we meet God manifest in the flesh, face-to-face. We will not be perfect in this world, but we now have a faithful pattern to emulate. When we are knocked down, we must get up again!

Oneness in Deuteronomy

God is one, and only one, in being. He has not now, nor ever was, three persons in one substance as Tertullian and others would have us believe. What this means is that God is a single entity. He possesses one nature and has made his presence known in various forms called theophanies in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, God has revealed Himself as a man. Fully and completely as a man with a will, body, spirit, mind… everything that a human has, God had in the form of man as Jesus Christ.

God was so adamant about idolatry, He made it a law to forbid worship of any other gods, even forms of himself as an idol by forbidding likenesses, statues, etc… being carved out of rock for man to worship. As an example, Deuteronomy 11 states:

[Deut 11:26–28 KJV] “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”

God, YHWH, of the Old Testament is the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary, and was born into this world as the only begotten Son of God. This YHWH is the same God who carved the tablets of stone forbidding the worship of other Gods as verse 28 states so clearly. In Deuteronomy six, One of the boldest statements of God’s oneness is proclaimed:

[Deut 6:4–9 KJV] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

So engrained in the Jewish mind is this concept of only one God. It is the first prayer and the last prayer for the day. They wear garments with the command to worship one God sewn into the hem. It is the one command that all believers in the one true God should teach their children above all else.

[Deut 16:1–2 KJV] “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.”

In the sixteenth chapter, we find instructions on the observance of the Passover to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. In this pericope, a sacrifice was to be made in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. Notice the verses state God’s name in the singular! This command the Israelites accomplished by sacrificing where God choose to place his name, not their names, not a plethora of titles or theophanies, but his (singular) name.

[Deut 26:16–19 KJV] “This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.”

By obeying God’s commandments, He will set us aside as a special people. A people of His Name. A people of the name of Jesus! Practice holiness by doing as He has commanded. Do not worship false gods. Do not make God into something he is not, such as the trinity.  Our obligation is to live a holy life, set apart from the world and its need for idols, to remain true and steadfast to the one and only God who framed the heavens and put the stars in their places.

Eschatological Jesus or Non-Eschatological Jesus

While reading Four Portraits, One Jesus some time ago, I read the arguments for and against an eschatological kingdom as preached by Jesus.  The author breaks this down into five portraits of Jesus as painted by various scholars. These are:

  1. Cynic-like philosopher (proponents, most of the Jesus Seminar).
  2. Spirit-endowed holy man.
  3. A social revolutionary
  4. An eschatological prophet
  5. Messiah

The cynic-like philosopher portrays Jesus as a poet-peasant who challenged the social conventions of His day. The largest advocate of this theory is the Jesus Seminar.

The spirit filled holy man theory states Jesus was able to perform extraordinary things due to His close intimacy with God. The biggest proponent today is Geza Vermes who wrote the book Jesus the Jew.

Jesus as a social revolutionary is a modern conception which describes Jesus as a revolutionary seeking the violent overthrow of the Roman rule of Israel. They view Jesus as a grass roots sort of person trying to over throw oppressive Roman rule. Richard Horsley‘s Jesus and the Spiral of Violence describes this view.

One of the more widely held views today is the portrait of Jesus as an eschatological prophet heralding the coming end of the world. J. Weiss was a founding father of this view of Jesus.

Messiah views Jesus as a man who came to fulfill a specific task i.e. the redemption of man.

Which view do you hold?  I’ll be examining each view more completely in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!

Source:

Definitions taken from Four Portraits, One Jesus by Mark L. Strauss copyright 2007 published by Zondervan Press

The Jesus we missed: A Review

The Jesus we missed: A review.

Patrick Henry Reardon has written an interesting book describing the human aspects of Christ.  It is a well documented and cited work that should leave many readers intrigued. The book was aimed more at the academic than the lay reader in my opinion, including a lot of research into the characteristics and nature of Jesus Christ.

Every aspect of the childhood of Jesus portrayed in the Scriptures is reiterated and elaborated on by Reardon. From the lost story in Jerusalem to the wedding at Cana, the author discusses the implications these words of Scripture have on Christ’s humanity.  Other chapters include His baptism by John, Jesus at prayer, Jesus and the women, and His resurrection finalizes the book.

What is interesting to me is how clearly Jesus’ humanity is conveyed in the Scriptures.  He is always spoken of and referes to Himself as a man.  Yet we also see where Jesus so clearly declared to be God that the religious elite of the time picked up stones to kill Him on the spot without even a trial or dragging Him to the gates of the city where this sort of thing was usually done. It is awesome how God came to earth in the body of a man named Jesus the Christ specifically to redeem us back from our sinful ways!

All-in-all the book is well written, documented well, and does not skimp on adding additional notes. He references a lot of christological counsels that have occurred throughout the ages, incorporating them as appropriate. It is clear to me that he sees the oneness of God, even if he does not affirm it. I recommend it as a good introduction to what some may term the dual nature of Christ, even if that is a poor analogy to use of our God.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Is Jesus God?

Well the simple answer is yes.  The fullness of the godhead dwells in Jesus according to Col 2:9.  But what does this verse actually mean?  I will be teaching on the oneness of God at Heritage UPC in Bristol Connecticut this coming Wednesday.  As a part of the class I use this verse to support the oneness theological position so I figured I’d take a deeper look into what this verse means. The pericope of scripture this verse is taken from teaches against thinking of Christ as yet another man made philosophy. The nature of God is not merely a philosophical point to debate but necessary to live an abundant life in God.

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; Col 2:9 NKJV

οτι εν αυτω κατοικει παν το πληρωμα της θεοτητος σωματικως; Col 2:9 SNT

So we have the Greek of the 1550 Stephanus New Testament and the New King James Version above for comparison.  Let’s take a look at each of the key words in this verse.

Dwells: According to Thayer’s definition there are two definitions of κατοικει.
  1. to dwell, settle; metaphorically divine powers, influences, etc., are said to dwell in his soul, to pervade, prompt, govern it.
  2. to dwell in, inhabit; God is said to dwell in the temple, i.e. to be always present for worshippers.
Fullness: Thayer’s definitions for πληρωμα are now listed.
  1. that which is (has been) filled; a ship inasmuch as it is filled (i.e. manned) with sailors, rowers, and soldiers also in the NT, the body of believers, as that which is filled with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ.
  2. that which fills or with which a thing is filled; of those things which a ship is filled, freight and merchandise, sailors, oarsmen, soldiers also completeness or fulness of time.
  3. fulness, abundance.
  4. a fulfilling, keeping.
Godhead: Next we’ll define θεοτητος.
  1. deity; the state of being God, Godhead.
Bodily: Finally, the last word to flesh out is σωματικως.
  1. bodily, corporeally; of the exalted spiritual body, visible only to the inhabitants of heaven.
The state of being God completely filled the corporeal body of the man Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  God tabernacled or dwells in the body of Jesus Christ so completely as to fill every cell and every fiber of the body of Christ.  This is explained further in the gospel of John.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
In this pericope of scripture we have John describing the godhead (state of being God) as the mind (thought, idea, expression both verbal and non-verbal) of God in which He created the universe and everything we humans can see and that logos became flesh and tabernacled (dwelt, inhabited) in the corporeal body of Christ.
So we see that Jesus refers to simultaneously the body of Christ (including flesh, soul and spirit) as well as the Spirit of God (whom Moses, Abraham, and Adam communed with also known as the Father and whom we modern Apostolics commune with known as the Holy Ghost).
Jesus Christ is both completely man and completely deity.

Tertullian: A sketch

For today’s post, I’d like to highlight some things about the man who is known as one of the founding fathers of western Christianity, and many say one of the fathers of the doctrine of the trinity.

Tertullian:

  • Born around 160AD and died around 220AD although these dates are not firm.
  • Full name was Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus.
  • He was born in Carthage, a city in North Africa.
  • He was the son of a Roman Centurian and later converted to Christianity.
  • He was a Montanist.

Here is a small excerpt about what Montanists believed:

  • Believed is seeking out persecution as well as corporal punishment.
  • One who has fallen from grace could not be redeemed.
  • In 177AD the movement was banned as heretical.
  • The movement almost completely vanished by the sixth century.

One of Tertullian’s most famous works discussing the trinity is found in ‘Against Praxeas’.  In chapter three he states some enlightening things on his views of Christendom at his time.  According to Tertullian the majority of believers in Christ are ‘simple minded’.  He stated the majority of believers were startled at the doctrine of three-in-one.  Why were they startled?  Because most Christians at this time were under the belief (rightly so) that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, and not a personhood of one god with three persons.  This went against the Judaic beliefs that the Apostles taught as well as the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself!

He stated ‘The very rule of faith withdraws them from polytheism . . .’ which is true based on the teachings of only one God as found in the Sh’ema as well as the teachings of Christ.  Those Gentiles who had just been drawn out of worshipping a pantheon of gods were now rightfully confused.  Is God really three-in-one?  What’s the difference then between the Christian God and the Egyptian god Ra who was also described as three-in-one, or the Hindu god Vishnu who was three-in-one?

Tertullian believed in his own oikonomia, or how he interprets and practices the canon.  This is in line with his strict and rigid code that he practiced as a member of the heretical Montanist movement.

Tertullian writes ‘the numerical order and distribution of the trinity they assume to be a division of the unity . . .’ in chapter three.  Tertullian’s theology implies an order or ranking of the persons of the trinity.  Again he writes ‘in the Son and in the Holy Ghost, who have the second and the third places assigned to them,’.  As you can see, Tertullian without a doubt believes that there is a pecking order in the trinity with God the Father assuming the highest role.  Obviously, the other two hold to a lower position and stature.  If you ask most trinity professing Christians today, they will say almost the same thing Tertullian proposes in his writings.  His teachings have pervaded throughout Christendom to become the de facto standard in the way most Christians believe and perceive of God.

Lastly, in this post I’d like to leave you with Tertullian’s defense against modalists (which he admits is the majority of ‘simple minded’ believers) during his day.  He said because modalists believe in angels who are with God and help perform heavenly tasks and are themselves spirit beings from God why should they be offended and reject a plurality of persons in the Godhead?  So, basically, Tertullian would have them believe in the trinity because there are a multitude of angels so why not a multitude of persons in God.

Well, I believe I’ll stand upon what scripture tells me of the ontological and metaphysical nature of Christ.  Christ was both fully man and fully God.  In fact, I’ll even affirm the highlights from the council of Chalcedon in 451AD which were the following:

  • Christ is truly God
  • Christ is truly man
  • Christ has two natures
  • Christ is one person

 

Oneness in Isaiah

Isaiah is a wealth of prophetic prose describing the coming Messiah who is the God of the Old Testament, YHWH. Isaiah 9:6 is the classic example of this. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the goverment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. It is clear that Jesus Christ fulfilled all of these roles and is the mighty God spoken of by Isaiah.

Wonderful, A miraculous thing. Surely the world has not seen anything as miraculous as God the Father being born of a virgin as a tiny babe who would be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

goverment upon his shoulder, shkem is translated into the English as “a place of burdens”. Goverment can also mean Empire in the Hebrew, or in other words the kingdom would be His burden. Jesus came to save the Jew first, and then the Gentile also. Jesus was always about His Father’s business. For Jesus is God manifest or made visible in the flesh, blood, and bone.

Our counselor comes from the Hebrew word ya’ats. It meand guide, to advise, to deliberate, etc . . . Jesus is the exsemplary example of what we are to be as Christians. To other role model is needed. He is our all and all.

Jesus is the subject of Isaiah 9:6 with no doubts for none other in history has fulfilled all these roles and made himself the ultimate sacrifice for mankind’s sin. That sin which continues to be inherited year after year from our father, Adam. Isaiah makes a plethora of allusions to the monotheism held dear by all blieving Jews of his day.

I will be continuing to explore the book of Isaiah over this weekend and demonstrate the oneness message it cries to all believers.

Oneness in Exodus

Exod 20.1   And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The first and foremost of God’s commandments is stated here in Exodus verse 20:1-2. God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another. There can be no doubt that a monotheistic teaching was infused into the thinking of Moses. From the time of his forefathers, Moses was taught that there is only one God, the God revealed as the I AM in Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush.

Korban Pesach
The korban pesach or קרבן פסח “sacrifice of Passover” also known as the “Paschal Lamb” is the sacrifice that the Torah mandates to be brought on the eve of Passover, and eaten on the first night of the holiday with bitter herbs and matzo.1 This feast and holiday is described in Exodus chapter 12.

God restructured the Jewish calendar after this holiday. God made this the first month. An unblemished lamb of one year old was to be sacrificed for a single household. The Jewish household was considered a single entity lead by the patriarch or oldest male of the house. This was done in the home privately. The sacrifice was to be consumed in a single day, and the whole entity eaten. It was not to be soaked in water where it would disolve, but rather eaten whole as a single piece.

 

Consider some of its laws: a one-year old animal eaten in one group within one house; consumed as a whole entity without breaking any bone, and roasted that kept the meat as one entity rather than cooked where the meat disintegrates. Performed by Israel just prior to the Exodus, the unity within korban pesach unequivocally attests to G-d’s Oneness (Maharal, Gevuos Hashem Ch.36 & Ch.60).2

 

As can be seen, the ancient Israelites believed in their one true God. They believed so much in their monotheistic faith that they were willing to venture out into the unknown, face certain death, in order to place complete trust in the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob despite being surrounded by the polytheistic spread of Gods from Egypt. They knew the power of God and united behind Moses and stated “ALL THAT THE LORD hath spoken we will do.” This monotheistic nature of God continues to be one of the greatest attributes we know and understand about God. The incarnation of God made manifest in Jesus Christ does nothing to change the fact that there is only One God in heavenDue 6:4, and only One God who is saviour of all peoplesIsa 43:11.

 

Footnotes
1. Taken from Wikipedia article on Korban Pesach accessed on 29 May 2011.
2. Taken from The Living Law- Parshas Vayikra, a blog provided by Torah.org and accessed on 29 May 2011.

The Doxa of God

What is happening in John 17? Here is a classic pericope of mis-interpretation. We have Jesus praying to the Father, and with an improper understanding of the Word, all too often people jump to conclusions assuming this is proof or evidence of the Trinity. Let me attempt to best explain this prayer.

The word glory is doxa, which means magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity and grace. The man Christ was asking God the Father to glorify [doxazo= to honor, do honor to, hold in honor] him with the same magnificence dignity and grace that God held as an attribute or characteristic of His godliness before the creation of the cosmos.

God’s Word [Logos=thought, idea or expression of thought] that was a part of Him in the beginning was exalted by His name. That name is YHWH which in turn is transliterated as Jehovah … Jesus means Jehovah-Savior coming from Yah (Je) which is a shortened form of YHWH and yâsha‛ (sus) which is Hebrew for saviour.

All in all, this passage is dealing with the man Christ Jesus talking to the deity of God. In verse 12 we see Jesus saying that He kept them in God’s name. This was symbolic of keeping them in the truths of the attributes of God. One of these attributes was the oneness of God. Jesus goes on to say ’sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth.’ What we see is a prayer of the man Christ Jesus asking for God to protect those whom He must leave behind soon, until the comforter comes to lead them and guide them into that truth. The word is truth. The logos is truth… the logos was a characteristic or attribute that made God who He is. This was inseparable from God for it is a part of His identity. It was interwoven along with many other attributes of God forming who God is. Several other examples of His attributes include His omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience.