The second part of the question is: Is each person God? The New Testament portrays Jesus as God and shows him to claim such in his own words. This is a major theme of the book of John. The very first verse says “the Word was God”. John records the miracles of Jesus to show he is God. He has power over nature, over sickness, even over death. He describes the miracle at Cana, turning water to wine, as revealing his glory (John 2:11).
Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God was a claim of deity. The Jews understood this and persecuted him for it. John 5:18 says “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.” Jesus also said “I and the Father are one”. See John 10:30. In verse 33, the Jews sought to kill him for they understood him to claim to be God. Paul expressed it this way: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:19) and “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
The resurrection is further proof that Jesus is God. He overcame the physical restraints on mortal men by overcoming death. It is the ultimate testimony to his being God. It is so important that Paul listed it as required belief for being saved. In Romans 10:9, he said “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Finally, we see Jesus as sitting on the throne at the right side of the Father. But, John put it bluntly in 1 John 5:20: “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
3 comments:
there are no comma's in the greek text. we added those by our own interpretation. just wanted to add that. all the marks in the greek text we have now have been added for clarity, but originally they were not there.
Let us create man in Our own image...
Chelle, I didn't read this latest post...i saw the verses Larry posted, but I did read your last response. Larry did mention that Jesus said "I and the Father are one." Paul also says taht Christ did not consider it robbery to count Himself equal with God. We do say, b/c Scripture affirms it, that our God is triune. He is One God, with three entities: Father, Son, Spirit. We are not modalists...we do not believe that God is one time father, then Spirit, then Son...But that God is all these things, together. It is fair enought to say that the term Triune/Trinity, is not biblical. It is not found in the text, that is not debatable. But Scripture does affirm that we serve One God, three parts, and not three separate "gods," making us pantheistic. three separate entities, one essance, God. that is some stuff in a nut shell, if you want me to elaborate more, I can. I just figured i'd add my own.
oh, inerrancy...we do believe in the infallability and inerrance of the Holy Writ, but we define them as being such in their original manuscripts...we do not have these manuscripts, but we have claims made by Jesus that not a "jot or tittle" shall be removed from the Scriptures...and over the course of history we have found many early/late texts, and have observed very little variance. The only differences usually lie in the marginal notes where Scribes would add to the text rather than take away, for the purpose of clarity. They saw removing from the text as irreverent, and much time and pain was taken to insure they were copied accurately. That is not deniable, such proof would be in the oldest manuscripts we have recently found, being the Dead Sea Scrolls. I'm in class...larry, i'm never visiting your site again. Never!!! wasn't it Tertullian that coined the term trinitas, or trinity?
The Hebrew says that. I said "pantheist" and meant to say Polytheist. But there is argument over the Hebrew, you'll have to argue by context for who the "us" is. But it seems to be clear enough to understand that there is a plurality in the Godhead, and that we're not made in the image of angels. I think this is the direction the eh Jehovah's witnesses' go. I'm just learning Hebrew, but I can check on that. I know we've discussed it once, but I dont think I can actually formlate much food for though...
as for the trinity, we believe by Faith. How else is it that we believe in things unseen, yet hope? How do we (1Peter1) Love Him though we do not see Him, and beleive in Him though we still do not see Him. We believe by faith, b/c it is given to us to believe. Honestly, if we sat and thought about it, the triunity of God is quite unfathomable...this is where it's faith. We believe this, though we may not comprehend it, but this is what is displayed in Scripture. Three separate entities, one essence. They are all equal and one as God. They all work together and in perfect harmony. But, this is essential to Christian Doctrine. I've heard people give all sorts of models to follow as illustrations, but none are ever good enough.
we are baptized not in Jesus alone, but in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit...the Father sent His Son, the Son sent the Spirit, and the Spirit testifies to Christ. But they are all equally God and One. Mathematically it doesn't work...3 does not equal 1. I definitely see that as a hang up. but consider it a divine mystery. It is almost inexplainable, but I think a great place to start in this is in Jesus' own claim, "I and the Father are one."
I do know that in Hebrew the term elohim, "God" is plural. So it can be translated as gods. But this would go against Christianities claim and Christs' by introducing the idea of a plurality of gods in the Godhead. But, our prof. pointed out that the Hebrews would at times pluralize words to signify one's importance. in this case, the Hebrew God is spoken of Singularly by use of the plural form to express His transcendence as God. I hope i expressed that correctly... hmm...alright, i'm going to go read! exe agathon nukton.
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