Pharisees … asked Him a question … “Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus
said … “‘You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”
(Matthew
22:34-38)
Matthew 5:20 (NKJV) records Jesus’ warning: “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” If one would have righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees (and righteousness can be defined as “fulfilling the commandments”), it is prudent to begin with what both Jesus and the Pharisees agree is the greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27 all record the saying of Jesus cited at the first of this post. While the saying of Jesus in Matthew and Luke is truncated from the full command from Deuteronomy, Mark and the Jews emphasize the full text of what they call the Shema. The term Shema is translated “Hear!” and the entire Shema is as follows: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NKJV). Jews believe that their righteousness with regard to this command exceeds the righteousness of Christians because of the emphasis of the Shema on monotheism: The LORD our God … is one. They suggest that Christian teachings of the Trinity set up three Gods, rather than just the one. Before we consider how to fulfill the greatest commandment, we need to, first, tackle the question of who God is.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Henry Fischel, my (Jewish) major professor of Hebrew at Indiana University pointed out to me that the word “Trinity” appears in neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament. Nevertheless, the words “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” do appear together in the baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19 (NKJV): “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” On the day of Pentecost, Peter, however, used a somewhat different baptismal formula: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38 NKJV). Paul was told by Ananias in Acts 22:16 (NKJV) “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” And, Paul simply mentions baptism into “Christ Jesus” in Romans 6:3-4 (NKJV): Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” It seems to me that any of these baptismal formulas is acceptable—so long as it is Jesus into whom one is baptized. Acts 19:1-5 recounts Paul’s rebaptism of twelve individuals in Ephesus who were baptized only with John the Baptist’s baptism—a baptism of repentance, with no reference to Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Paul baptized them “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Then Paul (an apostle) laid hands on them and they received gifts of the Holy Spirit—tongues and prophecy. Spiritual gifts were conferred only by the laying on of the hands of apostles (Google: “Stan.Point Logic of Christianity 17”). Yet, all Christians who are baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ … receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NKJV). What exactly that “gift of the Holy Spirit” is will be considered momentarily.
Another passage that
uses the words meaning Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit together is actually not in the earliest texts; it is a
later textual addition—1 John 5:7 (NKJV): “For there are
three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit;
and these three are one.” Although Christians often cite this passage as
evidence of a doctrine of Trinity, the words “the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Spirit” are not in the earliest texts of 1 John. The vast majority of
recent translations recognize this fact by excluding the terminology from this
passage--Holman
Christian Standard Bible, English
Standard Version,
New American
Standard Bible,
New
International Version,
New Living
Translation,
New Revised
Standard,
American
Standard Version,
Common English
Bible,
The Complete
Jewish Bible,
The Darby
Translation,
Good News
Translation,
GOD'S WORD
Translation,
Lexham English
Bible,
New Century
Version,
New
International Reader's Version, Revised
Standard Version,
World English
Bible,
and Weymouth New
Testament.
The SBL Greek New
Testament
and even The Latin
Vulgate
have also eliminated the language.
As cited above,
the New King James Version retains the language, as it seeks to remain close to
the old King James Version, published in 1611 (before modern textual criticism
demonstrated that the words were a late addition). Other old translations--Wycliffe published from 1382 to 1395, Tyndale published c. 1522–1535, the Douay-Rheims
Catholic Bible
published 1582, and the Webster
Bible
published 1833—have the Trinitarian language, along with lesser known recent
translations--Jubilee Bible
2000,
Third
Millennium Bible,
and Young's
Literal Translation.
One should not base one’s Trinitarian doctrine on the 1 John 5:7 passage. It
was not in the original text.
The Holy Spirit
It is not blasphemous to suggest to a Jew that the Holy Spirit exists. There are more than sixty passages in the Hebrew Old Testament explicitly mentioning the Holy Spirit (aka the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the LORD, Your [i.e., God’s] Spirit, the Spirit, My [i.e., God’s] Spirit, Your [i.e., God’s] good Spirit, a new Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord). These passages mentioning the Holy Spirit begin in Genesis 1:2 with the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters at the beginning of Creation. Furthermore, Jews understand that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of prophecy. That means the Holy Spirit is that which God placed in His prophets to deliver His messages to humans. The Pharisees believed that the operation of God’s Holy Spirit to inspire prophecy ceased with Malachi—which they assumed to be the last inspired book of the Bible. For this reason, they could not accept John the Baptist as a prophet, let alone accept the early Christian prophets. Nevertheless, they still believed that God could speak to humans through the occasional words of children and the mentally handicapped (indelicately called “fools” by the Jews). This was still the Holy Spirit operating. Jesus alluded to this phenomenon on Palm Sunday in Matthew 21:15-16 (NKJV): “But when the chief priests and scribes saw … the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant and said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise” [Psalm 8:2]?”
Pharisees also believed that God’s spirit
continued to speak to humans through what they called a Bat Qol (or Bat Kol: a
mysterious voice from Heaven). According to “Bat
Kol: A Divine Voice | My Jewish Learning”:
[B]at kol, literally “daughter of a voice,” refers
to a heavenly voice that proclaims God’s will or a divine judgment in a matter
of legal dispute. The term itself doesn’t appear anywhere in the Hebrew Bible,
though God’s voice is heard frequently in the Bible. Later sources indicate
that there were bat kols in biblical times that were not recorded in the text,
as in the Talmud’s declaration that
a bat kol announced the death of Moses. The clearest statement of the
nature of the bat kol is the Talmud’s declaration that the bat kol served as a
means of communication between God and humankind after the end of the prophetic
era. Though this teaching clearly connects a bat kol to the prophecies of the
Bible, instances of the latter indicate explicitly in the text that it is God
speaking, while the language of “daughter of a voice” concerning a bat kol
suggests it is some sense a lesser (yet still divinely originating) voice. The
Tosafot, commenting on a passage concerning a bat kol in Tractate Sanhedrin,
distinguishes it from a voice that descends directly from heaven (which might
refer to traditional prophecy), comparing it instead to an echo, a voice that
emerges from within another voice.
The term appears only twice in the Mishnah, but it is found
frequently in the Talmud.
Bottom Line: Pharisees also believed that God’s Spirit
was/is active in the Bat Qol. Christians will note: a Bat Qol occurs at Jesus’s
baptism and another at his transfiguration. Furthermore, a Bat Qol of Jesus’s
voice speaks to Saul of Tarsus at his conversion. The fact that Christians
believe that the Holy Spirit is still active (though, like the Jews, believing
that the age of prophecy is now ceased) does not suggest that Christian
doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit is blasphemous or even inferior to the
views of the Pharisees. The Jews have no problem believing that the existence
of the Spirit of God does not compromise their doctrine of monotheism. Why
should they contend that Christian belief in the Holy Spirit would compromise a
doctrine of monotheism?
The “Talmud’s
declaration that the bat kol served as a means of communication between God
and humankind” (emphasis mine) is a fair description of all activity of the
Holy Spirit (not just the Bat Qol). The Holy Spirit spoke through prophets,
children, the Bat Qol, angels, the written word, and directly (from God to
humans). Jewish scholar G. F. Moore links three terms together in his chapter
entitled, "The Word of God: The
Spirit," Moore states, "God's will is made known or effectuated in
the world not only through personal agents (ANGELS),
but directly by his WORD or by his SPIRIT" (emphases mine). The Apostle
Paul, in Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV), is in agreement with Moore’s observation: “And take … the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Although the English is
confusing, the word “which” in this passage cannot be referring back to the
term “sword,” since, in the Greek, “sword” is a feminine noun and “which” is a
neuter pronoun. The only neuter noun “which” could refer back to is the neuter
noun “Spirit.” The Spirit is the word of God, just as Moore
demonstrates. (Incidentally, the Greek word for “word,” here, is not logos,
but rhēma, from the same root as “rhetoric.” This might indicate that in
the armor of God, His Spirit of persuasion is the sword we wield;
whereas, God’s Word/Logos in John’s Gospel might refer more to His
powerful spoken fiats of creation. (Since my Ph.D. is in Communication,
I pay close attention to such distinctions.)
Since Jesus
emphasizes that God is spirit (John 4:24) and the facts that the “Spirit of
God” is hovering over the face of the waters and God is speaking “words” are
all found in Genesis 1:1-3, the possibility of the Word/Logos of John
chapter 1 being identified as the Spirit of God is a distinct possibility. God and His Word are one and the same. There
is no threat to the doctrine of monotheism when God and His Spirit are
mentioned as existing together any more than there would be the implication
that my words when uttered are somehow different from me as a single human
being. Later in the first chapter of John, the Logos-becomes-flesh (as
Jesus) and dwells among us.
The fact that God (His
Spirit) speaks to the darkness (creating light), to the waters (creating
a firmament and, later, creating sea creatures, birds, beasts, cattle, and
creeping things), to the land (creating vegetation), etc., does not preclude
God from communicating with humans, as well, through His Holy Spirit. 2
Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV) states: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” While
Jesus purchased “grace” for us, and God so “loved” the world that He gave Jesus
to us, the Holy Spirit offers us “communion with Him.” The word translated
“communion” is the Greek word koinōnia (frequently, translated
“fellowship”). It means, sharing or having things in common. The English words
“common,” “communion,” and “communication” have the same root. As a professor
of “communication,” I can assure you that you will have great difficulty in
“communicating” with another human, unless you have things in common
with that individual (especially, a common language). Japanese-speaking
and English-speaking individuals have great difficulty communicating until they
learn each other’s language. In John 14:16-18 (NKJV), Jesus promises: “I will
pray the Father and He will give you another Helper [paraclete,
literally: one whom you call alongside you, such as a friend or companion],
that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth … you know Him, for He
dwells with you and will be in you.” This is what Peter meant on the day of
Pentecost, when he promised that those who are baptized will receive the “gift
of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NKJV). God doesn’t need to give you miraculous
gifts of prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues, etc. for you to simply enjoy His
company and communicate with Him. Everything
you would hope to find when communicating with your best friend—liberty,
righteousness, peace, and joy—you will find in God’s
companionship through His Holy Spirit. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is
there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV). Romans 14:17 (NKJV) states
that there is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) even adds to the benefits of being the companion of
the Holy Spirit: “the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control.” The words of the genie in the Disney movie “Aladdin” should
more accurately be applied to the Holy Spirit: “You ain’t never had a friend
like me!” Not only is He our friend, He is our teacher, the One who reminds us
of things God has commanded us. “He
will teach [us] all things, and bring to [our] remembrance all things that [Jesus]
said to [us].” (John 14:26 NKJV). He will guide us “into all
truth” (John 16:12). That’s true communication. That’s communion. That’s the
Holy Spirit.
The Father and the Son
The Pharisees would have no problem believing in God the Father. Several Old Testament passages—Deuteronomy 32:6, Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 3:19, Psalm 68:5, Jeremiah 31:9, Isaiah 63:16, and Malachi 2:10—all refer to God as Father. Several other passages refer to (especially Israel as) His son/s. To say that Christians believe in God the Father is not problematic, although, most frequently, the father-son relationship of God in the Old Testament is with Israel as His son. Perhaps, the reason some Jews might shy away from the “Father” language—except to say that Abraham is their father—is that Christians use the terminology in connection with His relationship to Jesus. This is the stumbling block over which two millennia of Jews have tripped. When the New Testament refers to Jesus as the Son of God, Jews consider that to be polytheistic rather than monotheistic. This Pharisaic thought process is encapsulated in John 10:33-36 (NKJV):
The
Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but
for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” Jesus answered
them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the
Scripture cannot be
broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are
blaspheming,’ because I
said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
Jesus is, here,
defending Himself for claiming to be the “Son of God.” To defend Himself, Jesus
cites Psalm 82 (NKJV):
God stands in the congregation of the [gods,
re: LXX];
He judges among the gods.
How long will you judge unjustly,
And show partiality to the wicked? …
I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are [sons] of the Most High.
But you shall die like men.
Michael S. Heiser
(2008, page 3) states: “many scholars consider Psalm 82 to be either a vestige
of polytheism overlooked by monotheistic redactors or perhaps a deliberate
rhetorical use of Israel’s polytheistic past to declare the new outlook of
monotheism. After the exile, so it is put forth, the gods of the nations are
relegated to the status of angels.” Jesus and John, apparently, did not get that
memo. Even “angels” is not an appropriate translation for “gods” in this
passage for Jesus, John, and, implicitly, their Jewish audience. I discuss both
the John 10 and Psalm 82 passages in my book Angels and Demons (page
82):
Jesus is quoted in John 10:33-36 as clearly implying
that the term “sons of the Most High” (from Psalm 82:6 …) refers to “human
judges.” Human judges are even called “gods/ELOHIM” in both Psalm 82:6 and
Exodus 22 ... Jesus was making the point that it was not blasphemous for him to
be called “god” or “son of God,” if even humans (judges) could be called “gods”
and “sons of the Most High.”
Those whom God has
called “gods” and “sons of the Most High” in Psalm 82 will “die like men.”
There are no accounts in the Bible of gods or angels dying.” Isaiah 14:15 does say
that Lucifer will die, but Lucifer is not an angel or any kind of divine being.
In Angels and Demons (page 96), I observe: “Granted, if we begin reading
in the middle of [Isaiah chapter 14], at verse 12, Lucifer can appear to be a
powerful angel who has fallen because of his attempt to rebel against ‘the Most
High.’ That is, until we reach verse 16 (where it is clear that Lucifer is a
man): ‘They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee,
[saying, Is] this the MAN that made the earth to tremble, that did shake
kingdoms?’ Verses 18-20 (KJV),
furthermore, point out that Lucifer is a ‘king.’”
On page 108 of his
book, Bauckham states: “Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions … always accepted
the existence of … [other] supernatural beings: angels … demons.” Without
further belaboring this point, I will direct any interested readers to my book Angels
and Demons, where I dispute the unambiguous existence of fallen angels in
the Bible and point out that the Gospel representations of demons are
misunderstood. Fallen angels and demons exist in non-canonical writings between
the Old and New Testament and (later) in the patristic writings, however. Jewish
scholar Bernard Bamberger admits that point, but concludes in his book Fallen
Angels (page 55): “The astounding thing is that, after some centuries of
experimentation with this idea, [by the first century AD] the authoritative
teachers of Judaism dropped it altogether.
… The main line of Jewish thought returned to an uncompromising
monotheism in which there was no room for satanic rebels.”
Certainly, according
to Jesus and John, the 82nd Psalm is not to be taken to suggest that
there are other “gods”—the various gods of the nations who meet from
time-to-time in congregation with God Almighty. Such an interpretation is
polytheistic; it also would make absolutely no sense for Jesus to use such a
passage (with such a doctrine) to defend himself against a charge of blasphemy.
From Jesus’s statement in the John 10 passage, alone, one might even infer that
Jesus saw Himself as a mere human (judge?) and not as a divine being at all.
However, John who records the event, sees something quite beyond a mere human
judge in Jesus. John chapter 1 will be discussed momentarily.
Another tack one
might make concerning a Christology of Jesus is found in Revelation 4-5. While
Jesus identifies Himself as the “Son of God” to the church at Thyatira in
Revelation 2:18, typically Revelation refers to Him as the Lamb. (Note that
Revelation 14:1 refers to the Lamb and His Father.) Just looking at Revelation 4-5,
however, Jesus is presented as newly worthy of praise along with the Father—a
new development in Heaven. I point out on pages 116-118 of my book Apocalyptic
Apologetic:
No Jew would
object [to Revelation chapter 4] … All are agreed that all creation should
“worship” the Lord God Almighty because of his creation of all things. The Baruch
Atah prayer of the Jews from the time of the Mishnah (Ber. 6:1) unto
the present time attests to that. The Shema of Israel attests that the Lord our
God is One.
Then
comes Jesus, in chapter 5 … the great stumbling block for many Jews. Chapter 5
has the audacity to explain how Jesus, like the Lord God Almighty, is now also
“worthy” of praise and worship and blessing. … “every creature which is in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea”
[Revelation 5:13] … say: “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto
him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever” (KJV).
…
What
made him worthy? He “was slain and … redeemed us to God by [his] blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation” (verse 9). Therefore, … angels,
living creatures, and elders … proclaimed: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory,
and blessing” (verse 12).
Jesus
and God are, thus, now both worthy of worship. This is what Jews stumble over.
Christians worship both God and Christ.
Even so, perhaps,
these two chapters could be taken to suggest that God Almighty is the only God.
In my book Revelation: The Human Drama (page 127), I point out: “Jesus
is never referred to as pantokratôr
(the Almighty)” in Revelation. Perhaps, it could be argued that Jesus (as a
man) is worthy of worship because He
“was slain and … redeemed us to God by [His] blood out of every kindred and
tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). God is worshiped as Creator.
Jesus is worshiped as our supreme sacrifice who redeemed us.
On the other hand, Jesus is explicitly identified as the “beginning (archē) of the creation of God” in Revelation 3:14. Some translators interpret this passage to suggest that Jesus was the first being whom God created. Possibly, sensing that viewing Jesus as the “beginning” of the creation of God, in Revelation 3:14, presents problems for Christology, G. K. Beale (p. 298), elaborately takes archē in the verse as the equivalent of prōtotokos [first-born] of all creation in Col 1:15 and prōtotokos [first-born] from the dead in Col 1:18). Beale admits that “most commentators think … the titles in 3:14 … link Jesus to the original creation.” Nevertheless, Beale argues, that the beginning of God’s creation in Rev 3:14, instead, designates “Christ as the sovereign inaugurator of the new creation … not over the original creation.” However, the terms archē/beginning and telos/end, are used by Revelation to refer to both God and Jesus (21:6, 22:13). In 21:6, the archē and the telos is a title for God. In 22:13, the archē and the telos is a title for Jesus. Since Revelation would never suggest that God had a “beginning/efficient cause” or an “end/final cause,” John is probably referring in these archē and telos formulas, instead, to a process that has a beginning/efficient cause [archē], namely, God’s creation (3:14).
Jesus is not just a man—He is the archē
of creation, for John. What does that mean? Craig Koester tries a translation
taking archē to mean “ruler” (of creation), but that does not
work, because John’s word for “ruler” is archōn
(see Revelation 1:5), not archē. Furthermore, since John employs
the polar opposites archē and telos in 21:6 and 22:13 in
parallel with the polar opposites alpha and the omega, plus in parallel with the polar opposites first and last in 22:13, John’s use of archē as “ruler” does not
make sense. What would be the polar opposite of ruler? Servant, perhaps, but
not telos/end.
Some New Testament
passages suggest that Jesus was the creator of the universe. Related to 1
Corinthians 8:6, Richard Bauckham (Jesus and the God of Israel, p. 29) sees
something entelechial in his discussion of Rom 11:36a, wherein “from
him, and through him, and to him [are] all things” “refers to God.” Yet, “in 1 Corinthians 8:6,
Paul has divided it between God and Christ, applying to God two of the prepositions
that describe God’s relationship as Creator (“from” and “for” or “to”) and the
third of these prepositions (“through”) to Christ. …That God is not only the
agent or efficient cause [understand: archē] of creation (“from him are all things”) and
the final cause or goal [understand: telos] of all things (“to
him are all things”), but also the instrumental cause [which also figures in
entelechy] (“through him are all things”) well expresses the typical Jewish
monotheistic concern that God used no one else to carry out his work of
creation, but accomplished it alone, solely by means of his own Word … Paul’s
reformulation in I Corinthians 8:6 includes Christ in this exclusively divine
work of creation by giving to him the role of instrumental cause.” Similar language is also used in Colossians 1:16-17, with the
agent or efficient cause (understand: archē), the instrumental
cause, and the final cause (understand: telos) all being applied
to Christ.
Furthermore, that
most important Logos Hymn of John states that all things were
made by the Logos. As discussed earlier in this blogpost and
quite frequently in several of my previous posts, I am inclined to understand Logos
as the Holy Spirit or Word of God. But God’s Holy Spirit also took on flesh and
dwelt among us in the person of Jesus (John 1:14). How is it possible that
Jesus took on flesh somewhere around 4-6 BC and yet was present en archē
to create the universe? Through the principle of entelechy:
1.
Consider
the way that one-celled amoeba/protozoa reproduce by simply dividing themselves.
There is no way of knowing which of the two “daughter cells” thus produced is
the parent and which is the child, and yet both of them were active in
the actions of the original amoeba/protozoa. If God and Jesus were active
together “as one” en archē, they both participated in creation,
even if Jesus took on flesh at a later date.
2.
Consider
the various passages that suggest that children, grandchildren, great
grandchildren, and beyond are active in the loins of their fathers (John 3:3-4,
Hebrews 7:1-10, Romans 5:12-21, and 1 Corinthians 15:22). If all of Adam’s
offspring preexist in the loins of Adam and are somehow held accountable for
the actions of their father Adam, because they participated in his sin, then
God and Jesus were active together “as one” en archē, as they
both participated in creation even if Jesus took on flesh at a later date.
3.
Consider
that, mystically, when they become husband and wife, two individuals—man and
woman—become one flesh. In like fashion, when Jesus’s life in the flesh
is completed, He returns to God and becomes “one” with Him again (John
10:30, 14:10-11, 20).
Since entelechy observes that all
endings (telos) are implicit in their beginnings (en archē),
and since the Father and Son are both called archē by John in
Revelation, and the Logos is present en archē in John 1, verses such as the following are
much easier to understand from the perspective of entelechy:
•
Eph
1:4: “He chose us ἐν [en] Him before the foundation of the
world.”
•
John
17:24: “You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
•
1
Pet 1:20: “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but
was manifest in these last times.”
•
Matt
25:34: “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
•
Matt
13:35: “I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
•
2
Tim 1:9: “grace which was given to us ἐν [en] Christ Jesus before
time began.”
•
Heb
9:26: “He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the
world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself.”
•
Acts
15:18: "Known to God from eternity
are all His works.”
Not only are all
of God’s works known to Him from eternity, but they are also known to Logos
and Logos-become-flesh. If, therefore, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit know absolute
truth, concerning everything, there is no point of disagreement between them concerning
anything. People do not disagree about
things that are considered “known facts.”
(The only room for rhetoric—the art of persuading someone that something
is “probably or possibly” true, as opposed to simply stating that something is
“definitely” true—is if there are questions that have at least two
possible-but-unknown answers.) If people have trouble understanding how the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can rule the universe, without any conflict among
them, it is because they never argue; they never disagree, they
don’t have differing opinions, because they know “absolute truth”
for certain. The great theological danger of polytheism is not the idea that
God has a Son and a Spirit (explainable by entelechy). It is that he had a
divine rival, an opponent, a Lucifer, a Beelzebub. This is where
one’s theology begins to approach committing the “unforgiveable sin” (Matthew
12:24-32, Mark 3:22-30, Luke 11:15-20). This
is a very important area in which one’s righteousness must exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. More on that in my next post: “How
to Love God.”