• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Balthasar

Guest
By the way Odsolo,


How does the above have any bearing on Tertullian's belief that "there was a time when neither sin existed with Him(God), nor the Son" or that God has not always been a Father?
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi Odsolo,

Odsolo said:
LINK TO THE POST. You do understand English don't you.

In post 660 you made the following accusation:

http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?p=20192496&postcount=660




Show me where,how and why I've misrepresented the trinity doctrine.

If you cannot show where, how and why I've not correctly stated the trinity, please recant your accusation.

This is my fifth request.
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi again hybrid,



But in what context does Tertullian say the Father is one substance with Son? Have you read Against Praxeas chapter 3? He compared the Son and the Spirit to angels in his defense of mantaining there is no division of the one substance of God. He said the angels are actually members of the Father's own substance, and since their existence does not destroy God's oneness, then neither does the Son and Spirit. His "Sun" analogy is to be seen in this light, encompassing creation withing the realm of God. Tertullian is the closest trinitarians come to any Church Father espousing the doctrine of the trinity, but as you can see for yourself he falls far short. Clement of Alexandria, who died about 215 C.E. for example, called Jesus in his prehuman existence "a creature" but called God "the uncreated and imperishable and only true God." He said that the Son "is next to the only omnipotent Father" but not equal to him.

Are you aware in Against Praxeas Tertullian at first argues for the binitarian position and called the Holy Spirit the Word of God? He was all over the place. In 207 he joined the Montanists. These folks believed themselves to be the Holy Spirit of God incarnate! Tertullian spoke in very modalistic terms when he formulated his Godhead in Latin as tres personae, una substantia. Sometimes he was a binitarian, at other times a trinitarian(actually Modalist) and at other times his God "wore the mask" of more than three personified beings !.


best wishes,


 
Upvote 0

gort

pedantric
Sep 18, 2003
10,451
194
70
Visit site
✟34,392.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married

No, Logos is what I had in mind, the divine expression.


But not by him.

ok.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are ...KJV

Col 1:16 Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God's Son, and everything was made for him. CEV

Because Jesus was the perfect image of the Father. If you want to take this literally it's a case for Modalism, not Trinitarianism.

Could'nt be modalism, as there are numerous places found in Scripure that would prohibit such.


Because Jesus was the perfect image of the Father...

You're getting warmer.....


<><
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi daneel,

No, Logos is what I had in mind, the divine expression.

What do you mean by "divine expression"? If you mean image of God instead of actually God Almighty you're on the right track.

Origen says A. John uses two words for God(Theos vs. Ho Theos) in John 1:1 . Whereelse Logos as God is referred to by him as Theos (just as human judges are also called Theos in John 10:34 etc.) God Almighty as God is referred to by him as Ho Theos in John 1:1. Are you with me?

ok.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are ...KJV


Nice try. You're taking my intented usage of the word 'by" in my last post out of context. In that post I was using the word "by" in the sense of it's application to the prime mover. The intent of the word "by" in Col. 1:16 is as I would say to you , "By me this house was built" (although it was actually my father who built the house since he provided the finances and the carpenters. I can say the house was built by me because, as my father's delegated representative, I passed down his instructions to the carpenters and directed them what to do.)

If you read back immediately to Col. 1:15 it says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation". It was "by" this "firstborn of all creation" that everything was created, although God was ultimately responsible for the creation. That's why Christ said,"On my own I can do nothing." John 1:3 captures puts it in another way, "Through him all things were made."


Could'nt be modalism, as there are numerous places found in Scripure that would prohibit such.


Subjective. Similarily, Oneness Pentacoastals would argue there are numerous places found in Scripture that would prohibit trinitarianism.

Here's your problem: Standing on it's own the following scripture ,"He who has seen me has seen the Father" makes sense only two ways.

(a) Christ was the perfect image of the Father.
(b) Christ was the Father.

Pick one.
 
Upvote 0

gort

pedantric
Sep 18, 2003
10,451
194
70
Visit site
✟34,392.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
What do you mean by "divine expression"? If you mean image of God instead of actually God Almighty you're on the right track.

Image and essence of God Almighty as revealed to man by the word of God. In all things and ways. The very heart of God, especially.



I find theos is used in every instance for God.


Thank you. Your intended usage of the word 'by' can be carried further. You could have designed the house yourself, and built it with your hands in its entirety.

But we're talking about God and the creation of all things. Unless angels have that ability, I'm left with God as the creator.


The KJV renders it "creature" and not "creation". Regardless, before the foundations of the world, He was.

Here's your problem: Standing on it's own the following scripture ,"He who has seen me has seen the Father" makes sense only two ways.

(a) Christ was the perfect image of the Father.
(b) Christ was the Father.

Pick one.

Neither. Me thinks you're looking at it literal.

Try looking deeper.

Jesus once said it is not what goes into a man that defiles him. But the things that come from the man are what defiles him. And these things come from the heart.

The opposite is also true.

So, going back to your question above, the answer is...

(c) Christ is the very heart of God


<><
 
Upvote 0

Harlin

Well-Known Member
Nov 3, 2005
403
6
47
✟568.00
Faith


Hi Hybrid, God bless you, I appreciate your humour with the OPRAH thing. It would not surprise me in the slightest if she did have an explaination!!. I agree with you heaven would be noisy, but, I am not convinced that it will be the same kinds of noise on earth. True worship is definitely something I pray to be able to participate in.

I never said Jesus was inferior to God. Did God say to an inferior, "Let us make man in our image"?.........ABSOLUTELY NOT........any doctrine that takes away the deity of Christ is erroneous in my opinion. The Bible is very clear on this point, although some modern translations do attack the deity of Christ. Paul states that Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God, this can only be true if Jesus is equal with God. Paul was an inspired man and I believe him. Jesus is the creator, something that only God can do. Only God can give life. My understanding is that the only difference between the Father and the Son is age, the Son has every other aspect of divinity, all these things He obtained by virtue of His birth.


Still am opposed to paganism too by the way, just for the record. . Honestly do they have no Santa Claus in Virginia?

Harlin
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi daneel,

Image and essence of God Almighty as revealed to man by the word of God. In all things and ways. The very heart of God, especially.


I understand Christ is the "image of God"(Col 1:15), but where do you get "Christ is the image and essence of God"? Verse and chapter please? Also if you claim Christ is the "very heart of God, especially" please show us which scripture, so we can see what that scripture actually says.

Col 1:15

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."

It's like saying Bob is a splitting image of his father Jack. From this statement we do not conclude Bob is essentially Jack or Bob is the same being as Jack his father, if language and words have any meaning at all. No, no, we say Bob is like his father, but the two are not the same being .

The words "firstborn of all creation" render Christ within the sub-set of things created. There is no honest way around this. To say the Son is a second person of the same being as his Father is to render the terms Father and Son nonsensical.


I find theos is used in every instance for God.

Even humans are called Theos in John 10:34.Why don't you call these humans God?

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word(Logos) and the Word(Logos) was with God(Ho Theos) and the Word (Logos) was God(Theos)"

Do you not see why A. John uses Ho Theos for God and Theos for Jesus in John 1:1. Origen the church father saw it, and explained why and he was the foremost scholar of his time in the Greek !


Thank you. Your intended usage of the word 'by' can be carried further. You could have designed the house yourself, and built it with your hands in its entirety.

The usage of the word "by" in Co. 1:16 cannot be "carried further" to mean Christ was the principle of creation(prime mover) because Col. 1:15 clearly refers to Christ as the first born of creation. The prologue of John says the world was created through Christ. Col. 1:15 by itself refutes trinitarianism. It's the most disliked verse in all scripture by "Christians".

But we're talking about God and the creation of all things. Unless angels have that ability, I'm left with God as the creator.

Exactly, unless creatures like Jesus(Col. 1:15) and angels have that ability, you're left with God as the Creator.

The KJV renders it "creature" and not "creation". Regardless, before the foundations of the world, He was.

Even the angels were around before the foundation of the world.

Neither. Me thinks you're looking at it literal.

I see, so it's not to be taken literally! Hence I'm right when I said, standing on it's own the scripture "He who has seen me has seen the Father" renders trinitarianism false.


How is that an argument?

"He who has seen me has seen the Father"

End of story. either christ is the Father or he's the image of the Father. Pick one.

c) Christ is the very heart of God

You keep saying that. How does "Christ being the very heart of God" make him God? And which scripture? Am I missing something here? Is it like the "immaculate heart of Mary" or something like that?

best wishes,
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi Harlin,



I never said Jesus was inferior to God. Did God say to an inferior, "Let us make man in our image"?.........ABSOLUTELY NOT........





Do you not believe Christ when he said he's inferior to the Father?



"You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I,'" (John 14:23)





Language does not get any clearer than that.

Harlin, what words could Jesus have used even if he had wanted to, to convince a trinitarian, say John, that he's inferior to the Father? If the scripture had quoted Christ Jesus as having said, " I'm not as powerful as my Father", "I'm really smaller than my Father, believe me", "My Father is superior to me", John the trinitarian would simply turn around and say "yeh right!, he said those things as a human, but as God his Father is not really greater than him." Jesus plainly said ,"My Father is greater than I", but John would say, "No, not really, God the Father is not greater than Jesus . "



What kind of doctrine is this hypostatic union which makes it impossible for Jesus to deny himself God?







The Bible is very clear on this point,




Are you seriously tell people the bible is very clear on the "deity" of Christ?





Paul states that Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God, this can only be true if Jesus is equal with God.


Phil. 2:6 is actually a strong verse against Trinitarianism and is one of my favourites! Christ "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped"(NIV). If Jesus were God, then it would make no sense at all to say that he did not "grasp" at equality with God because no one grasps at equality with himself. Satan on the other hand grasped at equality with God and was "cast down". It only makes sense to compliment someone for not seeking equality when he is not equal. Some trinitarians say, "Well he was not grasping for equality with the Father." That is not what the verse says. It says Christ did not grasp at equality with God, which makes the verse nonsense if he were God.





Jesus is the creator, something that only God can do.


How can the firstborn of creation(Col. 1:15), himself within the sub-set of things created, be the creator?



Only God can give life.




Jesus received authority to give life from God. Remember Christ said, "On my own I can do nothing". Know where?

best wishes,
 
Upvote 0
H

hybrid

Guest
Balthasar said:
Hi hybrid,


Tertullian is saying there was a time when the Son was not a distinct person from the Father, which is problametic for the trinitatian conception, no matter how you try to parcel his words.

tertullian also said that what god brought forth was at once god. and also god at once was the father, the son, the spirit.

in this context i think it is fair to say that he meant ..

there was a time when god was not the father
there was a time when god was not the son and
there was a time when god was not the holy spirit..

but when god decided to be triune under his divine economy,

he was at once the father, the son and the holy spirit.
i see no contradiction to trinitarianism here.

even john calvin said it is ridiculous to think that once upon a time there are three persons in a divine race (family)

and they were talking an event before the beginning, whenever that was. but as far as john 1 was concern, the word was with god in the very beginning.

I don't know how you arrive at the conclusion that Tertullian is saying the Son was always co-existing with the Father .

when tertullian said, god was at once the father, the son and the spirit.
and also when john said the word was with god in the beginning


the bible has many description between ther elationship of the two.

father and son,
God and his word,
the unbegoten and the begotten god
invisible unapprochable light and the effulgent glory of that light
to name afew.

then there were instances they share the same title.

believe me these facts fit perfectly well under the doctrine of God's divine economy.

Even Arias believed in a Trinity, hybrid.
the momment you guys can differentiate the word BEGOTTEN from CREATED, maybei believe you.


best wishes,

again the answer is God's divine economy.

 
Upvote 0
H

hybrid

Guest
hi harlin,
harlin said:
Hi Hybrid, God bless you, I appreciate your humour with the OPRAH thing. It would not surprise me in the slightest if she did have an explaination!!.
I think she said Jesus is god but he can’t possibly be the only way. The lady is a new ager I suppose.

I agree with you heaven would be noisy, but, I am not convinced that it will be the same kinds of noise on earth. True worship is definitely something I pray to be able to participate in.
In essential, unity :In diversity, liberty :In all things, charity
Now who said that….

I never said Jesus was inferior to God.
ooops....
Did God say to an inferior, "Let us make man in our image"?.........ABSOLUTELY NOT........any doctrine that takes away the deity of Christ is erroneous in my opinion.
amen and amen and amen.
Harlin said:
My understanding is that the only difference between the Father and the Son is age, the Son has every other aspect of divinity, all these things He obtained by virtue of His birth.
i also thought of the son as literally the son of god therefore also god because he has the dna of god. can you agree with this?

however, i do have a problem to think that the father was older that the son. because to think of the two within the frame of time was to strip them off of their divinity.

for instance, if one of the essential attribute to be god is that he must be eternal (ageless), how can you think of jesus as god when he has age?

and if you think of them as totally separated, then you have two gods, and if you believe them to be equal, they wouldnt be father and son but TWINS. aren't they? this is not acceptable to christianity's monotheism. you still believe christianity is a monotheism, don't you?

have you given thought to the concept of divine economy? because all of these problems i mentioned above can be reconciled there without doing violence to scriptures interpretation.

IMO, The only difference between the father and the son was precisely that. one was the father and the other was the son.

This is to achieve the unity of the essence. Meaning the bible is telling us that Christ was of the same essence (dna) of the father who is god. Therefore the begotten of the son does not pertain to origin of the son but to the nature of the son. Meaning that if the father is eternal so should be the son, if the father is god, so should be the son etc.

In the beginning was the word. Here in not so many words, john declared the eternality of the son.

Still am opposed to paganism too by the way, just for the record. . Honestly do they have no Santa Claus in Virginia?
LOL and god bless.


hybrid
 
Upvote 0
O

Odsolo

Guest
Balthasar said:
By the way Odsolo,
How does the above have any bearing on Tertullian's belief that "there was a time when neither sin existed with Him(God), nor the Son" or that God has not always been a Father?

What I said was not in response to your unsupported assertions about Tertullian. However if you cannot see the relevance you should not be participating in this topic.
 
Upvote 0

seebs

God Made Me A Skeptic
Apr 9, 2002
31,917
1,530
20
Saint Paul, MN
Visit site
✟70,235.00
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
Odsolo said:
What I said was not in response to your unsupported assertions about Tertullian. However if you cannot see the relevance you should not be participating in this topic.

Friend, this was ill-spoken. It is quite possible that he could see the relevance if you explained it. All you have done is combine an unchariable implication about him with a refusal to actually contribute when it would obviously be trivially easy for you to explain your intent.

If all you're going to post is that you aren't going to explain yourself, you may save time by not posting; we will be able to recognize that you aren't explaining anything.

It is often frustrating when people don't understand an argument or connection that you think is obvious, but it is important to take the time to explain these connections. This makes it easier for everyone to be sure they're talking about the same arguments and positions.

With that on the record, I will ask you as a brother in Christ to explain the relevance as a special kindness to me, because I am not sure I have understood it correctly either. Your explanation is almost certainly more reliable than my casual speculations would be.
 
Upvote 0
O

Odsolo

Guest

How can you explain or clarify anything in the Greek or Hebrew when you don't know anything about either language? There is NOT one single recognized Greek scholar in the world who agrees with this nonsense.


Now lets look at the truth. Lets complete this chopped up, out-of-context quote. Here is the end of the chapter quoted above.
Origen-Commentary on the Gospel of John (Book II)

The true God, then, is "The God," and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype. But the archetypal image, again, of all these images is the Word of God, who was in the beginning, and who by being with God is at all times God, not possessing that of Himself, but by His being with the Father, and not continuing to be God, if we should think of this, except by remaining always in uninterrupted contemplation of the depths of the Father.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/101502.htm
Before trying to argue with this, please look up the definition of "archtypal?" And carefully read and throughly understand the context of this paragraph.
 
Upvote 0
O

Odsolo

Guest
Balthasar said:
Jesus was the first person to remain alive after the resurrection, hence he's the first born from the dead.. That's the reason he's called the Alpha and Omega. Get it?

Another unsupported assertion. Please show me from any lexical, grammatical, historical source that in Biblical Greek "resurrection" was equated with "birth."

This is another example of a "cut and paste" from you which serves no purpose , in my opinion.

I give a flip about your opinion of anything. All I have to do to know what your opinion is, is read JW literature.
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi hybrid,

tertullian also said that what god brought forth was at once god. and also god at once was the father, the son, the spirit.


As I pointed out to you last post Tertullian believed the angels, which God also brought forth, shared in the same "substance' of God.


in this context i think it is fair to say that he meant ..

there was a time when god was not the father
there was a time when god was not the son and
there was a time when god was not the holy spirit..

Wow! So you think Tertullian believed there was a time when God was not a Trinity. And where does Tertullian say there was a time when God was not a Holy Spirit? As far as I can tell, he says there was a time when the Son was not and God was not a Father.


but when god decided to be triune under his divine economy,


God decided to be triune ? Wasn't He always a trinity?


he was at once the father, the son and the holy spirit.

This is Sabelliasm.

i see no contradiction to trinitarianism here.

You see no contradiction between Sabelliasm and trinitarianism?

even john calvin said it is ridiculous to think that once upon a time there are three persons in a divine race (family)

Let me get this right: Is it your assertion that once upon a time there were not three persons in the Godhead(divine family)? Yes or No?

then there were instances they share the same title.

So it's ok to refer to the Son as the Father?

I don't know how orthodox your trinitarianism is. It's a hybrid doctrine, and Semi-Sabelliastic at the least. Tertullian joined the montanists who were Modalistic in approach.

Just my two cents, and best wishes,
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi Odsolo,


How can you explain or clarify anything in the Greek or Hebrew when you don't know anything about either language? There is NOT one single recognized Greek scholar in the world who agrees with this nonsense.

Is that the extent of your refutation? All Greek scholars have taken note that the article Ho is missing in John 1:1 when referring to the Word as God.



Before trying to argue with this, please look up the definition of "archtypal?" And carefully read and throughly understand the context of this paragraph

I don't know how much clearer Origen could have gotten Odsolo. He says when A. John refers to the Word(Logos) the article Ho is missing from Theos in John 1:1.

good luck,
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi Odsolo,

Another unsupported assertion. Please show me from any lexical, grammatical, historical source that in Biblical Greek "resurrection" was equated with "birth."

Are you saying resurrection has nothing to do with birth?


I give a flip about your opinion of anything. All I have to do to know what your opinion is, is read JW literature.

You shoudn't be making wholesale judgments without listening and understanding what the other person is saying . Be not like an Ostrich with it's head in the sand.

By the way, I'm not a JW.

best wishes Odsolo,

Btw., I'm still waiting for you to show me where and how I've misrepresented the Trinity doctrine.This is my sixth request.
 
Upvote 0

gort

pedantric
Sep 18, 2003
10,451
194
70
Visit site
✟34,392.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married

Hi,

Do you have references for 'all greek scholars' that say 'Ho' is missing?

I'm trusting in the validity of my bible being correctly translated. I don't know who you refer to as all scholars....and primary sources please.

Also, for the Origen quote?

While I've not yet studied Origen, I did run across something interesting about him which I'll give a link to later. In effect, Origen does need to be excused from some of the things he put forth......

<><
 
Upvote 0
B

Balthasar

Guest
Hi daneel,

Do you have references for 'all greek scholars' that say 'Ho' is missing?

I'm trusting in the validity of my bible being correctly translated. I don't know who you refer to as all scholars....and primary sources please.


Are you kidding me? Everyone with an ounce of Greek knows the article is missing when the Logos is called God in John 1:1. Odsolo claims to know Greek, ask him. I'm not in the business of furnishing scholars for the obvious. Or ask any trinitarian who knows Greek, or any Greek speaking person, if you don't believe me.

Here's evidence for the obvious:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Enarxh|hn(5713) ologov,kaiologovhn(5713) provtonqeon,kaiqeovhn(5713) ologov.



http://www.searchgodsword.org/isb/bible.cgi?query=joh+12%3A14&section=0&it=nas&oq=joh%252012%3A14&ot=bhs&nt=na&new=1&nb=joh&ngt=GoTo%3A&ng=1&ncc=12




Also, for the Origen quote?

While I've not yet studied Origen, I did run across something interesting about him which I'll give a link to later. In effect, Origen does need to be excused from some of the things he put forth......

Great! We will dissect them.


best wishes,
 
Upvote 0
Status
Not open for further replies.