“Did you get my response regarding John 17:22?
Christ wanted his Apostles to be one .... even as he and God were one?
So according your definition there must be one apostle in twelve and twelve apostles in one .... but never at any time only one, but never at any time only twelve .... neither dividing the substance ..... nor combining the substance ..... repeat ad nausem”
It’s utterly irrelevant. Certainly, we are all members of the body of Christ. But that doesn’t change the scriptures that declare that Jesus calls Himself God, and has Godly titles. John 1 does not say that the Word and God are just “one” in purpose. It says that the Word is with God and the Word is God. It’s a definitive statement of identity. The scripture from Isaiah declares that Christ is God with us. That is not “one with purpose.” It is, very literally, God dwelling with us, God in the flesh, as it is the “son” of the virgin who is Immanuel. Unless you are arguing that John 17:22 says that we are ALL God, and can use God’s titles, it’s a silly argument to make.
And these are really only just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the scriptures which teach that there is only one God, and that Jesus, in fact, is God, and the creator of the universe.
You claim that John 17:22 is irrelevant .... because it doesn’t support the Nicene Creed.
We believe that Christ had a pre-existence with God before he was Born.
Tertullian argues very well in “Against Praxeus” that God the Father pre-dated Christ and that God the Father is greater than Christ.
These were obviously the two items which Athenasias railed against Arius about during the Council of Nicea.
What if John 17:22 was a subtle truth that Christ intended to further develop the concept of his oneness with God?
Notice that I’m not going to Duet. or Isiah for my definition but just a few chapters later in the same book.
If John 17:22 is relevant .... than 1700 years of Christianity has been built on a fabrication.
It is my belief that this is what has happened.