I love questions like this one. It reminds me of someone all wide eyed asking me if it's really true I torture puppies and then they go on to explain how I should quit doing that.
You quote John which says, (John 1:18), “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
How is it so many saw Jesus then? And none called him or referred to him as “God the Son”? “Son of God”? Yes, often but Jesus didn't call himself “God the Son”, his disciples didn't, God didn't, The Scriptures don't, so where does this “God the Son” business come from?Not from the Scriptures.
“And if He is God, He is the One and Only God. But yet, He is God the Son.”
I know of no trinitarian who says The Father is The Son! Where doe that definition come from?
The relationship between Jehovah and Jesus was father and son, Jesus even being called “only begotten god” (or God in some translations).
Thomas exclaims, “My Lord and My God”. Who does Paul identify as Lord? Who does he identify as God”?
In the very verse you referred to: 1 Cor. 8:6,
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, (ek) whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, (dia) whom are all things, and we (dia) him.”
The one God is the Father so was Thomas calling the resurrected Jesus “God the Father”? Besides Lord?
Paul identifies the Father as the one who originates (ek) all things and Jesus as the one through (dia) whom He does it.
Jesus certainly spoke of he and his Father being one in union along with his disciples but where then is this three persons, one “essence” whatever is meant by essence?
I love questions like this one. It reminds me of someone all wide eyed asking me if it's really true I torture puppies and then they go on to explain how I should quit doing that.
No, I did not ask the question of the "Have you stopped beating your wife?" variety. I asked a simple yes or no question, and I'm not sure why you have a hard time with a simple yes or no. But I will rephrase it: Is Paul a polytheist?
In Jesus, no one saw God in His full glory, but only God veiled in the flesh of nan. And Jesus reveals God the Father through His teachings and His life. It appears that you look at John 1:18 and think that God is only the Father, but yet John speaks of the Second Person of the Godhead, namely Jesus, when he speaks of the "Only Begotten God who is in the Bosom of the Father."
I know of no trinitarian who says The Father is The Son! Where doe that definition come from?
I did not say that the Father was the Son, and I dare you to show me where I say that. What I said was God the Son, which is what John says when he said the "Only Begotten God who is in the Bosom of the Father."
Now, in Act 17:24, Paul says, "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ..."
and in Colossians 1:13-18, Paul says, "For He (the Father) rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything."
Paul say clearly states that the Son created all things, and yet also says the God created all things.
— n
| 1. | the characteristic or intrinsic feature of a thing, which determines its identity; fundamental nature _______________
Word Origin & History
essence late 14c., from L. essentia "being, essence," abstract n. formed in imitation of Gk. ousia "being, essence" (from on, gen. ontos, prp. of einai "to be"), from prp. stem of esse "to be," from PIE *es- (cf. Skt. asmi, Hittite eimi, O.C.S. jesmi, Lith. esmi, Goth. imi, O.E. eom "I am;" |
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Colossians 2:9
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (NKJV, KJV, ASV). Or: "For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (NASB, RSV, NIV is similar).
"Fulness" (plerooma) means " ... that which is brought to fulness or completion ... sum total, fulness, even (super) abundance ... of something ... the full measure of deity ... Colossians 2:9" - Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich.
"Godhead" or "Deity" (theotes) means: " ... the state of being God, Godhead ..." - Grimm-Wilke-Thayer. Trench says the language here means Jesus "was, and is, absolute and perfect God" (quoted in Vine, Vol. I, pp. 328f).
So the passage says that, in Jesus dwelt bodily "the full measure of" "the state of being God."
[Some claim that Jesus possesses only the characteristics of God, not His essence or substance. This confuses the language. The word used here for "Deity" (theotes) means the essence or state of being God. A different word (theiotes) means "divinity" or the characteristics of God. (See the definitions.) Nevertheless, how could Jesus possess "all the full measure of the characteristics of God in a bodily form" without being God? Even if the mistaken definition were accurate, the passage would still prove Jesus is God.]
Hebrews 1:3
Jesus was "the express image of His [the Father's] person" (NKJV, KJV) or "the very image of his substance" (ASV), "the exact representation of His nature" (NASB), "the exact representation of his being" (NIV). The context describes Jesus as the Creator, far above the angels so that He deserves to be worshipped (as will be considered in more detail later.)
"Express image" (charachter) means "the exact expression ... of any person or thing, marked likeness, precise reproduction in every respect (cf. facsimile) ..." - Grimm-Wilke-Thayer (cf. Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich).
"Person" (hupostasis) mean "the substantial quality, nature, of any person or thing ..." - Grimm-Wilke-Thayer. Or "...substantial nature, essence, actual being, reality ... a(n exact) representation of his (= God's) real being Hebrews 1:3..." - Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich.
Hence, Jesus is "the precise reproduction in every respect" of the "essence, actual being, reality" of God. How can Jesus be an exact expression of the real being of the Father without Himself possessing true Deity?
We will see that God possesses certain characteristics that are so unique that no one but God can possess them (eternal, all-powerful, etc.). If no one but God possesses these, yet Jesus is the exact reproduction of the essence of God's nature, then He must possess these qualities. But if Jesus possesses all qualities that are unique to God, He must be God, He must possess Deity.
I. General Passages Affirming Jesus' Deity
Cordially,