stevep@cadence.com (Steve Peterson) (04/03/91)
In article <Apr.1.02.44.36.1991.7380@athos.rutgers.edu>, David William writes: |This is in response to some questions about the deity of Christ, and the |doctrine of the Trinity and such matters...... Hi David! I must commend you on documenting your belief in the Trinity with so many Scriptures. Instead of me commenting on every point that you have made in one massive post, I will take them one point at a time..... |THE NAMES OF GOD. | A. Primary OT names. | 1. Jehovah (YHWH). | 2. Elohim. | 3. Adonai | B. Compund OT names. | 1. With EL. | 2. With Jehovah. | |THE DEITY OF CHRIST. | A. Proved by His names. | 1. God (Hebrews 1:8). | 2. Son of God (Matthew 16:16; 26:61-64a). | 3. Lord (Matthew 23:43-45). | 4. King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). Your first line of reasoning is that of Identifying Jesus with God because they share the same TITLES. Notice the key word TITLE, not personal name. God's personal name is revealed to be YHWH/Jehovah/Yahweh. Words such as God, Lord, etc. are simply titles. |THE DEITY OF CHRIST. | A. Proved by His names. | 1. God (Hebrews 1:8). Heb 1:8 ------- The Revised Standard reads: "Of the Son he says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.'" The King James, New English Bible, Good News Bible - Today's English Version, Catholic Shalloner-Douy, Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible have similar renderings. However, other translations provide this idea: "God is thy throne forever and ever.'" (See The Bible - An American Translationi - Smith & Goodspeed, A New Translation of the Bible - Moffatt, The Twentieth Century New Testament - Revised Edition, The Bible in Living English - Byington) Which rendering is harmonious with the context? The preceding verses say that *God* is speaking, not that he is being addressed; and the following verse uses the expression "God, *thy* God," showing that the one addressed is not the Most High God but is a worshiper of that God. Hebrews 1:8 quotes from Psalm 45:6, which originally was addressed to a human king of Israel. Obviously, the Bible writer of this psalm did not think that this human king was Almighty God. Rather, Psalm 45:6, in the Revised Standard, reads "Your divine throne." The New English Bible says, "Your throne is like God's throne." The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text from the Jewish Publication Society of America, in verse 7 reads "Thy throne given of God. Solomon, who was possibly the king originally addressed in Psalm 45, was said to sit "upon Jehovah's throne." (1 Chron. 29:23) In harmony with the fact that God is the "throne," or Source and Upholder of Christs kingship, Daniel 7:13, 14 and Luke 1:32 show that God confers such authority on him. Hebrews 1:8, 9 quotes from Psalm 45:6, 7, concerning which the Bible scholar B. F. Westcott states: "The LXX. admits of two renderings: [ho theos'] can be taken as a vocative in both cases (Thy throne, O God,... therefore, O God, Thy God...) or it can be taken as the subject (or the predicate in the first case (God is Thy throne, or Thy throne is God...), and in apposition to [ho theos'sou] in the second case (Therefore God, even Thy God...).... It is scarcely possible that ['Elo him'] in the original can be addressed to the king. The presumption therefore is against the belief that [ho theos'] is a vocative in the LXX. Thus on the whole it seems best to adopt in the first clause the rendering: God is Thy throne (or, Thy throne is God), that is 'Thy kingdom is founded upon God, the immovable Rock.'" The Epistle to the Hebrews pp. 25, 26 POINT: Heb 1:8 shouldn't be used as a Trinity proof text. The context shows that it should properly be translated "God is thy throne", not "Thy throne, O God.... |THE DEITY OF CHRIST. | A. Proved by His names. | 2. Son of God (Matthew 16:16; 26:61-64a). Quoting Scriptures that say that Jesus is the Son of God seems to be more of a proof against Jesus being God than for it. Notice the key point: It doesn't say that Jesus is God the Son, it says he is the Son of God. |THE DEITY OF CHRIST. | A. Proved by His names. | 3. Lord (Matthew 23:43-45). | 4. King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). The word Lord is a title, attributed to many in the Bible. Obviously, it doesn't mean that everyone who is called by the title "Lord" is in fact Almighty God. Math 23:43-45 seems to be a typo. If a certain tile or descriptive phrase is found in more than one location in the Scriptures, it should never hastily be concluded that it must always refer to the same person. Such reasoning would lead to the conclusion that Nebuchadnezzar was Jesus Christ, beacuse both were called "king of kings" (Dan 2:37; Rev 17:14); and that Jesus' disciples were actually Jesus Christ, because both were called "the light of the world." (Matt. 5:14; John 8:12)