One God Report

Many mainstream Christians claim that at death, only thebody dies while the soul lives on, consciously entering the presence of God. In this view, believers never really die—they skip over death entirely by transitioning instantly into eternal life.There is no place in the Bible that defines death as the separation of the soul from the body.So where did this concept come from?Plato’s Influence: Not the BibleThe idea that "death is the separation of the soul from the body" comes from Greek philosophy, especially Plato. In his dialogue Phaedo (also called On the Soul), Plato, through the voice of Socrates, taught that:“Death is the separation of the soul from the body... and the state of being dead is the soul’s being alone by itself, apart from the body.”— Phaedo 64c, 67dIn this podcast we explore some implications of the Platonic "death is the separation of the soul from the body" claim on mainstream Christianity.Full text here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-big-lie-death-is-separation-of-soul.htmlAdditional Resources:Where do we go when we die? Interview with Pastor Sean Finnegan https://youtu.be/w8rgs85dBtkConditional Immortality (Restitutio podcast)https://restitutio.org/2019/02/14/164-theology-3-conditional-immortality/ Challenging Conditional Immortality (Restitutio podcast)https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165-theology-4-challenging-conditional-immortality/ #bible, #gotoheaven

Doctrinal Statements of Trinitarian Seminaries, Universities and Churches have problems, such as:1. The first two statements often contradict each other. Protestant institutions declare the Scriptures are the sole authority for belief and practice, and then in the next breath describe and eternal multi-person god who is never described in such terms in the Bible.2. Doctrinal statements off refer to God with the singular pronouns he/him/his, but then suddenly describe god as multi-persons, whose pronouns should be they/them/theirs.#trinityevangelicaldivinityschool, #libertyuniversity, #southernbaptist #trinity, #Jesus, #deityofchrist, #bible#trinity, #Jesus, #deityofchrist, #bible

In this podcast we take a closer look at the historical context in which 1st century readers of John’s Gospel would have understood this Gospel to be about a new beginning. We will also see how other New Testament authors saw in Jesus a new beginning, the beginning of God’s new creation. Finally, we will note one big problem with the typical “deity of Christ” interpretation of John 1:1.For full written text of this podcast click here.https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-gospel-of-john-historical-context.htmlPrevious podcasts referred to in this podcast:-#7) "What about John 1:1?" (Part 2) - Jesus is the Beginning of God's New Creation https://anchor.fm/onegodreport-podcast/episodes/7-What-about-John-11--Part-2---Jesus-is-the-Beginning-of-Gods-New-Creation-eaqlk5-15) More New Creation in the Gospel of John: Why John's Prologue Should be Interpreted in the Context of New Creationhttps://anchor.fm/onegodreport-podcast/episodes/15-More-New-Creation-in-the-Gospel-of-John-Why-Johns-Prologue-Should-be-Interpreted-in-the-Context-of-New-Creation-edv8kr

Many Trinitarians claim the Trinity is "biblical". This episode presents two reasons why that claim is faulty:1. The Trinitarian methodology - how they arrive at believing that the one God is multi-persons - is not biblical.2. The language used, in fact needed, to describe the Trinity and the "deity of Christ is is not biblical.#trinity, biblicalunitarian, #deityofchrist

In this current podcast we discuss another HIGH cost to payfor any deity of Christ interpretation of Scripture.  All deity of Christ claims not only dishonor the Father, but they also dishonor the Christ, the man Jesus of Nazareth, the Jew who was born in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.  In fact, all deity of Christ claims in the end deny that the human person Jesus Christ ever existed.

Deity of Christ Interpretations of the Bible Dishonor the Father, the Only True God If Jesus is God, then God the Father is not the one true God. The claim that “Jesus is God” becomes the main building block used by humans to construct a multi-person god. If Jesus is one member of a multi-person (or a Triune god) then the multi-person god is the one God, and the Father is not.  Mainstream Christians agree that there is one God.  “Weare monotheists. We believe in one God”. But for mainstream Christians, the one God is made up of three persons.   Either the Father, a singular self, is the one true God, or a multi-person god is the one God.  But if the Father is the one true God, then the claim that “Jesus is God” (that God is multi-persons) is an attempt to denigrate the only true God -- the Father. What deity of Christ and Trinitarian interpreters are doing is attempting to put another god on the face of and in the place of our God and Father.  The HIGH cost of any “deity of Christ” interpretations is an attempt to claim that the Father is not the one, the only true God.  Christians need to decide: who is your God. Either the Trinity, or the Father alone. Your God can’t be both.For full text of the podcast, see here:https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-high-cost-of-deity-of-christ.html#deityofchrist, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel

In previous episodes, we saw that no one in the Bible - notJesus, not Moses, not Isaiah or any other prophet, not Peter, not Paul or any other apostle – no one proclaimed or described that God is three in one.  Rather, we saw specifically that God is the Father alone, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. We looked at Paul’s description of God and the Lord Jesus Christ in Ephesians 1.To Paul, God is not the Trinity, but the Father alone. And, Paul says the LordJesus Christ has a God. The Lord Jesus Christ’s God is the Father. The LordJesus Christ is not God since he has a God and Jesus is someone other than God.Previous episodes:If the Bible is Right, God is NOT a Trinity (Part 1) https://youtu.be/S1-qBYVrkdUIf the Bible is Right, God is NOT a Trinity (Part 2) https://youtu.be/2x81JF9sKqc It is simple reading comprehension. When reading the Bible, nowhere is God a Triune being. I want to make one more simple reading example in the Bible where, in this case, we will see if the Apostle Peter believed that God was a Trinity, or that the Lord Jesus Christ was God.  Through simple reading comprehension, we will be able understand that the Apostle Peter’s God was not the Trinity, and the Lord Jesus Christ was not Peter’s God. Peter DID NOT declare that “God is a Trinity”. Peter DID NOT declare that one must believe that God is a Trinity. Peter DID declare that someone else other than the Lord Jesus Christ is God, that is, that the Lord Jesus Christ is not God. Peter DID declare that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We look at a couple of corroborating statements from Peter in the Gospels and one of his epistles, but focus on Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts Chapter 2.   Acts 2:2224"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you throughhim, just as you yourselves know– 23this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge ofGod, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24 But God raised him up… In this text, is God triune?  Is Jesus God?  Acts 2:30-33“So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, 31 David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandonedto Hades, nor did his body experience decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the holy spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear.” Acts 2:36Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."  Mark 8:29, He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." Luke 9:20, Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." Matt. 16:16, Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,the Son of the living God." (Mat 16:16 NET) 1 Peter 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  1 Peter 20-21He (Christ) was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Peter never describes God as being triune, and never declares that Jesus is God.   If the Bible is right, God is not a Trinity.If Peter is right, God is not a Trinity.If your God is the Trinity, you have a different God than Peter.

00:00  God is Never a Trinity in the Bible. 03:14  God is always referred to with singular pronouns.HE did great things through Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ is someone else, a different “person and being” thanGod.   04:18  Typical Responses from the Previous podcast,and why they fall short. No one showed a place in the Bible where God is described or revealed to be a Trinity. Trinitarian apologists construct their god. Matthew 28:19, John 10:30, Genesis 1:26? 06:26  So much confusion in Trinitarian responses. Theimmediate “default” is to go to a few verses that Trinitarians think show that “Jesus is God”. 10:14  Trinitarian scholars who describe that theTrinity is not revealed in the Bible. “Can’t just rifle through the pages of the Bible in forming the doctrine (of the Trinity)” 11:55  Assembling the Trinity, the methodology is faulty. No one in the Bible does this. 14:08  Similarity between Trinitarian and modern “woke”usage of pronouns.  Denying reality and insisting on using a pronoun that does not apply. 16:07  Who to believe: Trinitarians or the Bible?  Stick with the Bible.  #trinity, #deityofchrist, #biblicalunitarian, #fredsanders, #jameswhite Other RelatedPodcasts: If the Bibleis Right, God is NOT a Trinity (Part 1)https://youtu.be/S1-qBYVrkdU Is the Trinity in the Bible? If So, Where?https://youtu.be/POVaZX3urdc Trinity, Preferred Pronouns: He/Him (Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought and Language)https://youtu.be/VRFJbSlC0-E God is He, not They (one minute short)https://youtube.com/shorts/f9f0-9NwgDk

In the Bible, God is never a trinity. Neither in Hebrew Scriptures, nor the New Testament is God ever a Trinity.   God is never declared to be triune by anyone in the Bible: not by Moses, the prophets, Jesus or the apostles. No one in the Bible ever mentions the “mystery” about the Triune nature (persons) of God.  The Bible never records any opposition to the Triune nature of God being proclaimed – because no one in the Bible proclaimed God as triune. The claim that God is “three-in-one” comes from centuries after the time of Jesus.   As a sample of the Biblical view of God, we read some of Ephesians 1.   Who is God in the passage? Never the Trinity.   Note the singular pronouns used of God. God is never more than one self.   Note the differentiation between God and the Lord (Adon) Jesus Christ.   Note that the Lord Jesus Christ has a God. The Lord Jesus Christ’s God is the Father.   For the Apostle Paul, the one God was not the Trinity. The one God was the Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:6).   Other related podcasts: Is the Trinity in the Bible? If so, Where?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POVaZX3urdc   How and When was the Trinity Revealed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HaqhjicWv8   The Trinity is NOT Revealed in the Bible (one minute short)https://studio.youtube.com/video/r8uOyHDqUvY/edit   The Mystery of the Trinity: Solved!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPK-_kVHnB0&t=498s

In this episode we explain how the deity-of-Christ interpretation of John’s Gospel is wrong. Three, Yea verily Four Keys to Understanding John’s Gospel 1.       The Purpose statement of the author, John 20:30-31 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”   The original target audience of the Gospel of John was Israelites in the Diaspora. John wrote to convince and help them to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  See more below.   2.      In John’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he is a man who told the truth which he heard from God. John 8:40, “but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.” Jesus differentiates himself from God. Jesus is a man, not a god-man, not one person of God who is incarnated in a human nature.  Jesus states that he is a human being, a man who declares the truth that heard from someone else, specifically, from God.    3.      In John’s Gospel, Jesus declared that the Father is the only true God. John 17:1-3 “Father… this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. The God that was speaking and working in and through the man Jesus was the Father. Christology of John is agency, not incarnation.  Jesus as God’s unique human son was sent by God and as such represented God, is to be regarded as the very presence of God (the Father) who sent him.   4.      John is an Israelite, writing to Israelites. He is not writing originally to Gentiles. a.      Metaphors, figurative language. John 10:6 (context is the thief vs. the shepherd), “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”   John 16:25, "I have said these things to you in figures of speech.”   Come into the world, come down from heaven, “This is the bread that has come down from heaven” (6:50) “the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Joh 6:51) Jesus’ flesh literally descended from heaven?   “The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from man” (Mar 11:30) means “Was John's baptism of heavenly or of human origin?”  (Mar 11:30) b.      “Jews” means “Judeans”. “He came to his own, but his own received him not”. Samaritans, and Israelites in Galilee and Perea accepted him. c.      “world” does not mean planet earth, but the Israelite world. The world that God loved (John 3:16), is Israel.   Resources: In the Gospel of John the “Jews” are Judeans, Not All “Jews” https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2022/02/in-gospel-of-john-jews-are-judeans-not.html   The “Greeks” in John’s Gospel are Greek Speaking Israelites, not Gentiles https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-greeks-hellenists-in-gospel-of-john.html What About John 1:1? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw44JRTIiV0

A brief description of four main beliefs of Biblical Unitarians. 1. God Is One, the Father. ·         Deuteronomy 6:4 “YHVH our God, YHVH is one”. Mark 12:32 “He (not they) is one.” ·         John 17:3 “Father…this is eternal life, to know you, the only true God…” ·         1 Corinthians 8:6 “As for us, there is one God, the Father…”. 2. Jesus Is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God 3. The Holy Spirit Is the Spirit of God We believe in God (the Father), in Jesus the human Son of God, and in the spirit of God.  A “triad”, not a “Trinity”. A Trinity wrongly insists the three all must be one “being”, a “three-person-god”.   4. Authority of Scripture                 The Bible, not men’s speculations or tradition, is the ultimate authority for belief and practice.   Examples of Resources (there are many more: The Bible 😊 Podcasts: One God Report, Restitutio, Trinities, Biblical Unitarian, Unitarian Christian Alliance.   Books: The Trinity: Christianity’s Self-inflicted Wound (Buzzard) The Restitution: Biblical Proof Jesus is Not God (Zarley) The God of Jesus (Chandler) Why Some Christians Do Not Believe in the Trinity (Maready) Little Known Facts about the Trinity (Kohl)   Websites/Blogs: Trinity Delusion Biblical Unitarian Land and Bible https://landandbible.blogspot.com/ Let the Truth Come Out (Troy Salinger) One God Worship

For full written text see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2025/01/agency-in-bible.html In the Bible, God is often represented by the messengers he sends. Even beyond just representing God, God’s very presence was in and with the messenger. When God gave words to his messengers to speak, it was God speaking. When God gave authority and power to his messengers to perform miraculous deeds, it was God performing those miraculous deeds. When the messenger was at the scene, it was to be understood that God was at the scene. In authorized functional status, the messenger was equal to his sender. These realities are known as the principle of agency. In certain ways the messenger “is” the sender since the person’s agent is to be regarded as the sender himself. The Word (the human person Christ Jesus) was God (the Father, who sent Jesus). The Gospel of John declares that Jesus was sent (by God) over 40 times. The statements below made by Jesus in the Gospel of John show how the sent one (Jesus) is to be regarded as the One who sent him (God, the Father). ·        The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. ·        This is the deed Godrequires– to believe in the one whom He sent. ·        He whom God has sent speaks the words of God ·        He who receives me receives the one who sent me… ·        He who sees me sees the Father… ·        I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ·         I do nothing by my own authority… ·        I can do nothing by my own power… ·        For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in himself and He has given him authority to execute judgment… ·        I seek to do not my own will but the will of Him who sent me… ·        The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me… ·        The words you hear are not mine, but the Father's who sent me… ·        I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works.

The key error of the "pre-incarnate" Christ understanding of John 8:58 is in translating Jesus’ statement about Abraham in the past when it refers to Abraham coming to be in the future. In all other occurrences in John of the word under consideration (γενέσθαι genesthai) does not communicate something in the past tense but rather denotes someone or something that potentially could be or will be in the future. This is strong evidence that the word in John 8:58 relates to Abraham coming to be in a future context. In John 8:58 Jesus is making a Messianic claim to be the channel through whom God’s promises to Abraham will be fulfilled. Jesus’ claim is not a claim to be God, but to be the Messiah Light through whom God is at work to fulfill God’s promises to Abraham. Abraham is dead and buried in Hebron, yet to become, yet to experience the fulfillment of God’s promises to him, including resurrection from the dead. The “I am” statement of Jesus in John 8:58 is not about what Jesus was in the past before Abraham was born around 2000 BC. Rather, the “I am” statement in John 8:58 is about what Jesus is at the time he was on the earth before Abraham comes to be in the future: “I am (he, the Messiah-Light of world) before Abraham comes to be.” For full text, see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2024/12/before-abraham-comes-to-be-in-future-i.html Additional podcasts on John 8:58: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5paG9pWFkJ8wLhx1ouqMbpj

Christians often say, “Jesus paid the penalty for my sin”.   But we will be hard pressed to find that declaration in the Bible. Is such a declaration biblical, or does it stem from the traditions of men?   In this episode Kevin George, author of Atonement and Reconciliation: A Search for the Original Meaning, Contrasted with Penal Substitutionary Atonement, explains what Penal Substitution Atonement is and then some of the problems with Penal Substitutionary Atonement.   https://www.amazon.com/Atonement-Reconciliation-contrasted-Substitutionary-Atonement/dp/B0CHDKFWCC   George explains how the focus of atonement is a restored relationship between God and humans based on a covenant made by God through Jesus, not on a legal substitutionary payment. The covenant is a blood covenant (proving loyalty to death) for the release of sins, not a “blood payment”.   If salvation is a gift of God, why did Jesus or anyone else have to pay for it?  Did God clear the guilty by accepting a payment from someone else? Is that a bribe?   One God Report Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1fJjk0QUhsyr8r9hVCgoFk   Bill Schlegel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Bill Schlegel blog: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/

A description of the mosaic inscription "to God Jesus Christ" found at Megiddo/Legio and on display at the Bible Museum in Washington D.C. Presentation on what Christians meant when they called Jesus G/god in the early A.D. 3rd century. Video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/Hg6Dm4mx_SU Sources and Resources: One God Report Podcast, Bill Schlegel YouTube Channel. Episodes 10-11 The Evolution of the Trinity, with Dr. Dale Tuggy. Rollston, Christopher. “A Stunning Trio of Early Christian (3rd Century) Inscriptions from Biblical Armageddon: ‘God Jesus Christ,’ Five Prominent Named Women, a Named Centurion, a Eucharist Table, and Two Fish.” Rollston Epigraphy: Ancient Inscriptions from the Levantine World, July 4, 2024. http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=1004. Rubenstein, R. When Jesus Became God. Harcourt, Inc., 1999. Tepper, Yotam, and Leah Di Segni. A Christian Prayer Hall of the Third Century CE at Kefar ‘Othnay (Legio): Excavations at the Megiddo Prison 2005. With contribution by Guy Stiebel. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2006. Academia Link Yotam Tepper Tuggy, Dale. History of Trinity Doctrines. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/trinity/trinity-history.html#TertulTertullian, On the First Principles. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04120.htm Tzaferis, Vassilios. “Inscribed ‘To God Jesus Christ’,” BAR 33-02, Mar-Apr 2007. https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/inscribed-to-god-jesus-christ/ Smith, Dustin, Biblical Unitarian Podcast 357 https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/e/357-the-megiddo-mosaic-and-its-christology/

Glen Kay tells his faith journey, describing how he came to understand and believe that the God of the Bible is not a triune being, but is one, the Father, and that Jesus is a human Son of God, the Messiah/Christ. Resources for people and websites mentioned in this episode. Gary Steven Simons (Brother-in-law to Joel Osteen) How A Sunday Mega-Church Pastor Came To Torah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tu7wh9QMio Who is Yah? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbcadAKHrZE Biblical Unitarian Webpage: https://www.biblicalunitarian.com/ Revised English Version https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Gen/1/1

PART 2 What if John 1:3 is translated as "all happened through him, and without him nothing happened. That which happened (came to be) in him was life, and the life was the light of men"? Compare the Literal Standard Version and Young's Literal Translation. Would you think John 1 was describing the Genesis creation? Probably not. Almost all deity-of-Christ and Arian readers of the Bible understand John 1:3-4 to be a statement about the involvement of the Logos of John 1:1 in the Genesis creation of the physical universe. The Logos of John 1:1 is taken to be a pre-incarnate divine person or being distinct from the God of John 1:1b, either one member of a co-equal “godhead” (Trinitarianism), or a subordinate god/angel (Arianism) who eventually became incarnated as Jesus. Some Biblical Unitarians also interpret John 1:3-4 in a Genesis creation context, but maintain that the Logos of John 1:1 is not a literal person, only a personification of God’s Wisdom or Plan involved in the Genesis creation. In contrast, this presentation interprets the Prologue of John, focusing on verses 3-4, as introducing a new beginning in the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth, and not directly describing the Genesis creation of the physical universe. For full text, see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-non-genesis-creation-interpretation.html #john1 #biblicalunitarian #billschlegel #deityofchrist, #trinity

What if John 1:3 is translated as "all happened through him, and without him nothing happened" (compare the literal translations: the Literal Standard Version and Young's Literal Translation)? Would you think John 1 was describing the Genesis creation? Probably not. Almost all deity-of-Christ and Arian readers of the Bible understand John 1:3-4 to be a statement about the involvement of the Logos of John 1:1 in the Genesis creation of the physical universe. The Logos of John 1:1 is taken to be a pre-incarnate divine person or being distinct from the God of John 1:1b, either one member of a co-equal “godhead” (Trinitarianism), or a subordinate god/angel (Arianism) who eventually became incarnated as Jesus. Some Biblical Unitarians also interpret John 1:3-4 in a Genesis creation context, but maintain that the Logos of John 1:1 is not a literal person, only a personification of God’s Wisdom or Plan involved in the Genesis creation. In contrast, this presentation interprets the Prologue of John, focusing on verses 3-4, as introducing a new beginning in the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth, and not directly describing the Genesis creation of the physical universe. For full text, see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-non-genesis-creation-interpretation.html #john1 #biblicalunitarian #billschlegel #deityofchrist, #trinity

Stories of how former Trinitarians, Atheists and Jehovah’s Witnesses are coming to know and believe that God is the Father, and that Jesus is God’s human Son, the Messiah.   Book available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cost-Truth-Biblical-Unitarian-Christians/dp/1736918052   #biblicalunitarian, #bible, #Jesus, #countthecost, #billschlegel, #walkaway

Who is the Servant described in Isaiah 53? Israel? Jesus Christ? Someone else? Whoever the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is, it is clear that the Servant is NOT God. The servant of Isaiah 53 is the Servant of God. #isaiah53, #michaelbrown, #toviahSinger, #benshapiro, #bible, #sufferingservant, #Jesus

Dr. Tim Mackie appeared on the Transfiguration Podcast, describing some of his recent thoughts about the Trinity. In this video/podcast I review and point out some errors in Dr. Mackie’s claims.   0:00 Intro: Dr. Mackie’s search: How are Trinitarian expressions of God derived from the Bible?   02:20 Definition: What is the Trinity. Confusion between God as the Father alone, Trinitarianism, and Modalism. How many persons/selves is God?   08:03 Partial Knowledge. “Our knowledge of God will always be partial. The Trinity is a mystery.”   14:27 Progressive Revelation “Our knowledge of how many persons God is, was revealed progressively.”   24:00 Agency: the agent (one sent) of the sender is considered to legally be the presence of the sender.   26:14 How and When was the Trinity revealed? A couple New Testament references that supposedly hint that “Jesus is God”. Do Jesus’ miracles prove Jesus is literally God?   37:00 Any common ground between One-God-the-Father believers, and Trinitarians?  Different narratives.   40:41 A thank you and challenge to Dr. Mackie.   Resources: Transfigured Interview: Tim Mackie - The Trinity, Hermeneutics & Doctrinal Development https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyCqhMDudYU&t=1561s   Is the Trinity in the Bible? If So, Where? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POVaZX3urdc   How and When was the Trinity Revealed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HaqhjicWv8   My Lord and My God, Trinitarians Get it Wrong, John 20:28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxYp4n52P8Q Text: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/12/my-lord-and-my-god-trinitarians-get-it.html   One God Report Podcast:   Land and Bible blog (Bill Schlegel) https://landandbible.blogspot.com/

1.      The claim is non-biblical, philosophical speculation.  This claim is not something argued or presented in the Bible. 2.      The Bible says exactly the opposite. The Bible says that Jesus had to be a man, a human being, not just a human nature, to bring about God’s plan of redemption for humanity. God was at work in and through the man Jesus of Nazareth. Who the man Jesus was and is, and what he did, was necessary, sufficient and acceptable to God. Problems: The claim that Jesus had to be God to atone for sins is not only non-biblical, but it also leads to other, non-biblical, philosophical dead ends. What deity of Christ folks are claiming is a penal substitution theory of atonement: somebody, or something else, a substitute, had to bear the penalty for my sin.   And that penalty is death. The claim is that instead of me, somebody else had to die for my sin. My sin is worthy of death, so, unless someone pays the death penalty, I will die. If someone else pays the penalty, then I don’t have to die. My sin is worthy of death, so that’s why a death is required for justice. Someone had to pay the death penalty – so instead of me, Jesus, who had to be God, paid that death penalty.   Now again, this is not a biblical claim. It is man’s philosophical speculation. And, I think that we can see that the Bible says something quite the opposite.   But even from a human or philosophical aspect, I think most people, if we think about it a little bit, can see the serious, non-biblical, theological, philosophical dead ends and inconsistencies with the claim.   Let’s say I murder someone. The biblical penalty for murder is death. I deserve death. I’ve been convicted in a court of law by jurors and a judge and sentenced to death. But my friend, Mike, right as the judge is about to strike the gavel down and send me off to execution, Mike stands up in the courtroom and shouts “Wait! Stop!”.  I’ll pay the penalty for Bill. Kill me instead!”   So, the judge says, “OK, the penalty for this crime is death. If you are willing to pay the penalty, come on over here. Executioners, take the handcuffs off Bill and put them on Mike. Mike, off to the electric chair. Bill, you are free to go!”  And everyone in the courtroom nods their head in agreement. That’s fair. The penalty was paid. The judge kept the ancient laws of justice.    Nope. People realize such a tactic is perversion of justice, not a maintenance of justice.   For the “Jesus must be God to pay for sin” folks there is another step in their philosophical, non-biblical speculation. They start thinking: well, maybe one person could give his life to pay the penalty for another (even though they know that biblically – “the person who sins, he shall die” Eze. 18:20, even a father can’t be penalized for the iniquity of his son). But our situation is not just one person for one person. The deity of Christ philosopher thinks, “Whoa, to pay the penalty for all sinners, for millions and billions of sinners, Jesus would have to be eternal God to be enough to do that”.   God died (again, in direct contradiction to the Scriptures). In the Bible God is immortal and does not die. Well, not all of God died. Only one person of God died. So God did but God did not die.   “And death is only the separation of the soul from the body. One person of God, or the soul/spirit of that one person, had taken on a human nature. So the spirit didn’t die, just the human nature.”   Some comments: 1.      A person-less human nature (whatever that is) was enough to redeem all the multitude, millions, billion from their sin?   Resources: Jesus had to be a “Mere” Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtQXFuOXBaA   "Jesus had to be God to atone for our sins." Really? Got a Scripture for that? https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/01/jesus-had-to-be-god-to-atone-for-our.html   Book: Atonement and Reconciliation: https://www.amazon.com/Atonement-Reconciliation-contrasted-Substitutionary-Atonement/dp/B0CHDKFWCC

Most scholars say the Gospels were not written until the mid AD 60s. Is that right?  This podcast describes why they think that, and gives suggestions as to why the Gospels may have been written much earlier.   For full text, see here:  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2024/05/when-were-gospels-written-historical.html   Resources: Link to Fuel Youth Camp Registration: https://register-online.org/FUELRedirect.php   Podcast describing Fuel Youth Camp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7VPCLbVDD0   UCA Conference Registration: https://www.eventleaf.com/e/uca2024#map   JAT Robinson, Redating the New Testament.  

Some Biblical Unitarians (believers in the One God, the Father), don’t see the man Jesus in the first verses of John’s Gospel. Instead, they understand the Word/Logos” as an abstract plan, design, promise or wisdom that is only personified (described as if it were a person).      Trinitarian “diety-of-Christ” and “Arian” believers likewise don’t see the human person, the human being Jesus of Nazareth in the first verses of John’s Gospel. They see only a “divine being/person who became flesh” – but this podcast is not directed toward them. They have bigger problems.   This podcast should challenge believers in One God, the Father, to see that the “personified plan, purpose, wisdom” interpretation of John’s Prologue falls short.    I asked fourteen One God, the Father believers who have lectured or written about their abstract personification interpretation of John’s Prologue, this question:   “At what place in John 1 do you first see the man Christ Jesus of Nazareth or his ministry, either metaphorically or literally, being the subject?“   Their answers should be enlightening.   Other resources mentioned in this podcast: Perry, Andrew. John 1:1-18 A Socinian Approach https://www.amazon.com/John-1-1-18-Andrew-Perry/dp/0993444083 https://www.academia.edu/42755430/John_1_1_18_A_Socinian_Approach   Whittaker, H.A. Studies in the Gospels https://www.christadelphianbooks.com/detail/1738     Podcast: John 1 is NOT Genesis 1 (8+1 Evidences) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFv33RbrJfQ   Tips on Talking with Trinitarians about John 1 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5oTh8KhdYpIGhrH11AXnxtM  

For those who come to understand and believe that the God of the Bible is the Father alone (John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:6) and that Jesus is God's human Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God --- you will be condemned by many religious leaders and even family and friends. This podcast gives some examples :). Other resources: Bill Schlegel Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1 Blog https://landandbible.blogspot.com/ Lecture: Denying Christ: "Jesus is God" Denies that Jesus is the Christ https://youtu.be/mQMBh-Hhiw4

Pastor Finnegan has written a book called, “Kingdom Journey: A Call to Recover the Central Theme of Scripture.” Pastor Finnegan describes how God’s central promise for humans is not a disembodied escape to heaven, but of resurrection to a full immortal life on a renewed earth. In other words, restoration not relocation.   See the show notes for links to Pastor Finnegan’s book, and also to a previous podcast where Pastor Finnegan discussed “Where do we go when we die?”   Book: Kingdom Journey: A Call to Recover the Central Theme of Scripture https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Journey-Recover-Central-Scripture/dp/1666785954   Where do We Go When We Die (Hint: not to Heaven)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8rgs85dBtk   Restitutio podcast: Conditional Immortality https://restitutio.org/2019/02/14/164...   Restitutio podcast: Challenging Conditional Immortality https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165...

15 One-minute challenges to the Trinity and Deity of Jesus. For video clips and links to longer lectures mentioned in this podcast see here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5pdxAhK9DK0oUrzAGYl291_ Bill Schlegel YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1

“They believe in God. They believe in Jesus. They believe in the Holy Spirit. But they don’t believe in what is considered the most important doctrine of them all…they don’t believe in the Trinity.   “If you are a Christian, what you were taught about the Trinity is probably wrong.   “If you’ve ever wondered exactly how Christians have come to what might seem to be a strange interpretation of the nature of God, this book should provide you with a crystal-clear look into the study and understanding of how and why many believers insist that God is one and not three.   #forrestmaready, #trinity, #deityofchrist, #walkaway   Why Some Christians Don’t Believe in the Trinity https://store.forrestmaready.com/products/why-some-christians-dont-believe-in-the-trinity   https://www.amazon.com/Some-Christians-Dont-Believe-Trinity/dp/B0CMKB1KY6/ref=sr_1_8?qid=1706814856&refinements=p_27%3AForrest+Maready&s=books&sr=1-8     Forrest Maready website: https://www.forrestmaready.com/   Red Pill Gospel: Christianity, before it was Ruined: Interview with Forrest Maready https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrgf8ygLo0  

When Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), was he claiming to be God?   No. We see Jesus use the same language of more than one person being “one” in John 17:11, indeed of believers being “one” with both Jesus and the Father. What he means is a one-ness of purpose and intention, a one-ness of unity toward the same goals.   Was it the God Jesus who prayed, “Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world came to be.”  No. Rather this was the prayer of the man Jesus the Christ expressing his faith in the pre-determined promise of God.  Expressing trust in God’s promise, Jesus was speaking of a future reality as if it had already happened.   We see in John 17:20-24 that the Father GAVE to Jesus glory before the foundation of the world, that Jesus already had been given that glory when he was speaking, and that he already gave the same glory to others who had not yet believed in him.   Additional resources: One God Report Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/1fJjk0QUhsyr8r9hVCgoFk   Bill Schlegel YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Lecture: The Glory Jesus had with God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXu_2Sn4kg4   If Jesus Pre-existed, He Was Not Human https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/06/if-jesus-pre-existed-he-wasnt-human.html   #deityofchrist, #biblicalunitarian, #John17_5, #John 10_30, #gospelofjohn

In this episode our guest, theological author and blogger, Troy Salinger, shows that the biblical metaphors “to come from heaven”, “to come from above” and “to come from God” are to be understood figuratively and apply to John the Baptist (and other Old Testament prophets) as well as to Jesus.  When referring to human beings, these figures of speech do not mean to literally descend from some existence in heaven.  Rather, the figures refer to humans being commissioned, instructed, authorized and empowered by God. In his exposition of John 3:31-36, Salinger shows the context of “coming down from heaven” relates to the testimony of John the Baptizer and Jesus on the one side (“from heaven”), in contrast to the Judean religious authorities on the other side (“of the earth”).   The testimony of the Baptizer and Jesus is to believed because they (and their testimony) have come from God, from heaven. The testimony of the religious leaders on the other hand, is “from below, from the earth”, that is, of human origin.For the full text of this podcast, see Salinger’s blog “Let the Truth Come Out”. https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/24/john-331-36-a-problematic-text/   Other resources: “I came down from heaven”: Metaphors in the Gospel of John https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egnYn2JHRjM   Pre-incarnate Appearances of the Son of God in the Old Testament: Truth or Myth https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5p1klRmE6uAaU7uGSOMDuCX   Is the Memra the Pre-incarnate Son of God https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5rvmD5Q9dO68RFlfeg_cc8C   #deityofchrist, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #troysalinger, #billschlegel  

In this episode we continue our countdown of the top 10 New Testament verses that show that Jesus is NOT God. Verses in this episode include: (5.5)    1Corinthians 15:21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.   5.   Acts 17:31 “…because He (God) has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead." (Act 17:31 RSV)   4.   Acts 2:22, 36 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know… Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."   3.   1 Timothy 2:4-5 God… “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”   2.   1 Corinthians 8:6 Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all and through whom we exist.   1.   John 17:3 “Father….this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”   Compare John’s purpose statement: John 20:30-31: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”   “Consolation” Verses: Many verses which declare that God, someone other than Jesus, raised the Lord Jesus from the Dead, e.g., 1 Cor. 6:14, Romans 10:9 “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.” Romans 10:9 “…believe in your heart that God raised him (the Lord Jesus) from the dead”   Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.   Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”   John 14:28 (10:29) “The Father is greater than I”   #deityofchrist, #newtestament, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #billschlegel   Bill Schlegel blog https://landandbible.blogspot.com/   Did Jesus Raise himself from the Dead? https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/04/did-jesus-raise-himself-from-dead-john.html  

In this two part episode we look at 10 verses from the New Testament which give direct evidence that Jesus is NOT God. Many Christians have heard of a few verses that supposedly declare that Jesus IS God, but few Christians have heard about verses that show that Jesus is NOT God. In this episode we examine five (OK, plus) verses: 10.  2 Cor. 1:3, Eph. 1:3, 1 Pet. 1:3, Rom. 15:6 The Lord Jesus Christ has a God “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” Ephesians 1:17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, (Eph 1:17 NRS) Revelation 3:12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.   9.    John 20:17 “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."   8.     Mark 12:29-33 whereJesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…” (Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one).  “He is one, there is no other but he, and to love him…”   7.    John 8:40 “…but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.”   6.    Romans 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. Resources: Kapusta, P. The Epistle to the Hebrews: An Anthology of Quotations https://www.amazon.com/Scripturae-Contra-Trinitatem-Alternative-commentaries/dp/B0CKD3L7N6/ref=pd_sbs_sccl_1_1/146-8304861-2985060?pd_rd_w=WeOyj&content-id=amzn1.sym.9e4bb0e3-6517-4128-9279-264b7296d379&pf_rd_p=9e4bb0e3-6517-4128-9279-264b7296d379&pf_rd_r=GFQ5GF78ZPBYJ26M0WQK&pd_rd_wg=QQCBt&pd_rd_r=79fbd551-3f12-4afb-a5a6-a82a1301ac54&pd_rd_i=B0CKD3L7N6&psc=1   “Before Abraham Was I Am”: Was Jesus Claiming to Be God? https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pmSAXdTJeieFqgouEZfIO?si=kxH4ujFFTKyq_dkWFIbbXg

This episode has two parts: Part 1, I ask a question about the objectives of the Hamas attack. October 7, 2023—a date which will live in infamy— Israel was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the militant, terrorist forces of Hamas, the Islamic organization in authority in the Gaza strip.   Part 2 of the Podcast, Reading the New Testament without Trinitarian Glasses   I look at the first eight verses of the Book of Revelation as an example of reading a New Testament text without the presuppositions and prejudices of Trinitarian belief. We discover that in the biblical text Jesus is not the LORD God Almighty, who was and is and to come.  Rather, Jesus is the faithful witness who died is the first-born from the dead.  Jesus’ God is the Father, the LORD God Almighty who is and was and is to come.   Resource links: In the Book of Revelation, God is not the Lamb, and the Lamb is not Godhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VGgzoGD8Qw Hamas charterhttps://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp   Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الإسلامية or Ḥarakah al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement".   Samples of Hamas Charter: Preamble Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it"   Article 8 Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.   Basam Naim, Hamas Head of Political and International Relations, “We did not kill civilians…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egipqa0ZhUk&t=2s   Hamas Chief of National Relations Abroad, Ali Baraka: We Have Been Secretly Planning the Invasion for Two Years https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1712030588872351872 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzZsms0LJWQ   Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh (from Qatar) 10/14/23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TsgINcg-ss   #Hamas, #Israel-Hamas, #trinity, #deityofchrist, #unitarian, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel

Who is Denying Christ – Me or a Person who Believes that “Jesus is God”?   When I first came to understand that the man, the human person Jesus of Nazareth, is God’s Christ (the Messiah המשיח), the human Son of God, quite a few of my former Trinitarian and deity-of-Christ-believing friends accused me of “denying Christ”.   Here I was confessing and proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, yet many people were saying I was denying Christ!   For a complete text of this episode, click here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/who-is-denying-christ-me-or-person-who.html   Let’s ask Trinitarian, deity of Christ believers this question. I would really like to hear Trinitarians, or oneness believers answer. I’m interested in honest, civil discussion. The best place to answer is probably the Bill Schlegel YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Here’s the question – I’ll ask it in various ways for clarification: Do have a problem with God exalting a human person, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, to His (God’s) right hand? Do you deny that the human person, the human being, Jesus of Nazareth came into being, was born, lived, was put to death, was raised from the dead by God and exalted to God’s right hand? Are you ashamed of the human person, Jesus of Nazareth? Do you think who this human person is and what this human person did is not sufficient to be the one mediator between God and man? Again, is there an exalted, glorified human person at the right hand of God?   #deityofchrist, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel, #denyingchrist, #antichrist

A faith journey. How I was introduced to Christianity, became a teacher in a Christian college in the Land of Israel, and came to understand that the God of the Bible is not three-persons-in-one-being. I believe in God (the Father) and in Jesus the Son of God (the Messiah), and in the spirit of God - but I'm not a Trinitarian. For the full text of this episode see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/walk-away-why-i-am-not-trinitarian.html Other resources mentioned in this episode: Biblical Unitarian Christian Alliance conference: https://www.unitarianchristianalliance.org/registration-is-open-uca-conference-october-19-21-2023/ Satellite Bible Atlas https://www.bibleplaces.com/satellite-bible-atlas-schlegel/ Revised English Version https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Gen/1/nav1 Video Testimony, Bill and Stephanie Schlegel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LA9Uq-8xMc

In Romans 10:9 the Apostle Paul states that part of salvation depends on a person confessing with their mouth that “Jesus is Lord”, or the “Lord Jesus”.  This episode aims to show that, contrary to traditional Christianity’s belief, to claim that “Jesus is Lord” (or the “Lord Jesus”) is NOT a claim that “Jesus is God”.  Rather, when the Apostle Paul, like other writers of the New Testament, uses the title “Lord” for Jesus, he differentiates Jesus from God.  Another way to state this truth: in his epistles Paul uses the title God for God (the Father alone), and the title Lord for the human person, Jesus the Lord Messiah. For full text of this episode, see here https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/in-romans-109-apostle-paul-states-that.html #JesusisLord, #deityofchrist, #richardbauckham, #1Corinthians8:6, #Romans10:9, #Jesusinshema, #billschlegel, #onegodreport Time stamps: 00:01 Introduction: LORD or Lord? There are many people in the Bible who are Lord, but are not God.   03:12 The titles “God, Father, God the Father, God our Father” : All of God or just one member of God?   05:13 Does the Apostle Paul use the title “Lord” for Jesus to equate Jesus with God, or distinguishing Jesus from God. Paul never uses the title “Lord” for God.   07:31 An example from Peter, Acts 2_36, “God made Jesus Lord and Christ”   09:00 Romans 10_9 “Jesus is Lord”. Romans 15_6 “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus”   12:06 First Corinthians 8_6, “As for us there is one God, the Father…and one Lord, Jesus Christ”   21:24 More examples of “Lord” meaning that Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God, 2 Cor. 1_3 and Ephesians 1_17   23:00 Other biblical authors who distinguish between God and the Lord Messiah Jesus: James 1_1, 2 Pet. 1_2, and Jude 1_25. The Gospel of John never refers to God as Lord, except in 3 places where the author directly quotes an Hebrew Scripture passage that contains the name YHVH.   26:42 Summary and Challenge.  Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God.  

An examination of the Trinitarian claim that God is a compound unity, "three-in-one". For full written text of this podcast see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/08/hear-o-gentiles-lord-your-god-lord-is.html That the God of the Bible, YHVH is one, is a difficulty for Trinitarianism. In about AD 530 the Christian Byzantine Emperor Justinian even banned the recitation of the Shema since he considered it to be a denial of the Trinity. But modern Trinitarianism takes a different approach, claiming that “one” can mean three because “one” can mean a compound unity. Three things together can make up one of something else.  A couple of biblical examples are put forward. For instance, in Genesis 1:5 evening and morning are one day. A husband and wife become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). The spies came back with one (echad) cluster of grapes" (Num. 13:23). Let’s take a closer look at the “compound unity”, “three-in-one” claim.

For text notes to this podcast, click here: ⁠https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/08/does-apostle-peter-call-jesus-christ.html⁠ In 2 Peter 1:1 did Peter claim that Jesus Christ was “our God? Two points:   1.  Even for deity of Christ believing Trinitarians, to claim that Peter is calling Jesus Christ “our God” is a big problem. Isn’t your God the Trinity? And, what about the Father? What about the “Spirit”? In a frantic effort to find some evidence that “Jesus is God”, aren’t you ignoring and dishonoring the One whom Jesus called the only true God, the Father (John 17:3). Aren’t you dishonoring the one of whom Paul said “as for us there is one God, the Father” (1 Cor. 8:6)?    The deity of Christ interpretation dishonors Peter and falsely testifies about Peter. And, any and all “deity of Christ” claims are a denigration of the Father, since they claim that the Father is not the one true God.   2.  It is clear from many other Scriptures that Peter knows exactly who God is, and who the Lord or Savior Jesus Christ is. Peter does not confuse the identity of God and Jesus. The fact that the deity of Christ claim appeals to some supposed point of Greek grammar for one two less clear verses, and ignores the testimony of the rest of Scripture is simply poor exegesis.   To Peter, the Lord and Savior Jesus is not God. To Peter, but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has a God, who raised him from the dead. We can see what Peter means in 2 Peter 1:1, “in the righteousness of our God, and (the) Savior Jesus Christ” by reading Peter’s other descriptions of God and Jesus. Let’s start with the very next verse:   2 Peter 1:2, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." Who is “God” in this verse? Are we really to believe that Peter switched who was God from verse 1 to verse 2. I hate the deity of Christ identity confusion. I reject the deity of Christ identity confusion.   John 17:1-3, having eternal life involves knowing, having knowledge of two persons, two beings: 1. The Father, the only true God, and 2. Jesus the Messiah whom the Father sent.   Compare the “distributive” aspect of both 1 Pet. 1:1 and 1 Peter 1:2: “the knowledge of…” two persons (God, and Jesus our Lord). “the righteousness of…” two persons (our God, and the Savior Jesus Christ).   1 Peter 1:3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” For Peter, God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. God and the Lord Jesus are two different persons, two different beings.   Acts 2:22-24. "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know --   this Jesus... God raised him up…” For Peter, Jesus was a man whom God worked through, a man who was killed, whom God raised up. Two different persons, two different beings.   Acts 2:36   “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." For Peter, God MADE Jesus Lord and Christ. The ultimate testimony of Peter as to whom he considered Jesus to be is found in Peter’s declaration after Jesus asked him point-blank, “Who do you say that I am?” In Mark, Peter declared: “The Christ!”  The Christ is not God. In Luke, “The Christ of God!” The Christ of God is not God. In Matthew, “The Christ, the Son of the Living God”.  The Son of the Living God is not the Living God.   Peter in 1 Peter 1:1 is not contradicting himself. He is not confused about the identity of Jesus. It is deity of Christ interpreters who are confused about the identity of Jesus. Related web link: Troy Salinger Examines the Granville Sharp Rule:https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/2-peter-11-titus-213-and-the-granville-sharp-rule-a-new-approach/ #deityofchrist, #1Peter1:1, #nontrinitarian, #trinity, #billschlegel

It’s a good question. I don’t know if there is a black and white answer because there are different degrees and facets to the question. Many trinitarians that I know seem to not really know what they believe, and functionally or “practically” believe in in One God, the Father.   There are different levels and degrees of judgment. Like James said, teachers will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1).  I am not confident that “everything is going to be alright” for someone who insists that God is a triune being, a Trinity, or that “Jesus is God”. Trinitarianism is messing with what Jesus called the greatest commandment: that Yehovah our God is one (Deu. 6:4, Mark 12:29-34).  Exodus 20:2-3    "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  3 "You shall have no other gods before me."  So the question is: who, or what (according to Trinitarianism), is the one God. Is the one God the Father alone, or is the one God a tri-personal being, a substance that has more than one person. And the New Testament says that the One God is the Father: John 17:1-3 “Father...this is eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” 1 Corinthians 8:6, “As for us there is one God, the Father...” All “deity of Christ” interpretations of passages like John 1 and Philippians 2 attempt to do two things: 1. denigrate the Father by declaring that someone or something else other than the Father is the one true God, and 2.  rob the man Christ Jesus of who he is and what he did. Since Trinitarianism insists that Jesus is a god-person who only “took on” human flesh or human nature, that means there never was or is a real human person Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth. Otherwise, Jesus would be two persons: a god-person Jesus and a man-person Jesus from Nazareth. But traditional Christianity decided in AD 451, almost 1600 years ago, that Jesus is not two persons. He is only the god person. The man Jesus of Nazareth never did anything -never humbled himself, never obeyed God, never trusted God - because he never existed. “He was only a god-person all along.”  1 John 2:22-23 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Who is denying the Son? Someone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, or someone who denies that Jesus, a real human person, is the Christ. 1 John 2:22 does not say, “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is God”.  Far from it. The Son of God is never literally God in the Bible. The title Son of God is given to created beings, especially to Israel, and to Israel’s chief representative, the king of the line of David.   We do have a judge, the man, the human person, Jesus the Christ from Nazareth. The Apostle Paul stated that God “will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this He has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31, 2 Tim. 2:5, Romans 5:15, 2 Cor. 5:10). Have we said in our hearts during our time in this age “a mere man can’t judge us, we will not have that man rule over us”? Ironically, perhaps some Trinitarians may be saved by what they’ve insisted they aren’t saved by, i.e., works (Matt. 16:27, 12:36-37; Romans 2:6-7, 2 Cor. 5:10, 1 Cor. 3:12-14, Gal. 6:7-9, James 2:20-26). I have a feeling that one of those works will be how people treated the children of God who believe that God is the Father, and that the man Jesus is the Messiah (1 John 5:1, John 8:42, Matt. 25:41-46).  People like me are not the final judge (Romans 2:16). We don’t have all the information. God has appointed the man Jesus Christ, and given him the authority to judge (Acts 17:31, John 5:22, 27).  “So each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).  

Offering three separate $200 prizes (total $600)!   $200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament where “God” (Theos, ha Theos) means the Trinity.   $200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament that mentions “God the Son”.   $200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament that describes Jesus as “fully God and fully man”, or “truly God and truly man”.   Such verses should be easy to find. Many evangelical doctrinal statements start out by declaring that the Bible is the sole authority for belief and practice, and then immediately state that God is three persons in one God, that God the Son is one of those persons, and that Jesus is “fully God and fully man”.   The complaint, and prayer before YHVH is that he would raise up a remnant of 7000 Israelis that believe that He is the only true God, and that the man Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth is God's Messiah.   #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #deityofjesus, #unitarian, #billschlegel

Episode 100 – offering a $100 prize to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament where “God” (Theos, Ha Theos) means the Trinity!   Difference between a Triad vs. the Trinity   James White, The Forgotten Trinity, p. 23:  “Within one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”   Athanasian Creed:  “Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally… one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.”   “…we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,     neither blending their persons     nor dividing their essence.         For the person of the Father is a distinct person,         the person of the Son is another,         and that of the Holy Spirit still another.         But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,         their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.   Quote from Murray Harris book, Jesus as God, explaining that that “God” in the Bible never means the Trinity, never means the Trinitarian God, the Tri-person-one-being of mainstream Christianity. p. 47 footnote   Biblical references in this episode:   John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his unique (or only begotten)  Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.   Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"   Gal 4:6  And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"   1 Cor 8:6 “As for us, there is one God, the Father….and one Lord, Jesus Christ…”   Eph. 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,   1 Thess. 1:1, 9-10, 3:11, 13,   2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.   Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,  2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all…   To believe that the God of the Bible is a Trinity, one must believe these statements: “In the Bible, God is never the Trinity. But the God of the Bible is a Trinity.” “The God of the Bible is a Trinity, but in the Bible God is never a Trinity”   Trinitarians need to write a book “The Trinity as God” in which all 1315 references to God in the New Testament are examined to see which of those references mean the Trinity. It will be a very short book.   Who is God in the phrase “Son of God”? Who is God in the phrase “Spirit of God”?   Who is God Most High in the phrase “Son of God Most High God”? If the Father is God Most High, then neither the Trinity, nor Jesus, are God Most High.   The Trinity is a denigration of the Father, whom Jesus called the only True God and whom Paul says for us there is one God, the Father. If the Trinity is the one God, then the Father is not the one God.   The Father and the Trinity can’t both be the one God. One of them is an idol. #trinity, #JesusisGod, #murrayharris, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #billschlegel

This is part 3 of a three-part series with Dr. Dustin Smith, Pre-Millennial or A-Millennial   In this episode Dr. Smith describes the “Tale of Two Cities”. Like the original readers of the Book of Revelation, readers even now are challenged to associate with, indeed be part of, the godly New Jerusalem and not ungodly Babylon.   In a similar metaphor, readers of Revelation are encouraged associate with, indeed be part of the Bride of Christ, which is the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 10-11) and not with the Harlot, which is ungodly Babylon (Rev. 17:4-6).   Dr. Smith examines the 1000 years mentioned in Revelation 20. He understands the 1000 years to be symbolic of a significant time period that has a definite fixed end. Satan is bound for followers of God and Jesus, but at the same time rampant in the world outside. Similarly, in Jesus’ Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13) good and evil co-existence for a period of time until the fixed day of separation and judgment.   Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/   The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK   #millenium,#premillennial, #amillennial, #1000 years, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian,#returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel, #Revelation, #kingofheaven

Dr. Dustin Smith is currently Professor of Theological Studies at Reformed University near Atlanta, Georgia. Among other writings, he is co-author of the book "The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus" and he is the host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast.   The pre-millennial view of the return of Christ holds that the unrighteous are judged 1000 years after the righteous. In this episode, Part 2 of our discussion, Dr. Smith gives biblical evidence that the righteous and unrighteous will be judged at the same time – when Jesus returns and raises the dead – not separated by a period of 1000 years.   Scriptures referred to in this episode: Matthew 13:30, 39-43, the Kingdom of Heaven Parable of the Wheat and Tares and its Explanation Matthew 13:49-50, the Kingdom of Heaven Parable of the Dragnet Acts 17:40-41, “God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man…” Matthew 25:31ff, The Parable of the Separation of the Sheep and Goats at the Return of Jesus Matthew 7:21-24, “Not all who say to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom Matthew 12:41ff, “The men of Nineveh…and the Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation…” Revelation 11:15-18, “The kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ”   Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/   The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK   #millenium, #premillennial, #amillennial, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel

Dr. Dustin Smith is currently Professor of Theological Studies at Reformed University near Atlanta, Georgia. Among other writings, he is co-author of the book The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus" and he is the host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast.   In this first of a series of three One God Report podcast episodes, Dr. Smith describes some differences between pre-millennialism and a-millennialism. Eventually we are leading up to the question: is the 1000 years in Revelation 20 to be understood as a literal 1000 years, or does the 1000 years symbolically represent something else? Dr. Smith makes these points in the current episode:   Both pre-millennial and a-millennial views see two levels, or two tiers, two time-periods to the kingdom of God.   For pre-millennialism the two tiers are: 1) after the physical return of Jesus, a literal 1000-year rule of Christ on earth, and then 2) the eternal kingdom which begins after the 1000 years.   For amillennialism: 1) the kingdom of God and of His Christ has already been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus and his ascension to heaven at the right hand of God. And 2) the eternal kingdom is consummated when Jesus physically returns to earth. The amillennialism that Dr. Smith describes believes that Jesus will physically rule over a kingdom on earth, just not for an intermediate 1000-year period. Rather, Jesus’s return is the transition to his to an eternal rule on earth.   In this podcast Dr. Smith begins to explain some problems with the pre-millennial view.   1) Pre-millennialism maintains that even after Jesus returns and raises the dead, some non-believers, that is, mortals, will enter the millennial kingdom. But biblically, there are considerable problems not only with mortals entering the kingdom of God, but with people continuing to die after the resurrection which accompanies the second coming of Christ (Matt 25:46; 1 Cor 15:23-26, 54-55; 2 Tim 1:10; Rev 21:4).   2) Pre-millennialism maintains that the resurrection of the just precedes by 1000 years the resurrection of the unjust, that is, the righteous are resurrected when Jesus returns, but the unrighteous 1000 years later. But in the Bible the resurrection of the just and the unjust always occurs at the same time, (e.g., Dan 12:2; Matt 12:41-42; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Rev 11:15-18). Specifically, the resurrection of all the dead occurs at the return of Jesus (1 Thes. 4:13-17). Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith https://biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com/   The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK   #millenium, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel

I interview six different people in Israel to answer these questions:   Who is God and how do you know? Who is the Messiah and what is his relationship to God? Is there are specific Scripture or two that explain your view of God or the Messiah?   The people interviewed include:   02:28 Yaakov (Yaaki), a more or less secular Israeli who became a public high school Bible teacher.   09:00 Elena, who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union.   12:24 Moses (Moshe), a Jewish believer in Jesus who parents were Holocaust survivors.   18:52 Shaaban, a Muslim Arab (not Israeli).   22:30 A group of religious Jewish men.   26:14 Jonathan, an American Israeli Jew who believes in One God (the Father) and the human Messiah Jesus.   Bill Schlegel YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Land and Bible blog: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/   #israel, #Jewishbelieversjesus, #deityofchrist, @trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #onegodreport, #billschlegel

This episode is a review of the recently published paperback edition of the book called, The Restitution: Biblical Proof that Jesus is not God, by Kermit Zarley*.   What? Biblical proofs that Jesus is NOT God? The average Christian has heard only the biblical proofs that supposedly declare that Jesus IS God.   But anyone who thinks that the Bible claims that God is a Trinity, or that the Bible claims that Jesus Christ is God, should read this book. The Restitution: Biblical Proof that Jesus is NOT God is a comprehensive study of biblical Christology. What does the Bible say about who or what Christ (Messiah) is? For some 1700 years Christian churches have answered that question by saying that Jesus is God, or a God-Man. Zarley challenges that answer. He maintains that the biblical view is not “God is Christ”, but “God in Christ”. That is, the One God of the Bible, Yahweh, worked in and through His human Messiah, Jesus, to reveal Himself to mankind (John 1:18, Heb. 1:1), and to reconcile the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19).   *Kermit Zarley is a retired professional golfer and Christian author.  In 1965 he co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study group which continues to this day.   Links for this episode:   The Restitution: Biblical Proof that Jesus is not God https://www.amazon.com/Restitution-Biblical-Proof-Jesus-Not/dp/1735259160   Kermit Zarley webpage: https://kermitzarley.com/   For a text of this podcast see here. https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-restitution-of-jesus-christ-signs.html   April 21-23, 2023, Cornerstone Church 2023 Bible Conference and Heritage Sunday 338 State School Rd, Gatesville, TX 76528-2921, United States Kermit Zarley, former golf pro and founder of the PGA Tour Bible Study will present four sessions on theological and prophetic topics. Other presenters include Kegan Chandler, Kevin George, Albert Valdez, David Ash and Dennis Smith. We expect a fun and profitable time of Bible study and fellowship. Meals provided include: sandwich lunch and spaghetti dinner on Saturday; carry-in dinner on Sunday. Please RSVP to greg@cornerstonetx.tv. https://www.facebook.com/events/2548372141984249/?ref=newsfeed   Zarley, tied for lead with Jack Nicklaus, last round, 6th hole, US Open at Pebble Beach, 1972 https://youtu.be/84p_Cb8ijXA?t=573   ONE GOD REPORT 37) "I came down from heaven": Discussion with Kermit Zarley on Metaphors in the Gospel of John, and if Jesus "Pre-existed" https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/F0G9djgJZyb   #deityofchrist, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #kermitzarley, #billschlegel

There is a popular declaration among Christians the world over this time of year. Quoting the messenger at Jesus’s tomb the declaration is made, “His is risen!” And then people respond: “He is risen indeed!”.    But that English declaration is actually incorrect, or is an incorrect translation. The angelic declaration about Jesus is not about what Jesus did, but about what someone else, namely God, did to Jesus. In Greek, the declaration is a passive.  Jesus was acted upon. He received the action of the verb in the sentence. A more correct declaration is “He has been raised!” or, “He was raised”.  That is, someone else raised Jesus. For full text notes of this episode, click here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/04/he-has-been-raised-he-has-been-raised.html _  Did God Die Traditional Christianity seems to be really confused as to just who died on that cross some 2000 years ago. I hear conflicting claims. Often people, even preachers, will say that “God died”, like the Charles Wesley hymn, “Amazing love! how can it be, That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”   Or Max Lucato, touted as a New York Times Best Selling (Christian) Author who posted recently about a book he wrote saying: “God is on a cross. The Creator of the universe is being executed.”   If your theology brings you to a place where you think God died, you better re-think your theology. Such a claim is completely non-biblical, contradictory to the Bible. The Bible says categorically that God is immortal. God does not die (Rom. 1:23, 1 Tim 1:17 “immortal, invisible, the only God”, 1 Tim. 6:16).   Other Christians will say, “Well, it was only the human Jesus who died, or the humanity of Jesus who died”.  My response is that a dual-natured Jesus is made up figment of peoples’ imagination, and he is a liar. The Bible never says the God-man who died is our mediator. The Bible only says the man Christ Jesus died and is our mediator (e.g., Rom. 5:15, 1 Cor. 15:21, 1 Tim 2:4-5).   I suggest that the so-called dual-natured, fully-god-fully-man Jesus of modern Christianity is a dual-minded liar. Ask your Jesus a question: Did you die? If your Jesus says “No (the god Jesus) and yes (the human Jesus)”, he is a liar and is not the biblical Jesus. If your Jesus hesitates and has to explain how something of him died but something else of him didn’t die, you have a lying, false Jesus.   The biblical Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God, the Lord Messiah declares for all to hear: “I was dead” (Rev. 1:18). Two verses in John’s Gospel? Did Jesus Raise Himself from the dead?” One God Report Podcast #14   Web resources for this episode: Full text of podcast:  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/04/he-has-been-raised-he-has-been-raised.html NET Translation and Note on Matthew 27:6 https://netbible.org/bible/Matthew+28   Revised English Version note on Matthew 27:6https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Matthew/28/6   Did Jesus Raise Himself from the Dead?https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/04/did-jesus-raise-himself-from-dead-john.html   Charles Wesley Songhttps://www.invubu.com/music/show/song/Charles-Wesley/And-Can-It-Be%252C-That-I-Should-Gain.html   Max Lucato quotehttps://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=762063085288722&set=pb.100044551114485.-2207520000.   #biblicalunitarian, #deityofchrist, #trinity, #resurrection, #billschlegel

In Part 1 (the previous episode, #92) I began to respond to some of the claims made in the One for Israel video called “The Trinity and the Torah, a Jewish Defense of the Trinity”. I noted that the so-called “mysterious unity of (one-God-in-three-persons) is not a biblical mystery, but is a man-made mystery that comes from centuries after the Bible was written, from Gentiles land outside of the Land of Israel.   Also, that the idea of agency is a much better way to understand how God’s messengers can speak and act for God.  God’s agents or messengers even speak in the first person as God, as they are delegated and authorized by God to do so. When God’s messengers speak, God speaks.   In the current episode: 01:00  Appealing to Dr. Benjamin Sommer. The necessity to appeal to Dr. Sommer’s ideas for evidence of more one person in God is an admission that the Bible makes no such declaration.   02:47  An example of an essential biblical truth, which unlike the doctrine of the Trinity, is directly and consistently described in the New Testament: that God raised the man Jesus from the dead.   04:54  Since a multi-person God is not declared in the Bible, people, including Gentile Christians, long for some scrap of “Jewish” evidence that God can be multi-personal. This the appeal to Dr. Sommer.   06:06  Who is Dr. Benjamin Sommer? His views on the authority and origin of Scripture, the Documentary Hypothesis, and the Bodies of God. Dr. Sommer’s view is closer akin to Modalism or Hinduism.   12:32  Is the Trinity in the Old Testament? What about Genesis 1:26? Does anyone in the New Testament go to the Old Testament to find evidence that God is triune?   14:54  Is the Trinity in the New Testament? Constructing a god from hints and clues, first finding verses that allegedly claim that Jesus is literally a second deity figure. What about John 1? Romans 10:9, 1 Cor. 8:6 - verses appealed in the One for Israel video do not declare that God is triune, and in fact, declare that the Father is the one God.   19:37  Are Israeli Jewish believers in Jesus Trinitarians? Most would say no. The deceptive bait and switch: finding evidence in the Bible that Jesus is the Messiah, but then insisting that Jesus is literally God.   22:40  A Trinity claim is an attempt to denigrate the only True God, the Father. A challenge from Deut. 32:6, Malachi 2:10 and John 17:1-3    For an analysis of the Documentary Hypothesis, see:  Casuto, U. The Documentary Hypothesishttps://www.amazon.com/Documentary-Hypothesis-Umberto-Cassuto/dp/9657052351   In pdf format: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://shalempress.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/29_3_2011_55_29_cas-gen.pdf    Benjamin Sommer: Quotes from Benjamin Sommer about his book Bodies of God in this podcast: https://kavvanah.blog/2015/05/13/interview-with-benjamin-sommer-on-revelation-and-authority-sinai-in-jewish-scripture-and-tradition/   Benjamin Sommer Lectures: The Bodies of Godhttps://biblicalstudiesonline.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/benjamin-d-sommer-on-gods-body/   Book: The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/bodies-of-god-and-the-world-of-ancient-israel/72E589D9BD86AEDF5DBF5043453C203F   #oneforisrael, #trinityandtheTorah, #deityofchrist, #agency, #billschlegel, #non-binaryjesus, #biblicalunitarian, #benjaminsommer, #bodiesofgod, #deityofchrist, #onegodreport

0:00  Introduction. One For Israel, my own interest in Israel and the Jewish People   1:00  Why is “The Trinity in the Torah” a “hot topic”? Because the Torah does not proclaim that God is triune. There is no declaration in the Bible where the God of Israel says, “I am three persons in one”. If there was such a declaration, there would be nothing to argue about.   Which Stumbling Block? The One For Israel video states that the “stumbling block” for the Jews is the Trinity, the deity of Christ and “incarnation” of one God person of a tri-personal god.  But such things are a non-biblical stumbling block to Jewish faith in the Messiah. These are post-biblical, man-made stumbling blocks that Jewish people are completely right in rejecting.   These man-made stumbling blocks prevent Jewish people from hearing and being confronted with the true New Testament declaration about the Messiah, Yeshua. As the Apostle Paul declared, the stumbling block for the Jews is “Christ crucified”. The biblical proclamation is that the Messiah was put to death, but was raised from the dead and exalted by God to God’s right hand. There is nothing in the New Testament about Jews not accepting the Trinity or incarnation of one divine person of a tri-personal God.   05:49  The “Mysterious Unity of God” which the One For Israel video repeatedly discusses is likewise a non-biblical mystery, entirely foreign to the Bible.   9:09  AGENCY: The biblical principal of “the messenger represents the one who sent him” (agency) is a much better way to understand the few passages that are put-forth as an attempt to show that there is a “mysterious unity of (more than one person who is) God”. Many Christians, including Messianic Jews who believe in the “deity of Christ” are not familiar with the concept of agency. Once agency is understood, the fog of the so-called “mystery” is lifted.   19:09 Summary. The Mystery Solved and Agency 22:09 Looking forward to Part 2 One For Israel: The Trinity and the Torah, a Jewish Defense of the Trinity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7D2djAnAbI&t=146s One God Report Podcast https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onegodreport-podcast   Or, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Trinity Preferred Pronouns: He/Him (Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought and Language) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRFJbSlC0-E   Is the God-man Jesus Trans-natured, Non-Binary? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_nDKxXkOg #oneforisrael, #trinityandtheTorah, #deityofchrist, #agency, #billschlegel, non-binaryjesus

The mystery of the Trinity is not a biblical mystery. The "Trinity is a mystery" claim comes from after the Bible was written.  No one in the Bible ever declared that God is a three-in-one mystery. Only hundreds of years after the Bible was written did people begin to claim the Trinity was a mystery not only because they couldn't understand it, but because they know that to claim that “God-is-three-persons” is difficult to align with the biblical claim that God is one. In this current episode (Part 2) we examine more problems with the Trinitarian mystery claim: 1.  Is the "Trinitarian mystery" really just a more positive way to say contradiction and confusion? 2. Trinitarian mystery promotes ignorance, not understanding. 3. Promoting "mystery" as something positive and desirable. 4. Gate-Keepers of the mystery religion 5. Even though it is a mystery, the brightest Christian minds have tried to understand and explain it.  All have failed. 6. Putting faith in the wrong place. Mystery deflects faith from the true biblical declaration of who God and Messiah are. 7.  Mystery is an attack on the Fatherhood of God, attempting to replace the one true God, the Father, with an impersonal "It". 8. The Trinity mystery claim directly contradicts explicit biblical revelation that we can know and understand who God is, and that God is one, the Father.