Skip to main content
One God Report

One God Report

By William Schlegel

Discussion of biblical topics and texts that show that the God revealed in the Bible is One, and not a Trinity. Jesus, who was put to death and raised from the dead by God, is the Messiah (the Christ, the Anointed) of the One God.
Available on
Apple Podcasts Logo
Google Podcasts Logo
Overcast Logo
Pocket Casts Logo
RadioPublic Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

65) Before Abraham was I AM. Was Jesus claiming to be God?

One God ReportJan 22, 2022

00:00
29:10
116) Fifteen one-minute Challenges to the Trinity

116) Fifteen one-minute Challenges to the Trinity

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

Mar 24, 202415:46
114) Why Some Christians Don't Believe in the Trinity: Forrest Maready
Feb 02, 202441:34
#113) "I and the Father are one" and "the glory I had with you" are not Deity of Christ texts: John 17:11, 20-24

#113) "I and the Father are one" and "the glory I had with you" are not Deity of Christ texts: John 17:11, 20-24

Jan 15, 202424:09
112) John the Baptizer Came Down from Heaven

112) John the Baptizer Came Down from Heaven

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

 

Dec 23, 202339:28
#111) Top Five NT Verses that Show Jesus is NOT God

#111) Top Five NT Verses that Show Jesus is NOT God

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

 

Nov 18, 202325:39
110) Top 10 New Testament Scriptures that Prove Jesus is NOT God (#10-6)

110) Top 10 New Testament Scriptures that Prove Jesus is NOT God (#10-6)

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

Nov 08, 202320:06
109) Reading the New Testament without Trinitarian Glasses

109) Reading the New Testament without Trinitarian Glasses

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 God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VGgzoGD8Qw

Hamas charter
https://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

Oct 21, 202315:17
108) "Jesus is God" Denies that Jesus is the Christ

108) "Jesus is God" Denies that Jesus is the Christ

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

Sep 30, 202314:08
107) #Walk Away, Why I Am Not a Trinitarian
Sep 18, 202327:24
106) "Jesus is Lord" means Jesus is NOT God

106) "Jesus is Lord" means Jesus is NOT God

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.

 


Sep 05, 202328:23
105) "Hear O Gentiles, the LORD your God is (Three in) One

105) "Hear O Gentiles, the LORD your God is (Three in) One

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.

Aug 11, 202321:02
103) Does Peter Call Jesus "Our God" in 2 Peter 1:1?

103) Does Peter Call Jesus "Our God" in 2 Peter 1:1?

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

Aug 01, 202325:03
102) Are Trinitarians Idol Worshippers? Are they Saved?

102) Are Trinitarians Idol Worshippers? Are they Saved?

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).

 

Jul 15, 202321:53
101) $200 Cash Prizes, and a Complaint before YHVH

101) $200 Cash Prizes, and a Complaint before YHVH

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

Jul 05, 202318:49
100)  1,315 Reasons that the God of the Bible is not a Trinity

100) 1,315 Reasons that the God of the Bible is not a Trinity

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

Jun 25, 202326:33
99) Is the 1000 Years of Revelation 20 Literal or Symbolic, with Dr. Dustin Smith, Part 3
Jun 13, 202330:25
98) Pre-millennial or A-millennial, Part 2: with Dr. Dustin Smith (Judgement of the Righteous at the Same Time as the Unrighteous)

98) Pre-millennial or A-millennial, Part 2: with Dr. Dustin Smith (Judgement of the Righteous at the Same Time as the Unrighteous)

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


Jun 03, 202327:10
97) Pre-Millenial or A-Millenial: Interview with Dr. Dustin Smith, Part 1

97) Pre-Millenial or A-Millenial: Interview with Dr. Dustin Smith, Part 1

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

May 29, 202327:06
96) From Israel: Six Views of God and the Messiah
May 19, 202331:27
95) Biblical Proof that Jesus is NOT God!

95) Biblical Proof that Jesus is NOT God!

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

Apr 15, 202316:50
94) He HAS BEEN Raised! He HAS BEEN Raised, Indeed!

94) He HAS BEEN Raised! He HAS BEEN Raised, Indeed!

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 27:6
https://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 Song
https://www.invubu.com/music/show/song/Charles-Wesley/And-Can-It-Be%252C-That-I-Should-Gain.html

 

Max Lucato quote
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=762063085288722&set=pb.100044551114485.-2207520000.

  #biblicalunitarian, #deityofchrist, #trinity, #resurrection, #billschlegel

Apr 06, 202315:57
93) One for Israel, a Jewish Defense of the Trinity, the Trinity and the Torah: Response Part 2

93) One for Israel, a Jewish Defense of the Trinity, the Trinity and the Torah: Response Part 2

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 Hypothesis
https://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 God
https://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

Mar 24, 202325:01
92) #One For Israel: A Response to "The Trinity and the Torah, A Jewish Defense of the Trinity"

92) #One For Israel: A Response to "The Trinity and the Torah, A Jewish Defense of the Trinity"

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

Mar 20, 202322:59
91) The Mystery of the Trinity: Solved (Part 2)

91) The Mystery of the Trinity: Solved (Part 2)

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.

Mar 03, 202323:42
90) The Mystery of the Trinity: Solved! (Part 1)
Feb 24, 202319:17
89) Significance of the Decimation of the Assyrian Army in Judah, ca. 700 BC

89) Significance of the Decimation of the Assyrian Army in Judah, ca. 700 BC

Two reasons why the decimation of the Assyrian army in Judah in the days of Hezekiah is significant:  
-
1. There is a unique correlation and agreement from three sources of this biblical event from over 2700 years ago:  

a. Bible (Isaiah 36-37, 2 Kings 18-19, 2 Chronicles 32) 

b. Archaeological finds in Israel and Assyria 

c. Assyrian written records  
-
2. The biblical authors present and remember the event as parallel to the destruction of the Egyptian military at the Reed Sea.   Both events - the defeat of the Egyptian army at the Reed Sea, and the defeat of the Assyria army in Judeh - are evidence that Yahweh is the Supreme God and that He is with Israel/Judah.

Feb 08, 202329:21
88) Little Known Facts About the Trinity

88) Little Known Facts About the Trinity

This episode is a review and recommendation for the recently printed book: Little Known Facts About the Trinity

On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Known-Facts-About-Trinity/dp/B0BN61Z8Z3/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1674745468&refinements=p_27%3AKohl&s=books&sr=1-1

Christians should ask themselves these questions: Why did God never declare from heaven, or through a prophet or apostle, that HE is three persons in one? Why did Jesus never describe that God is "three in one"? Is a Triune God really biblical?

Does the Bible say, “The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God, so God must be Triune”?

At 100 pages this well-written book is not a daunting read. The book exhibits substantial research but is not overly academic.

The author addresses main “deity of Christ” and Trinitarian claims, points out major interpretation problems and philosophical contradictions of Trinitarian claims and gives alternative (better) explanations of Trinitarian proof texts. The book also explains the post-biblical, non-biblical, often deadly, development of Trinitarian belief.

I highly recommend this book. The only adjustment that I suggest be made is to at least mention that another possibility for interpreting John 1 is that John 1 is not describing the Genesis creation. John 1 is introducing the new beginning that God brings about through the man, the Messiah Jesus, who is metaphorically called the Word.

As the author of the Book of Hebrews declared, “God…has spoken to us by a son”, and as the Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:21, "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man." The new beginning being done by God is through the man Jesus.

This book is a call for believers in the God of the Bible to return to the declaration of the Apostle Peter concerning Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”.

Jan 26, 202313:14
87) Six Different Creations in the Bible: Which Creations was Jesus Involved In?

87) Six Different Creations in the Bible: Which Creations was Jesus Involved In?

This episode describes six different creations or creation events in the Bible. Not all descriptions of God creating refer to the Genesis creation. 

We think about which of the creation events in the Bible Jesus played a role in. We suggest the creation of God’s son Israel is a main backdrop for the Gospel of John, including John’s Prologue. Like Israel, in John's Prologue Jesus is introduced as God's unique son to whom the Father has given glory (John 1:14).

Topics and time stamps:

0:00 Introduction to the word “create”. Only God is the Creator.

02:40 The Genesis Creation

05:00 Creation of the People and Nation of Israel

06:47 Transformation or renewal of something that already exists. The renewal of nature is re-creation.

09:35 The Creation of new authorities and powers under the man Jesus: New creation in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 1

12:15 Spiritual Renewal is new creation: Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, renew in me a upright spirit”

13:05 Creation of one new man in place of two, Jew and Gentile. Galatians and Ephesians 2:15

13:49 Which of the above six creations was Jesus involved in? The Tendency of the Trinitarian mind to associate creation specifically to the Genesis creation.

14:56 Which creation is the emphasis of John’s Gospel and Prologue? Isaiah 43 as an example of the Creation of Israel, the Son of God, as a backdrop for the Gospel of John

19:38 God as Father and Israel as Son in the Old Testament and in the Gospel of John. God as Israel’s Father:  Exod. 4:22; Deut. 14:1; 32:5-6, 18-19; Isa. 43:6; 45:11; 63:16; 64:8[7]; Jer. 3:4, 19; 31:20; Hos. 11:1.

22:06 Recreation of God’s Children, Israel, in John’s Gospel

25:50 The Word/Torah instrumental in the creation of Israel. The Gospel of John in agreement with the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus is involved in the formation of renewed Israel

29:19 The recreation or regathering of Israel as a sign and symbol in the Gospel of John, chapter 12

30:27 Jesus’s role in other creation events

#gospelofjohn, #prologueofjohn, #newcreation, #bible, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel

Dec 09, 202232:11
86) John 1:1 is Not Genesis 1:1: Eight +1 Evidences that "the beginning" of John 1:1 is not "the beginning" of Genesis 1:1

86) John 1:1 is Not Genesis 1:1: Eight +1 Evidences that "the beginning" of John 1:1 is not "the beginning" of Genesis 1:1

Nine evidences that John 1 is not referring to the Genesis creation (with time stamps):
#GospelofJohn, #John1, #nontrinitarian, #deityofchrist, #newcreation, #billschlegel

1. 03:19 In the Gospel of John “the beginning” refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.

2. 05:07 “in the beginning” ἐν ἀρχῇ : Needs context. Vast majority of ἐν ἀρχῇ references in the Bible are not related to Genesis.

3. 08:45 Agreement with other Gospels “beginning” which relate to the ministry of Jesus.

4. 10:03 Agreement with other New Testament literature that in Jesus there is a new beginning, a new creation.

5. 12:17 The subject of what comes to be in John’s Gospel is not seas, dry land, plants, animals, planets, stars, sun, etc., but (new) human life. The word "world" in John 1:9-10 does not mean planet earth, but a segment of human society, indeed Israelite society. The subject and context is not the creation of the material "world".

6. 15:09 Some similar language, but for a different purpose. Life, light and darkness in John are not Genesis light, life and darkness. Mistaking parallelism and continuity for identity.

7. 18:54 Themes in the Prologue are associated with Jesus in the body of the Gospel.

8. 21:35 Consolation prize: Commentators recognize John 1 introduces a new beginning.

9. 23:44 John the Baptizer in verses 6-8 has no reason to be in an account of the Genesis creation.

Nov 18, 202226:22
85) Is Jesus a God Man in the Gospel of John? (Response to Answers in Genesis, Part 3)

85) Is Jesus a God Man in the Gospel of John? (Response to Answers in Genesis, Part 3)

This episode is part 3 of my response to an article posted by Answers in Genesis, which reviewed several of my blogposts about the supposed “deity of Christ”.

Part 1 of my response is called “Jesus Can’t be a Mere Man

Part 2 is called ““Jesus HAD TO BE a (Mere) Man, the Bible Tells Me So

In this episode I review three claims in the Answers in Genesis, all which involve verses from the  Gospel of John that Trinitarians believe are evidence that Jesus is literally God, or more specifically, one member of a three-person god.  In each case, the Trinitarian arguments are weighed and found wanting. The topics and verses and time stamps are as follows:

0:00 – Review and Introduction to the current episode

2:59 – “Did Jesus become a Man?” John 1:1 and John 1:14

12:26 – “Did Jesus Pre-exist”? John 17:5, a recollection of a divine being or expression of trust of the man Christ Jesus?

21:48 – “Did Thomas Call Jesus God”, John 20:28. My Lord and my God, Trinitarians get it Wrong.


Related links: 

AIG article:

https://answersingenesis.org/who-is-god/the-trinity/refuting-unitarian-errors-deity-jesus/?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR0LP267XtZkSNsjvNcDzEhyqe7Tk0SI4YSuyRq6PtKseenb1QIYoKgG224 

“Jesus Can’t be a Mere Man” 

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/UgADHWPAGub 

“Jesus HAD TO BE a (Mere) Man, the Bible Tells Me So” 

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Uor1bWPAGub 

“The Word Became Flesh: Why John 1:14 does NOT say that Jesus Became Man” 

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-word-became-flesh-why-john-114-does.html 

If Jesus Pre-existed, He wasn’t Human 

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/06/if-jesus-pre-existed-he-wasnt-human.html 

My Lord and My God, Trinitarians Get it Wrong 

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/12/my-lord-and-my-god-trinitarians-get-it.html 

Jesus is Worshipped So He Must be God 

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/06/jesus-is-worshipped-so-he-must-be-god.html 

Did Jesus Raise Himself from the Dead 

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/04/did-jesus-raise-himself-from-dead-john.html 

Tips for Talking to Trinitarians about John 1 (Part 1) 

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/7i3bNXPAGub 

#Deityofchrist, #trinity, #gospelofjohn, #john1, #100%man, #answersingenesis, #billschlegel, #simonturpin, #sonofgod

Nov 04, 202231:42
84) Jesus Had to Be a (Mere) Man: the Bible Tells Me So

84) Jesus Had to Be a (Mere) Man: the Bible Tells Me So

In this episode I show that in contrast to the deity of Christ claim that Jesus couldn’t be a mere man, the Bible declares explicitly that Jesus had to be a real (mere) human being. 

It is necessary that Jesus was and is a real (mere) human being. 

And, what God did through the real (mere) human being, one man, is sufficient to reconcile humanity to God. 

In contrast and contradiction to the Trinitarian deity of Christ claim, the Bible declares that as sin and death came through one man, even so God’s grace, gift of righteousness, and the resurrection from the dead come through one man -- Not through a god-man. 

Scriptures in this episode: 

John 8:40: “I am a man who told you the truth that I heard from God…” 

Acts 2:22: "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- 

Acts 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified 

Romans 5:15: "For if many died through the trespass of one man, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many." 

Romans 5:19: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." 1 Corinthians 15:21: “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man” 

1 Timothy 2:4-5: God "…desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, a man Christ Jesus" 

Genesis 3:4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 

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 H e has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 

Psalm 8: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care for him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels, You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:6-7). 

Related Links: AIG article: https://answersingenesis.org/who-is-god/the-trinity/refuting-unitarian-errors-deity-jesus/?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR0LP267XtZkSNsjvNcDzEhyqe7Tk0SI4YSuyRq6PtKseenb1QIYoKgG224 

Bill Schlegel Land and Bible blog: 

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/ Jesus had to be God to Atone for Sin? 

Satellite Bible Atlas https://www.bibleplaces.com/satellite-bible-atlas-schlegel/ 

Son of God in the Bible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDElO7wU_8 

#Deityofchrist, #trinity, #answersingenesis, #billschlegel, #simonturpin. #sonofgod, #mereman


Oct 26, 202221:43
83) “Jesus Can’t be a Mere Man”, response to deity of Christ claims in an Answers in Genesis Article

83) “Jesus Can’t be a Mere Man”, response to deity of Christ claims in an Answers in Genesis Article

In this episode I begin to review claims made in an article written by Answers in Genesis-UK Executive Director, Speaker and Author, Simon Turpin.

The article is called:

Refuting Unitarian Errors Regarding the Deity of Jesus:

How can we respond to claims that Jesus is a mere human?

The AiG article reacts to some of my blogposts at Land and Bible. In turn, in this podcast episode I wade through some of the biblical references that the AiG article presents as evidence for the “deity of Christ”. The verses don’t say what deity of Christ believers think or want them to say.

The focus of this episode is on the unbiblical, indeed satanic spirit that claims that Jesus can’t be a man, a “mere” man or “simple” man at the right hand of God.

In contrast to the deity of Christ claim, the Bible claims that a man, a human person (not a God or a god/man or an angel) has been raised from the dead and exalted to God’s right hand. This fact gives humanity hope and knowledge of the love, concern, and care that God has for humankind, and the honor that God gives to humankind.

God "…desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, a man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:4-5).

“What is man that You art mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care for him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels, You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:6-7).

-

Related Links:

AIG article:

https://answersingenesis.org/who-is-god/the-trinity/refuting-unitarian-errors-deity-jesus/?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR0LP267XtZkSNsjvNcDzEhyqe7Tk0SI4YSuyRq6PtKseenb1QIYoKgG224

Bill Schlegel Land and Bible blog:

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/

Some Relevant Land and Bible (Schlegel) blogposts:

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/10/he-is-part-of-cult.html

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-word-became-flesh-why-john-114-does.html

Finding Evidence for the Deity of Christ in the Old Testament is not a New Testament Exercise

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/12/finding-evidence-for-deity-of-christ-in.html

Satellite Bible Atlas
https://www.bibleplaces.com/satellite-bible-atlas-schlegel/

Son of God in the Bible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDElO7wU_8

#Deityofchrist, #trinity, #answersingenesis, #billschlegel, #simonturpin. #sonofgod

Oct 11, 202235:21
82) Tips on Talking to Trinitarians about John 1 (Part 3): the Word became Flesh

82) Tips on Talking to Trinitarians about John 1 (Part 3): the Word became Flesh

In this episode we focus on John 1:9-18.

In Part 1 one we saw that “in the beginning” of John 1:1, while being a parallel to the Genesis creation, refers directly not to the Genesis creation but to the new beginning that God brings about through the man Jesus, who is metaphorically called “the Word”.

In Part 2 we focused on how God in the statement “and the Word was God” is the Father. In this Gospel Jesus declared consistently that it was the Father who dwelt in him who did His, the Father’s works. Never in this Gospel is there a “God the Son” or a “God the Word” in Jesus.

Time stamps for the current episode, Part 3:

00:17  Review of Parts 1 and 2, and introduction to Part 3

02:23  John 1_9-13, “the world” is not planet earth or the universe. The “world” that came to be in John’s Gospel is a segment of human society. Verses 9-13 relate to the coming to be, the birth, of God’s children, a new community of God.

04:45  John 1_14, “the Word became flesh”.

Is this a statement about “incarnation” or a transformation of essence?

Is trans-naturism or trans-essence any more a biblical idea than trans-genderism is? Perhaps these ideas are of the same spirit?

Consideration of what the word “became” means.

The translation, “So the Word was flesh”. Or, if a change or difference is implied, perhaps a change in method. Hebrews 1_1-2 – God spoke in different ways in past times, but in these latter days He has spoken by a son. That is, by a human being, flesh.

John 1_14 begins a new paragraph which is a review and expansion upon information already given. In verses 1-13 the man Jesus (the Word, Light) has been compared to the man John the Baptizer, who was not the Light. A short statement about the conception or birth of Jesus (no where else detailed in John’s Gospel) is out of place after a summary of the ministries of the Baptizer and John has been presented.

The glory of the Word is from the Father, or originates from the Father.

16:18  John 1_15, More John the Baptizer and Comparison with Jesus! More evidence that the Prologue is not about the Genesis creation.

16:55  John 1_17, Jesus parallel to Moses, through whom both came good things. Moses and Jesus were the channels for these good things, but not the source. The source was God.

17:11  John 1_18 Is the Triune god in John 1? Why do Trinitarians appeal immediately to John 1 when the God of John 1 is not Triune?

The “deity of Christ” appeal to John 1. But in John 1, the Word is subordinate to, and dependent upon his God. The Word is not co-eternal with God. The Word has an origin outside of itself.

No one has ever seen God, but thousands of people say Jesus Christ.

Textual variants of John 1_18, in each case Jesus (the son, unique one, begotten god) who is at the Father’s side, is subordinate to the God.

23:32  The context of John’s entire Gospel considered. An interpretation of John 1 must be consistent with the entire Gospel. Jesus is a man who told the truth that he heard from God (8:40), who did nothing on his own authority or initiative (5:19, 5:30, 8:28, 8:44). He differentiates himself from God (14:1, etc.). Jesus has a God, the same God as the apostles (20:17). Jesus in the Gospel of John said the Father is the only true God (17:3). The author of the Gospel stated that the reason he recorded the signs Jesus did was so that his readers would believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, that is, not God (20:31, 1:49).

23:48  Summary and Conclusions

31:01 Parallel between Paul in Acts 26_23 and John’s Prologue. In the man Jesus, specifically in his life as being the firstborn from the dead, there is light to Israel and the Gentiles. As in John’s Prologue, life is first, which gives light (which is the opposite order in Genesis).

Sep 23, 202233:29
81) Tips for Talking to Trinitarians about John 1, Part 2. "the Word was God"

81) Tips for Talking to Trinitarians about John 1, Part 2. "the Word was God"

Tips for Talking to Trinitarians about John 1 (Part 2)

The Word was God: what God?

In the previous podcast, Part 1, we asked what “beginning” is directly being referred to in John 1:1, “in the beginning”. If this beginning refers to the new beginning that God is bringing about through life and ministry of the man Jesus of Nazareth, then Trinitarian or “deity of Christ” speculation about a second god-figure is misplaced and wrong.

In this podcast we examine closer John 1:1 “and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. The focus of “and the Word was God” is, which God, or who? Trinitarians and “deity of Christ” believers insist that it was “God the Son”, or “God the Word” in Jesus. But this claim explicitly contradicts Jesus and the author of the Gospel of John who declare it was the Father in Jesus.

If “God” in the phrase “the Word was God” is the Father, Trinitarianism and “deity of Christ” speculation is dead.

Time stamps:

00:18 Additional follow-up comments about “in the beginning” en arche in Greek.

02:21 Introduction to the current podcast

03:28 All “deity of Christ” interpretations of Scripture passages attempt to eliminate the human person, Jesus the Christ from Nazareth.

05:02 The Word was With God. Parallels to Moses. Contrast with John the Baptist. The Logos (Word) is differentiated from God (not just “the Father”) two times in the first two verses of John’s Gospel.

07:21 The Word was God. Is this an ontological statement about the deity of a second God figure? Trinitarians change the meaning of “God” in John 1:1, even though the first occurence is separated from the second occurrence only by the word “and” kai. For Trinitarians, “God” in John 1:1c can not be the Father.

11:12 God is the Father in the Gospel of John, and in John 1;1c

12:19 Who is God in the Gospel of John? The Father. The Gospel says that it is the Father in Jesus, John 10_38, 14_9-10 (14_9-20).

16:31 The Word was God the Father, in action - God the Father at work.

17:26 Using the Bible, the Word of God, as in illustration of “the Word was God”.

18:21 The “Logos was God” means “God the Father in action”. The Father’s presence, power, manifestation, and the Father being represented (agency).

24:34 The tendency of Gentiles to understand “was God” as relating to essence or being.

25:35 The Word is not the source of creation or redemptive regeneration. The Father is the source of His word. The Word is the channel or instrument.

26:08 Confirmation in passages like 2 Cor. 5_18-19 that God the Father was at work in Christ.

26:56 Reasons why the human person Jesus is called the Word.

30:15 The Logos (Jesus the Christ) is compared to Moses in John’s prologue. Neither Moses nor Jesus were the original source of what they brought, but were channels. The Torah came through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus the Christ. But Jesus was not the original source of grace and truth.

31:31 Summary and Conclusion

Sep 09, 202234:36
80) Tips on Talking to Trinitarians About John 1 (Part 1)

80) Tips on Talking to Trinitarians About John 1 (Part 1)

In this episode I give some tips on discussing John 1 with Trinitarians. The man Jesus the Christ is called the Word in John 1:1 because through him God is bringing about new human life, the renewed creation. "The beginning" of John 1:1, while being a parallel to Genesis creation, is not directly describing the Genesis creation. The topic of the Gospel is not the creation of the heavens and the earth, dry land and seas, etc., but the redemption and renewal of humans that comes through the man Jesus Christ. There is no need to speculate about another “second” divine figure present and involved with the Genesis creation.

Notes for this episode:

“In the beginning”
In the Gospel of John “the beginning” refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus (John 8:25, 15:27, 16:4).

The other Gospels have a “beginning” that is also associated with the beginning of Jesus and his ministry (Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-2, Matthew 1:1, cf. Acts 1:1, 1:22-23)

The phrase “in the beginning” must be interpreted in its context. Other places where the exact same phrase, “in the beginning” is used in the NT but in which is does not refer to the Genesis creation:
Acts 11:15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at/in the beginning.”
Phil. 4:15, “in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia”.

In 1 John 1:1 the beginning concerning the word of life involved something and someone the apostles heard, saw and touched, the man Jesus.

It makes sense that God is doing something with and in Jesus that has continuity with what God has done in the past, but is “new” with Jesus.

New beginning, New Creation
John 1 is about the coming to be of new life, new individual and corporate human life, not about the creation of the heavens and the earth, the seas, dry land, plants and animals. In John 1, the man Jesus Christ is the one through whom new life comes to be, through whom new men and women are born.

Evidence that John 1 is not about Genesis creation, but about God’s bringing about new life in the man Jesus:

1. “that which came to be in him was life (1:3b-4a). The subject of what came to be is not seas, dry land, plants, animals, planets, stars, sun, etc. But human life, individually and corporately. “corporately” because the word “world” in 1:9-10, is not planet earth. It is a word which means a segment of human society. John 1 is about life for humans, how a person can be “born of God”, and to be part of the family of God (1:12-13).

2. “life was the light of men” Although Genesis creation language is being intentionally used, this is not Genesis creation life and light. In Genesis, light comes first and then life. In John 1:4, life comes first, in which is light for all men.

3. John the Baptist in vs. 6-9, 15, and a comparison in vs. 1-2. The whole prologue can be understood as a clarification of the relationship between the man Jesus and John the Baptizer. The rest of John 1 as well clarifies the relationship of John the Baptizer and Jesus.

4. Parallels with other Gospels “beginning”, and with Paul (Col. 3:12-18) and Revelation (1:5, 3:14) describing Jesus as being “the firstborn from the dead, the beginning of God’s creation”.
If John 1 is about the redemption, the new beginning that God is bringing about in and through the man Christ Jesus, there is no need to speculate about a second divine figure or second God who was involved in the Genesis creation.

Next episode we plan to look at how to interpret statements like John 1:1 “the Word was God” from the new creation interpretation perspective.

Links:
UCA Conference, October 13-15, 2022, Lawrenceville, OH
www.unitarianchristianalliance.org/conference/

#newcreation, #gospelofjohn, #deityofchrist, #unitarianchristianalliance, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel
Aug 26, 202225:36
79) Is John 1 Evidence that God is a Trinity?
Aug 12, 202237:09
78) Telling the Next Generation that Yahweh is Our God, Fuel Youth Conference
Aug 02, 202216:43
77) How and When was the Trinity Revealed?

77) How and When was the Trinity Revealed?

As a former teacher in a Trinitarian Christian University, I did not know how and when Trinitarian scholars think the Trinity was revealed. But I wasn’t alone. Most Christians, including pastors and Bible teachers, don’t know either.

In this podcast:

1. According to Trinitarian scholars, the Trinity is not revealed and not verbally described in either the Old Testament or the New Testament. See also One God Report podcast #72 “Is the Trinity Revealed in the Bible? If so, Where”.

2. How and When the Trinity was Revealed (according to Trinitarian scholars).

3. The Trinitarian theory of the Trinity’s revelation directly contradicts the Book of Acts.

4. Why is there no opposition recorded in the New Testament to the new Trinitarian understanding of who God is?

5. The “new revelation” idea contradicts the work of God’s spirit throughout Old Testament times.

6. The “new revelation” idea presents a low view of Scriptural authority, and a low view of Jesus and the apostles as communicators of who God is. The Trinitarian tradition is elevated above the Word of God.

7. The coming of Jesus and the holy spirit does not mean that God is a triune being. A triad is not a trinity.

8. The Trinitarian claim is an effort to explain why the Triune God is not revealed or described in the Scriptures; but, the effort fails miserably and is a mis-interpretation of the coming of the Messiah Jesus and the sending of God’s spirit at Pentecost.

James White, "Look in the gutter between Malachi and Matthew":
https://youtu.be/C-2nYJHXj60?t=226


#jameswhite, #fredsanders, #trinity, #deityofchrist, #bible

Jul 14, 202228:11
76) The Trinity's Disappearing Essence

76) The Trinity's Disappearing Essence

Trinitarian theologians have insisted that God is one by claiming that the Trinity is three persons in one essence (White, The Forgotten Trinity, 24; Sanders, The Triune God, 121). This is supposedly how three can be one. James White, a modern Trinitarian apologist, says that the Trinity is three whos (persons) in one what (essence).

But this description of the Trinity given by Trinitarians directly contradicts and testifies against their other core belief drawn that God became flesh.

If God, or any person of the one God, became flesh, then God has two natures. Trinitarianism has created a contradiction between its two core doctrines:

1. God is one because they (or it) are one essence.

2. God became a second essence.

Trinitarians insist their god has only one nature, while insisting their god has two natures.

Which is it? Are we to believe that God has one nature or two natures?

Biblical theology and Christology should not be a magic trick. “Look! One nature. Now look, two natures! See, one essence! Now two essences!”

If God the Son took on flesh, how many natures does the Trinity have? I’m not asking about how many natures “God the Son” has, but how many natures does the tri-personal god have?

The standard explanation for 1600 years has been that the Trinitarian god is three persons in one essence? That definition rejects the idea that God became flesh. That definition also denies the humanity of Jesus.

When talking about God, the tendency for Trinitarianism is to forget about or remove the human nature from God. If the Trinity is “three persons in one essence”, Jesus is no longer flesh. Even the abstract “humanity” of Jesus is eliminated.

By its very own definition of who or what the Trinity is, Trinitarianism eliminates the “humanity”, the “flesh” of Jesus the Messiah.

If  one member of a godhead became flesh, then God has two natures and the Trinitarian claim that God is one essence fails.

Trinitarianism is also an attack on the personal-ness of God, an attack on the Fatherhood of God. The claim "three persons in one essence" means the one God is not a personal Father, but is rather an "it" and "essence", or a "force". The one God of Trinitarianism is not a person, but an it.

#trinity, #deityofchrist, #jameswhite


Jul 01, 202210:20
75) Is the "memra" the Pre-incarnate Son of God (PART 2), with Troy Salinger

75) Is the "memra" the Pre-incarnate Son of God (PART 2), with Troy Salinger

We continue our discussion with Troy Salinger about the deity of Christ apologists claim that the “memra” of the Aramaic translations of the Old Testament (Targums) is evidence that there was more than one person in Israel’s God.

In this episode Salinger looks at Old Testament passages which are deity of Christ apologists like Dr. Michael Heiser say is evidence that the “word of God” coming to people in the Old Testament was as second divine being. Salinger shows why the claim to be faulty.

The word “memra” is not the Aramaic substitute for the Hebrew word “davar” (word). Salinger explains that the phrase “the word of God came to…” is a not a second divine figure coming to a human, but denotes God speaking to or communicating information to a person. Synonymous phrases like “and Yahweh said to me”, “this is the word that came to Jeremiah from Yawheh”, “the word of Yahweh concerning…” in the biblical text show that the “word of Yahweh came to”

Based on Numbers 12:2, Salinger describes the normal way in which God communicated to the prophets was through visions and dreams.

Timestamps:
02:00 Genesis 15:1 considered

03:38 How God normally spoke to his prophets, through dreams and visions

10:30  1 Samuel 3

11:20  1 Samuel 4

12:30  “The word came to” means verbal communication (often through dream or vision), not a personal being or entity (a “second Yahweh”).

15:26  The word of Yahweh coming to Jeremiah

Related links:

Salinger Article on the Memra

https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/pre-incarnate-appearances-of-the-son-of-god-in-the-ot-truth-or-myth-part-2/

Bill Schlegel recorded sessions on John 1:1-13: Jesus is the beginning of God’s New Creation

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5qE1_DibQN8NJ0sUd4BuAPY

Jun 20, 202235:21
74) Is the "memra" the pre-incarnate Son of God? (part 1 with Troy Salinger)

74) Is the "memra" the pre-incarnate Son of God? (part 1 with Troy Salinger)

We welcome Troy Salinger back to the podcast. Troy is a theological blogger (Let the Truth Come Out) and house painter. In a series of previous One God Report podcast episodes (#54-59) Troy discussed the supposed “Pre-incarnate Appearances of the Son of God in the Old Testament: Truth or Myth".

Troy systematically showed the claim that Jesus the Son of God literally appeared to people like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, etc., is a myth - the claim is untrue.
-

In the next couple of episodes Troy examines the claim that an Aramaic word, “memra”, which means a “saying, statement, word, declaration, command” which appears in the Targums (Aramaic translations of the Old Testament) is evidence that there was a second god-figure appearing to people in the Old Testament, and that this second god is the pre-incarnate Jesus.

The “memra” claim goes hand-in hand with the claim that the Jews during the time of Jesus believed there were “two powers in heaven”, and that these two powers were both somehow literally God. People like Michael Heiser have popularized this theory today. Heiser says Jews believed in “two “Yahwehs”, one unseen and one seen. The seen Yahweh was supposedly the memra in the Aramaic Targums.

Troy has examined these claims and shows them to be completely false.
-

2:00 Trinitarian impetus for claiming "memra" is a 2nd divine figure - trying to find a Jewish religious cultural background for a multi-person God.

05:28 – the meaning of “memra”

09:00 – misinformation about memra from apologists

16:58 – how memra is NOT used in the Targums. It is not a substitute for the Hebrew word “davar” (word). Neither is memra used to denote a second divine being.

19:30 – the Aramaic word for davar (word) is not memra, but “pitgama”

22:57 – Dr. Michael Heiser is a main popular source for misconceptions about memra

25:04 – How memra IS used in the Targums. Memra is always an addition to the Hebrew text, and it is a substitute way of saying God himself.

27:20 – Targum experts explain what memra is and is not.

-
Troy Salinger blog: Let the Truth Come Out

https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/author/troysal/

Salinger Article on the Memra

https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/pre-incarnate-appearances-of-the-son-of-god-in-the-ot-truth-or-myth-part-2/

#michaelheiser, #two powers in heaven, #memra, #preincarnate Christ

Time stamps:
2:00 Trinitarian impetus for claiming "memra" is a 2nd divine figure - trying to find a Jewish religious cultural background for a multi-person God.

Jun 04, 202238:33
73) Trinity, Preferred Pronouns: He/Him (Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought and Language)
May 21, 202225:12
72) Is the Trinity in the Bible? If so, Where?

72) Is the Trinity in the Bible? If so, Where?

Evangelical Christian scholars, experts on the Trinity, explain that God as a Trinity is not explicitly described in the Bible.

In this episode we begin to take a look at two books written by evangelical apologists: "The Forgotten Trinity" by Dr. James White, and, "The Triune God" by Dr. Fred Sanders. We see that in neither case do these experts on the Trinity simply open the Bible and go to passages that describe that God is a Trinity.
-

Instead, as Dr. Sanders says, "The doctrine of the Trinity emerges from fitting the pieces together as each part determines (p. 84). The doctrine of the Trinity "is not not directly proposed in words of Scripture and presented to us in a formulated state" (p. 39). "The Triunity of God is not verbally formulated for us...some assembly is required (p. 40).

-

"We cannot speak of the doctrine of the Trinity as revealed in the New Testament...(Dr. Fred Sanders quoting Dr. B.B. Warfield (p. 89).

-

For evangelical Christians, such statements should be waving red flags.

-

If the Bible is right, God is not a Trinity.


#jameswhite, #the forgotten Trinity, #fredsanders, #the Triune God

May 07, 202229:49
71) John 1:1 is Parallel to the Man Moses

71) John 1:1 is Parallel to the Man Moses

See full text of this episode here:

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2022/04/john-11-is-parallel-to-man-moses.html

Also see Dr. Andrew Perry's book: John 1:1-18, A Socinian Approach
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/andrew-perry/john-11-18/hardcover/product-1n7j2zgj.html?page=1&pageSize=4

-

1. The literary and thematic parallels to the phrases “was with God” and “was God” of John 1:1 are to be found in the Greek version of the Old Testament, not in extra-biblical literature, and these phrases particularly refer to the man Moses. Greek-speaking Israelites familiar with the Greek Old Testament could recognize that Moses “was with God pros ton Theon“ and even “was God” in a representative sense, and understand that the author was introducing the coming of the “prophet like unto Moses…about whom Moses wrote”.

On the hand, Gentiles of the second century and later misunderstood John’s opening statement and instead claimed John was introducing a second God figure who was related to God in an ontological way, in nature or essence. These interpreters either ignored or missed the Moses typology and instead assimilated Greek philosophical speculations onto John’s writing. Likewise, the Greek mind failed to recognize the Hebrew parallel of Logos to Torah, and “in the beginning” to Israel’s beginning at Sinai.

To put it another way, John 1:1 is introducing a prophet like unto Moses, not a second God figure, and not an abstract plan.
-

2. References in the Gospel of John that directly compare Jesus to Moses are evidence that John’s opening statement is doing the same thing, just as other New Testament comparisons of Jesus to Moses. John’s Gospel is not presenting a different Christ than the rest of the New Testament.

Apr 21, 202243:54
70) The GREEKS in John's Gospel were GREEK-SPEAKING JEWS (not Gentiles)
Mar 27, 202229:56
69) In the Gospel of John, the “Jews” are “Judeans” (Not all “Jews”)
Feb 23, 202232:08
68) The Prologue of the Gospel of John (part 3), with Dr. Andrew Perry
Feb 12, 202236:07
67) Why the Man Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1

67) Why the Man Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1

This episode is part 2 of our discussion with Dr. Andrew Perry about themes in the Prologue of the Gospel of John.

In this episode Dr. Perry explains why the human Christ Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1, and gives reasons how we can know that the man Christ Jesus is referred to in the Gospel’s opening statement, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

1. In parallel to Genesis creation, things “happen” or “come to be” through the spoken word of the man Christ Jesus. Jesus can heal the sick, heal the lame, calm a storm and raise the dead simply by speaking. Renewed creation, indeed new life, "comes to be" through God's Word. 

2. The phrases “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” have no precedence in either biblical or non-biblical literature in reference to either a second divine figure or to an abstract idea like “wisdom”. Rather, the phrases find a parallel in the biblical literature to human figures, especially to Moses.

3. The repetition of the phrase “This one was with God in the beginning” is an intentional contrast with John 1:7, a comparison between the man Christ Jesus and the man John the Baptizer, “this one came as a witness”. The persistent references and comparisons to John the Baptizer in the Prologue of John’s Gospel, and in the early chapters of the gospel indicate that the Baptizer is being compared to the man Christ Jesus (not to a pre-incarnate divine figure or to an "personified" abstract idea).

We also discuss what the phrase in John 1:14 means: “So the Word became/was flesh…”

Resource links:

Dr. Perry’s books and articles:

https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=andrew+perry+john+1

https://durham.academia.edu/AndrewPerry

Previous One God Report Podcast on John 1:14:

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/03/is-god-flesh-better-way-to-understand.html

Feb 03, 202241:24
66) New Creation in John 1, with Dr. Andrew Perry

66) New Creation in John 1, with Dr. Andrew Perry

This episode is “New Creation in the Gospel of John 1, with Dr. Andrew Perry. A subtitle for the episode is “The Beginning of John 1:1 is a New Beginning, not the Genesis Creation”.

This episode is the first of a series in which Dr. Perry will explain reasons why the prologue of the Gospel of John is best understood to be introducing the new creation in the man Jesus, who is referred to as “the Word” in John 1:1.

Dr. Perry’s occupational background is in information technology, but he is now an independent researcher and author. His PhD in New Testament is from Durham University in England. His numerous articles and books are available on his academia.edu and Lulu bookstore (links below).

In this episode Dr. Perry begins to give evidence for why he understands that “In the beginning” of John 1:1 is best understood as referring to the new beginning that God brings about through the ministry of the man Jesus Christ. Dr. Perry explains that the author of the Gospel of John is re-using Genesis language to intentionally draw a comparison between the beginning in Genesis and the new beginning in Jesus.

The man Christ Jesus is referred to as the Word in John 1:1, because in a parallel way to Genesis, things “come to be” through God’s word. But in Jesus’s case, we are not talking about a material creation, but a spiritual creation. Life came to be through Jesus. John 1:3-4 explains, “that which came to be in him was life, and the life was the light of men”.

https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=andrew+perry+john+1

https://durham.academia.edu/AndrewPerry

Jan 28, 202220:56
65) Before Abraham was I AM. Was Jesus claiming to be God?

65) Before Abraham was I AM. Was Jesus claiming to be God?

In this episode we show why the Trinitarian and “deity of Christ” understanding of Jesus’s words in John 8:58 are wrong.

In neither Hebrew nor in Greek is the phase “I am” in the Bible a title for deity.

In Hebrew, God says in Exodus 3:14 “I will be who I will be”. In Greek, it is the “Living One” who speaks to Moses.

“I am”, in Greek, ego eimi, is not a divine title.

We show that the “deity of Christ” interpretation of Jesus’s statement, “before Abraham was I am” contradicts the Apostle Peter’s belief (Acts 3:15), the disciples Steven’s belief (Acts 7), the author of the Gospel of John (John 20 30:31) and Jesus in the Gospel of John (John 17:3).

We give two possible meanings for Jesus “I am” statement in John 8:58. We favor the second interpretation.

1. Jesus’s statement relates to his superiority to Abraham in the plan and purpose of God. The Messiah Jesus was known by God before Abraham was called in God’s purpose.

2. Jesus is pre-eminent to Abraham in resurrection. Jesus was repeating what he said earlier in John chapter 8, “I am the light of the world”. All of the “I am” statements of Jesus in John 8 relate to his claim to be “the light of the world”.

We examine the Greek verb genesthai and see that especially in the Gospel of John it means to “come into being at some point in the future”. John 8:58 is best translated as “before Abraham comes to be”, that is, at some future point in time.

For additional evidence that the Trinitarian, “deity of Christ” interpretation of John 8:58 is wrong, see here. https://www.angelfire.com/space/thegospeltruth/TTD/verses/john8_58.html

Jan 22, 202229:10