Soapy
Son of his Father: The Heir and Prince
Jesus as a man is NOT A LATER MODEL.Hi @Twilight Hue :
I think your point about Jesus being a “demi-God” is an interesting lens through which to examine Jesus’ Divinity especially since the model is so similar to and consistent with the model of Henotheism* of ancient Judaism.
*(i.e. multiple Gods, only ONE of which was dominant and worthy of ultimate worship)
For example, in early Christian literature and tradition :
1) Jesus is, somehow or in some way, divine (i.e. a God). This allows for a demi-God model.
2) Jesus was not the same as his Father (the Almighty God of Gods) in early Christian tradition.
Multiple biblical references can support multiple doctrinal positions depending upon which scriptures one gives priority to and how they are interpreted. This is also allows a demi-God model.
Yet there is the Jewish tradition that
3)There is no other God "beside" the one God. (this in opposition to Israel having recognized and worshipped other Gods for which the prophets took them to task for)
While the later adoption of a 3=1 trinity creates logical problems as does the later model in which Jesus is simply a normal man, a return to the early Judeo-Christian Henotheistic model of the trinity (i.e. Jesus as a son of God who is a lessor God – demi God) may cause fewer problems of logic.
For example, If the Hebraist Heiser is correct in pointing out that “no other God beside me” is not a numerical reference, but is instead, a spacial reference, meaning there is no other God that is on the same level with or who is the same as or equal to the God of Gods (Jesus’ Father), then this reference is not a problem for the demi-God model.
While one interpretation is strict monostheism, another second interpretation means simply that none are equal to the Lord God (i.e. God of [other] Gods).
While the model of Jesus as a "lessor" or Demi-God may have it's own conceptual problem, it solves some of the other logical complaints of the later 3=1 trinity that became popular.
Clear
φυνεφυνετζω
There never was a time when Jesus was ever considered as anything but a man by the Jewish nation…
Scriptures tells us that Jesus was : A man who was CONSECRATED BY GOD - as it is shown in Acts 10:37-38.
In point of fact, his title is Jesus CHRIST… the ‘Christ’ meaning ‘ANOINTED ONE’. So his designation only came about in the circumstances of his anointment: A setting apart for kingship and/or Priesthood. And further, this setting apart was a special one because if was an anointment not with oil of the priest but of oil of gladness: the Holy Spirit of God; the Father.
It is worth pointing out that Jesus did no miracles until AFTER he was ANOINTED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER.
This anointing allowed him to perform these miracles BY MEANS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF HIS FATHER.
And if us also proved by the anointing of the apostles at Pentecost wherein they too gained extraordinary powers in language medicine learning teaching etc… all through the power of the Holy Spirit of the Father… ‘A GIFT FROM THE FATHER’.
Jesus said it himself… said that the things he did were because of the Father (his Father’s Spirit) working in him.
Jesus ALWAYS attributed his powers to the Father.
Jesus always attributed the spiritual truths he spoke to the people TO HIS FATHER teaching him what to say.
And since these realities are from the IMMEDIATE TIME of Jesus, it can hardly be claimed that they were mere presentations in the decades and centuries after Jesus died or traditions of those later eras.
For sure, everyone knew about Demi-Gods from the Egyptians, philistines, Greek, moabites, pessabites, etc… that the Hebrews, Israelites, Jews, encountered - but there was never a time when anyone of Jewish nation believed in such a personage as they’d belief was a single belief that there was ONLY ONE GOD and that ONLY GOD was YHWH, by name, God, by title.
It is TRINITARIAN belief, trinitarian false ideology, moscreants in the church (JUST AS JESUS PROPHESIESED!!) who changed the natural into the unnatural, the truth into a lie, the saviour into a SOMETIMES-God person!!
And in response to the ‘No other God beside(s) me’ reference, YHWH did not deny that there were other beliefs in which there were deities called ‘God’ and ‘Gods’.
I cannot understand how the very evidence is in the face of the senators but they still ignore it. I can only think that they must ignore it to keep their false ideology going.
The word and term ‘God’ is so mistakenly used that there must be an open agenda to purposely misuse it.
‘God’ is A TITLE….. it is just the same as ‘Monarch’, ‘Father’, ‘Ruler’, ‘King’, etc. There can be many whom are called so!
The term, ‘God’, is also an ADJECTIVE… and more so, a SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVE’. So it can describe someone or something that is the utmost, the highest, the greatest, most glorious, highest of the high, all mighty, heroic, greatest…..
It is the usage and intent that determines the interpretation.
Clearly, the Jews (but more precisely, the Hebrews and later, Israelites) [“may have come to”] believed in ONLY ONE GOD as their deity ruler.
The Jews, as seen through Abraham, were among tribes and nations who believed the world was created, controlled, ruled over by MANY DEITIES … many GODS. Each ‘Deity’ was responsible for one of more aspect of the created world … such that these ‘Pagans’ PRAYED to a specific deity for something they wanted, desired, needed… They madd statuettes of what these deities are supposed to look like and agreed what aspect the deity is meant to represent.
However, it us to be noted that Abraham worshipped a God that DID NOT have a statuette … Abraham relied on FAITH in his ONLY ONE GOD for his needs. There was no need for a visual ‘God’ to pray to!
As Abraham built and guided his family in the faith of this one only God, he had to weave his way around and through other nations who were worshipping many deities… the attractiveness of the celebrations, the visualness, the immediacy of a chosen special guardian statuette God made it hard to think that only one ‘God’ could do ALL THINGS…. That:
- One GOD was GOD
- The Reverence paid to One ruling Deity was that ‘He’ was ‘Almighty’ in all things in the created world
Through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this one Deity remained their ONLY GOD.
But by the time of Moses, many of the (now ISRAELITES) had fallen to the visual and bodily wonders and gratification in the indulgence of the pagan tribes around them worshipping many personally selected deities and behaving outlandishly indulging in gratuitous pleasures.
Moses, separated himself from that situation, and by a happy accident, left off and out … But the eternal one God of his forefathers called him back (like as illustrated in Jonah and the fish and saving Nineveh) and, on returning, found the Israelites on the verge of going pagan. When he spoke to them about why “The God of his foreFathers” had instructed him to go worship in the wilderness, they asked him “WHICH GOD” had told him this… “What is his name??”.
You must see from this that at that time the ONLY GOD, the one deity of their belief DID NOT HAVE A NAME (a personal pronoun). This showed that the Israelites were confused because their pagan neighbours all had NAMES for their Gods… they called personally on the name of whichever one they desired… it made INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFICATION NECESSARY.
When Moses spoke to this deity, there was no need to PETSONSLLY IDENTIFY the ONE deity because where there is only one only a TITLE is required. We can see this in the British ruling monarchy where we only say, “The Queen”! We do not have identify the personal name of this monarch.
The deity told Moses that [because the children of Israel needed an identifier for him] he would give them a name… an eternal name.
He DEFINED HIMSELF as being ‘ALWAYS’!!!
- Always Was
- Always Am
- Always Will Be
Now I get pleasurable goosebumps thinking about that name because such a simply term FULLY ENCOMPASSES ALL THAT THIS GOD IS… EVERYTHING GOOD GREAT WONDEROUS MIGHTY AND MAJESTIC.
So, YHWH told Moses that the Israelites should believe in ONLY HIM as their deity… worship HIM ALONE as their ONLY GOD!
And this very command is what separates the Israelites from all other pagan tribes they encountered : Worship the deity who is their mighty hero, their majestic king, their almighty one.
Of course, tgis fell apart later where the children of Israel DEMANDED a HUMAN FOCUS TOWARDS GOD for their worship… a HUMAN KING… just like the pagans around them. Note that YHWH did not APPROVE this demand but merely ALLOWED IT. This was because the Israelites were becoming hard eared over the direct commands from an invisible deity… the influence of the pagans sweetened them towards a human commander: a King… hence the ear of Saul, the first Israelite king! And we all know how that went!!!!
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