What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Jesus a Separate Creation

WHILE on earth, Jesus was a human, although a perfect one because it was God who transferred the life-force of Jesus to the womb of Mary.  (Matthew 1:18-25)  But that is not how he began. He himself declared that he had "descended from heaven." (John 3:13)  So it was only natural that he would later say to his followers: "What if you should see the Son of man [Jesus] ascend to where he was before?" - JOHN 6:62, NJB.

Thus, Jesus had an existence in heaven before coming to earth.  But was it one of the persons in an almighty, eternal tribune Godhead? No, for the Bible plainly states that in his prehuman existence, Jesus was  a created spirit being, just as angels were spirit beings created by God. Neither the angels nor Jesus had existed before their creation.  

Jesus, in his prehuman existence,  was "the first-born of all creation."  (Colossians 1:15, NJB)  He was  "the beginning of God's creation." (Revelation 3:14, RS, Catholic edition)  "Beginning" [Greek, ar-kehe'] cannot lightly  be interpreted to mean that Jesus was the beginner of God's creation.  In his Bible writings, John uses various forms of the Greek word ar-khe' more than 20 times, and these always have common meaning of "beginning." Yes, Jesus was created by God as the beginning of God's invisible creations. 

Notice how closely those references to the origin of Jesus correlated with expressions uttered by the figurative "Wisdom" in the Bible book of Proverbs:  "Yaweh created me, first-fruits of his fashioning, before the oldest of his works.  Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he had made the earth, the countryside, and the first elements of the world." (Proverbs 8:12. 22. 25. 26, NJB)  While the term "Wisdom" is used to personify the one  whom God created, most scholars agree that it is actually a figure of speech for Jesus as a spirit creature prior to his human existence.

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Conclusion of Jesus  a Separate Creation

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What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Not a Plural God

'Elo-him' means, not "persons," but "gods."  So those who argue that this word implies a Trinity make themselves polytheists, worshippers of more than one God. Why?  Because it would mean that there were three  gods in the Trinity. But nearly all Trinity supporters reject the view that the Trinity is made  up of three separate gods 

The Bible also uses the words 'elo-him' and 'elo-heh' when referring to a number of false idol gods.  (Exodus 12:12; 20:23)  But at other times it may refer to just a single false god, as when the Philistines referred to "Dagon their god ['elo-heh']." (Judges 16:23, 24)  Baal is called "a god" ['elo=him']." (1 Kings 18:27)  In addition, the term is used for humans.  (Psalm 82:1, 6) Moses was told that he was to serve as "God" ['elo-him'] to Aaron and to Pharaoh.  - EXODUS 4:16; 7:1.

Obviously, using the titles 'elo-him' and 'elo-heh' for false gods, and even humans, did not imply that each was a plurality of god's neither does apply 'elo-him' or 'elo-heh' to Jehovah mean that he is more than one person, especially when we consider the testimony of the rest of the Bible on this subject.

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Jesus a Separate Creation

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What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Not a Plural God

JESUS called God "the only true God." (John 17:3) Never did he refer to God as a deity of plural persons.  That is why nowhere in the Bible is anyone but Jehovah called  Almighty.  Otherwise, it voids the meaning of the word  "almighty."  Neither Jesus nor the holy spirit is ever called that, for Jehovah alone is supreme.  At Genesis 17:1 he declares: "I am God Almighty." and Exodus 18:11 says: "Jehovah greater than all the other gods." 

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word 'eloh'ah (god) has two plural forms, namely, 'elo-him'(gods) and 'elo-heh' (god's of)  These plural forms generally refer to Jehovah, in which case they are translated in the singular as "God".  Do these plural forms indicate a Trinity? No, they do not. In a Dictionary of the Bible, William Smith says:  "The fanciful idea that ['elo-him'] referred to the trinity of the persons in the Godhead hardly fins now a supporter among scholars. It is either what grammarians call the plural of majesty, or it denotes the fullness of divine strength, the sum of the powers displayed by God." 

The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature says of 'elo-him'. "It is almost invariably construed with a singular verbal predicate, and takes a singular  adjectival attribute ."  To illustrate this, the title 'elo-him' appears 35 times by itself in the account of creation, and every time the verb describing what God said and did is singular.  (Genesis 1:1-2:4) Thus, the publications concludes: "['elo-him'] must rather be explained as an intensive plural, denoting greatness and majesty." 

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Conclusion of Not a Plural God

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What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Conclusion of God Is One,Not Three

The Christian apostle Paul did not indicate any change in the nature of God either, even after Jesus came to the earth. He wrote:  "God is only one." - GALATIANS 3:20; see also 1 Corinthians 8:4-6. 

Thousands of times throughout the Bible, God is spoken of as one person. When he speaks, it as one undivided individual.  The Bible could not be any clearer on this.  As God states:  "I am Jehovah.  That is my name; and no one else shall I give my glory." (Isaiah 42:8) "I am Yahweh your God . . . You shall have no gods except me."  - EXODUS 20:2, 3, JB.

Why would all the God-inspired Bible writers speak of God as  one person if he were actually three persons?  What purpose would that serve, except to mislead people?  Surely, if God were composed of three persons, he would have had his Bible writers make it abundantly clear so that there would be no doubt about it. At least the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures  who had personal contact with God's own Son would have done so but they did not.

Instead, what the Bible writers did make abundantly clear is that God is one  Person-a unique, unpartitioned Being who has no equal: "I am Jehovah, and there is no one else. With the exception of me there is no God." (Isaiah 45:5) "You whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth." - PSALM 83:18.

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? Not a Plural God

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What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - God Is One, Not Three

THE Bible teaching that God is one is called monotheism. And L.L. Paine, professor of ecclesiastical history, indicates that monotheism  in its purest form does not allow for a Trinity:  "The Old Testament is strictly monotheistic.  God is a single personal being. The idea that a trinity is to be found there. . .  is utterly without foundation. 

Was there any change from monotheism after Jesus came to the earth? Paine answers: "On this point there is no break between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The monotheistic tradition is continued. Jesus was a Jew, trained by Jewish parents in the Old Testament Scriptures.  His teaching was Jewish to the core; a new gospel indeed, but not a new theology. . . And he accepted as his own belief the great text of Jewish monotheism: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God." 

Those words are found  at Deuteronomy 6:4.  The Catholic New Jerusalem Bible  (NJB)  here reads: "Listen, Israel: Yahweh our God is the one, the only Yahweh.  "In the grammar of that verse, the word "one" had no plural modifiers to suggest that it means anything but one individual.

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Conclusion of God Is One, Not Three

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What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus?

IF PEOPLE were to read the Bible cover to cover without any preconceived ideas of a Trinity, would they arrive as such a concept on their own? Not at all.

What comes through very clearly is a impartial reader  is that God alone is the Almighty, the Creator, separate and distinct from anyone else, and that Jesus, even in his prehuman existence is also separate and distinct, a created being God's Son, subordinate to God.  

Note: Look up the word subordinate. 

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - God Is One,  Not Three

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Should You Believe It?/Trinity

Others, however, say that the Trinity doctrine  is false, that Almighty God stands alone as a separate, eternal, and all-powerful being.  They say that Jesus in his prehuman  existence was  like the angels, a separate spirit person created by God, and for this reason he must have had a beginning.  They teach that Jesus has never been Almighty God's equal in any sense; he has always been subject to God and still is.  They also believe that  the holy ghost is not a person but God's spirit, his active force.

Supporters of the Trinity says that it is founded not only on religious tradition but also on the Bible. Critics of the doctrine say that it is not a Bible teaching, one history source even declaring:  "The origin of the [Trinity] is entirely pagan." - The Paganism in Our Christianity.

If the Trinity is true, it is degrading to Jesus to say that he was never equal to God as part of a Godhead. But if the Trinity is false, it is degrading to the Almighty God to call anyone his equal, and even worse to call Mary the "Mother of God."  If the Trinity is false, it dishonors God to say, as noted in the book Catholicism: "Unless  [people] keep this Faith whole and undefiled, without doubt [they] shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic faith is this: We worship one God in Trinity, 

There are good reasons, then, why you should want to know the truth about the Trinity. But before examining its origin and its claim of truthfulness, It would be helpful to define the doctrine more specifically.  What, exactly is the Trinity? How do supporters of it explain it?

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus?

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Should You Believe It?/The Trinity

Read the King James Bible if you don't believe this.

DO YOU believe in the Trinity?  Most people in Christendom do. After all, it has been the central doctrine of the churches for centuries.

In view of this, you would think that there  could be no questions about it. But there is, and lately even some of its supporters have added fuel to the controversy.

Why should a subject like this be of any more than passing interest?  Because Jesus himself said: "Eternal life is this: to know you, the only God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."  So our entire future hinges on our knowing the true nature of God, and that means  getting to the root of the Trinity controversy.  Therefore, why not  examine it for yourself? - JOHN 15:3, Catholic Jerusalem Bible (JB).

Various Trinitarian concepts exist. But generally the Trinity is that in the Godhead there are three persons.  Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; yet, together they are but one God.  The doctrine says   that the three are coequal, almighty, and uncreated, having existed eternally in the Godhead. 

Next time: Should You Believe It?/Trinity - Conclusion

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What is the Scarlet-Colored Beast of Revelation Chapter 17? - Bible Prophecy Fulfilled

Consider how the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, have fulfilled the Bible's prophecy of the scarlet-colored beast.

1. A political entity.  The United Nations supports "the political system by  upholding :the sovereign equality of all its Members." 

2. A likeness of the worldwide political system.  In 2011, the United Nations added its 193rd member state. Thus, it claims to represent the vast majority of nations and peoples in the world.

3.  Power from other rulerships.  The United Nations owes is existence to its member nations and has only as much power and authority  as they grant to it.

4. Linked with religion.  Both the League of Nations and the United Nations have consistently received the backing of the world's religions.

5. Dishonors God.  The United Nations was established "to maintain international peace and security.  While this goal might seem to praiseworthy, the UN actually dishonors God by claiming to do what he has said only his Kingdom will accomplish. - PSALM 46:9; DANIEL 2:44.

6. Temporarily inactive.  The League of Nations, which was formed shortly after World War I to maintain peace, was unable to prevent international aggression. It ceased to function when World War II began in 1939.  In 1945, after World War II ended, the United Nations was formed. Its purposes, methods, and structure closely resemble those of the League of Nations. 

Next time: Should You Believe it?/ The Trinity (Read the King James Bible if You Don't) 

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What Is the Scarlet-Colored Beast of Revelation Chapter 17?

The Scarlet-colored beast, described in Revelation chapter 17, is a symbol of the organization whose purpose is to reunite and represent the nations of the world.  It first existed as the League of Nations and is now known as the United Nations.

Keys to identifying the scarlet-colored beast

1. A political entity.  The scarlet-colored beast has "seven heads" that are said to represent "seven mountains" and seven kings," or ruling powers. ( Revelation 17:9, 10) Mountains and beasts are used in the Bible as symbols of governments. - JEREMIAH 51:24, 25; DANIEL 2:44, 45;7:17, 23.

2 A likeness of the worldwide political system.  The scarlet-colored beast resembles the seven-headed beast of Revelation  chapter 13, which represents the worldwide political system. Both beasts have seven heads, ten horns, and blasphemous names. (Revelation 13:1; 17:3)  These similarities are too striking to be a coincidence. The scarlet-colored beast is an image, or likeness, of the worldwide political system. - REVELATION 13:15.

3. Power from other rulerships.  The scarlet-colored beast "springs from," or owes its existence to, other ruling forces. - REVELATION 1711, 17.

4. Linked with religion.  Babylon the great, the world's collective body of false religions, sits on the scarlet-colored beast, showing that the beast is influenced by religious groups. - REVELATION 17:3-5. 

5. Dishonors God.  The beast if "full of blasphemous  names." - REVELATION 17:3. 

6. Temporarily inactive.  The scarlet-colored beast would be in "the abyss" or inactive, for a time but would rise again.  - REVELATION. 

Next time: What Is the Scarlet-Colored Beast in Revelation Chapter 17?- Bible Prophecy Fulfilled

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