God, the Holy Trinity
From eternity past you exist, no breath of life entered. From you has generously come every created thing: angels, matter and man. Sustainer of life you depend on none, but kneel to reveal yourself to fallen mankind. Who can contain the whole thought of you? Without contradiction and undefiled, glory is your garment. Holy, wholly other, the three of you stand apart from your workmanship. Your one magnificent Name and one character unite you as one God, but with three volitional and relational persons who function within your will. Wellspring of light and truth and all knowledge, your persons are unique and still fully reconciled to one another in perfect love and ability. Though things on earth change within your sovereign will, you remain steadfast to yourself.
Father
Head of the three, Father, you remain in heaven. Though immanent and everywhere present, your full form is unseen by human eyes. Loving that which you created, you reveal truth and righteousness - even heralding the coming of your only begotten Son. Though once dwelling equally with you, you received His earthly prayers as a man’s requests. Under your authority the Spirit also subjected Himself to your will, and to Jesus who would gift Him to believers. You gave Jesus all authority that the perfect will of three-in-one would continue to completion. A just judge over men, you are the keeper of a holy standard. Though Satan approaches to destroy, you ordained all of time according to redemptive purpose and glory. Yet you know and hear and weave so well the heart of man into your scheme. You oversee redemption’s story.
Son
Clothed in flesh, my Savior and my Lord, you are robed with humility. Preeminent and fully Divine, you relinquished for a time your deified position to dwell among sinners. You were born of a virgin, and begotten of God. While divine will, power and knowledge were at your command, you grew in favor and stature as any man. To your glory, to my glory, you chose to live a sinless human life and resisted Satan’s temptation. As a teacher of truth and Messiah of God’s Kingdom, you were perfect in obedience to the Father’s will. You suffered and died according to the Prophets and the Law as the only one who could bear God’s holy wrath and fulfill His covenant love. But death could not hold you. You are a redeemer. Resurrection is yours. All things rest under your authority.
The Holy Spirit
My helper, my counselor, a place of holy rebuke - you are present on earth, living in me, a seal of what is the Father’s through Christ Jesus. You are the power of the three-in-one among a fallen world. Fully knowledgeable and everywhere present, you make known to men the will of the Father and the Son. You are a living testimony of truth, goodness and righteousness that Jesus sent upon His departure. You have no human form, but dwell in the temple of the saved. You bring about faith and righteous deeds that the world may see and feel and know the three-in-one who created life. You are a living and close friend equaled only to the Father and Son. You are a purposeful and present minister to my soul.
By Kendra Hinkle 2008. Assignment for Trinitarianism class at Dallas Theological Seminary, SU08. All footnotes have been omitted to save space, but a complete version is available upon request.
14 comments:
Greetings Kendra
On the subject of the trinity,
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you to reconsider "The Trinity"
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
I would be glad to view the video. Might you be willing to engage in some dialogue on this blog regarding your views on the Trinity?
Sure, it will be a pleasure.
The video is a good basis for my POV.
I appreciate your time. My purpose in dialogue is not for the purpose of heated argument, but for further clarification on the Unitarian perspective (and I'm sure my own opinion will come in a time or two). I am committed to my interpretation of Scripture and the doctrine of the Trinity. Our viewpoints will surely differ, but the dialogue is healthy.
The video was very thorough in presenting a non-Trinitarian perspective. Am I correct in these summary points of the Unitarian thought?
God the Father and God the Spirit are one entity, the Spirit being the manifestation or extension of God on earth.
Christ is an exalted man now sitting at the right hand of God, who lived an obedient and sinless life. He did not exist prior to His birth except in the mind of God as the coming Messiah. His obedient life and death enabled him to fulfill the requirement of God for the forgiveness of man's sin.
Please feel free to clarify on these or give additional comments.
Some initial questions:
On the Spirit of God, according to Unitarian perspective - What is the role of God as Spirit in the Christian's life? Is this interaction of the Spirit within us part of God's omnipresent reality?
In a Unitarian Christian Church, how would worship of God and Jesus look different than in a Trinitarian church, practically speaking?
Yes. Your summary is quite accurate.
However, there is no such in thing in Scripture as "God the Spirit".
Rather, we would speak of the "spirit of God".
In the OT Scriptures, GOD who dwells in Heaven, is described as interacting with His creation via the spirit of GOD.
The spirit moved, the spirit came upon, etc.
Seeing that "GOD is Spirit" [John 4.24]
we would describe the holy spirit as the operational and personal presence of the ONE GOD, interacting with His creation.
However in the NT, we see the birth, death, burial, resurrection, ascension & glorification of the Messiah.
So the holy spirit now represents the operational and personal presence of both the ONE GOD and His Son (who also is in Heaven) dwelling in the church, dwelling in believers.
[John 14.23]
For more info, see "holy spirit"
Concerning worship;
funny you ask that ... I came across a paper on the Net definitely written by a trinitarian, titled
What Ever Happened to the Father? - The Jesus Heresy in Modern Worship
by Susan J. White.
The premise of the paper is basically that:
"the Father" doesn't hardly get a look-in in modern-day worship;
"Its all about Jesus!! The Father is hardly mentioned.
And that's a statement coming from trinitarians!
Personally, I think there is a lot of truth in it.
Because trinitarians believe that Jesus as well as the Holy Ghost is/are Almighty God; Jesus & the Spirit is therefore worshiped as Almighty GOD.
This wouldn't be the case in a "biblical unitarian church".
(Please don't confuse us with the UUs)
We worship the Father alone as Almighty GOD. To Him and Him alone we sing praises and give honor to Him as Almighty GOD.
The Lord Jesus is worshiped as Messiah, Lord and King;
we sing praise and honor to him as our Saviour, our Master and as our Coming King; the one man whom Almighty GOD has made both "Lord and Christ".
[Acts 2.36, 10.36]
Nowhere in Scripture is the "holy spirit" ever worshiped, or invoked.
So in like manner, we do no such thing.
I'm not sure that you are necessarily speaking to this, but within Trinitarian circles I have been a part of discussion on how the Trinity affects our worship times as Christians. Within that dialogue has been noted the importance of fully representing our doctrine through our layout of worship times (songs, teaching, communion, etc.). The importance of doctrine can, sadly, at times be trumped by desire to represent modern trends and styles, whether in church services or in how we live our lives. Doctrine "in action" is extremely important in shaping our memories and our learning.
Regarding Jesus, do you hold to a virgin birth? If Unitarian thought holds to the full humanity of Jesus, including sin nature (not sure of your thought on this), to what extent did God involve Himself in the sinlessness of Jesus' life? Was the Messiah prophesied about in foreknowledge (knowing it would be Jesus) or did God pre-appoint Jesus for this role and involve Himself to the result of Jesus' sinless life?
And more basically, do you see the whole Bible as Scripture? Do you hold to infallibility and inspiration of the original texts, including the epistles?
We calls ourselves biblical unitarians because we believe the Bible to be the inspired Scriptures of GOD;
[2 Tim 3.16]
and based upon the Scriptures we have an unitarian view of GOD.
GOD's Scriptures are true, His Scripture cannot be broken [John 10.35]; and that includes the virginal conception of Jesus the Messiah.
Adam was sinless before the fall.
Adam was the first man, the original human being and he and Eve knew no sin until sadly they yielded unto temptation & obeyed the devil.
Jesus the Last Adam was in like manner, like Adam, without sin;
however Jesus resisted the devil's every temptation, overcame him;
Jesus obeyed GOD in all things, even to the death of the cross.
Thus GOD rewarded him by raising him from the dead, exalting him to His right hand; and making him,
Lord of all. [Phil 2.8-11]
Both Adam & Jesus were sinless men.
However, Jesus overcame where Adam failed.
Hence the comparisons Paul makes about these two men, Roms 5.14-21.
You ask, Was the Messiah prophesied about in foreknowledge (knowing it would be Jesus) or did God pre-appoint Jesus for this role and involve Himself to the result of Jesus' sinless life?
I don't understand the question!
Jesus was definitely foreordained.
(1 Pet 1:20-21) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Hence he is spoken of as being slain before the foundation of the world; although in actuality he was indeed slain, 2000 years ago.
[Rev 13.8]
Thanks for articulating your POV.
Thank you for the clarification on Scripture. I questioned when I finished the video what kind of view was held of Scripture, which of course can vary from person to person.
Let me try to clarify my run-on question. The issue is foreknowledge vs. foreordination. Did God foreknow but not directly intervene to cause Jesus' sinless life, or did God choose in advance what would take place and equip the human Jesus' to accomplish such an end?
The video seemed to imply that Unitarians saw Jesus as fully human, a man who was chosen to be exalted as Messiah because of his sinless life. He was chosen because of his ability to live a sinless life rather than being born into the role of Messiah and equipped for such.
If I have clarified myself, can you speak to such?
And to echo Alyssa, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I do greatly appreciate you being willing to dialogue. =-)
(Heb 5:8-9) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
(Phil 2:8-9) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
It is not that Christ was chosen to be exalted because of his sinless life;
rather, Christ was exalted because he was totally obedient to his Father, even to the death of the cross.
Therefore GOD rewarded him with supreme exaltation, even to His right hand.
Concerning Christ, the Bible speaks of both foreknowledge & foreordination;
not versus but rather both.
I have quoted 1 Pet 1.20-21; we have also
(Acts 2:22-24) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
In fact, practically the same Greek word is used:
1 Pet 1:20 foreordained =
(proginosko: to know beforehand, i.e. foresee)
and
Acts 2:23 foreknowledge =
(prognosis: forethought
The word prognosis is derived from proginosko)
So as far as the NT is concerned it is the same concept:
GOD's prognosis.
The fact is Adam failed, sin & death came into the world; so GOD made a promise about the seed of the woman. [Gen 3.15]
Jesus like Adam, did not have some innate ability to be sinless. No! Like Adam, he was made that way! Like Adam, he did not know what sin was.
So, Jesus was human like you and I, flesh & blood, yet without sin.
[Heb 2.14, 4.15; Rom 8.3, 2 Cor 5.21]
I am sorry you got the impression of chosenness from the video.
I have to look it again; personally, I have never noticed it.
We see Jesus as the second man, the Last Adam, a sinless human being, GOD's Lamb, whom GOD prepared to take away the sin of the world.
[John 1.29, 1 John 2.2, 3.5, 4.10]
The temptations therefore, were real. GOD Almighty cannot be tempted [Jas 1.13]; however, Jesus, GOD's Son was indeed tempted to sin.
Jesus therefore, could have sinned. But he did not.
Neither did he grasped at being equal to GOD, he never made the mistake that Adam made!
[Gen 3.5]
Jesus was tempted in all points; and in each case he chose rather his Father's will; then to obey the will of another or to choose his own will.
He was totally obedient to his Father in all things.
Therefore, because of his obedience, even to the death of the cross, because of his sufferings and sacrifice;
GOD therefore raised him from the dead and rewarded him.
The equipment that Jesus possessed; is the same that GOD has given us believers, i.e.
the spirit of GOD.
Jesus of Nazareth was obedient to the leading of the spirit of GOD in all things.
We therefore, his followers, must strive to do the same.
[Rom 8.13-16]
Of course, Jesus never knew sin.
In that regards, of course, he differs from us.
However, he is our forerunner; our example; and above all, he is our high priest who is indeed touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
[Heb 4.15, 2.18]
So again, he did not have some innate ability that made him sinless.
He could have sinned, but chose not to sin, by submitting himself totally to GOD's will.
Something that Adam did not do.
So where Adam failed, Christ succeeded.
[Rom 5.15-21]
Scriptures such as Psalm 8 spell out GOD's intended destiny for humankind.
It was always GOD's intention that humankind have dominion over the works of GOD's hand; in righteousness and life.
That destiny was thwarted by the devil's ploy and Adam's failure.
So yes, Jesus was indeed born to be King, born to be the Messiah, born to be Saviour.
[John 18.37, Luke 2.11, Acts 13.23, etc]
GOD equipped him by His spirit even as He now equips the church by His spirit.
Let us therefore, by the grace of GOD, follow the example of our Master.
And if we endure to the end, we too, will be rewarded with glory, honour, immortality & life in the Age/Kingdom to Come.
Kendra, I hope I have clarified our position.
Adam ~ Thank you very much. You have been very helpful and detailed in your answers. Being my first time to process and hear from the whole system of Unitarian thought, I don't have more questions at this time.
~Kendra
I do plan on responding some with my own thoughts, and invite anyone's interaction...but life is a little crazy right now so it is taking me a longer to respond than I had hoped. I'll present the new post on the main page, to make it a little easier to recognize.
Here is an article, that might be of interest to the reader
http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/
thecopticchurch/church3-1.html
towards the end of the article:
THE TRINITARIAN DOGMA AND THE BIBLE
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