Articles in English
The Only One and True God manifested in flesh
The Bible speaks of only one Divine Entity. The apostle Paul wrote [“Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—
Yet for us there is one God, theFather, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, JesusChrist, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”](1Cor 8:4-6 [ESV2011])
So why would people teach already declared truth about the entity of God ?
The whole bible speaks only a Divine Entity and of its form and direct us to the image of the invisible God who is our Lord Jesus Christ. “Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”(Eph 4:3-6 [ESV2011])
From the above verses it is very clear that there is Only One Supreme God, the Father.
There is neither Great God nor small God and this is paganism and has its roots in Gnosticism.
“(96:9) For thou art Lord Most High over all the earth; thou art greatly exalted above all gods.” (Ps 97:9 [LXXE])
“(82:18)And let them know that thy Name is Lord; that thou alone art MostHigh over all the earth.” (Ps 83:18 [LXXE])
Believers in the days of Paul waited the appearing of this GREAT GOD in the last days of the age of the Old Testament.
“Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of Our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”(Titus 2:13-14 [ESV2011])
Now as for as the mystery of Godliness is concerned I would like to bring forth the greek ancient text in order to understand what exactly says and how it changes the meaning as follows both versions based on the ancient manuscripts.
“If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” (1Tim 3:15-16 [ESV2011])
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Cod._Sinaiticus_1_Tim_3%2C16.jpg
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EYCEBEIAC MYCTHRION : OC EΦΑΝΕΡΩΘΗ ΕΝ CAΡΚΙ ΕΔΙΚΑΙΩΘΗ ΕΝ
«ἐαν δέ βραδύνω, ἵνα εἰδῇς πῶς δεῖ ΕΝ ΟΙΚΩ ΘΕΟΥ ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ήτις έστιν ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΘΕΟΥ ΖΩΝΤΟΣ, στῦλος καί ἑδραίωμα τῆςἀληθείας· καί ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστίν το τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον· ΟΣ ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, ἐδικαιώθη ἐν πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις, ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ.» (1Timothy. 3:15-16 [SBLGNT])
There is also another version of the manuscript which is not the most valid where instead of OS which means WHO. This is ΘC. OC in ancient greek language with UNCIAL LETTERS means WHO but if the scribe put a mark inside of O changes whole the meaning it has the word OC-ΘC=ΘEOΣ=THEOS=GOD which is not far from the truth.
Admitting, therefore, that the text correctly says OS (that is, WHO) which is an explanation of what Paul previously wrote "you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God".
Therefore OS(that is, WHO) refers to GOD LIVING or more simply to LIVING GOD. So we understand very well that THE LIVING GOD APPEARED IN THE FLESH and not some other person. He is the ONLY LIVING, He is, the ONLY IMMORTAL.
“For even as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26 [Darby])
In the First Epistle of John it is very clear that GOD FATHER HIMSELF APPEARED AS THE SON OF GOD to take away our sins.
“See what love THE FATHER has given to us, that we should be called [the] children OF GOD. For this reason the world knows us not, because it knew HIM not.
Beloved, now are we children OF GOD, and what we shall be has not yet been manifested; we know that whenHE IS MANIFESTED(the Father) we shall be likeHIM, for we shall see HIM as HE IS. And every one that has this hope in HIM purifies himself, even as *HE* is pure.
Every one that practices sin practices also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. And ye know that *HE* HAS BEEN MANIFESTED (the Father) that he might take away our sins; and in him sin is not.
Whoever abides in HIM, does not sin: whoever sins, has not seen him or known him.”(1John 3:1-6 [Darby])
“He that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested (Jesus is the image of God the Father), that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is begotten of GOD doeth no sin, because HIS seed abideth in him: and He cannot sin, because He is begotten of GOD.”(1John 3:8-9 [ASV])
The book of Revelation reveals who Jesus really is.
“When I saw HIM, I fell at HIS feet as though dead. But he laid HIS right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I AM THE FIRST and THE LAST,
And THE LIVING ONE. I DIED, and behold I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE, and I HAVE the keys of Death and Hades.”(Rev 1:17-18 [ESV2011])
THE LIVING ONE is the ONLY TRUE GOD and FATHER. But GOD is SPIRIT and LIFE and it was impossible for HIM to die. Through HIS love and wisdom HE prepared the best for the salvation of the whole world. GOD manifested in the flesh as the Son of Man and "surrendered for our transgressions and was resurrected for our justification." (Rom. 4:25)
At the end of the book of Revelation we see that in the New Jerusalem there is only ONE TEMPLE and ONLY ONE THRONE. ONLY ONE PERSON is worshiped on the Throne and ONLY ONE NAME is the name of JESUS.
“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and THE LAMP. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for THE GLORY OF GOD gives it light, and its LAMB is THE LAMB.”(Rev 21:22-23 [ESV2011])
“No longer will there be anything accursed, but THE THRONE of GOD and of the LAMB will be in it, and HIS servants will worship HIM. They will see HISFACE, and HISNAME will be on their foreheads.”(Rev 22:3-4 [ESV2011])
From the above verses that Jesus Christ is the Lamb who came to reveal GOD and FATHER to us. On the throne sits GOD our FATHER and the LAMB. But we see that John does not say that they worship THEM, that is, two persons, but "HIS SERVANTS will worship HIM." He also does not say they will see their faces but "They will see HIS FACE".
So Paul writes very correctly to the Corinthians and the Colossians:
“But if also our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those that are lost; in whom the god of this world has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving, so that the radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory OF THE CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, should not shine forth [for them] .
For we do not preach ourselves, but CHRIST JESUS LORD, and ourselves your bondmen for JESUS’ sake. Because [it is] THE GOD WHO spoke that out of darkness light should shine WHO has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge OF THE GLORY OF GOD in THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.”(2Cor 4:3-6 [Darby])
The Apostle Paul declared clearly that the human wisdom an enemy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
“See that there be no one who shall lead *you* away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to CHRIST.
For IN HIM dwells ALL THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD;”(Col 2:8-9 [Darby])
God our Father did not dwell in any man before Jesus Christ came to earth.
The prophets were overshadowed by the Spirit of God and they ministered but the Spirit of God did not dwell in them.
All the prophets in part knew and in part prophesied.
Our Lord Jesus Christ THE PROPHET to Whom GOD did not give HIS SPIRIT by MEASURE but dwelt in JESUS, while he was here on earth with ALL His FULNESS. In fact, the disciples found that HE KNEW EVERYTHING and not aside and that HE HAD COME OUT OF GOD.
“HE WHO COMES FROM ABOVE IS ABOVE ALL. He who has his origin in the earth is of the earth, and speaks [as] of the earth. HE WHO COMES OUT FROM HEAVEN IS ABOVE ALL, [ and] what he has seen and has heard, this he testifies; and no one receives his testimony.
He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true; For HE whom GOD has sent speaks the words of GOD, for GOD gives not the Spirit by measure.”(John 3:31-34 [Darby])
“Hither to ye have asked nothing in MY NAME: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in allegories; the hour is coming that I will no longer speak to you in allegories, but will declare to you openly concerning the Father.
In that day ye shall ask in MY NAME; and I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you, for the Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me, and have believed that I came out from God.
I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again, I leave the world and go to the Father. His disciples say to him, Lo, now thou speak openly and utter no allegory.
Now we know that thou knows all things, and hast not need that any one should demand of thee. By this we believe that thou art come from God.”(John 16:24-30 [Darby])
FOR GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL THINGS AND HE WAS MANIFESTED IN FLESH
This is the wonder and the greatness, while JESUS was THE SAME ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD appeared as Man in the likeness of sinful flesh while He was the image of God.
The flesh of Jesus was from heaven, it was the Word that became flesh.
The Infinite and Timeless God came in flesh and while He was THE LIFE giver he entered time and was limited to human data had to eat, drink, rest, sleep, laugh, cry, fast like all people.
Every person inherits the decay and the tendency towards sin and death from the moment that Adam by his disobedience sinned and gave way to the Devil and death.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—“(Rom 5:12 [ESV2011])
Jesus is and was the Man from heaven and His flesh came from God Himself. Therefore in His flesh He did not inherit decay and the tendency to sin. The Devil had no place and no authority in the BODY OF JESUS.
“I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing;” (John 14:30 [Darby])
He has been tempted in all things in our behave while he was life giver , He never inherited innate desires and weaknesses like us, but by external human infidelities, doubts, hardheartedness, and sins.
Just as the Israelites "tempted" God in the wilderness, so the Jews tempted Jesus, with the difference that now God endured these temptations by bringing His Body, His image, on the Cross for the sake of all people.
But GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL THINGS and most importantly for those who believe that the Word who is God became flesh should remember and think that "there is no variation or shadow due to change " in God. The Divine Body and Blood cannot become an earthly body and Blood.
“Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.” (1Cor 15:45-48 [ESV2011])
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”(Jas 1:13-17 [ESV2011])
We were not bought with common human blood but with the BLOOD OF GOD which is THE ETERNAL TESTAMENT.
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which THE HOLY SPIRIT has made you overseers, to care for THE CHURCH OF GOD, which HE ONTAINED with HIS OWN BLOOD.”(Acts 20:28 [ESV2011])
“of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy who has trodden under foot the Son of God, AND ESTEEMED THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, whereby he has been sanctified, COMMON, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”(Heb 10:29 [Darby])
Here is the MYSTERY. Christ as a man from heaven became a MEDIATOR and a NOTARIER with HIS BLOOD.
The mystery continues.
In order for a COVENANT to be valid, it must be preceded by the death of the TESTATOR, i.e. the One who made the COVENANT. Who made the first and the second covenant with the people of Israel? Did not GOD and FATHER make both the Old and New Testaments? So God had to die. But GOD is SPIRIT and can not die, so HE prepared BODY and BLOOD, that is, THE MAN FROM HEAVEN, who came and died for the sins of the whole world.
“But CHRIST being come high priest of the good things to come, by the better and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, (that is, not of this creation,) nor by blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD, has entered IN ONCE for all into the [holy of] holies, having found an eternal redemption.”(Heb 9:11-12 [Darby])
“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, who through THE ETERNAL SPIRIToffered himself without blemish to GOD, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”(Heb 9:13-14 [ESV2011])
“And for this reason HE IS MEDIATOR of a new covenant, so that, DEATH HAVING TAKE PLACE for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, the called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
(For where there is a testament, THE DEATH OF THE TESTATOR must needs come in.For a testament is of force when men are dead, since IT IS IN NO WAY OF FORCE whileTHE TESTATOR is ALIVE.)
Whence neither the first was inaugurated without blood.”(Heb 9:15-18 [Darby])
The Glory of the Lord and God was revealed
“And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”(Isa 40:5 [ESV2011])
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning to God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”(John 1:1-5
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”(John 1:14 [ESV2011])
“And we know that THE SON OF GOD has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know HIMWHO IS TRUE; and we are IN HIM WHO IS TRUE, in HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. HE is THE TRUE GOD and THE ETERNAL LIFE. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”(1John 5:20-21 [ESV2011])
Everything else is evil and pagan.
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Valentinian Gnosticism and the Hypostatic Union
Valentinian Gnosticism and the Hypostatic Union
I am featuring some quotes on this page in order to show the similarities between valentinian gnosticism and the hypostatic union dogma of a multi component messiah. Valentinus is regarded to be the most successful gnostic and almost became bishop of Rome. Many consider him to have influenced the roman church and its dogmas to a very large degree. It was also the Valentinians that used the term "homoousion" first, "of the same substance", that found its way into the nicean creed through the pagan emperor Constantine's advise in the arian controversy and thus into the trinitarian dogma of Constantinople. The same goes for the "taking on flesh" terminology, which is not to be found in the bible, but in valentinian writings. Since a Spirit entitiy "taking on flesh" is clearly not a "flesh becoming", and since this would deny that the Word of God became flesh, 1. John 4:2-3 would be violated and the hypostatic union further proven to be gnostic and thus antichrist since it claims that The Word came in Spirit and always remained Spirit. Research into this topic begs to devote thought into the possibility of a valentinian gnostic inner core of the catholic faith.
Quotes: Now with the heresy of the Ariomaniacs, which has corrupted the Church of God... These then teach three hypostases, just as Valentinus the heresiarch first invented in the book entitled by him 'On the Three Natures'. For he was the first to invent three hypostases and three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he is discovered to have filched this from Hermes and Plato. (Marcellus of Ancrya)
In like manner they assign to each of them a separate end. To the material, that is to say the carnal (nature), which they also call the left-handed, they assign undoubted destruction; to the animal (nature), which they also call the right-handed, a doubtful issue, inasmuch as it oscillates between the material and the spiritual, and is sure to fall at last on the side to which it has mainly gravitated. As regards the spiritual, however, (they say) that it enters into the formation of the animal, in order that it may be educated in company with it and be disciplined by repeated intercourse with it. For the animal (nature) was in want of training even by the senses: for this purpose, accordingly, was the whole structure of the world provided; for this purpose also did Soter (the Saviour) present Himself in the world — even for the salvation of the animal (nature). By yet another arrangement they will have it that He, in some prodigious way, clothed Himself with the primary portions of those substances, the whole of which He was going to restore to salvation; in such wise that He assumed the spiritual nature from Achamoth, while He derived the animal (being), Christ, afterwards from the Demiurge; His corporal substance, however, which was constructed of an animal nature (only with wonderful and indescribable skill) (Tertullian - Against the Vaelntinians 1:26) They hold, accordingly, that our Lord, while preserving the type of the first-begotten and primary tetrad, was compounded of these four substances, — of that which is spiritual, in so far as He was from Achamoth; of that which is animal, as being from the Demiurge by a special dispensation, inasmuch as He was formed [corporeally] with unspeakable skill. (Irenaeus - Against heresies - 1:7:2)
Flesh, according to these (heretics), is matter which is suspended from the soul of the Demiurge.(Hippolytus - Refutation of all heresies 6:32)
Wisdom, he says, put forth a receptacle of flesh for the Logos, the spiritual seed; clad in it the Saviour descended.(Clement - Excerpts of Theodotus 1:1)
Wherefore it is also said that he “received the form of a servant,” which refers not only to his flesh at the advent, but also to his substance, which he derived from its underlying reality, for substance is a slave, inasmuch as it is passive and subordinate to the active and dominating, cause. (Clement - Excerpts of Theodotus 1:19)
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Therefore man is in man, “psychic” in “earthly,” not consisting as part to part but united as whole to whole by God's unspeakable power. Therefore he was created in Paradise in the fourth heaven. For there earthly flesh does not ascend but it was to the divine soul as material flesh. This is the meaning of “This is now bone of my bones,” – he hints at the divine soul which is hidden in the flesh, firm and hard to suffer and very potent, – and “flesh of my flesh” – the material soul which is the body of the divine soul. Concerning these two also, the Saviour says, “That is to be feared which can destroy this soul and this body, the psychic one, in hell.” (Clement - Excerpts of Theodotus 1:51 about the flesh of mankind in general)
Now the psychic Christ sits on the right hand of the Creator, as David says, “Sit thou on my right hand” and so on. And he sits there until the end “that they may see him whom they pierced.” But they pierced the appearance, which is the flesh of the psychic one, “for,” it says, “a bone of him shall not be broken,” just as in the case of Adam the prophecy used bone as an allegory for the soul. For the actual soul of Christ deposited itself in the Father's hands, while the body was suffering. But the spiritual nature referred to as “bone” is not yet deposited but he keeps it. (Clement - Excerpts of Theodotus 1:62 about the flesh of mankind in general)
The soul held aloft by the air. The air suspended from the ether.
Fruits manifest themselves out of the Depth. A child emerges from the womb
Explanation By a Later Teacher
He means this: "flesh" is matter which is "hanging" from the "soul" of the Craftsman.
(Summer Harvest: A Psalm By Valentinus
This hymn was written by Valentinus during his time in Rome (139-160AD). In it Valentinus offers a brief summary of his vision of the universe, beginning from below and ending with the Aeons being produced by Depth and Silence in the Fullness. The title of the hymn uses the type of agricultural metaphor typical of Valentinian thought. A commentary by a later Roman Valentinian is appended to the hymn.)
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If it is true that once thou wert not in the flesh, but only took flesh at the moment when thou didst come into this world, wherefore should thou also take on flesh when thou didst come into this world, wherefore should though not also take on flesh when thou goest up to the spiritual world?
(Epistle to Rheginus 47,2-8)
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And if the perfect God is good by nature, in fact he is, for our Savior declared that there is only a single good God, his Father whom he manifested; and if the one who is the opposite nature is evil and wicked, characterized by injustice; then the one situated between the two is neither good nor evil or unjust, but can properly be called just, since he is the arbitrator of the justice which is his.
On the one hand, this god will be inferior to the perfect God and the lower than his justice, since he is generated and not ungenerated -- there is only one ungenerated Father, from whom are all things [1 Cor 8:6], since all things depend on him in their own ways. On the other hand, he will be greater and more powerful than the adversary, by nature, since he has a SUBSTANCE of either of them. The SUBSTANCE of the adversary is corruption and darkness, for he is material and complex, while the SUBSTANCE of the ungenerated Father of all is incorruption and self-existent light, simple and homogeneous. The SUBSTANCE of the latter produced a double power, while the Savior is an image of the greater one.
And now, do not let this trouble you for the present in your desire to learn how from one first principle of all, simple, and acknowledgedby us and believed by us, ungenerated and incorruptible and good, were constituted these natures of corruption and the Middle, which are different SUBSTANCEs, although it is characteristic of the good to generate and produce things which are like itself and have the same SUBSTANCE.
(Letter from Ptolemy to Flora)
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My first task as an editor of the Tractatus Tripartitus was to show that this document was a consistent whole and must have originated in the Western or Italic branch of Valentinianism, which was directed by Ptolemaeus and Heracleon. As a matter of fact, there were many parallels between this Tripartite Treatise and the preserved fragments of Heracleon's Commentary on the Gospel of John. But there were also differences. The thought of its author is characterised by a high level of abstraction which is not to be found in other writings from the Valentinian school: 1) The dyad Depth and Silence, still preserved by Ptolemaeus, has become a monas; 2) The quatemio Depth-Silence, Nots-Aletheia, of Valentinus and Ptolemaeus has become a trinity of God, the Son and the Church/Holy Ghost; 3) Sophia has lost all feminine features and is turned into an asexual Logos. Moreover the exotic character of the myth has been removed: the aeons are no longer androgyne. We are miles away from the imaginative mysticism of the bridal chamber in the Gospel of Philip or the prurient style of the Valentinian so-called Lehrbrief transmitted by Epiphanius, Panarion 31,5-6
(The Original Doctrine of Valentinus the Gnostic by Gilles Quispel)
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The kenosis of Christ was a reflexion of the Valentinian myth of the Fall of Sophia.
(A dictionary of the bible Vol. II - Pleiades by James Hastings)
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The term ὁμοούσιος had been used before its adoption by the First Council of Nicaea. The Gnostics were the first to use the word ὁμοούσιος, while before the Gnostics there is no trace at all of its existence.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The early church theologians were probably made aware of this concept, and thus of the doctrine of emanation, taught by the Gnostics.[11] In Gnostic texts the word ὁμοούσιος is used with the following meanings:
Identity of substance between generator and generated.
Identity of substance between things generated of the same substance.
Identity of substance between the partners of a syzygy.
For example, Basilides, the first known Gnostic thinker to use ὁμοούσιος in the first half of the 2nd century AD, speaks of a threefold sonship consubstantial with the god who is not.[12][13] The Valentinian Gnostic Ptolemy claims in his letter to Flora that it is the nature of the good God to beget and bring forth only beings similar to, and consubstantial with, himself.[14] The term ὁμοούσιος was already in current use by the 2nd-century Gnostics, and through their works it became known to the orthodox heresiologists, though this Gnostic use of the term had no reference to the specific relationship between Father and Son, as is the case in the Nicene Creed.
(Wikipedia Homoousion)
[1] von Harnack, Adolf, Dogmengeschichte (in German), 1:284–85, n. 3; 2:232–34, n. 4.
[2] Ortiz de Urbina, Ignacio (1942), "L'homoousios preniceno" [The prenicene homoousios], Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 8: 194–209.
[3] Ortiz de Urbina, Ignacio (1947), El Simbolo Niceno [The Nicene symbol] (in Spanish), Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, pp. 183–202.
[4] Mendizabal, Luis M (1956), "El Homoousios Preniceno Extraeclesiastico" [Ecclesiastical studies], Estudios Eclesiasticos (in Spanish), 30: 147–96.
[5] Prestige, George Leonard (1952) [1936], God in Patristic Thought (2d ed.), London: SPCK, pp. 197–218.
[6] Gerlitz, Peter (1963), Aufierchristliche Einflilsse auf die Entwicklung des christlichen. Trinitatsdogmas, zugleich ein religions- und dogmengeschichtlicher Versuch zur Erklarung der Herkunft der Homousie, Leiden: Brill, pp. 193–221.
[7] Boularand, Ephrem (1972), L'heresie d'Arius et la ‘foi’ de Nicke [The Arius’ heresy and the ‘faith’ of Nicke] (in French), 2, La "foi" de Nicee, Paris: Letouzey & Ane, pp. 331–53.
[8] Kelly, John Norman D (1972), Early Christian Creeds (3d ed.), London: Longman, p. 245.
[9] Dinsen, Frauke (1976), Homoousios. Die Geschichte des Begriffs bis zum Konzil von Konstantinopel (381) (Diss) (in German), Kiel, pp. 4–11.
[10] Stead, Christopher, Divine Substance, pp. 190–202.
[11] Grillmeier, Aloys (1975), Christ in Christian Tradition, 1, From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), London: Mowbrays, p. 109.
[12] of Rome, Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium haeresium [Refutation of all heresies] (in Latin), 7:22, Υἱότης τριμερής, κατὰ πάντα τῷ οὐκ ὄντι θεῷ ὁμοούσιος.
[13] For the Gnostic use of the term, Marcovich, Miroslav (1986), Patristische Texte und Studien [Patristic texts & studies] (in German), 25, Berlin: W de Gruyter, pp. 290f. V, 8, 10 (156), V, 17, 6.10 (186 f.).
[14] of Salamis, Epiphanius, Panarion (in Greek), 33:7,8, Τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ φύσιν ἔχοντος τὰ ὅμοια ἑαυτῷ καὶ ὁμοούσια γεννᾶν τε καὶ προφέρειν.
(Wikipedia on Homoousion)
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Like many third-century Christian scholars, Arius was influenced by the writings of Origen, widely regarded as the first great theologian of Christianity.[17] However, while he drew support from Origen's theories on the Logos, the two did not agree on everything. Arius clearly argued that the Logos had a beginning and that the Son, therefore, was not eternal, and that the Son is clearly subordinate to the Father, the Logos being the highest of the Created Order. This idea is summarized in the statement "there was a time when the Son was not." By way of contrast, Origen taught that the Son was subject to the Father, and some of Origen's writings seem to imply that the Son is subordinate and less than the Father in some ways. However, Origen believed the relation of the Son to the Father had no beginning, and that the Son was "eternally generated".[18]
Arius objected to Origen's doctrine, complaining about it in his letter to the Nicomedian Eusebius, who had also studied under Lucian. Nevertheless, despite disagreeing with Origen on this point, Arius found solace in his writings, which used expressions that favored Arius's contention that the Logos was of a different substance than the Father, and owed his existence to his Father's will. However, because Origen's theological speculations were often proffered to stimulate further inquiry rather than to put an end to any given dispute, both Arius and his opponents were able to invoke the authority of this revered (at the time) theologian during their debate.[19]
Arius emphasized the supremacy and uniqueness of God the Father, meaning that the Father alone is infinite and eternal and almighty, and that therefore the Father's divinity must be greater than the Son's. Arius taught that the Son had a beginning, contrary to Origen, who taught that the Son was less than the Father only in power, but not in time. Arius maintained that the Son possessed neither the eternity nor the true divinity of the Father, but was rather made "God" only by the Father's permission and power, and that the Logos was rather the very first and the most perfect of God's productions, before ages.[20][21]
[17] Moore, Edward (2 May 2005). "Origen of Alexandria". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The University of Tennessee at Martin. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
[18] Origen. "On Christ". De Principiis. Retrieved 2 May 2012. Wherefore we have always held that God is the Father of His only-begotten Son, who was born indeed of Him, and derives from Him what He is, but without any beginning
[19] "Arius of Alexandria, Priest and Martyr". Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church (Arian Catholic). Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
[20] Kelly 1978, Chapter 9
[21] Davis 1983, pp. 52–54
(Origen and Arius - Wikipedia on Arius)
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Valentinian Christology
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This generation shall not pass away
This generation shall not pass away
Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (2018, 8 October) Biblical references from: ESV2011, AKJV, LXXE, and others if they fit better with the Greek text
Let the written word of the prophets and apostles speak for itself
“But this I confess to you, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.” (Acts 24:14)
“And the LORD said to Noah, Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation (the modern generation of Noah).” (Gen. 7:1)
“But to what shall I compare this generation? (the modern Jewish generation of Jesus and the apostles) It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates.” (Mat. 11:16)
“But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; (the modern Jewish generation that killed Jesus) and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” (Mat. 12:39)
“Then goes he, and takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also to this wicked generation (the modern Jewish generation that killed Jesus).” (Mat. 12:45)
“Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, (the modern Jewish generation that killed Jesus) how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him here to me.” (Mat. 17:17)
“And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, Why does this generation seek after a sign? truly I say to you, There shall no sign be given to this generation (the modern Jewish generation that killed Jesus).” (Mark 8:12)
“And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation (the modern Jewish generation of the apostles the killed Jesus).” (Acts 2:40)
“Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (the
present Jewish scribes and Pharisees who were contemporary of Jesus) because you build the tombs of the
prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, And say, If
we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets. Why you be
witnesses to yourselves, that you are the children of them which killed the
prophets. Fill you up then the measure of your
fathers. You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you
escape the damnation of Why, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall you whip in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That on you may come (to the bystanders) all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, All these things shall come on this generation.” (the woes of the Apocalypse concerned the modern Jewish generation that killed Jesus).” (Mat. 23:29-36)
“So likewise you, (the contemporary Jewish disciples of Jesus to whom He spoke) when you shall see all these things, (they would see everything) know that it is near, even at the doors. Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled (the modern Jewish generation that killed Jesus).” (Mat. 24:33)
The demonstrative pronoun – this
The grammar of the ancient Greek language says that the word “this” is a demonstrative pronoun. Pronouns are inflectional words that are used in speech primarily in place of names (nouns or adjectives). Demonstrative pronouns show something which can be felt or meant. We use them to show what is near to us or what we mentioned just before.
Examples
“And Adam said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her husband.” (Gen. 2:23 LXXE)
“And the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, To your seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar to the LORD, who appeared to him.” (Gen. 12:7)
“And the report of this went through all that district.” (Mat. 9:26)
“Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” (Mat. 13:54)
“This is the great and first commandment.” (Mat. 22:38)
Effortless meanings
God did not promise a Third Testament nor a third temple to the Jews who were transgressors, disobedient and deniers of the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ, but wrath and eternal destruction (= catastrophe, loss, death). (2 Thes. Chapter one)
The modern, wicked and perverse Jewish generation of Jesus and the apostles was the one that filled up the sins of the Jewish nation and was targeted by Jesus who said that this generation would receive, according to the scriptures, the seven plagues of God's wrath. (See: Lev. 26:21, Rev. chapter 15)
Fill up = make full
The complete sin of the rebellious Jewish nation was that they killed Jesus the leader of life, persecuted the first church, killed many of its members, and prevented the salvation of the nations. (Acts 3:15, Mat. 23:29-36)
“For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last (to the Jews who were contemporary of the apostles).” (1 Thes. 2:14-16)
“Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops (the Roman army) and destroyed those murderers and burned their city (Jerusalem in 70 AD).” (Mat. 22:4-7)
The sinful, demoralized works of men, murders, thefts, fornications, prostitutions, homosexuality, bestialities, idolatries, patricides, drugs, wars, etc., had been taking place since the creation of the world, as the world history and the Jewish bible testify, so nothing new.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1Kor. 6:9-11)
The executed wrath of God in 70 AD upon the disobedient Jews brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and its second earthly Temple, and marked the ending / fulfillment of the age of the Mosaic Law and its ritual. Early Christianity was the fulfillment of biblical Judaism about the promise of life for all nations which was given to Abraham. (2 Τιμ. 1:1)
So, Christ, the life, is the end of the law; He is the one who abolished death which derived from the law and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel to those who repent and believe in the true God and savior Jesus Christ, regardless of biological origin. (2 Tim. 1:10)
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Mat. 5:17)
“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)
“And we declare to you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made to the fathers, God has fulfilled the same to us their children, in that he has raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you.” (Acts 13:32-33)
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (from being dead, they became alive in Christ).” (John 1:12-13)
“And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” (Eph. 2:1)
The first church that worshiped the one true God "in spirit and truth" believed in the words of Jesus and his apostles and did not follow the human traditions of the Pharisees and the types of the Mosaic Law. Nor did Jesus' disciples believe in the contradictory Greek thought and the philosophers ("fathers"), or in the 19th century teachings of “Dispensationalism” and “Futurism” as the "Christians" of today believe. Their belief in eternal life through Jesus was based on the written Hebrew Bible and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, bearing fruit "by the power of the Holy Spirit" and not by the power of armed violence and threat, nor by the arguments of the Greek literature.
Paul's specially selected borrowings from national writers such as "for we are also his offspring" and "for in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28), emphasize that God is "One" and prove that the apostle, who was Jewish in origin and aware of the Greek wisdom, was trying to turn the Athenians towards the Jewish thought and not towards the Greek thought.
Sayings for the Second coming of Jesus in the generation of the apostles
The disciples of the first church expected their redemption, the destruction of the wicked Jews, and the demolition of the earthly Temple of Jerusalem in their generation, in the presence and appearance of the great God and savior Jesus. (2 Thes. 1:1-10, 2 Tim. 1:14)
“And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples
came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end
"The sign." The use of the singular in the disciples' question makes the "coming / appearance" and "the end of the age" interrelated and interdependent events. The end of the age of the Mosaic Law of allegories and types was not going to happen without the Presence of the Son of Man on the clouds with the glory of his Father and his holy angels, the one who "would execute judgment" and "would take vengeance" on those who got drunk with the blood of the holy prophets and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
“And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. And I was greatly astonished when I saw her.” (Rev. 17:6)
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!” (Mat. 23:37)
“Jesus said to him, You have said: nevertheless I say to you, Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Mat. 26:64)
The archpriests who were contemporary of Jesus expected the coming of Jesus on the clouds for judgment in their generation.
“So also, when you see all these things, (the disciples who were contemporary of Jesus) you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place .” (Mat. 24:33-34)
“So that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (the ones who were contemporary of Paul), who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:7-8)
“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord (this concerns the twelve scattered tribes that were the recipients of the letter). See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” (Jam. 5:7-9)
“Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:22)
“Truly I say to you, There be some standing here, (contemporary of Jesus) which shall not taste of death, (they wouldn't experience natural death, they would be alive) till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” (Mat. 16:28)
“But when they persecute you in this city, flee you into another: (this concerned the Jewish disciples who were contemporary of Jesus) for truly I say to you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, (of the 1st century) till the Son of man be come.” (Mat. 10:23)
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show to his servants (not everybody) things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John.” (Rev. 1:1)
“Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Rev. 1:3)
“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come (this concerned the recipients of the letter who lived in Thyatira).” (Rev. 2:24-25)
“I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown (this concerned the recipients of the letter who lived in Philadelphia).” (Rev. 3:11)
“And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” (Rev. 22:10)
The pillars of the true apostolic church, James, Peter, and John, were sent to the circumcised ones. (Gal. 2:9) The Book of Revelation concerned the Jewish Christians of the seven churches of Asia who were contemporary of John and for whom the coming of Jesus was imminent; it did not concern future generations. More about the Book of Revelation click here.
The prerequisites of the fulfillment of God's promise for the transition from the Old One to the New One
“For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6)
For the promise of God to be finished / completed, and for the life-giving New Testament to replace the Old Testament because of its weakness and uselessness, - that is, for the Old One / Death to leave, and for the New One / Life to come - the following had to be done:
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come to you.” (Mat.12:28)
a) Jesus had to defeat death and take every power in the heavens and on earth. DONE
“And Jesus came (resurrected), and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.” (Mat. 28:18)
Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.” (1 Pet. 3:22)
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Rev. 1:17-18)
b) God's wrath upon the violators of the Mosaic Law as defined by the terms of the Old Testament had to be fulfilled. DONE
“The king was angry, and he sent his troops (Roman army) and destroyed those murderers and burned their city (Jerusalem in 70 AD).” (Mat. 22:7)
c) The first handmade, earthly tent had to be replaced by the true heavenly one, and the path leading to the true holies had to be freed. DONE
“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” (Heb. 8:1-5)
“Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” (Heb. 9:6-8)
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (Heb. 9:11-12)
“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” (Heb. 9:24)
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God ……..” (Heb. 10:19-21)
d) The true heavenly temple had to have a heavenly high priest who lives forever and who would not need replacement due to death. DONE
“And the others who became priests were numerous, because death prevented them from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever. So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (Heb. 7:23-25 NET)
e) The children of the promise, the legitimate heirs of the Kingdom, and the true worshipers of God who is Spirit had to be born. DONE
In the earthly, handmade temple of Jerusalem, fleshly worshipers worshiped with carnal ordinances, food, drink and various baptisms until the time of reformation. In the heavenly, spiritual Temple, spiritual worshipers, new creatures worship "in spirit and truth," because God is spirit and the true worshipers have to be this kind of worshipers.
“But a time is coming – and now is here – when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
“But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac. But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now. But what does the scripture say? Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.” (Gal. 4:28-31)
“For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation!” (Gal. 6:15)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18)
“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 2:5)
No biblical support is provided by the teaching of the apostles for a forthcoming building of a third earthly temple in Jerusalem and restoration of the Leviticus or any other priesthood. These inaccuracies are spread by today's Christian Zionism that was developed on the basis of the Modern Theory of “Dispensationalism” of Anglican clergyman John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), father of the movement of "Christian Brothers" or "Plymouth Brethren". Darby was trained at Westminster School and Dublin's Trinity College, and his theory was widely accepted by Baptists in the United States when the Oxford University Press published the Bible by the American theologian Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921) that had notes promoting Darby's theory. The supporters of the theory of Dispensationalism, defend myths of rabbinical Judaism and secular geostrategic policies rather than biblical truths.
f) The great command had to be fulfilled: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Mat. 24:14) DONE
End = (see finally) the fulfillment, the completion of all things, the finishing of it, the result, not the pause or the expiration of it. (Liddell-Scott Dictionary)
The gospel of the kingdom had been preached by the apostles to all nations for the obedience of faith in their generation. Then, the wrath of God was executed upon the arrogant Jews, and thus the age of the Mosaic Law was fulfilled. For more info about "Christ is the end of the Law" see here.
“Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” (Rom. 16:25-26)
“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Eph. 3:8)
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.” (Col. 1:3-6)
“If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Col. 1:23)
“And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:20)
“But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” (Rom. 10:18)
“And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” (Acts 17:6)
The Jewish scriptures were fulfilled, the transition from the Old One to the New One was done, the apostles of Jesus fulfilled their mission, the goal was achieved; those who envision the repetition of the original and unique apostolic work have not believed in it.
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” (Rom. 6:22)
The transformation of the original Christianity
The secular philosophical currents of the 2nd century, looting the spiritual wealth of the genuine Christianity, transformed it into a new state religion of types and expectations.
For the "Christian" philosopher Clement of the Alexandrian philosophical school, and for many others of the same period, Christianity was the supreme philosophy that the Mosaic Law and Greek philosophy prepared. This view was cultivated by the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo who lived in Alexandria in Egypt (15 BC-45 AD), a fanatical defender of the Platonic thought, and was spread by the proponents of human wisdom.
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Col. 2:8-9)
The side effect of this view was that it presented Christianity as accepting Greek thought, a view contrary to what Jesus and the apostles supported.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.” (Mat. 5:17)
“For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.” (1 Cor. 1:21 NET)
The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple had brought national, cultural and religious judgment upon the fleshly Israel. Biblical Judaism, having fulfilled its purpose, had given its place to Christianity whose adversaries were the unbelieving Jews. Without a temple and priests, the representation of the latter was taken over by the rabbis who convened the Council of Iamnia in Palestine around 100 AD to finalize the biblical canon of the Old Testament as it was defined in the Talmud. This action established Rabbinic Judaism as the ideological continuation of Pharisaic Judaism.
The period of the representation of Christianity by servants of apostolic caliber had passed. The philosophical apologists, defenders of the "Christian philosophy" as they considered it, helped by the social and political circumstances, achieved the combination of Hellenism - Christianity, gradually creating the label of "Christian Hellenism."
Through intense controversies between the representatives of that period's philosophical trends and the prevailing of those who had the most powerful political support, a new state religion of Roman interests was finally formed in the 3rd - 4th century AD, "Patristic Platonic Christianity."
The contradictory Ancient Philosophy and the Patristic - type soteriology have since become the spiritual deposit of the Greek heritage.
This Christianity, being a variant of national polytheism, prevailed with the power of the Roman weapons and brought spiritual darkness preserved to date by the so-called Christian rival national religions.
Platonism as a theory of ideas had supporters mainly among the Greek religious men, and the Eastern Orthodox "Christian" Church was clothed with it. Aristotelism, as a theory of pragmatism - if something is imperceptible it is also non-existent - had supporters among the Jewish religious men and among the Arabs who read Aristotle's works translated into Arabic. After the schism between the Eastern and Western Church in 1054, the Catholic Western Church under the powerful influence of the Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), priest of the Roman Catholic Church and supporter of Aristotelism, incorporated the Aristotelian philosophy into its theology. Thus, "Aristotelian Christianity" was born, which also influenced the materialistic Western civilization.
Epilogue
Today's representatives and followers of the imposed and schismatic "Patristic Platonic Christianity" and the modern Protestant homologies that are connected with it (see charters of Protestant churches) refuse to accept the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law and the prophets through Jesus that took place 20 centuries ago, as well as the ensuing spiritual blessings. By paying attention to myths, they preserve the religious formalism of the Old Testament.
Those who expect, without any biblical support, the reconstruction of a third earthly temple in Jerusalem by "modern Jews" who cannot prove their generational continuity from Abraham fantasize about the repetition of the biblical history, thus blaming God as a transgressor.
“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” (Gal. 2:18)
May the Lord Jesus bless you. Obedience to the truth of God brings his blessings into our lives. |
The transformation of the original Christianity
The transformation of the original Christianity
The philosophical currents of the 2nd century
The secular philosophical currents of the 2nd century, looting the spiritual wealth of the genuine Christianity, transformed it into a new state religion of types and expectations.
For the "Christian" philosopher Clement of the Alexandrian philosophical school, and for many others of the same period, Christianity was the supreme philosophy that the Mosaic Law and Greek philosophy prepared. This view was cultivated by the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo who lived in Alexandria in Egypt (15 BC-45 AD), a fanatical defender of the Platonic thought, and was spread by the proponents of human wisdom.
The side effect of this view was that it presented Christianity as accepting Greek thought, a view contrary to what Jesus and the apostles supported.
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Col. 2:8-9)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.” (Mat. 5:17)
“For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.” (1 Cor. 1:21 NET)
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes
The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple had brought national, cultural and religious judgment upon the fleshly Israel. Biblical Judaism, having fulfilled its purpose, had given its place to Christianity whose adversaries were the unbelieving Jews. Without a temple and priests, the representation of the latter was taken over by the rabbis who convened the Council of Iamnia in Palestine around 100 AD to finalize the biblical canon of the Old Testament as it was defined in the Talmud. This action established Rabbinic Judaism as the ideological continuation of Pharisaic Judaism.
The period of the representation of Christianity by servants of apostolic caliber had passed. The philosophical apologists, defenders of the "Christian philosophy" as they considered it, helped by the social and political circumstances, achieved the combination of Hellenism - Christianity, gradually creating the label of "Christian Hellenism."
Through intense controversies between the representatives of that period's philosophical trends and the prevailing of those who had the most powerful political support, a new state religion of Roman interests was finally formed in the 3rd - 4th century AD, "Patristic Platonic Christianity."
The contradictory Ancient Philosophy and the Patristic - type soteriology have since become the spiritual deposit of the Greek heritage.
This Christianity, being a variant of national polytheism, prevailed with the power of the Roman weapons and brought spiritual darkness preserved to date by the so-called Christian rival national religions.
Platonism as a theory of ideas had supporters mainly among the Greek religious men, and the Eastern Orthodox "Christian" Church was clothed with it. Aristotelism, as a theory of pragmatism - if something is imperceptible it is also non-existent - had supporters among the Jewish religious men and among the Arabs who read Aristotle's works translated into Arabic. After the schism between the Eastern and Western Church in 1054, the Catholic Western Church under the powerful influence of the Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), priest of the Roman Catholic Church and supporter of Aristotelism, incorporated the Aristotelian philosophy into its theology. Thus, "Aristotelian Christianity" was born, which also influenced the materialistic Western civilization.
Epilogue
Today's representatives and followers of the imposed and schismatic "Patristic Platonic Christianity" and the modern Protestant homologies that are connected with it (see charters of Protestant churches) refuse to accept the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law and the prophets through Jesus that took place 20 centuries ago, as well as the ensuing spiritual blessings. By paying attention to myths, they preserve the religious formalism of the Old Testament.
Those who expect, without any biblical support, the reconstruction of a third earthly temple in Jerusalem by "modern Jews" who cannot prove their generational continuity from Abraham fantasize about the repetition of the biblical history, thus blaming God as a transgressor.
“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” (Gal. 2:18)
May the Lord Jesus bless you. Obedience to the truth of God brings his blessings into our lives.
Jesus reigns!
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The Rich Man, Lazarus, & the Afterlife
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The Origin of Hell-Fire in Christian Teaching
The Origin of Hell-Fire in Christian Teaching
By Edward Fudge
Article from https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com
September 9, 2018
The concept of a soul within us that cannot die first became a ‘Christian’ doctrine at the end of the second century AD. Hell had been taught in Greek philosophy long before the time of Jesus, with Plato (427-347 BC) as the important leader in this thinking. The teaching of an everlasting place of punishment for the wicked is the natural consequence of a belief in an immortal soul. By the year AD 187, it was understood that life, once we have it, is compulsory; there is no end to it, either now or in a world to come. We have no choice as to its continuance, even if we were to commit suicide to end it. At the end of the 2nd century Christianity had begun to blend Greek philosophy —human speculative reasoning, with the teachings of God’s Word. Such words and phrases as ‘continuance of being’, ‘perpetual existence’, ‘incapable of dissolution’ and ‘incorruptible’ began to appear in so-called Christian writings. These had come straight from Plato, the Greek philosopher, all those years before Jesus. Other phrases used were ‘the soul to remain by itself immortal’, and ‘an immortal nature’. It was taught that this is how God made us. But this idea derives from philosophy, not divine inspiration. There are no such words in the Bible. It was Athenagorus, a Christian, but whose teachings, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, were strongly tinged with Platonism, who had introduced the teaching of an immortal soul into Christianity. In this way, he paved the way for the logical introduction of eternal torment for immortal, but sinful, souls. This was a hundred years and more after the time of the apostles, and came straight from popular philosophy. The apostles had consistently taught that death is a sleep, to be followed by resurrection. The early church leaders – Clement, Ignatius, Hermas, Polycarp, and others who also believed that death is a sleep, taught that the wicked are destroyed forever by fire – their punishment was to be annihilation. These leaders did not teach of an immortal soul to be tortured by fire in hell for eternity. About AD 240 Tertullian of Carthage took up the teaching of an immortal soul. It was he who added the further, but logical dimension. He taught the endless torment of the immortal soul of the wicked was parallel to the eternal blessedness of the saved, with no sleep of death after this life. This came at a time when many Christians were being burned for their faith and it was natural for them to accept that their persecutors would at death be consigned to an ever-burning hell for the persecution they had inflicted on others while they went straight to eternal bliss. From the third century the darkness of the infiltration of man-made beliefs into Christianity deepened until the Dark Ages had smothered almost all the light of God’s Word. At the beginning of this time, the first attempts were made to create a systematic set of beliefs. It is not surprising that an ever-burning hell and the immortality of the soul were prominently included. It is at this time that such beliefs, held by most Christians today, had their origin. An ever-burning hell has remained a commonly taught doctrine of the Christian religion to this day. It was not based on the Bible but on philosophy. Bible verses were later sought to uphold the ancient philosophies of the Greeks, and added to the teaching. Eventually under the influence of Augustine, AD 430, the concept of endless conscious torment was brought into general acceptance by the Catholic Church in the Western world. He taught that all souls were deathless and consequently the lost would experience endless fires of punishment, immediately upon the end of this life. Purgatory and places of purification. Other pagan philosophers, along with some of the poets of the day, were repulsed by the immorality of this teaching, and developed the idea of a place where the fleshly body was purified by fire but, at the completion of purification, would find release. It was a middle way between heaven and hell. This concept had its origin in Persian teaching. From there it passed to certain Jewish groups, and later was taken into Christian thought and teaching. It arose out of the Gnostic idea that the body, flesh and matter, is inherently evil and must be purified and purged by fire elsewhere. But we know bodies can be exhumed for examination, so it cannot be true that the flesh goes elsewhere. A similar view was held in Egypt, with prayers and services for the dead and payments made to priests for them to intercede for the dead. The idea of a place like purgatory did not have its beginnings in the Christian church, but in ancient pagan religions. The foundations had been established by Augustine’s teaching of eternal hell. Purgatory was added, and later fully confirmed by Pope Gregory the Great, about 582. Purgatory could not be supported by the standard canon of the Bible and it was the books of the Apocrypha that were used to justify this new idea. A similar teaching appeared in Moslem and Jewish belief. The inhabitants of the world were seen as good, bad and ‘middling’. It was believed that, if one died with curable offences, these would be purified by pain and torment as a preparation for heavenly bliss. By 1439 the teaching of purgatory, with services and prayers for the dead, to spare them years of this pain, was fully accepted in the Western Catholic world – Italy, Spain, England, France, and was ratified by Pope Eugenius IV. It was not known or taught in Eastern Christianity, which was not influenced by Rome. It is sometimes taught that even the righteous go to such a place for a lesser time so that the stains of sin can be burned from them, and this can be greatly hastened if certain exercises are undertaken. At the end of this time any that are incorrigible are sent to hell forever and the righteous go to a place of eternal blessedness. Heaven and hell are seen to be existing together side by side forever and ever. This means that Jesus the Saviour can never see an end of the sin and misery He came to die for. Any teaching of the eternal co-existence of evil and good is not in the Bible, but is a teaching from Greek philosophy. The Waldenses who had fled to the mountains to remain free from the heresies that were developing in the Catholic Church and also to escape persecution, taught the sleep of death and instant destruction by fire at the resurrection of the wicked. Their persecuting inquisitors reported that they entirely rejected the teaching of purgatory. The Cathari and the Hussites also rejected hell, thus leading the way for the teachings of the later Reformers. The Reformers The Reformers strongly rejected hell and purgatory, because by this time the teaching had become heavily corrupted by the sale of indulgences. These were the payments made to the priests to reduce the years of purification spent in purgatory. Wycliffe taught that death was an unconscious sleep, as did Tyndale and Luther, (although it has to be said that Luther was not always consistent in his beliefs.) They taught neither hell or purgatory. They taught that ‘men are breath in bodies’ and not “souls in bodies”. Calvin, however, taught that those who were sinners went to the eternal pains of hell at the time of their death and even denied a middle place or purgatory. The Reformed churches, like Calvin, have generally maintained a belief in an immortal soul and hell-fire, but do not teach purgatory. The Resurrection and Hell. How do the concept of an ever-burning hell and the Bible teaching of resurrection fit together? Over the centuries there has been a blending of Bible teachings with the teachings of men. It was known that the Bible speaks of resurrection, and also of death by fire. The compromise view sees the body being resurrected and rejoining its soul again and then both being tormented together by fire. Athenagorus taught that a person can never die or come to an end; life is ours for always. He taught that we have been made intelligent just for the purpose of continuing life - even if it be in Hell. He also taught that a body is given to the soul, and we are born into this world to pass through this life as two entities. These two are separated at death but, at the resurrection, the body rejoins the soul. He taught that punishment must be given for sins committed in this body and so the body needs to suffer punishment also. During the period of separation from its soul it is said, the body is in the grave. He argued consistently that God made us to live, and therefore we live eternally even though it is a living death in torment. What is the fate of the wicked? The theologian Origen of Alexandria developed another, different view of the fate of the wicked. He postulated that the wicked would be forgiven and restored by God and so in the end all would be saved. There would be universal salvation. Some of his followers believe that even Satan will be saved. But there was yet another view, that of Irenaeus, who taught that the wicked would be destroyed. All trace of wickedness would be removed from the earth by a devouring fire. No second chance. The Bible is clear that our choice, for Him or against Him, is made in this world, here and now. There is no mention of a second chance in the Bible, or a time when all people will be changed and restored to the Lord. This view of universal salvation is also mythology that has crept into the Christian world. It gives a more comfortable picture than judgement and death, but a second chance is false hope. Its origin is in the thinking of Greek philosophy. In Summary * There is no
ever-burning hell with an eternity of torture.
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The Lord our God is One Lord
The Lord our God is One Lord Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (25/11/2016) Bible verses from: LXXE, AKJV, ESV2011 and others if they fit better with the Greek text “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Deut. 6:4)
The meaning of “The Lord our God is one (Grk: Eις) Lord,” is opposed to the meaning of “dyad or dyadic is,” “triad or triadic is,” etc. An (Εις) = adjective of masculine gender, cardinal number: one. Dyad = numerical noun of feminine gender: two (= a set of two similar units). Dyadic = adjective of masculine gender: two (= a set of two similar units). Triad = numerical noun of feminine gender: three (= a set of three similar units). Triadic = adjective of masculine gender which refers to the triad: three (= a set of three similar units). Note: In Greek adjectives have gender
In order to understand the meaning of “The Lord our God is one Lord,” a phrase that the spirit of God, [“God is Spirit”], said to the people of Israel through Moses, we need to know the worship habits and doctrines of that time that people devised to explain mainly the forces of nature. The practice of worship to the devised gods was always carried out by the clergies, which strengthened each authority. The Theocratic powers always functioned as manipulators and as a means of subjugating people; and the emperors were the link between heaven and earth, resulting in their deification, since they were considered sons of gods. People’s ignorance and fear of the unknown and mystery, which the clergies systematically cultivated, contributed to this situation. The prestige, power, and economic robustness of an empire were seen as the result of the people’s worship to its patron gods, whom the authorities could upgrade, modify, and merge with others (theocracy) if it was in their interest to do so. The following excerpts can give us an idea of what was happening.
Mesopotamian Mythology “Mesopotamian Mythology is the mythology of the people -Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians - who lived in the valley of Mesopotamia. It seems that the first phase of the Mesopotamian religion was naturalistic -that is, the worship of the forces of life. Man translated these forces of life into the spirits of euphoria and fertility represented by a couple, just like people’s life. Man also created gods / spirits for all things necessary for people’s life, such as the spirits of grain, forest, vines, springs, etc. Their mortal gods died and were born again, just like the seasons whose productive power they represented. Mesopotamian religion does not have a single origin but responds to the very constitution of the country. The most ancient countries of Sumer (Shinar Valley), which had their autonomy at the time of their formation, annexed the neighboring states one after another, each of which had its local clergy, which had already formed a tradition. The priesthood of each city had established its own theory of the genealogy of its gods as well as a different patron god for protection from the other cities. As the states slowly became more and more integrated, the pantheon of the one came close to the pantheon of the other. The gods of Sumer then came in contact with the gods of the Semitic invasion -Akkades- and were mixed. So the list of gods doubled. There were double names and tangled generations that nevertheless represented the turmoil that existed in the lives of both peoples. As the years went by, discreet processes had to be made, but the great reform came in the years of the first dynasty of Babylon. The priesthood and the leadership decided to formally unite the two concepts by proposing Marduk (a trivial god until then) as the new official, great god of the state and Babylon. With great mastery, the clergy reduced neither the number nor the value of the earlier gods; simply picked one and raised him above the others without, however, abolishing the old ones. Then the poem of Creation was written which "explains" the predominance of Mardouk and generally proposes another genealogy and mythology, the new and common pretty much for all.”
Anu “In Sumerian mythology, and later in Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu or An was the god of the sky and the constellations, the king of the gods, the spirits and the demons. Anu was considered to have the power to judge those who had committed crimes. He was the father of the Anunnaki. In art, he is usually depicted as a jackal. The basic symbol of Anu is a crown with horns. Anu was the oldest god in the pantheon of the Sumerian mythology, and he was a Triad along with Enlil, god of the sky, and Enki, god of the waters. Anu is often associated with the city of Uruk, the corresponding biblical Erech, and therefore it is believed to have been his original worship center. The deity of Inanna-Ishtar, also worshiped in Uruk, was often considered to be his companion for this reason.”
Greek triadic deities Indicatively, we will mention the triple goddess Hecate mentioned in Greek mythology as the queen of the sky, earth and sea, protector of justice, army, hunters, fishermen, flocks with the synergy of her lover Hermes, and protector of newborn babies, hence the name kourotrofos (= child nurturer). In the ancient statues, she was depicted with three faces and in the pots holding two torches. In her honor, people celebrated Hecatea at three way crossroads outside their cities.
Other than the above perceptions were that the brother gods Jupiter or Zeus, Pluto and Poseidon had distributed the kingdoms; Jupiter was the god of the sky, Pluto was the god of the underworld, and Poseidon was the god of the waters. [Justin the Philosopher, Exhortation to the Greeks (730)]
From the above we can see that: · Polytheism arose from people’s need to interpret natural phenomena, love, wisdom, arts, beauty, etc., by inventing gods of various specialties and responsibilities, donors of good or evil things, supposedly protecting them, their cities, their families, their flocks, their boats, their army, their occupations, etc. (cf. today) · The clergies always exercised power over any authority, since the emperors supported their perpetuation through the blessings and the oracles of their false prophets. · The authorities without the support of the clergy could not be respected by the people. (cf. today) · The gods always complied with the modern needs and policies of the authorities. (cf. today) · The inventions of the triadic gods were purely arose from polytheism, implying co-governments hierarchically structured in three similar units (three gods), in the way people-kings ruled together. · Biblical cities such as Erech (Uruk), Nineveh, Babylon and others, were worship centers of triadic imaginary gods.
The sun’s disc and its phases
The natural sun and its three phases, sunrise, culmination and sunset, were the reason for the creation of triadic deities as the New International Encyclopedia informs us. “The triad became the world’s most widespread number of deity ... The worship of the sun is one of the oldest forms of religion, and the ancient man sometimes distinguished between the rising, the culminating and the setting sun. The Egyptians, for example, separated the solar god into three deities: Horus - the rising sun, Ra - the culminating sun, and Osiris - the setting sun.” (Egyptian deities) Therefore, the word of the Lord God to Israel through Moses “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord” was made to overturn this mindset of the polytheists; a mindset which the Israelites from Chaldea also had, who, even in the time of Ezekiel’s ministry, worshiped the sun. (Ez. 8:15) And Josiah the king of Juda “he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” (II Kings 23:11) Hear, Israelites, your own Lord God (unlike the others) is one Lord (not a dyad – dyadic or triad - triadic).
It is worthwhile to observe the prayer of king Jude Hezekiah when he prays to be freed from the Assyrians: “So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.” (You are not together with others – that is, you are not dyadic or triadic). (II Ki. 19:19)
Agreement with the New Testament Our Lord Jesus Christ answering a question from one of the secretaries confirms: “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” (not dyad - dyadic or triad – triadic). (Mark 12:29)
And the secretary responding also confirms: “And the scribe said to him, Well, Master, you have said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he.” (Mark 12:32)
And elsewhere he said: “And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Mat. 23:9)
And Paul said: “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:6)
And James also wrote: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.” (2:19)
So whoever believes that the Lord God is not dyadic or triadic but ONE is right; besides, the demons believe the same thing, and for that reason they are horrified (they shiver from fear). If, hypothetically, God was dyadic or triadic, then the demons would not be horrified. Therefore, the father of lies has every reason to deceive for centuries by distorting the truth that the Lord God is ONE (and not a triad - triadic or dyad - dyadic).
Concepts of God’s triadicity apart from the above
(a) Cabalistic thoughts
“The Truth is where Cabalists talk about the veils of the Absolute. The Truth was named in a number of ways: some named it God in general, others named it Father - God, Absolute, Unexpressed, Negative Existence, and some even more vaguely "superior power.” The variety of names and adjectives suggests that the totality of God remains incomprehensible to the human intellect. This knowledge - acceptance is ancient. The ancient peoples had realized that behind the one whom they called father - God there was "something" in which their central God remained accountable. Probably one more superior God, unintelligible even by their supreme God, let alone by themselves. That’s why they mention or hint at him but they do not deal with him, they do not try to interpret him because such an interpretation would be arbitrary. The Cabalistic approach does not escape this. It admits its ignorance and speaks of three veils that give a hint to God, but in essence, like all veils, they conceal him. These veils are Negativity, Unlimited, and Unlimited Light. These three symbolic veils do not stand out and are not distinct from each other. As a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He is a "consubstantial and inseparable Triad," others and even the highest insider of this solar system (and others greater than him) cannot enter into their secrets.”
(b) Hermes Trismegistus
“There is one deity in the world”
(c) Holy Trinity
“The Triadic God is described as a Triune Unit which is manifested by actions and works in creation and history. He has three faces, but these three faces are not three separate gods, otherwise Christianity would not be a monotheistic but a tritheistic religion. According to the doctrine, the reason that the triadic God is one, although with three hypostases, is the absence of space and time. Space and time differentiate human hypostases from each other so that different faces to be different people. But because space and time are created (God’s creations), God is not subject to them. So we have the mystery (incomprehensible to people) of the Triune Unit.”
It follows from the above that the acceptance of the Triadic Doctrine (Triune Unit) entails the acceptance of ignorance, the unintelligible, the incomprehensible, the mystery, and the introduction of new mathematical and grammatical rules. If someone has in mind or sees three veils, three angels, or three ships in a row, this doesn’t mean that God is a triad - triadic. Also, the justification that God is triadic, because he is not subject to space and time, leaves the possibility that he is also, tetradic, pentadic, hexadic, etc.
What is the chaff to the wheat? (Jer. 23:28)
The Holy Scripture is profitable for instruction “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.” (II Tim. 16-17)
The words of the Lord are simple, pure, and comprehensible; they illuminate and they are able to make the man wise, and they are inconsistent with these human triadic, polytheistic perceptions. (cf. Mat. 15:9)
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Mark. 12:29)
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” (Ps. 119:105)
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Ps. 19:7)
“Lead me in your truth, and teach me: for you are the God of my salvation; on you do I wait all the day.” (Ps. 25:5)
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (I John 5:20 Esv2011)
Note: The AKJV quotes by mistake “This is the true God.” (Grk txt: Ούτος = He)
The apostles preached neither a triadic god nor an earthly Jesus, but they preached through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life.
The prophecy of Isaiah for the Son
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
For unto us a child is born
The pronoun “us” is in the dative (giving) case of the person and indicates the person who benefits from something, the person for the sake of whom an action takes place. “Born” is the past participle of the verb “to bear,” which means that the child, Jesus, was not born by us, but by God who is Spirit, for us. Similarly the phrase “unto us a son is given.” The Savior was not born by an earthly man so that he can give him to save the world; God who is Spirit and everlasting did that. Otherwise, the Savior would be an earthly man, unable to save, and not the heavenly Lord Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 15:47)
"For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NET)
Only - begotten = born alone||without any others||without having any brothers or sisters. [Dictionaries: Scarlatos Vyzantios’ ancient Greek dictionary and Pantazidou Homeric dictionary]
The created and earthly Adam is also called son of God (Luk. 3:23/38). So if the born son of God Jesus had Adam’s earthly nature, he wouldn’t be the only-begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth. Besides:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (Gen. 1:27, Is. 1:2, John 1:14, 3:16)
“Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is (The Lord) from heaven.” (I Cor. 15:45-47 Esv2011)
The only-begotten son of God
An only-begotten son of God is defined as He who was born through the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, he was given birth by her “where is he that is born king of the Jews?” (Mat. 2:2), and was given the name Jesus by the Lord’s commandment through an angel. The only-begotten son of the Father that was sent to the world, Jesus, had no brothers or sisters born of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman, as he was, but:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood (Grk txt: Bloods) nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
“He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
James, Joseph, Simon, Judas and Jesus’ sisters had the same mother but a different father.
“Is not this the carpenter's son? “as was supposed,” is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? From where then has this man all these things? And they were offended in him.” (luk. 3:23, Mat. 13:55-57, 12:47-50)
The birth of Jesus
“And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary: for you
have found favor with God. And, behold,
you shall conceive in your womb, and
bring forth a son, and shall call
his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord
God shall give to him the throne of his father David: And he shall
reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no
end. Then said Mary to the angel, How shall
this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel
answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost
shall come on you, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born (
Note: In the verse of Luke 1:35, Grk txt omits (of you). Let’s read the same verse in different Bible Versions:
· “And the angel answering said to her, [The] Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of [the] Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God.” (Darby)
· “And the Angel aunswered, & saide vnto her: The holy ghost shall come vpon thee, & the power of the hyest shall ouershadowe thee. Therefore also that holy thyng whiche shalbe borne, shalbe called the sonne of God.” (Bishops)
· “And the angel responding said to her; The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore, indeed, that holy thing that is begotten shall be called the Son of God.” (Godbey)
· “The angel answered her, "the holy spirit shall descend upon thee, and the power of the most high shall over-shadow thee: wherefore thy holy offspring shall be called the son of God.” (Mace)
· “And the angel, answering, said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of [the] Most High will overshadow you; wherefore also the Holy Thing that is begotten shall be called [the] Son of God.” (Worrell)
The angel did not tell Mary that the holy one who would be born of her would be called the son of God, but he told her that the holy one who would be born in her would be called the son of God.
The same is confirmed to her husband, Joseph, by the angel of the Lord in a dream. In Matthew chapter one and verse twenty we read: · “And reflecting upon these things, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared to him saying, Joseph, thou son of David, thou shouldest not fear to take to thyself Mary thy wife: for that begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (SLT)
· “And he meditating on these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying; Joseph, son of David, do not fear to receive Mary thy wife; for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit;” (Godbey)
· “And he having pondered these [things], behold— [an] angel [of the] Lord appeared [to] him in [a] dream saying “Joseph, son [of] David, do not fear to take Mary [as] your wife, for the [child] having been fathered in her is by [the] Holy Spirit.” (DLNT)
· “But while he pondered on these things, behold, an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to [thee] Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of [the] Holy Spirit.” (Darby)
· “Το γαρ εν αυτή γεννηθέν εκ πνεύματος έστιν αγίου.” (Nestle-Aland Grk txt)
This was the reason he was called the only-begotten son of God, because the holy one born in the womb of Mary was from the Holy Spirit not of bloods nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will or power of man or woman.
Continuing, the angel said to Joseph: “And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Joseph believed the angel’s message. “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” (Mat. 1:21-24)
“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21)
The earthly Mary neither conceived through ordinary means “And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth, saying, For God has raised up to me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Gen. 4:25, LXXE), nor received a fertilized egg (embryo) in order to give birth to a demigod according to the customs of the Olympians in Greek mythology, nor impregnated by herself as Hera did with Hephaestus who was born through parthenogenesis and his father was the dispute and discord according to the ancient doctrines, nor gave birth to an earthly son, but she conceived miraculously and gave birth to the heavenly Jesus who was born by his Father the eternal Holy Spirit, within her; and everyone born has a beginning.
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Col. 1:18)
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things said the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (The new spiritual creation).” (Rev. 3:14)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Cor. 5:17)
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” (Gal. 6:15)
Emmanuel
The first-century church of God “which he obtained with his own blood” recognized Jesus as the only true God and called him “Emmanuel,” that is, “God is with us.” (Acts 20:28, Ι John 5:20, Isaiah 7:14, 8:8) This was the reason why the Jews wanted to kill him, because they thought of Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary and did not believe that he was the only-begotten of the Holy Spirit. “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)
“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:33)
The opposed Jews did not believe in the teaching of the apostles
The teaching
“For let this be in mind among you, which also in Christ Jesus; Who, being in the form (image) of God, thought not robbery to be equal to God. But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, born in the likeness of men: And found in fashion as man, he humbled himself, being obedient until death, and the death of the cross.” (Philip. 2:5-8 SLT)
Here, Paul is not talking about a pre-existing Son, but about the only-begotten of the Father (the Holy Spirit), the one who was born by Mary, who was given the name Jesus, the one who was already resurrected when Paul wrote the letters.
“For the impossibility of the law, in that it was weak by the flesh, God having sent his own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the justification of the law be filled up in us, not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:3-4)
Jesus was a Heavenly Man, from Heaven, “the image of the invisible God,” and not from the earth, not earthly. (Col. 1:15)
“Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (I Cor. 15:45)
What Jesus who was born by Mary testifies about himself
“Jesus said to them, If God were your father ye would have loved me, for I came forth from God and am come [from him] ; for neither am I come of myself, but he has sent me.” (John 8:42 Darby)
“No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)
For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (John 6:38)
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
“And Jesus said to them, You are from beneath (from earth); I am from above (from heaven): you are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23)
“The bread that I will give is my flesh (Grk: Sarx 4561).” The flesh / body of Jesus was from heaven (the manna in the wilderness was also from heaven), and when Paul, apostle of Jesus, wrote about the mystery of piety “God was manifested in the flesh” he did not disagree with Jesus neither he preached an earthly savior.
Paul wrote: “For the impossibility of the law, in that it was weak by the flesh, God having sent his own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom. 8:3)
An earthly man could never assert for himself similar testimonies.
Actions of Jesus that were impossible to be carried out by an earthly man
· “For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (Mat. 7:29)
· “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mat. 20:28)
· “For whoever will save his life shall lose it: but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luk. 9:24)
· “And when he saw their faith, he said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven you.” (Luk. 5:20)
· “Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17-18)
· Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (John 4:31-32)
· “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)
· “And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother, and brings them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” (Mat. 17:1-2)
· “And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark. 4:14)
Jesus was not an angel
“For to which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?” (Heb. 1:5)
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have.” (Luk. 24:39)
The body of Jesus, the only-begotten son of God, was special, separate, unique, it was made in the likeness of man
“But made himself of no reputation, (Grk: emptied himself) and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.” (Philip. 2:7-8)
The blood of Jesus
The bones of the heavenly man Jesus, produced a unique divine blood
“Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” (Rom. 3:25)
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” (Eph. 1:7)
“Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14)
What the apostles said and wrote
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” (Col. 2:9-10)
“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:19-20)
“For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.” (I Cor. 15:39-40)
“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being (soul) the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (I Cor. 15:44-45)
The apostles were sent neither to preach Homer or Middle Platonism, nor to preach a demigod (son of a god and a mortal woman). There were many such gods both in the Greek pantheon and in the pantheon of other tribes. But they preached Jesus Christ as the living God and true savior of the world. (I John 5:20, Rom. 9:5, Titus 2:13, Rev. 1:8)
More testimonies
(a) John the Baptist
John the Baptist said that Jesus was above all because He had come from heaven. “He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.” (John 3:30-33)
And Jesus said that among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.
“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Mat. 11:11)
If Jesus was a man according to the perception of the disagreeing Jews he wouldn't have said that John was the greatest among those born of women, but he would have said, “I am the greatest among those born of women.”
(b) The teaching of the Apostle Paul about resurrection
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul (natural body); the last Adam was made a quickening (live-giving) spirit (spiritual body). However, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (I Cor. 15:42-49)
The distinction between the earthly and the heavenly is evident, the earthly man is seeded with human sperm and is born as a psychic body "in wear, in unrighteousness, in sickness," and while living on earth, he is spiritually dead because of sin. But the first earthly Adam “was a type of the one who was to come,” that is, a pattern of the spiritual man Jesus. (Rom. 5:14)
The heavenly man Jesus Christ “became a Spirit that gives life” in order to rebirth, give life, resurrect, and let the spiritually dead man “have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) “But Jesus said to him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (Mat. 8:22)
“And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 4:1-2)
“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:5-6)
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” (Col. 2:11-13)
“For this my son was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found. And they began to make merry.” (Luk. 15:24, Darby)
“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (Rom. 6:13) This work of salvation -the remission of sins and the resurrection of the spiritually dead earthly man- would have been impossible if Jesus had a human, earthly, perishable nature.
Jesus Christ is the word of life that became flesh; he is the truth, and the life, and the imperishable seed that gives eternal life.
James informs the Jewish Christians: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” (James to Hebrews 1:18) (Beget = to create children, to give birth)
And Peter in his first letter to the Hebrews said: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and stays for ever.” (I Peter to the Hebrews 1:23)
The teaching of the first church about the Word of life
“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.” (Eph. 3:8 Esv2011)
“In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was
Note: Grk txt omits, with, instead is “προς τον” (Nestle-Aland). Προς with accusative (τον), to, toward, denoting direction toward a thing (Liddell Scott)
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning
the word of life the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim
to you the eternal life, which was
Compare: “And the Word became flesh,” “God was manifest in the flesh,” “life was made manifest.” (John 1:14, I Tim. 1:16, I John 1:2)
The Jewish writer did not write about a different pre-existing god-word, but, he wrote about the word that was the eternal life, the life of the eternal God / the Father, which was manifest.
Jesus addressing the Jews said to them: “For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself;” (John 5:26)
“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believe you this?” (John 11:25-26)
Nor did the Jewish writer abolish the scriptures that said:
“As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.” (I Cor. 8:4)
“For ever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven.” (Ps. 119:89)
“And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Ex. 3:14)
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” (Is. 42:8, 48:11)
“Thus said the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” (Is. 44:6)
“Thus said the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;” (Is. 44:24)
“You are my witnesses, said the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.” (Is. 43:10-11)
“Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.” (Is. 48:12)
The God-breathed scriptures and the philosophy of people
The apostles were not teachers of heresy “denying the only Master and Lord, Jesus Crist” and they knew the scriptures that said:
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” (I Cor. 3:19-20)
“For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (I Cor. 1:19-20)
“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (I Cor. 1:21)
The writers of the New Testament letters were not in agreement with the polytheistic gentiles, who, according to the Greek theological thinking, believed in a hierarchical union of member gods where the high god does not create but gives birth to God the Word who is the cause of creation. The apostles never wrote: Brothers, just like Zeus gave birth to his son Hermes and sent him to difficult and critical missions making him the intermediary between the gods and the people, so did ours, the one god. The pagans believed these fables.
“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.” (Acts 14:11-12)
Nor did they perform a philosophical analysis by accepting the sophistries about the "Word" of Middle Platonism in order to spread the latest Platonic trends mixed with the teaching of Jesus. This was achieved by the fanatical Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo who lived in Alexandria, Egypt -whose library attracted all the philosophical trends- and considered the “Word” to be the “idea of ideas,” “the firstborn son of the uncreated Father” and “second, inferior god.” He belonged to the so-called apologists, who adopted the Philonian Word of Middle Platonism, which, along with Plotinus, evolved into Neoplatonism, which post-evolved into “patristic theology”. The apologists compromised the comparative Greek theology with Christianity, teaching, like Justin, that:
“And the first power after God the Father and Lord of all is the Word, who is also the Son; and of Him we will, in what follows, relate how He took flesh and became man.” (Justin Philosopher A’ Apology chap. 32,10)
“What sober-minded man, then, will not acknowledge that we are not atheists, worshipping as we do the Maker of this universe, and declaring, as we have been taught .… Our teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born for this purpose, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judæa, in the times of Tiberius Cæsar; and that we reasonably worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove.” (Justin Philosopher A’ Apology chap. 13)
"I shall attempt to persuade you, since you have understood the Scriptures,[of the truth] of what I say, that there is, and that there is said to be, another God and Lord subject to the Maker of all things; who is also called an Angel, because He announces to men whatsoever the Maker of all things--above whom there is no other God--wishes to announce to them." (Justin Philosopher Dialogue with Tryfo chap. 56)
Eventually, this mixing of human earthly wisdom with the wisdom that is from above gave birth to theological battles and great heresies in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries. The formers of the new Byzantine-type Christianity were wounded by the Philonian love to Plato, damaging the basic idea of the bible that God is love, and that He is One, with the sad effect of the Hellenization of the monotheistic early Christianity, its nationalization and protection from the Roman empire, its armed enforcement, the discovery of the incomprehensible triune unit with the prevalence of the ontological equality between the Father and the Son, and the introduction of new theological terms, non-existent in the sacred biblical texts, such as: consubstantial – undivided – inseparable – two natures – first, second, third person – holy trinity, have mercy on us – blessed virgin – ever virgin – coeternal – co-everlasting – incarnation [incarnate = to give physical substance to someone// reincarnate// metempsychose (Stamatakos Grk dictionary)] etc.
The Word became flesh
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Note: It doesn't say "the Word took flesh," as the apologists and philosophers were saying, but it says: "the Word became flesh."
Grammar says that the predicate (flesh) through the middle voice linking verb (became) attributes a property to the subject (the word).
That is, the flesh / man Jesus became a property (an attribute) of the word of life “I am the resurrection and the life.” Mary’s biological participation is absent, otherwise it would say [the word was made flesh by Mary].
The body of Jesus was the temple of God. When the Jews asked for a sign and Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days," the Jews thought that he was telling them about the temple of Solomon. “But he spoke of the temple of his body.” (John 2:19-21)
The heavenly body of Christ is the true tent
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with hands, that is, not of this creation).” (Heb. 9:11)
In the Old Testament, God filled with his presence the inside of the tent of the tabernacle, and from there, between the two cherubs on the mercy seat, he spoke to Moses within the people’s earshot. (Ex. 25:22)
In the New Testament, the temple of the body of the Son of God is the true tent “not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,” where the whole fullness of deity dwells, and through this body, the one God the Father speaks and acts. (cf. Rev. 21:22)
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19-22) In this passage we see the prominent spiritual function of the heavenly flesh of Jesus, which allows us to enter in Holy Spirit into the true holies in heaven.
And we beheld His glory
“And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Is. 40:5)
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked on, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us;” (I John 1:1-2)
“God was manifest in the flesh.” (I Tim. 3:16)
Was manifest = he made himself visible. In the flesh = dative. Here we have the dative of the instrument or means (manner), through which, with what, e.g. He tells us in what way he was manifest. “The word was made flesh.” So God manifested himself in the flesh - (heavenly) body. (John 6: 51)
Glory as the only-begotten from the father
The only-begotten son is: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature …” (Heb. 1:3)
So, the only-begotten son was the radiance of the glory of the Father and the imprint of his hypostasis (one hypostasis), he was the living image (portrayal - imprint) of the invisible Father, the self of God who is Spirit, the one the Father commanded us to call Jesus (Savior). “For him hath God the Father sealed.” (John 6:27)
Whoever saw the body of Jesus, saw the Father
“Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.” (John 14:8-10)
“And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.” (John 8:23-24)
“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be to you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;” (Rev. 1:4)
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8)
The fullness of Jesus
The fullness of the son was his heavenly Father. “For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col. 2:9)
“And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16)
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (II Cor. 5:19)
Remission of sins, salvation, cure, consolation, liberation from passions, grace, mercy, love, faith, Holy Spirit, everything was and is given by the one God, the Father, the fullness of Jesus, who was and is his body. (cf. Col. 1:19-22)
That is what the apostles were taught by the Lord “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (II Cor. 3:17)
Testimonies of Jesus and the apostles
“Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
“And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)
“But Jesus answered them, My Father works till now, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:17-18)
“Then answered Jesus and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things soever he does, these also does the Son likewise.” (John (5:19)
“For as the Father raises up the dead, and vivifies them; even so the Son vivifies whom he will. For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son, That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent him.” (John 5:21-23)
“For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself;” (John 5:26)
“For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33)
“Then said they to him, Where is your Father? Jesus answered, You neither know me, nor my Father: if you had known me, you should have known my Father also.” (John 8:19)
“All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” (Luke 10:22)
“And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23)
“Then said they to him, Who are you? And Jesus said to them, Even the same that I said to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spoke to them of the Father.” (John 8:25-27)
The Jews could not accept what Jesus said to them, they were resting in their religion, their biological origins, their customs and practices, their feasts, their temple, and their worship according to their traditions, and “They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.”
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
The true servants of Christ and housekeepers of the mysteries of God wrote to those who “received” him, saying: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (II Cor. 4:6)
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (I John 5:20)
Amen
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The Kingdom of Heavens
The Kingdom of Heavens Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (04/07/16) Biblical references from: ESV2011, AKJV and LXXE
John the Baptist
When the land of Israel and its people were under the occupation of the Roman Empire, which was the fourth beast of Daniel's vision (7:2-3), and while Jesus was living in Nazareth, a city of Galilee, John the Baptist came by saying that the time of the kingdom of heavens had arrived.
“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” (Mat. 3:1-3)
So did the twelve apostles in the cities of Israel, according to the commandment of the Lord Jesus.
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mat. 10:5-7)
The fullness of time of the arrival of the kingdom of heavens
‘But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” (Gal. 4:4)
God, through his prophets, had given the people of Israel signs of when the kingdom of heavens would come.
One sign was the time when Daniel's vision would be fulfilled
“Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove on the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” (Dan. 7:2-3)
“These four beasts are four kingdoms [that] shall rise up on the earth (of Israel) which shall be taken away; and the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever.” (Dan. 7:17-18 LXXE)
Note: The KJV translation for Daniel 7:17 “shall arise out of the earth” is not correct
The four great beasts were four kingdoms, the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman, which dominated the land of the promise and the house of Jacob. At the time of Jesus' action, the reigning kingdom was the Roman one.
Time of rise of the kingdom of heavens
In explaining to Daniel the vision he had seen, the angel of God said to him:
“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and his kingdom shall not be left to another people, [but] it shall beat to pieces and grind to powder all [other] kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Dan. 2:14)
Another sign was the coming of Elijah the prophet
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land (of Israel) with a decree of utter destruction.” (Mal. 4:5-6)
“And the disciples asked him,: Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? He answered: Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” (Mat. 17:10-13)
“For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mat. 11:13-15)
Jesus' testimony for the fullness of time of the arrival of the kingdom of heavens
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus casts out devils, they said:
“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come to you.” (Mat. 12:24-28)
The heads of the secular kingdoms were the world rulers of the darkness who, as well as all other powers, were subjugated to Jesus Christ and his genuine church.
“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, All this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered to me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If you therefore will worship me, all shall be yours.” (Luk. 4:5-7)
“Then Jesus said to the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be you come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” (Luk. 22:52-53)
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.” (John 12:31-32)
Heavenly conflicts
The angel who visited the Jewish Daniel was fighting the enemy spiritual forces that were the heads of the secular kingdoms.
“Then said he, Know you why I come to you? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, see, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show you that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holds with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” (Dan. 10:20-21)
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you.” (Juda 1:9)
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9)
“And the beast (Roman empire) that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon (he who was cast out into the earth) gave his power and his throne and great authority.” (Rev. 13:2)
Jesus Christ, the true and faithful martyr, fulfilled what God had promised through his prophets about the kingdom of heavens
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Mat. 28:16-18)
“Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” (I Pet. 3:22)
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:18-23)
“And you are complete in him (in Christ), which is the head of all principality and power.” (Col. 2:10)
The power that Jesus gave to his disciples
“And when he had called to him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” (Mat. 10:1)
“Behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luk. 10:19-20)
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
The teaching of the apostles in the primal church
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:11-12)
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Rom. 16:20)
Jesus is the promised king of “God's Israel” and of the nations
The angel said to Mary: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luk. 1:31-33)
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.” (Rev. 11:15-17)
“And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!” (Rev. 15:3)
Co-kings in the kingdom of heavens are those who have been bought with the blood of the lamb
“But rather seek you the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added to you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luk. 12:31-32)
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (II Tim. 2:12)
“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:4-6)
“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:8-10)
Amen
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The birth of the state religion of the Ecumenical Councils
The birth of the state religion of the Ecumenical Councils
Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (01/24/2018) Biblical references from: ESV2011, AKJV and LXXE
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John, 8:31-32)
The formed byzantine “patristic” Christianity differs in its structure from the early Christianity which was established by Jesus and the apostles, and which is the completion of Biblical Judaism. Hellenized christianity and christianized hellenism were attained by the involvement of Plato's thinking fundamentally and the monotheistic Jewish christianity, with the hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo as a pioneer, and later with the philosophical apologists. Gradually, this blending formed a new philosophical current, which was a meta-evolution of Plotinus Neo-Platonism, which is characterized as a patristic philosophy, the Byzantine thinking. According to this new “patristic” philosophy, the heavenly man, Jesus Christ, has two natures, he is a perfect man and a perfect god, and so the Jewish deniers who led Jesus to the cross with deceit were half-justified.
“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:33)
The “fathers” of the new religion, who were also excited by Philo's love for the contradictory Greek philosophy, forgot the Scriptures, which say that:
“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (I Cor. 1:21)
“However, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nothing: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (I Cor. 2:6-8)
Early Christianity is the manifestation of God's love and “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” and is in contradistinction to human philosophy. (II Cor. 4:6)
“And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.” (I Cor. 2:13)
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but to us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ” (I Cor. 1:18-20)
The apologetic philosophers equated this contradistinction by, on the one hand, downgrading the “gospel of God” to the level of human philosophy and, on the other hand, by upgrading the human contradictory philosophy to a divine level. (Rom. 15:16)
“For Plato, with the air of one that has descended from above, and has accurately ascertained and seen all that is in heaven, says that the most high God exists in a fiery substance. But Aristotle, in a book addressed to Alexander of Macedon, giving a compendious explanation of his own philosophy, clearly and manifestly overthrows the opinion of Plato, saying that God does not exist in a fiery substance: but inventing, as a fifth substance, some kind of aetherial and unchangeable body, says that God exists in it.” (Justin’s hortatory address to the Greeks, chap. 5)
With this contradictory philosophy, a large portion of “Christians” walked from the 2nd century AD onwards, enticed by the apologists, who mistakenly taught that philosophy is a tutor that brings people to Christianity and a fellow-helper in the understanding of truth.
This teaching was in stark contrast to the teaching of the apostles who said:
“But, before the faith came, we were kept guarded under law, being shut up to the faith about to be revealed. So that the law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But the faith having come, we are no longer under a tutor;” (Gal. 3:23-25, Worrell)
The very few references to Greek literature in the New Testament have simple human meaning and do not prove the parallel dissemination of philosophical currents by the apostles. This is mistakenly claimed by the adherents of the meta-evolved and processed “patristic” Christianity, which, as it was mentioned above, is the result of a multi-year process of mixing philosophy with the revelation of the truth by the Holy Spirit, which was sent from heaven. (I Peter to Hebrews, 1:2)
Biblical testimony
“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (I Cor. 2:4-5)
By accepting this proper strategy of the apostle Paul, the Jews of Veria were “nobler” than the Jews of Thessaloniki, and when Paul visited them at their synagogue, they accepted the word with all willingness. In order to ascertain the truth of Jesus, they “examined the Scriptures every day” without consulting the Greek philosophy, which grabbed Christ as a loot from the believers.
“Beware that no one rob you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col. 2:8, VW)
The new religion
The new, Platonized, “patristic” thinking, covered behind the Hebrew Bible and the personality of Jesus Christ and having hellenism as a background, eventually formed a new polytheistic religion supported by the Roman politics of the New Rome. Dressed in the cremated forms of Judaism “and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (II Pet. 3:10),” such as earthly temples with symbolic arrangement and operation which intensely reminds of the burnt temple of the Jews, upgraded the “other god word” of Philo and the apologist Justin and other philosophers, from “second” and “inferior” god to “co-eternal” and “co-equal” to the Father, making an ontological equation of God the Father and God the Son.
The misguided effort of the apologists to mix Greek thinking, which believed in complex deities with a hierarchical union of member gods, (henotheism), with biblical monotheism, gave birth to long theological philosophical battles. Finally, with the help of the philosophers, “fathers of the church” and the holding of many councils which in practice fueled new controversies and consecutive depositions and exiles of bishops of all individual factions, a god of three hypostases was created, a three-sunned godhead, thus justifying both the human philosophy and the ever-existing national polytheism. The “Triune unit” which was incomprehensible to people became fully comprehensible at the end of the 4th century AD only by the philosophers, “fathers of the church” who finalized the triadic doctrine, which was proclaimed correct by an imperial order, replacing “Christ’s” teaching. (Colossians, 2:8)
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Excerpt from an edict in the Byzantine-Roman Law
On the orthodox faith of Christians and that no one should dare to dispute about it publicly.
1) Read βι. α’ τι α chap. α και δ, which say that a Christian is someone who believes that
there is one deity of the Father, and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, with equal power. Anyone who believes the
opposite of what has been said is a heretic. 2) No clergyman or monk or soldier or anyone else by gathering a crowd in public should talk about faith, because it will be seen as an insult to the Council of Chalcedon which adequately defined everything, which also allows all heretics to know our point of view. Therefore, if a clergyman does so, he will be expelled from the clergy association. If someone is a soldier, he will be expelled from the army. Let the rest be punished according to their social class.
The Roman emperors Constantine and Theodosius
The sun-worshiper, polytheist, mithraist, bloody emperor of the Romans, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, for political reasons, sought the religious assimilation of his ethnicities, believing that he would also secure the favor of the God of “Christians” in his martial affairs, but also the willingness of themselves to pour their blood for the empire. Being an idolater, whatever knowledge he had about the Son of God was obtained from controversial prophecies by a Sibyl (= oracle, priestess of the god Apollo) whom he extolled as blessed. “It is evident that the virgin uttered these verses under the influence of Divine inspiration. And I cannot but esteem her blessed, whom the Saviour (sobriquet of god Apollo) thus selected to unfold his gracious purpose towards us.” (The oration of the emperor Constantine, which he addressed “to the assembly of the saints” chap. 18) Most of Eusebius' contemporaries believed that the sibylline oracles about Jesus were forgeries as Eusebius himself testifies: “Many, however, who admit that the Erythræan Sibyl was really a prophetess, yet refuse to credit this prediction, and imagine that some one professing our faith, and not unacquainted with the poetic art, was the composer of these verses. They hold, in short, that they are a forgery, and alleged to be the prophecies of the Sibyl on the ground of their containing useful moral sentiments, tending to restrain licentiousness, and to lead man to a life of sobriety and decorum.” (The oration of the emperor Constantine, which he addressed “to the assembly of the saints” chap. 19)
The emperor Constantine came from the army's ranks and had received his rank for wartime gallantry. His main concern was the proper administration, the increase and the preservation of his territorial sovereignty. Without having any knowledge of the Greek and Jewish literature and being unqualified for Judeo-Christian biblical issues, he summoned the First Ecumenical Council, which is characterized as a political act, aiming at the cohesion of the Roman state through common faith. By signing the decisions of the Council into state law with the death penalty for doubters, he set himself as the protector of the already Hellenized and schismatic Christianity, granting special privileges to the clergy as well. Influenced by his Arian bishops friends and his sister, Constantia, he leaned to Arianism. A few years later, following the condemnation by the Council of Arianism and the exile of Arius, he recalls the latter from exile and punishes in the same way the great adversary of Arius at the Council, the “father” Athanasius of Alexandria. However, the greatest distortion of the promises of God and the teaching of the genuine Christianity, which has no flag or color, was achieved by the emperor Theodosius, who, in 380 AD, made the processed Christianity the official religion of his empire, thus attributing an ethno-religious identity to his earthly citizens as opposed to the spiritual and not-of-this-world identity recognized by the one God on the “partakers of the heavenly calling.” (Hebrews, 3:1)
“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:26:29)
The new state religion of the philosophers, “fathers of the church,” supported by the anti- pagan legislation of its sole dominant protectors who outlawed all the ancient religions by imposing the punishment of beheading and other means of punishment on the dissidents, achieved its violent dominance, yielding continuous spiritual darkness in the East and the West. The excerpt from the Acts of the Apostles that is quoted depicts the complete contrast between God's good intentions towards man and the purposes and the state-served interests of the new religion, the ally of the Byzantium, and the policy of violent cleansing of those of a different faith.
“
The side effects of the nationalization of the new religion
The anti-Christian impacts of Theodosius' decision to nationalize God's work for the salvation of people are perpetuated and imprinted primarily by the results of the anti-pagan policy followed by him and other Roman emperors, which resembles that of the Persian king Artaxerxes.
“And whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.” (Ez. 7:26)
And secondly, they are perpetuated and imprinted by the distinct Christian perception acquired by the Byzantine “Christian” citizens, as it appears in the following excerpt from an article by theologian Manolis Tzirakis: “However, besides the emperor, the citizen of the Byzantine state is also a genuine and faithful Christian. He believes that the state he belongs to is protected by God and enjoys His favor. This belief is expressed by Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 6th century when he states that: "The State of Romans will not be torn down; it will remain unharmed forever, being the first to believe in the Lord Christ." (att. Ahrweiler, 2009). The members of Byzantine society are law-abiding citizens of the emperor and Christians committed to their faith, they are guided by monks and clergymen, they indiscriminately go by the name of Roman or Christian (identical terms in Byzantium), whom its emperor Leo VI characteristically calls the Nation of Christians, while the Byzantine people was named the Chosen People or New Israel (Ahrweiler, 2009).”
Epilogue
The formed religious and subsequent political dominance of the new secular Byzantine religion points to the military, imperialistic triumphs of Rome rather than to the pure, through the Holy Spirit, heavenly destination, which was carved by the early Christianity with the persuasion of the god-inspired written word and not with the persuasion of the contradictory evolved patristic philosophy and the armed coercion that harmed and adulterated the basic truths that God is love and is One. “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.” (Acts, 28:23)
“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in your sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” (Mat. 11:25-27)
Amen
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