Solution to every problem
August 27, 2007 on 10:02 am | In God, Metaphysics | No CommentsThe Holy Spirit offers you release from EVERY problem that you think you have.
They are the SAME to Him, because each one, regardless of the form it seems to take, is
a demand that someone suffer loss, and make a sacrifice that you might gain. And, when
the situation is worked out so NO-ONE loses, is the problem gone, because it was an
error in perception, which now has been corrected. One mistake is NOT more difficult
for Him to bring to truth than is another. For there IS but one mistake; the whole idea that
loss is possible, and COULD result in gain for anyone. If THIS were true, then God
WOULD be unfair; sin WOULD be possible, attack be justified, and vengeance fair. This
ONE mistake, in ANY form, has ONE correction. There IS no loss; to think there IS, is a
mistake.
You HAVE no problems, though you THINK you have. And yet you COULD not
think so, if you saw them vanish one by one, WITHOUT regard to size, complexity, or
place and time, or ANY attribute which you perceive that makes each one seem different
from the rest. Think not the limits YOU impose on what you see can limit God in ANY
way. The miracle of justice can correct ALL errors. Every problem IS an error. It does
injustice to the Son of God, and therefore is not true. The Holy Spirit does not evaluate
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injustices as great or small, or more or less. They have NO properties to Him. They are
mistakes from which the Son of God IS suffering, but needlessly. And so He takes the
thorns and nails away. He does not pause to judge whether the hurt be large or little. He
makes but one judgment; that to hurt God’s Son MUST be unfair, and therefore is not so.
Rule by the Laws of chaos
August 22, 2007 on 10:36 am | In God, Christianity, Metaphysics | No CommentsThe first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone.
The second law of chaos,is that each one
MUST sin, and therefore DESERVES attack and death.
The third law of chaos is that For if God cannot BE mistaken, then He must accept His Son’s belief in what he is, and
HATE him for it.
the Fouth law of chaos is that you HAVE what
you have taken
The Final law of Chaos is that there is a substitution for love
The “laws of chaos” CAN be brought to light, though NEVER understood. Chaotic
laws are hardly meaningful, and therefore out of reason’s sphere. Yet they APPEAR to
constitute an obstacle to reason and to truth. Let us, then, look upon them calmly, that
we may look BEYOND them, understanding what they ARE, NOT what they would
maintain. It IS essential it be understood what they are FOR, because it is their PURPOSE
to make meaningless, and to ATTACK the truth. Here are the laws that rule the world you
made. And yet they govern nothing, and need NOT be broken; merely looked upon and
gone beyond.
The first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone. Like all these principles,
this one maintains that each is separate, and has a different set of thoughts which SETS
HIM OFF from others. This principle evolves from the belief there is a hierarchy of illusions;
some are MORE valuable, and THEREFORE true. And each establishes this FOR HIMSELF,
and MAKES it true by his attack on what another values. This is justified BECAUSE the
values differ, and those who hold them SEEM to be unlike, and THEREFORE enemies.
Think how this SEEMS to interfere with the first principle of miracles. For this
establishes degrees of TRUTH among illusions, making it appear that some of them are
HARDER to overcome than others. If it were realized that they are all the same and
EQUALLY untrue, it would be easy, then, to understand that miracles apply to ALL of
them. Errors of ANY kind can be corrected, BECAUSE they are untrue. When brought to
truth, instead of TO EACH OTHER, they merely disappear. No PART of nothing CAN be
more resistant to the truth than can another.
The second law of chaos, dear indeed to every worshipper of sin, is that each one
MUST sin, and therefore DESERVES attack and death. This principle, closely related to
the first, is the demand that errors call for punishment, and NOT correction. For the
DESTRUCTION of the one who makes the error places him BEYOND correction, and
beyond forgiveness. What he has done is thus interpreted as an irrevocable sentence on
himself, which God Himself is powerless to overlook. Sin cannot BE remitted, being the
belief the Son of God can make mistakes for which his own destruction becomes inevitable.
Think what this SEEMS to do to the relationship between the Father and the Son.
Now it appears that they can NEVER be One again. For One must ALWAYS be condemned,
AND BY THE OTHER. Now are they different, and ENEMIES. And THEIR relationship is
one of opposition, just as the separate aspects of the Son meet ONLY to conflict, but NOT
to join. One becomes weak, the other strong BY HIS DEFEAT. And fear of God, and of
each, other now appears as sensible, made real by what the Son of God has done, both
to himself AND his Creator.
The arrogance on which the laws of chaos stand could not be more apparent than
emerges here.Here is a principle which would define what the CREATOR of reality must
be; what He MUST think, and what He must believe; and how He must RESPOND, believing
it. It is not seen as even necessary that He be asked about the truth of what has been
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established for His belief. His Son can TELL Him this, and He has but the choice whether
to take his word for it, or be mistaken.
This leads directly to the third preposterous belief that seems to make chaos eternal.
For if God cannot BE mistaken, then He must accept His Son’s belief in what he is, and
HATE him for it.See how the fear of God is REINFORCED by this third principle. Now it
becomes IMPOSSIBLE to turn to Him for help in misery. For now He has become the
“enemy” Who “caused” it, and to Whom appeal is useless. Nor can salvation lie within
the Son, whose every aspect seems to be at war with Him, and JUSTIFIED in its attack.
And now is conflict made inevitable, and beyond the help of God. And now salvation
MUST remain impossible, because the Saviour HAS become the enemy.There can be NO
release and NO escape. Atonement thus becomes a myth, and vengeance, NOT
forgiveness, is the Will of God. From where all this begins, there IS no sight of help that
can succeed. ONLY destruction can BE the outcome. And God Himself SEEMS to be
siding with it, to overcome His Son. Think not the ego will enable you to find escape
from what it wants. THAT is the function of this course, which does NOT value what the
ego cherishes.
The ego values only what it TAKES. This leads to the fourth law of chaos which, if
the others are accepted, MUST be true. This seeming law is the belief you HAVE what
you have taken. By this, another’s loss becomes your gain, and thus it fails to recognize
that you can never “ take away” save from YOURSELF. Yet all the other laws must lead to
this. For enemies do NOT give willingly to one another, nor would they seek to SHARE
the things they value. And what your ENEMIES would keep from you must BE worth
having, just BECAUSE they keep it hidden from your sight.
All of the mechanisms of madness are seen emerging here. The “enemy,” made
strong by keeping hidden the valuable inheritance which should be yours; your JUSTIFIED
possession, and attack for what has been withheld; and the inevitable loss the enemy
MUST suffer, to save YOURSELF. Thus do the guilty ones protest their innocence. Were
they not forced into this foul attack by the unscrupulous behavior of the enemy, they
would respond with only kindness. But, in a savage world, the kind cannot survive. So
they MUST take, or else be taken FROM.
And now there is a vague, unanswered question, not yet “explained.” What IS this
precious thing, this priceless pearl, this hidden secret treasure, to be wrested in righteous
wrath from this most treacherous and cunning enemy? It must be what you want, and
never found. And now you “understand” the reason WHY you found it not. For it was
TAKEN from you by the enemy, and hidden where you would not think to look. He hid
it in his BODY, making it the cover for his guilt; the hiding place for what belongs to
YOU.
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Now must his body be destroyed and sacrificed, that you may have that which
BELONGS to you. His treachery DEMANDS his death, that YOU may live. And you attack
only in self-defense.But what is it you want, that NEEDS his death? Can you be sure your
murderous attack IS justified, unless you know what it is FOR? And here a final principle
of chaos comes to the “rescue.” It holds there is a SUBSTITUTE for love. This is the
“magic” that will cure all of your pain; the missing factor in your madness THAT MAKES
IT “SANE.” THIS is the reason why you must attack. HERE is what makes your vengeance
justified.
Behold, unveiled, the ego’s secret gift, torn from your brother’s body, hidden there
in malice and in hatred for the one to whom the gift belongs. HE would deprive you of
the secret ingredient which would give meaning to your life. The substitute for love,
born of your enmity to one another, MUST be salvation. IT has no substitute, and there IS
only one. And ALL relationships have but the purpose of seizing it, and making it your
own. Never is your possession made complete. And never will your brother cease his
own attack on YOU, for what you stole. Nor will God end His vengeance upon both, for,
in His madness, He must have this substitute for love, and kill you both.
You who believe you walk in sanity, with feet on solid ground, and through a
world where meaning CAN be found, consider this: These ARE the laws on which your
“sanity” appears to rest. These ARE the principles which makes the ground beneath your
feet seem solid. And it IS here you look for meaning. These are the laws YOU made for
your salvation. They hold in place the substitute for Heaven that you prefer. This is their
PURPOSE; they were MADE for this. There is no point in asking what they mean. This is
apparent. The MEANS of madness MUST be insane. Are you as certain that you realize
the GOAL is madness?
NO-ONE WANTS madness, nor does anyone cling to his madness if he sees that this
is what it IS. What PROTECTS madness is the belief THAT IT IS TRUE. It is the FUNCTION
of insanity to TAKE THE PLACE of truth. It must be seen AS truth, to be believed. And if
it IS the truth, then must its opposite, which was the truth before, be madness now. Such
a reversal, COMPLETELY turned around, with madness sanity, illusions true, attack a
kindness, hatred love, and murder benediction, IS the goal the laws of chaos serve.
These are the means by which the laws of God APPEAR to be reversed. Here do the laws
of sin APPEAR to hold love captive, and let sin go free.
These do not SEEM to be the goals of chaos. For, by the great reversal, they appear
to be the laws of ORDER. How could it NOT be so? Chaos is lawlessness, and HAS no
laws. To be believed, its SEEMING laws must be perceived as REAL. Their goal of madness
MUST be seen as sanity. And fear, with ashen lips and sightless eyes, blinded and terrible
to look upon, is lifted to the throne of love, its dying conqueror, its substitute, the saviour
from salvation. How lovely do the laws of fear make death appear! Give thanks unto the
hero on love’s throne, who saved the Son of God for fear and death!
And yet, how can it be that laws like these can BE believed? There is a strange device
that makes this possible. Nor is it unfamiliar; we have seen how it APPEARS to function
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many times before. In truth, it does NOT function, yet in dreams, where ONLY shadows
play the major roles, it seems most powerful. No law of chaos COULD compel belief, but
for the emphasis on form and DISREGARD OF CONTENT. No-one who thinks that one
of them is true SEES WHAT IT SAYS. Some FORMS it takes seem to have meaning, and
that is all.
How can some FORMS of murder NOT mean death? Can an attack in ANY form be
love? What FORM of condemnation is a blessing? Who makes his Saviour powerless, and
FINDS salvation? Let not the FORM of the attack on him deceive you. You CANNOT seek
to harm him, and be saved. Who can find SAFETY from attack by turning on himself?
How can it matter what the FORM this madness takes? It is a judgment that defeats
ITSELF, condemning what it says it wants to save. Be not deceived when madness takes
a form you think is lovely. What is intent on your destruction, is NOT your friend.
You would maintain, and think it true, that you do NOT believe such senseless laws,
nor act upon them. And, when you look at what they SAY, they CANNOT be believed.
Brothers, you DO believe them. For how else could you PERCEIVE the form they take,
with content such as this? Can ANY form of this be tenable? Yet you believe them FOR
the forms they take, and DO NOT RECOGNIZE the content. IT never changes. Can you
paint rosy lips upon a skeleton, dress it in loveliness, pet it and pamper it, AND MAKE IT
LIVE? And can you be content with an illusion that YOU are living?
There IS no life outside of Heaven. Where God created life, there life must be. In
ANY state apart from Heaven, life is illusion. At best, it SEEMS like life; at worst, like
death. Yet both are judgments on what is NOT life, equal in their inaccuracy and lack of
meaning. Life not in Heaven is impossible, and what is NOT in Heaven is not ANYWHERE.
Outside of Heaven, only the conflict of illusions stands; senseless, impossible and beyond
ALL reason, and yet perceived as an eternal BARRIER to Heaven. Illusions ARE but forms.
Their content is NEVER true.
The laws of chaos govern ALL illusions. Their forms conflict, making it SEEM quite
possible to value some above the others. Yet each one rests as surely on the belief the
laws of chaos ARE the laws of order, as do the others. Each one upholds these laws
completely, offering a certain witness that these laws are true. The seeming gentler FORM
of the attack is no less certain in its witnessing, OR ITS RESULTS. Certain it is illusions will
bring fear, because of the beliefs that they imply, NOT for their form. And lack of faith in
love, in ANY form, attests to chaos AS REALITY.
From the belief in sin, the faith in chaos MUST follow. It is BECAUSE it follows that
it seems to be a logical conclusion; a valid step in ordered thought. The steps to chaos
DO follow neatly from their starting-point. Each is a different form in the progression of
truth’s reversal, leading still deeper into terror, and AWAY from truth. Think not one step
is smaller than another, nor that return from one is easier. The whole descent from
Heaven lies in each one. And where your thinking starts, there must it end.
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Brothers, take not one step in the descent to hell. For HAVING taken one, you will
NOT RECOGNIZE the rest for what they are. And they WILL follow. Attack in ANY form
has placed your foot upon the twisted stairway that leads FROM Heaven. Yet, any instant,
it is possible to have all this undone. How can you know whether you chose the stairs to
Heaven or the way to hell? Quite easily. What do you feel? Is peace in your awareness?
Are you CERTAIN which way you go? And are you sure the goal of Heaven CAN be
reached? If not, you walk alone. Ask, then, your Friend to JOIN with you, and GIVE you
certainty of where you go.
Names of God
June 26, 2007 on 12:49 pm | In God | No CommentsThe noun God is the proper English name used for the deity of monotheistic faiths. Various English third-person pronouns are used for God, and the correctness of each is disputed. (See God and gender.)
Different names for God exist within different religious traditions:
El, and the plural form Elohim, is used frequently in Hebrew texts. El was originally a Canaanite god whose name, meaning powerful one, became generic for all god(s) and mighty men in Hebrew. It also is used in reference to deities of other religions, to angels, and to human judges.
Allah is the Arabic name for God,[6] which is used by Muslims and also by most non-Muslim Arabs. It is derived from the word ilah, a cognate of the northwest Semitic El (Hebrew “El”, dual form “Eloah”, Aramaic “Eloi”), which, like el, eloah and eloi, is the generic word for a god (any deity). As Allah contains the Arabic definite article “Al”, “Allah” means the God. When speaking in English, Muslims often translate “Allah” as “God”. One Islamic tradition states that Allah has 99 names, or attributes, while others say that all good names belong to Allah. Similarly, in the Aramaic of Jesus, the word Alaha is used for the name of God.[citation needed] Arab Christians also refer to God as “Allah”.
YHVH (Hebrew: Yodh-He-Waw-He, יהוה ), often transliterated as Yahweh, is the name most often used for God in untranslated Hebrew scriptures, appearing more than 6700 times and usually translated as the LORD (cf. Adonai) in most English Bibles. In some cases, it is transliterated to function as a name as in Jehovah as found in the American Standard Version, the Darby Bible and the New World Translation or Yahweh as found the Jerusalem Bible.
YHWH, the name of God or Tetragrammaton, in Phoenician (1100 BC to AD 300), Aramaic (10th Century BC to 1st century AD) and modern Hebrew scripts.The Holy Trinity (one God in three Persons, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit) is a term used to denote God in almost all Christianity.
Abba, Aramaic for “father”, is a word occasionally used in Christianity to refer to God. It is also used as a title of honor for bishops and patriarchs in some Christian churches of Egypt, Syria, and Ethiopia.[7] According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus referred to God using that word.[8]
Deus, cognate of the Greek ζευς (Zeus) is the Latin word for God, and is used in Latin portions of Roman Catholic masses.[9]
Igzi’abihier (lit. “Lord of the Universe”) or Amlak (lit. the plural of mlk, “king” or “lord”)[citation needed] in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Jah is the name of God in the Rastafari movement, referring specifically to Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
Ngai, is the Maasai name for “God” (also spelled:’Ngai, En-kai, Enkai, Engai, Eng-ai) which occurs in the volcano name Ol Doinyo Lengai (”the mountain of God”).[citation needed]
Niskam is The Mi’kmaq name for “God”.
“the One” used along side “God” is being used by some churches (United Church of Canada, Religious Science) as a more gender-neutral way of referring to God (See also Oneness).
“Baquan” is a phonetical pronunciation for God in several Pacific Islander religions.[citation needed]
Bhagavan - “The Opulent One”, Brahman -”The Great”, Paramatma - “The Supersoul” and Ishvara- “The Controller”, are the terms used for God in the Vedas. A number of Hindu traditions worship a personal form of God or Ishvara, such as Vishnu or Shiva, whereas others worship a non-personal Supreme Cosmic Spirit, known as Brahman. The Vaishnava schools consider Vishnu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and within this tradition is the Vishnu sahasranama, which is a hymn describing the one thousand names of God (Vishnu). Shaivites consider Shiva as the Supreme God in similar way to the followers of Vaishnavism. The Supreme Ishvara of Hinduism must not be confused with the numerous deities or demigods who are collectively known as devas.
Waheguru Wondrous God, is the Sikhs way of worshipping God with these common names Satnaam (True is Your Name), Akal (the Eternal) or Onkar (some similarity to the Hindu Aum). They believe that when reciting these names, devotion, dedication and a genuine appreciation and acceptance of the Almighty and the blessings thereof (as opposed to mechanical recitation) is essential if one is to gain anything by the meditation. The assistance of the guru is also believed to be essential to reach God.
Anami Purush and Radha Swami also (nameless power) (lord of the soul, symbolized as Radha)are used in Surat Shabda Yoga, to refer to God.
“Mwari” is the word used by Shona people of Zimbabwe[citation needed]. They also use names such as Nyadenga in reference to his presumed residence in the ‘heveans’, or Musikavanhu, literally “the Creator”.
Ahura Mazda is the Zoroastrian name of the good god.
“The Great Spirit”, “The Master of Life”, “The Master of Breath”, or “Grandfather” is the way many Native American religions refer to God.[citation needed] In the Algonquian culture, for example, Gitche Manitou or “Great Spirit” was the name adopted by French missionaries for the Christian God.[citation needed] Other similar names may also be used.
Shang Ti 上帝 typically used in Chinese, and the name (Hanyu Pinyin: shàng dì) (literally King Above), is the name given for God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Shen 神 (lit. spirit, or deity) was also adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God.
“Principle, Mind, Soul, Life, Truth, Love, and Spirit” are names for God in Christian Science.[citation needed] These names are considered synonymous and indicative of God’s wholeness.
Khoda is a word for God in Farsi
In the Torah, the name of God represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature. The various Jewish names of God represent God, and His divine attributes. The most important name of God is the tetragrammaton (Hebrew: יהוה, English: YHVH or YHWH—vowels are not written in the Hebrew spelling but are usually taken to be “a” and “e” making the modern pronunciation “Yahveh” or “Yahweh” respectively), and Elohim. The correct pronunciation of the tetragrammaton has been lost completely.
In Messianic Judaism, YHWH (pre-incarnate) and Yeshua (incarnate) are one and the same, the second Person, with the Father and Ruach haQodesh (the Holy Spirit) being the first and third Persons, respectively, of ha’Elohiym (the Godhead). YHWH is expressed as “haShem,” which means ‘the Name.’
Allah is the most frequently used name of God in Islam when speaking Arabic. It refers to the God without any other beside Him. It originally simply meant “the God” in Arabic, and was used in pre-Islamic times to refer to a divinity worshipped in Mecca. It is properly translated as “God” in English, and seen by Muslims as the same God as of Christianity and Judaism (referred to as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”). The Arabic word Allah is a linguistic cognate of the Hebrew word Eloah and a translation of the English word “god”, although there are some Christian sects which claim that there is a distinction between their deity and the deity or deities worshipped in either Judaism or Islam. Nevertheless, Allah is the same word in Arabic used by Arab Jews and Christians when speaking of God.
In the Islamic point of view, Allah is the only Omnipotent and has the Most Beautiful Names. So anyone can call Him by the most beautiful names he may call. (e.g. as stated in 18/110, 20/8, 59/24, 7/180 in Quran.). A well established Islamic tradition enumerates 99 Names of God, which are His attributes.
Besides those names of Qur’anic origin, Muslims of non-Arabic peoples may also sometimes use some other names in their own language which refers to God, e.g. the Ottoman anachronism Tanrı (originally the pagan Turks’ celestial chief god, corresponding to the Ancient Turkish Tengri), or Khuda in Persian language.
Bahá’ís refer to God using the local word for God in whatever language is being spoken, so God is used in English, Allah in Arabic, Gud in the Scandinavian languages, and so forth. This is because Bahá’ís believe that, although people have different concepts of God and His nature, and may call Him by different names and use different languages, everyone is referring to one unique Deity.
Bahá’ís believe that the essence of God is beyond the knowledge and understanding of human beings, and that he therefore must be known through his names, or attributes. God’s names are seen as his attributes, and God is often, in prayers, referred to by these titles and attributes, such as the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the Merciful, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous, the All-Wise, the Incomparable, the Gracious, the Helper, the All-Glorious, the Omniscient.
Translations of scripture typically use the local language unless a whole phrase is being transliterated for a specific purpose. However, since the languages in which the Bahá’í Faith was first authored were Arabic and Persian, the term Allah and other “names” are used in some specific contexts, even by non-Arabic speakers. The above-mentioned attributes are sometimes referred to in their Arabic form - for instance Bahá’ís refer to “Bahá” (meaning Glory or Splendour) or any derivation thereof (ex. Al-Abhá, or The Most Glorious) as The Greatest Name of God. This also forms the root of the word “Bahá’i.” The Bahá’í greeting Alláh’u'abhá is a formulation of this word and is usually translated “God is most Glorious”.
Hinduism
Main article: Sahasranama
Brahman in Sanskrit is both the knowable and unknowable Supreme. Aum, has been seen as the first manifestation of the unmanifest Brahman (the single Divine Ground of Hinduism) that resulted in the phenomenal universe.
Trimurti is the Hindu “Trinity”, although this differs largely to the Christian concept. See Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.
In Vaishnavism, the Vishnu sahasranama enumerates names of God. The names of Vishnu’s Dasavatara in particular are considered divine names. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Krishna in particular is held as the personal aspect of God, the Hare Krishnas being a modern example of a movement following this philosophy.
In Shaivism, the Shiva sahasranama enumerates names of God.
Anami Purush (nameless power) and Radha Soami (lord of the soul) are two names used for God in Surat Shabda Yoga.
There are many thousands of devas within Hinduism who are regarded as different facets of God within some philosophical schools and referred to by a large number of names and titles. Ganesha is one such example.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God
God
June 26, 2007 on 12:46 pm | In God, Religion | No CommentsEtymology and usage
Main article: God (word)
The earliest written form of the Germanic word “god” comes from the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself descends from the Proto-Germanic *ǥuđan. Most linguists agree that the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form *ǵhu-tó-m was based on the root *ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either “to libate” or “to call, to invoke”.
The capitalized form “God” was first used in Ulfilas’ Gothic translation of the New Testament, to represent the Greek Theos.
In the English language the capitalization continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic “God” and the “gods” of polytheism.[5] The name “God” now typically refers to the Abrahamic God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Though there are significant cultural divergences that are implied by these different names, “God” remains the common English translation for all.
The name may signify any related or similar monotheistic deities, such as the early monotheism of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism.
In the context of comparative religion, “God” is also often related to concepts of universal deity in Dharmic religions, in spite of the historical distinctions which separate monotheism from polytheism — a distinction which some, such as Max Müller and Joseph Campbell, have characterised as a bias within Western culture and theology.
God most commonly refers to the deity worshipped by followers of monotheistic and monolatrist religions, whom they believe to be the creator and ruler of the universe. [1]
Theologians have ascribed a variety of attributes to the various conceptions of God. The most common among these include omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the “greatest conceivable existent”. [1] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Augustine of Hippo, [2] Al-Ghazali, [3] and Maimonides. [2] Many notable medieval philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,[4] attempting to wrestle with the apparent contradictions implied by many of these attributes. Philosophers have developed several arguments for and against the existence of God.
God alone is the Savior and the Savior is Jesus
June 26, 2007 on 12:44 pm | In God, Christianity | 2 CommentsGod alone is the Savior and the Savior is Jesus
The Old Testament identifies the LORD as the only savior, and the New Testament identifies Jesus Christ as God and Savior. These verses are consistent with Trinitarianism, as well as various nontrinitarian beliefs (binitarianism, modalism, the Latter-Day Saints’ godhead, Arianism, etc.).
Isaiah 43:11: “‘I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.’”
Titus 2:10: “and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”
Titus 3:4: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,” in regard with:
Luke 2:11: “‘Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’”
Titus 2:13: “while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,”
John 4:42: “They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man [Jesus] really is the Savior of the world.’”
Titus 3:6: “whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,”
Jesus as God
June 26, 2007 on 12:43 pm | In God, Christianity | No CommentsJesus as God
Many verses in John, the epistles, and Revelation imply support for the doctrine that Jesus Christ is God and the closely related concept of the Trinity. The Gospel of John in particular supports Jesus’ divinity. This is a partial list of supporting Bible verses:
John 1:1 (see also John}1:1 TNIV) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” together with John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” and John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”[12]The Bible says “God the One and Only” in NIV.
John 5:21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.”
John 8:23–24: “But he continued,’You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins.’”
John 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”[13]
John 10:30: “I and the Father are one.”
John 10:38: “But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
John 12:41: “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”—As the context shows, this implied the Tetragrammaton in Isaiah 6:10 refers to Jesus.
John 20:28: “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
Philippians 2:5–8: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Colossians 2:9: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”
Titus 2:13: “while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 1:8: “But about the Son he [God] says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.”
1.John 5:20: “We know also 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-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Revelation 1:17–18: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” This is seen as significant when viewed with Isaiah 44:6: “This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”
The Bible also refers to Jesus as a man, which is in line with the Trinitarian concept that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine.
God exists in three persons
June 26, 2007 on 12:42 pm | In God, Christianity | No CommentsGod exists in three persons
The “Shield of the Trinity” or “Scutum Fidei” diagram of traditional Western Christian symbolism.This one God however exists in three persons, or in the Greek hypostases. God has but a single divine nature. Chalcedonians—Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Protestants—hold that, in addition, the Second Person of the Trinity—God the Son, Jesus—assumed human nature, so that he has two natures (and hence two wills), and is really and fully both true God and true human. In the Oriental Orthodox theology, the Chalcedonian formulation is rejected in favor of the position that the union of the two natures, though unconfused, births a third nature: redeemed humanity, the new creation.
In the Trinity, the Three are said to be co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will. However, as laid out in the Athanasian Creed, only the Father is unbegotten and non-proceeding. The Son is begotten from (or “generated by”) the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father (or from the Father and through the Son—see filioque clause for the distinction).
It has been stated that because God exists in three persons, God has always loved, and there has always existed perfectly harmonious communion between the three persons of the Trinity. One consequence of this teaching is that God could not have created Man in order to have someone to talk to or to love: God “already” enjoyed personal communion; being perfect, He did not create Man because of any lack or inadequacy He had. Another consequence, according to Rev. Thomas Hopko, is that if God were not a Trinity, He could not have loved prior to creating other beings on whom to bestow his love. Thus we find God saying in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image.” For Trinitarians, emphasis in Genesis 1:26 is on the plurality in the Deity, and in 1:27 on the unity of the divine Essence. A possible interpretation of Genesis 1:26 is that God’s relationships in the Trinity is mirrored in man by the ideal relationship between husband and wife, two persons becoming one flesh, as described in Eve’s creation later in the next chapter. Genesis 2:22 Some Trinitarian Christians support their position with the Comma Johanneum described above even though it is widely regarded as inauthentic and was not used patristically.
God
June 26, 2007 on 12:41 pm | In God, Christianity | No CommentsOne God
God is one, and the Godhead a single being: The Hebrew Scriptures lift this one article of faith above others, and surround it with stern warnings against departure from this central issue of faith, and of faithfulness to the covenant God had made with them. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4) (the Shema), “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:7) and, “Thus saith 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.” (Isaiah 44:6). Any formulation of an article of faith which does not insist that God is solitary, that divides worship between God and any other, or that imagines God coming into existence rather than being God eternally, is not capable of directing people toward the knowledge of God, according to the Trinitarian understanding of the Old Testament. The same insistence is found in the New Testament: “…there is none other God but one…” (1Corinthians 8:4). The “other gods” warned against are therefore not understood as gods at all, but as substitutes for God, and so are, according to St. Paul, simply mythological (1Corinthians 8:5).
Which brings the question, what is meant by “one?” In the Hebrew, the word for God is Elohim [אֱלֹהִים]. In every other instance where elohim is with a small e (indicating non-gods), it indicates a plurality because the word elohim is in fact plural. In the abovementioned passages, the Hebrew word for “one” is echad [אֶחָד] which may signify a compound unity, unified in perfect harmony and purpose, unlike the Hebrew word yachid which unequivocally means an absolute (not compound) singularity. The concept of echad would be similar to a perfectly functioning family or the cleaving of husband and wife as one flesh (cf. Gen. 2:24).
So, in the Trinitarian view, the common conception which thinks of the Father and Christ as two separate beings is viewed as incorrect by many but not all groups in Christianity and Messianicism. The central and crucial affirmation of Christian faith is that there is one savior, God, and one salvation, manifest in Jesus Christ, to which there is access only because of the Holy Spirit. The God of the Old is still the same as the God of the New. In Christianity, it is understood that statements about a solitary god are intended to distinguish the Hebraic understanding from the polytheistic view, which see divine power as shared by several beings, beings which can, and do, disagree and have conflicts with each other. The Gospel of John depicts the Father as united with Jesus as Jesus is united with his followers (John 17:20–23).
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