Saturday 5 August 2023
Irenaeus on the monarchy of the one God and Father.
Irenaeus "This is the rule of our faith, the foundation of the building, and what gives support to our behavior.
God the Father uncreated, who is uncontained, invisible, one God, creator of the universe; this is the first article of our faith.
And the second is: The Word of God, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared to the prophets according to their way of prophesying and according to the dispensation of the Father. Through(Dia) him all things were created. Furthermore, in the fullness of time, in order to gather all things to himself, he became a human being amongst human beings, capable of being seen and touched, to destroy death, bring life, and restore fellowship between God and humanity.
And the third article is: The Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied, and our forebears learned of God and the righteous were led in the paths of justice, and who, in the fullness of time, was poured out in a new way on our human nature in order to renew humanity throughout the entire world in the sight of God."
(The Christian Theology Reader, Blackwell, 1995, edited by Alister McGrath, p. 93)
I don't doubt for the briefest instance that there is much that Irenaeus and myself would disagree about. However I note with interest that for Irenaeus the God and Father of Jesus is not merely THE distinct person but THE distinct God (1Corinthians ch.8:6 NIV"yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came.." the God and Father of Jesus is the only God out of (ex)whom all of the information and energy in creation proceeds.
,and why mention His being uncreated if this is not an exceptional trait in the given context. I also note that as in scripture there is no God the Son or God the spirit only one God the Father. I further note that all things occur at the dispensation of that one God who is the one Father and none other ,clearly for Irenaeus The God and Father of Jesus is absolute monarch having no equals. Jesus is clearly subordinate to the one God who is the one Father of himself and all of the intelligent creation. The creation is (ex) out of JEHOVAH But (Dia) through his Son. JEHOVAH is the one God his Son Jesus Christ is his instrument.
A congenital design filter?
Douglas Axe: We Have an Eye For Detecting Design
On a classic episode of ID the Future, host Eric Metaxas continues his conversation with biologist and professor Dr. Douglas Axe. The subject is Axe’s book Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life is Designed and his account of how he lost his position at a Cambridge research lab because of the implications of his research findings. Axe discusses the polarized atmosphere in science today, driven by an unreasonable commitment to materialism. He describes the prevailing attitude: “Either you’re with us and on board on these issues or you are anti-science. That is a very unhelpful position for scientists to be taking.” Axe also talks about the reliability of our built-in design intuition and the implications of living in a designed universe. Metaxas notes that though many adopt a Darwinian narrative of life, few are prepared to follow the logic of an accidental cosmos all the way.
JEHOVAH is both a singular person and a singular God
Genesis ch.6:6ASV"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am JEHOVAH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:
I (first person SINGULAR) He is both the supreme person and the supreme God.
Exodus ch.18:11ASV"Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all gods; yea, in the thing wherein they dealt proudly against them."
Deuteronomy ch.3:24ASV"O Lord JEHOVAH, THOU hast begun to show thy servant THY greatness, and THY strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to THY works, and according to THY mighty acts?"
He is always address in singular personal pronouns for a reason
Deuteronomy ch.6:10ASV"And it shall be, when JEHOVAH thy God shall bring thee into the land which HE sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee, great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not,"
1Samuel ch.12:17ASV"Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto JEHOVAH, that HE may send thunder and rain; and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of JEHOVAH, in asking you a king."
2Samuel ch.7:22ASV"Wherefore THOU art great, O JEHOVAH God: for there is none like THEE, neither is there any God besides THEE, according to all that we have heard with our ears."
JEHOVAH is both the greatest person and the greatest God.
1Chronicles ch.16:25ASV"For great is JEHOVAH, and greatly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods."
Psalms ch 83:18ASV"That they may know that [d]THOU ALONE, whose name is JEHOVAH,
Art the Most High over all the earth."
The name JEHOVAH is not Just another name as some disrespectfully claim it is the only name deservedly and exclusively borne by the greatest person in all of reality and is the only name ever described as Holy in all of scripture. It occurs more frequently in the bible than the the next five most common names/titles combined.
JEHOVAH Has the greatest zeal for his name.
Malachi ch.1:11ASV "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name [j]shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place [k]incense [l]shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name [m]shall be great among the Gentiles, saith JEHOVAH of hosts."
But who is this Greatest person who worthily bears this hallowed and greatest of names.
Luke ch.1:32ASV"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the LORD God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: "
The God and Father of Jesus Christ is the most high GOD. Logically if there are two other people who are as great as the God and Father of Jesus he is simply not the most high. The God And Father of Jesus is the lone owner of the sacred name,the Lord JEHOVAH.
On logic and exegesis.
The thing about language ,or to be more specific the meaning intended by its use, is that it is context driven. Every single word has a semantic range, also words can be used literally or figuratively. If we want to extract the logos (the speaker/writer's intent) from speech or script we must carefully factor in the context of said writer/speaker's words. This would certainly be the case with the pursuit of an accurate understanding of the Holy Bible. The logos that we seek to apprehend from the sacred text is JEHOVAH'S ,The divine author. We believe the text to be a single work from a single mind meant to communicate a single intelligible Logos.
Acts ch.17:11NIV" Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
The Bereans approach to determining sacred truth is recommended to us by JEHOVAH Through the apostle Paul. The inspired scriptures are to be viewed as the sole touchstone for separating truth from error. There is no mention of any comparison with religious oral tradition although there were certainly voluminous amounts of same available. Another consideration is logic and commonsense. Wisdom is a cardinal attribute of JEHOVAH.
Romans ch.16:27GWT"God alone is wise. Glory belongs to him through Jesus Christ forever! Amen"
JEHOVAH'S Wisdom is flawless and so we rightly expect his communications to be characterized by transcendent Wisdom. Logic is a key component of wisdom. Any communication that invokes or requires the embrace of logical contradictions can be dismissed out of hand as originating from JEHOVAH. So in addition to paying careful attention to the immediate and the overall context of the scriptures, we also reject interpretations that require the embrace of logical fallacy/contradiction. Certainly one way that a conclusion would be shown to be illogical is if said conclusion failed on its own terms.
For instance: John ch.1:1NIV"1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH (the) God, and the Word was God."
Some conclude that the word is as much God as the God he is with. On just what basis is difficult to know . The God he was with was a distinct God and not merely a distinct person so he would himself need to be a distinct God to have a chance of being as divine as the distinct God he was with if this God is the Father and the Son is a distinct God in the same sense that the Father is a distinct God, well then we have bi-theism. And yet those who invoke this conclusion claim to have an ironclad commitment to monotheism.
Strong's 2316 on Theos"the supreme Divinity, God, godly.
Of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with ho) the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very -- X exceeding, God, god(-ly, -ward)".
Note the semantic range of Theos with the definite article it likely refers to the supreme divinity it is therefore interesting that only the The God and Father of Jesus is ever referred to by the unqualified ho Theos ( not a possessive) without the definite article it may refer to a divinely appointed ruler i.e those made to resemble the supreme God at his pleasure. Thus Father and Son are not merely distinct persons but distinct Gods the God that Logos was with is the supreme divinity thus by definition he has NO Equals
Supreme as defined by Merriam Webster :2)greatest in degree, quality, or intensity 1): highest in rank or authority
the supreme commander
especially : in a position of unquestioned authority, dominance, or influence"
So Logically no other person or God is equal in any positive sense to the God and Father of Jesus i.e the Lord JEHOVAH.
Acts ch.3:13KJV"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob(i.e JEHOVAH), the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. "
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