Divinity vs. Deity of Jesus - 2005/09/07 09:32Hi All -
This came to me while I was studying scripture the other day. I have been studying about the Trinity, or lack of it. When reading Matthew 28:18 as suggested before by a JW elder,
"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me"
I became puzzled. Would this not indicate that there has been a transfer of the divine attribute of "all" authority to Jesus? "All Authority on heaven and earth" to me reads as omnipotence. This is a divine quality, so if there has been a transfer of this quality to Jesus, it indicates to me that the transfer of this divine quality to Jesus would make him divine, even though a transfer or division of Jehovah's being, or "Deity" has not taken place.
The Trinity doctrine seems to explain this without lapsing into polytheism. How would Jehovah's Witnesses explain how Jesus is not divine in light of this verse?
I promise I am not asking this complex question as a debate point - I am just sincerely trying to understand the difference between Jehovah and Jesus.
Thanks To All
Don Tomas
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polemotheos
User Platinum Boarder
Posts: 530
Re:Divinity vs. Deity of Jesus - 2005/09/07 11:48(1 Corinthians 15:28) "But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone."
The One true God is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—Ephesians 1:17.
Re:Divinity vs. Deity of Jesus - 2005/09/07 19:07Dontomas, the flaw in your argument is the non sequitor in your reasoning, as follows:
"All Authority on heaven and earth" to me reads as omnipotence.
Says who? If the owner of a business gives 'all authority' to some manager under him, does that negate the owner's ultimate authority?
Clearly, Jesus' authority is always relative to the Father's. Authority is not the same as omnipotence. The Son, who of course returned to his original divine nature upon his resurrection back to heaven, is always a lesser God than the father in any context.
Re:Divinity vs. Deity of Jesus - 2005/09/08 02:36Isaiah 9:6, 7 shows his great power and who gives it to him. "For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite. The very zeal of Jehovah of armies will do this. I called on a man in service several years ago, and when he found out that I was a Witness he started to dismiss me. And when I asked why, he said, "Because you people don't believe that Jesus is god." Well, I replied, "Yes we do, because that's what the Bible says he is at Is. 9:6, 7. We just don't believe that he is his father Jehovah." It turns out that we both believed the same thing, but Witnesses had been calling on him for years and arguing against this statement in the Bible. Could it be the same case here?
Post edited by: JWHVACR, at: 2005/09/08 09:11
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dontomas
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Posts: 8
Re:Divinity vs. Deity of Jesus - 2005/09/08 10:52Brothers (Sisters too?)
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. These are great responses that have helped my understanding.
In response to JWHVACR....
This could be the same thing. I guess I misunderstand what is Jesus' divine nature, which I refer to in my original post. It appears, based on what I am reading here, that JW do not deny his divine nature, which I thought they did, but only his deity.
This makes me think of 2 Peter 1 - "great and precious promises, partakers of his divine nature....". This is starting to mean more to me now. Are there any good resources on this scripture that you could share with me?
I would add that I hope that asking questions like this is OK in the "Research" forum. These are probably not very original inquiries but the responses help my own "research" into the Kingdom. Many thanks to all.
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