Posts by mavie

41

John Chapter 1

by mavie in

i am wondering how those who believe jesus is the almighty lord god reconcile the following passages in chapter 1.

john 1:1 - ..."the word was god.

john 1:14 - "and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.

While John 5:18 is from the narrator's point of view, in the next verse Jesus, through the same narrator, corrects the view that he is equal to God. He states that the Son can do nothing by himself. Rather, the Son can only do what he sees the Father doing.

Is it reasonable to think that Almighty God can do nothing by himself?

The claim that Jesus is 'divine in nature' can have many different meanings. Is he (a) God? John 1:1 seems to point the reader in that direction. However, Satan is also called a God in the Bible. What does this mean? Could it be that both have the same nature as God? Could they both be spirits?

Sorry for the lack of references, I am at work and have been mulling this over in my head all day. Maybe I just don't 'get' the Trinity right now. It seems so complex. I prefer Occam's razor, the answer with the fewest amount of assumptions.

41

John Chapter 1

by mavie in

i am wondering how those who believe jesus is the almighty lord god reconcile the following passages in chapter 1.

john 1:1 - ..."the word was god.

john 1:14 - "and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.

mavie

AuldSoul, I would say restore to life. We were born imperfect, as Carmel pointed out all creatures are imperfect. Paul identified the source of this imperfection in Romans where he speaks of Adamic sin.

I still believe God's right to rule was challenged in Genesis. The hope to be saved from our imperfect state, and show our willingness to live under God's rule, rests on our faith and belief in the perfect ransom of Jesus.

41

John Chapter 1

by mavie in

i am wondering how those who believe jesus is the almighty lord god reconcile the following passages in chapter 1.

john 1:1 - ..."the word was god.

john 1:14 - "and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.

mavie

I'm not trying to start a war here or anything, but I looked at John 5:18 a little closer tonight.

In the preceding verses Jesus answers the Jews who were persecuting him for working on the Sabbath by saying "My Father works until now, and I work" (MKJV). Then the Jews became incensed at him because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but was calling God his Father, making himself equal to God.

I think it is important to note that Jesus did not call himself equal to God here, the Jews did. I'm not aware of any passage where Jesus outrightly says, I am God.

In verse 19 Jesus stated that he only does what he observes the Father doing.

Futher, at Philipians 2:6, Paul writes that Christians should have the same attitude as Jesus...to be like God? No, rather to not consider ourselves to ever be equal to God.

Please do not get offended or up in arms about this. I am simply trying to further my understanding.

41

John Chapter 1

by mavie in

i am wondering how those who believe jesus is the almighty lord god reconcile the following passages in chapter 1.

john 1:1 - ..."the word was god.

john 1:14 - "and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.

mavie

Lil, thanks for the explanation. My first thought after reading this is that the NWT has the rendering of John 1:1 correct. Jesus was in nature like God. He was 'a God'.

He also stated 'he that has seen me has seen the Father also', showing how perfectly he reflected God's qualities.

John 5:18 is interesting, I need to research that more.

41

John Chapter 1

by mavie in

i am wondering how those who believe jesus is the almighty lord god reconcile the following passages in chapter 1.

john 1:1 - ..."the word was god.

john 1:14 - "and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.

mavie

I am wondering how those who believe Jesus is the Almighty Lord God reconcile the following passages in Chapter 1.

John 1:1 - ..."the Word was God."

John 1:14 - "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. "

John 1:18 - "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

If one believes that the Word, or Jesus, was God, then how can the apparent conflict found in verses 14 and 18 be resolved? If the Word became flesh and dwelt among us then he certainly was seen by many people on the Earth. However, verse 18 states that no one has seen God.

20

World Religion

by mavie in

jw
friends

over the past month, i've had this huge desire to explore 'forbidden' topics.

i'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this phase.

i've downloaded and explored the qu'ran, vedic scripture, buddhist teachings, etc... i just can't get enough right now.

mavie

Eagle1, please don't take offense. I think we are all after the same thing here.

20

World Religion

by mavie in

jw
friends

over the past month, i've had this huge desire to explore 'forbidden' topics.

i'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this phase.

i've downloaded and explored the qu'ran, vedic scripture, buddhist teachings, etc... i just can't get enough right now.

mavie

Carmel, I have to agree with you on this one. I work with a Muslim and we often discuss current events. He and I both agree that our respective faiths leave no room for the type of extremists we see today. Both of us have never come upon a faith that would allow someone in modern times to kill in the name of God, only those on the fringe of the faith believe that.

20

World Religion

by mavie in

jw
friends

over the past month, i've had this huge desire to explore 'forbidden' topics.

i'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this phase.

i've downloaded and explored the qu'ran, vedic scripture, buddhist teachings, etc... i just can't get enough right now.

mavie

Thanks for the links, I hope to gain an understanding of the history of religion through my study. I expect this to take a lifetime.

20

World Religion

by mavie in

jw
friends

over the past month, i've had this huge desire to explore 'forbidden' topics.

i'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this phase.

i've downloaded and explored the qu'ran, vedic scripture, buddhist teachings, etc... i just can't get enough right now.

mavie

i kinda freaked out when i read about the history of the Jews and monotheism
that they adopted YHWH from a bunch of gods they worshipped. i just pretend i didnt read that and move on LOL

Where did you read that? First time I've ever heard that. I find it hard to believe.

20

World Religion

by mavie in

jw
friends

over the past month, i've had this huge desire to explore 'forbidden' topics.

i'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this phase.

i've downloaded and explored the qu'ran, vedic scripture, buddhist teachings, etc... i just can't get enough right now.

mavie

I should say that I don't necessary put faith in these things right now...all I've ever heard about them is negative.

That being said, I want to approach it from a critical viewpoint. What can I learn about Islamic culture? What about Hindus? I try to see these books the historical context of the times...why were they written, etc...