in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
Admittedly, other scriptures say that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. But, rather that diminish Jesus' claim to be God, it confirms it.
Well, it would appear that we are both right then.
And the reason we are both right, is because neither of us fully understands how this essence of God functions. I suppose we will keep trying to understand forever.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
aqwsed-The term “mystery” does not imply that all interpretations are equally valid or that our efforts to understand are in vain. Rather, it means that the reality being described—the inner life of the triune God—is ultimately above the full grasp of finite human reason, though not contrary to reason.
I completely agree. And they are most certainly not in vain when a sincere heart is searching for a clearer understanding. This is why it isn't damnation for the soul that accepts the Father and the Son as beings not of the Trinity doctrine. Although it may be central to theology, the doctrine is clearly not central to salvation.
I do believe that the doctrine in some ways does enhance our awe, respect and even love for our God. In addition to that it is a fascinating study into this mystery.
But it was God after all that used the very simple terms (knowing how human beings would relate to those terms) of father and son to help us understand him better.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
That is the biblical definition of "death" - when your soul, body and spirit become separated - usually when the body expires.
Correct, the human body disintegrates into nothing.
This is how God shed his blood and died. This is also how Jesus raised himself from the dead, while he was dead as he predicted he would.
This is where we differ in explanation (I believe). You state God raised himself by means of the Father having the same title as the Son.
I say, to be more precise, God the Father raised God the Son (a separate person).
For the sake of conversation, who would be right?
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
Just as your spirit (and soul) is certainly not the same person as your flesh, but together they make one being called human or "Man".
I agree, man is flesh and spirit. But when it comes to man, spirit is greater than flesh.(A physical body without mind and heart is what? Nothing.)
The Son, flesh, however retains his full significance as God.
So I don't think it is an adequate comparison, altho it does underline the difference between Son and Father.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
SB-Jesus is still human, and He has a human body in heaven right now. His body is different, however; earthly human flesh is perishable, but heavenly bodies are imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:50). Jesus has a physical body, with a difference. His resurrected body is designed with eternity in view.
Very interesting. And it further confirms that the Son is certainly not the same person as the Father.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
SB-In other words, the Gods are one God.
To be more precise, the Son and the Father both share the same title of God.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
Aqwsed, I truly do appreciate your responses as they shed a lot of light on the subject.
But the fact that we've arrived at the 'mystery' part of the conversation renders anyone's interpretation as good as the other. We can only try to wrap our minds around what we are able to grasp, and in the end we all can only say it is truly beyond human comprehension.
I do have a question. In heaven, that is to say in spirit, the Son stands next to the Father. This is not the Son in the flesh praying to the Father but rather two persons in spirit. Cannot the Son communicate in spirit with the Father here as he did from earth as a man? If yes, than what is the difference whether he spoke to the Father as a man or as spirit?
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
SB-The belief that Jesus and God are the same person with a different essence is called Modalism.
This is not what I wrote.
I wrote that God the Father is separate from God the Son.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
Catholic theology is precise: the distinctions between the persons of the Trinity lie not in their deity or in possession of divine attributes, but in their relations of origin—the Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (and, in Western theology, from the Son). What the Father is, the Son is, save only the property of paternity; what the Son is, the Father is, save only filiation.
Therefore they are two separate persons.
The Church teaches, in line with the Fathers and Councils, that the divine persons are distinct but not separate; they are not three gods, nor three beings, but one God in three persons.
One title, God, shared by 3 persons.
in answer thomas said to him: “my lord and my god!
- john 20: 28 nwt.
why don't jehovah's witnesses believe jesus is god when he is called that in their own bible?.
SB-To be the Son of God is to be of the same nature as God. The Son of God is “of God.” The claim to be of the same nature as God—to in fact be God—was blasphemy to the Jewish leaders; therefore, they demanded Jesus’ death, in keeping with Leviticus 24:15. Hebrews 1:3 expresses this very clearly, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.” What is it about Jesus being God that bothered so many people then as it does now?
It's possible that the word 'God' conveys someone that is ultimate and above all else. For that title to belong to three separate persons seems to change the meaning of the word God at first.
The Bible clearly describes the Father (God the Father) as having attributes that God the Son doesn't have, because they are two separate beings although both retaining the title of God.
While Thomas acknowledged Jesus as being God, he didn't imply that the Son was the same person as the Father. I believe that it is saying the Son is the same person as the Father that may 'upset' people today.
