– Daniel Kirk examines the Suffering Servant and the Son of Man.
– Timothy Gombis reviews Gospel commands.
– Nijay Gupta reviews the Perseus Collections. Nick Norelli has reviewed it as well.
– Kurt Willems continues his interview with Peter Enns: Pt. 2, Pt. 3.
– Kevin DeYoung says there is no Christianity without the doctrine of the Trinity.
– Fred Sanders evaluates Oneness Pentecostalism.
– Marc Cortez tries to define “heresy”.
– J. Michael Rios looks at how rhetoric functions in an apologetic of fear.
the archives near Emmaus 
Brian – I noticed you linked to Kevin’s article on the Trinity.
Kevin rarely answers direct questions thought you might help.
Here’s my comment there…
Kevin – Anyone
Maybe you all can help. I can agree about the first four on this post –
because I can find, and read, scriptures that reveal God as – One – Father – Son – and – Holy Spirit.
(1) There is only one God. (2) The Father is God. (3) The Son is God. (4) The Holy Spirit is God.
But – I’m having a hard time finding verses for your last three.
Where does this information come from if NOT from the scriptures?
(5) The Father is not the Son. (6) The Son is the not the Holy Spirit. (7) The Holy Spirit is not the Father.
In fact I’m finding verses that seem to paint a different picture for the last three.
Just looking at # (5) – You say – “(5) The Father is not the Son.”
1 – Didn’t Jesus say – “I and my Father are one.” John 10:30. How are we supposed to understand that?
2 – Then there is Isaiah 9:6. Isn’t it Jesus who is called the Everlasting Father in Isaiah 9:6?
If not Jesus, who is Isaiah 9:6 referring to as Everlasting Father?
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and **his name shall be called** Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
**The everlasting Father,** The Prince of Peace.
If Jesus is known as “The Prince of Peace” couldn’t he also be **The Everlasting Father?**
3 – John the Baptist only knew OT prophesy. And he was to prepare the way of Jehovah our Elohim.
And Jesus showed up. Wouldn’t that mean – Jehovah and Jesus are one and the same?
OT – Isaiah 40:3
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, (Jehovah)
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Elohim)
NT – Matthew 3:3
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying,
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord…
Wasn’t John the Baptist prepareing the way for and looking for Jehovah? And Jesus showed up?
3a – – In the OT, Jehovah, and Jehovah Elohim, is also our Father.
And Jehovah is not only our Father, Jehovah is also our redeemer. (But isn’t Jesus our redeemer?)
So, John the Baptist prepares the way for – Jehovah our Father, our redeemer? And Jesus shows up?
Isaiah 63:16
…thou, O LORD, { Jehovah } art ** our father,** ** our redeemer;** thy name is from everlasting.
Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, { Jehovah } thou [art] **our father**…
1Chronicles 29:10
…Blessed [be] thou, LORD God { Jehovah Elohiym } of Israel **our father**…
Hmmm?
These examples cause me to question – “(5) The Father is not the Son.” And there are verses that
cause me to question (6) The Son is the not the Holy Spirit. (7) The Holy Spirit is not the Father.
amoslove
Jesus also says that we should be one, as he and the Father are one. (John 17:21-22) Are you and I the same person? I think we would both agree that we are not, and yet, we may be one in purpose, one in understanding, and one in action. Just as Jesus and the Father are One in purpose, action and character.
As a side note, the Hebrew Bible concept of God (Elohim – plural) is a multiplicity, not a single entity. The One God of the Bible might have more than one element to Him, but nothing about that multiplicity creates division of purpose, action or character.
Returning to the main discussion, there are passages in which Jesus is clearly expressing his own understanding of being the same yet different. Paul also describes Jesus as being subjected to the Father in the End, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:28) Verse 27 of the same chapter makes it very clear that there is a part of God (whatever that word means) that cannot be subject to Jesus, and to which Jesus must himself be subjected to in verse 28.
Part of our problem, is that we have the wrong concept of one when talking about God (Elohim – plural). We are looking for a singular entity, and that is never expressed in the Hebrew Bible or the new Covenant Scriptures. I think that we believe that we know what God is. But we don’t. God reveals to us Who he is throughout his dealings with Israel, and ultimately in the giving of his own Heart, his Wisdom, in Jesus. But we do not know what God is. What is a god? What does one look like? We don’t know. We should stop acting like we do. Theology needs to be clear on what it knows and what it doesn’t know. It’s time to stop calling heresy on things that we don’t have enough information about. (And this comment is directed at the atrocious track record of organized Christian religion and its attempt to enforce unsubstantiated doctrines. For clarification, I believe that God has revealed himself in a trinitarian form. I can demonstrate this from the Hebrew Scriptures, without making one reference to the new Covenant Scriptures. But I have no clue if God is ontologically a Trinity, and neither does anyone on Earth.)
Keep asking good questions, though. The quest to know God, practiced and lived out in honesty and humility can only have One destination, the One who wants to be Known.
Grace and Peace,
a fellow pilgrim