I was invited by Carlos Xavier to a live discussion with Anthony Buzzard at “Focus on the Kingdom” YouTube channel. The live discussion took place on Saturday, January 21 at 2:00pm. The topic was: “Did the Son of God originate and exist prior to His birth in Bethlehem?” I took the affirmative position, and Anthony Buzzard took the negative position. The notes I used can be downloaded at the following link: Anthony.pdf. I would be…
In his book, The Doctrine of the Trinity, Christianity’s Self-Inflicted Wound, it is apparent that Anthony Buzzard was working from a false presupposition regarding the question of a pre-human existence for the Son of God. He made it plain that any form of literal preexistence is totally incompatible with the biblical belief that Jesus was 100% human, that He only possessed those ontological characteristics which are common to all humans and nothing more. On page…
Recently I wrote a blog post about the divide among Biblical Unitarians concerning the meaning of John’s prologue. It appears that the new interpretation being offered reflects the difficulties that many in the movement are facing as they attempt to engage Trinitarians on this passage. I recently came across the below video debate among Biblical Unitarians on this issue. (If the embedded video does not play on your device, it can be viewed on YouTube…
John 20:26-29 (NASB) 26 And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord…
A few readers of this blog are aware that I was raised in the Plymouth Brethren assemblies. The Brethren went beyond the Protestant Reformation by attempting to restore primitive Christian practices and the kind of church government outlined in the New Testament. Many more readers are aware that I pastored a church in Florida for ten years which was affiliated with the Stone – Campbell Restoration Movement, the division known as the “Independent (or Unaffiliated)…
John 5:16-18 (LGV) 16 And because of this the Judeans were pursuing Jesus and were seeking to kill Him, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. 17 But Jesus replied to them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 The Judeans then increasingly sought to kill Him because not only was He breaking the Sabbath but was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God! In…
In his book, “The Birth of Jesus or the Birth of Christians, An inquiry into the Authenticity of John 1:13,” Catholic theologian Denis S. Kulandaisamy outlined the history of controversary concerning John 1:13. He gave a detailed summary of the scholarly works and their reasoning in favor of the singular reading, “who was begotten” (referring to the Son of God) as opposed to the majority reading, “who were begotten,” (referring to Christians). This variant reading…
In part 1 of this series three important clauses were considered consisting of πᾶς + substantive singular participle. These are incorrectly translated in English versions as “whoever _________.” But these should not be translated as referring to individuals who meet a particular requirement, but instead as referring to the whole collective group as a single entity characterized by the participle: 1. The expression πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων (“whoever believes”) should be “the entire believing [entity].” (John…
Certain non-Trinitarian churches and organizations share many doctrines in common with 4Winds Fellowships, especially those who call their non-Trinitarian theology “Biblical Unitarianism.”[1] However, on the most important doctrine of all – who is Jesus Christ – there is a significant difference. Some Biblical Unitarian authors give the outward appearance of objective scholarship in their treatment of the origin of the so-called “Logos Doctrine” (preexistence of Christ). But in reality, the method of historical research is…
The Apostle Paul used the “body of Christ” metaphor as his way to identify the collective Son of God. He used this term for the local church, all baptized Christians within a local community in fellowship with one another, with Jesus Christ as the head of the body. That this is local is evident from his following statement which can only apply to a local setting, not to all Christians everywhere. 1 Cor. 12:24-27 (NKJV)…
Eph. 1:9 (LGV) 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good intent which He planned within Himself 10 for the administration of the fullness of the appointed times, to sum up everything together in the Anointed – what is in the sky and what is on the land — in Him. Paul explained that the goal of God’s ultimate plan for this creation, which He devised within Himself,…
The New Testament contains a common, theologically significant, expression which is incorrectly translated in most English versions. This provides false implications which affect more than one theological point. The expression πᾶς + substantive singular participle is translated either as “whoever believes,” “whoever is born/begotten” (of God, or of the Spirit), or “whoever loves.” 1. The expression πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων (“whoever believes”) appears in John 3:15,16, John 12:46, Acts 10:43; Rom. 10:11; 1 John 5:1. 2….
Baptist Greek scholar, A. T. Robertson, noted in his Word Pictures in the New Testament that there are two ways of punctuating and reading John 1:3-4. The old Greek manuscripts did not have punctuation, which at times allows more than one way of reading a particular passage, particularly the exact point where a sentence ends and a new sentence begins. This is because often in Greek a sentence begins with a dependent clause rather than…
While describing the role of the “Word” (Logos) in the creation, that He was “with God” in the beginning, that He was “the only-begotten of the Father” who “became flesh,” John briefly called John the Baptist as a direct witness to Jesus’ pre-human existence. John 1:15 (NIV) 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because…
John’s prologue (John 1:1-18) has long been one of the primary passages in support of God’s Son having a preexistence before His human birth and an active role in the creation of all things. The connection between the opening statement of Genesis and the opening statement of John’s Gospel (“In the beginning”) has not been challenged in Christian history until rather recently. Certain modern Biblical Unitarians, finding seriously problematic the usual explanation of John’s prologue…
It is evident from John’s Gospel that the scribes and Pharisees had big problems with Jesus’ claims about Himself. These included His statements that He came down from heaven[1] and that He was the Son of God (God was His Father), which they concluded made Him “equal with God” in essence.[2] Jesus affirmed this also by claiming to have “issued forth out of God.”[3] Yet, John is not alone among the Gospel narratives which quote…
The very first thing Jesus warned His followers to expect after His ascension was deception. Matt. 24:3-6 (NKJV) 3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For…
The identity of Mystery Babylon in Revelation 17-18 is disputed by many. Some claim she is Jerusalem, others Rome, New York city, the United Nations, Washington DC, or the United States. A few interpreters claim that the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq will be rebuilt in order to fulfill this prophecy. However, most of these identifications and interpretations are the result of a very narrow historical perspective, looking at prophecy merely in relation to…
Paul followed the instructions regarding “supervisors” in 1 Timothy 3 with instructions regarding both male and female “servants” of the assembly. Most translations use the term “deacon” as a title, a transliteration of the Greek word διάκονος (diakonos). This is a noun derived from the verb διάκω and means to run errands.[1] This term is to be distinguished from the term δοῦλός (doulos) which means a slave. Both terms refer to someone under the authority…
In the first chapter of 1 Timothy, Paul reminded Timothy of the primary reason that he stationed him at Ephesus, to rein in the current elders and to caution them not to teach anything contrary to, or in addition to, what Paul had personally taught them.[1] Yet he also wanted Timothy to be on the lookout for other men who showed potential for holding the office of “Supervisor” in the local assembly. In his second…
As we saw in the previous post in the “Timothy” series, Paul gave his protege a charge which consisted of several specific commands intended to prioritize his teaching to the leaders of the Ephesian assembly. Paul’s initial command, which he prefixed with the words “first of all,” dealt with what Timothy was to teach concerning the Christian community’s stance towards the civil authorities. This topic was first in priority because humble submission to civil authority…
In Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (recorded in Matthew 24 & Mark 13) He gave a series of things that must come to pass yet are not necessarily signs that His coming is near. These included many who come claiming to speak and act by the authority of Jesus’ name, yet they are deceivers.[1] There also must be wars, reports of wars, nation against nation, famines, plagues (including mass diseases), and earthquakes in various places.[2] All of…
Luke 17:26-30 (NKJV) 26 “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they…
In the first eleven verses of 1 Timothy, Paul reminded his protégé Timothy of the primary reason he stationed him in Ephesus: “so that you may relay to some not to teach contrary, nor give regard to fabrications and unsubstantiated genealogies which produce disputes instead of the edification of God which is through faith.” The goal was to keep this growing assembly on track, teaching those things that lead to edification and maturing of the…
Many so-called prophecy experts have predicted that Russia will invade Israel just prior to the last seven-year time of tribulation. Some of them are now sounding the alarm, most notably Pat Robertson, given Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. They interpret the “God-Magog” war of Ezekiel 38-39 as occurring prior to the coming of the Antichrist. However, this is a misunderstanding of the text. That war does not occur until the very end of the Millennial Sabbath,…
The first epistle to Timothy was written after Paul had sent him to Ephesus because of a serious situation that had arisen in this rapidly growing congregation. This church was founded by Paul near the beginning of his third missionary journey. It began as a split from the Ephesian synagogue, and Paul had remained there and taught them a full three years[1] before pressing on to Macedonia and Greece. The first members of the Ephesian…
The Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ are those men whom Jesus Himself personally chose, trained, and commissioned to speak authoritatively on His behalf and to be eye-witnesses of His resurrection. We think of the Apostles as all great men, equal to or greater than even Moses and the prophets. Yet their greatness came at an extremely high price. Most of them ended their lives in martyrdom. Having the very high honor of becoming a successful…
The Jewish Encyclopedia, which is by no means Christian, has an article on the concept of the preexistence of the Messiah in ancient Judaism. “Preexistence of the Messiah: This includes his existence before Creation; the existence of his name; his existence after the creation of the world. Two Biblical passages favor the view of the preexistence of the Messiah: Micah v. 1 (A. V. 2), speaking of the Bethlehemite ruler, says that his ‘goings forth…
Both Trinitarians and Unitarians have missed a very important distinction in the two titles assigned to Jesus throughout the Gospels, “Son of God” and “Son of Man.” Both groups apply both titles to Jesus’ existence from His birth in Bethlehem alone. For Trinitarians, “Son of God” is a title that stems from their interpretation of the virgin birth. When the “Holy Spirit” is said to come upon the virgin Mary, she is said to have…
A favorite proof-text by Unitarians who deny the pre-human origin of the Son as “the Beginning” and His role in creation is the following verse: Isaiah 44:24 (NASB) 24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone, …” When New Testament passages are brought forward which…
The previous post in this series of articles – Deception in the Last Days – dealt with how doctrine affects behavior. Sound doctrine tends to influence Christians towards right behavior, moving us to faith, hope, and love, motivating us that we “may not become lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises.”[1] Conversely, bad doctrine provides cover and justification for behavior that is inconsistent with God’s will, and especially hinders…
Passover is coming up fast, and one of the Scriptures that we will be reading for our fellowship Seder is the following: Exodus 6:6 (NKJ) 6 “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. This is one example of many…
In this series of articles we considered the fact that God concealed “the times and seasons”[1] of the last days tribulation until “the time of the end.” This was so that Christians would be concerned with the task ahead, the spread of the Gospel to all nations. Yet He also wanted them to keep the blessed Hope alive before them since this keeps us striving for the age to come. If God had revealed the…
Matthew 25:1-13 (NKJV) “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6…
The warnings and parables in the Olivet Discourse speak of watchfulness and being “ready” for Jesus’ return, but only within a fairly narrow window of time. There are many who take these parables and warnings to mean that Jesus’ return is imminent, that He could come at any moment and that He could have come at any time since His ascension. This is especially true of pre-tribulationists (who believe in a “rapture” before the events…
The best kept secret in the universe is the time of the arrival from heaven of the King of kings and Lord of lords – Jesus the Anointed King. He is coming to overthrow all the kingdoms of this world, to utterly destroy the wicked, to resurrect and grant immortality and an inheritance to all of the righteous, and to reign as the perfect and just King of the whole world. For several millennia, prophets,…
I. The Weekly Sabbath Cycle (6+1=7 Days): Moses not only gave us the key to the chronology of the entire Bible in Psalm 90, but he also recorded God’s prophetic patterns and precedents. The seven-day week which has been observed by God’s people since creation is the first and primary pattern. The end has been prophesied since the very beginning in this simple formula, work for six days and rest on the seventh day. So…
Paul wrote the book of Hebrews around AD 62 at the end of his first Roman imprisonment. In it he spoke of the “Seventh Day,” God’s “Rest,” and our “Sabbath-observance” as being the Kingdom hope of Christians. About five years later, following his second imprisonment in Rome, Paul was executed under Nero in AD 66. Peter was in prison in Rome at the time awaiting his own appointment with Nero’s executioner which occurred in AD…
Hebrews was one of Paul’s last epistles, most likely recorded for him by his companion, Luke. One of the noteworthy features of Hebrews is the rabbinic teaching style in which Paul wrote. This style involved merely quoting a short phrase or sentence from an Old Testament passage in order to bring that entire familiar passage into his argument, expecting that his readers were already fully aware of the implications of that passage. In Hebrews 3-4,…
The previous post demonstrated the pervasiveness of the Millennial Week chronology among the early Christian writers close to the Apostles. The primary passage cited by these writers was Psalm 90:4, “a thousand years in Your sight are as the day,”[1] cited by Peter in 2 Peter 3:8, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day.” The six days plus Sabbath Rest of the creation week set…
A major component of the earliest Christian eschatology – Chiliasm – is the belief in the Millennial Week. Not only is Jesus’ reign on earth exactly one millennium, but the whole time of man’s struggle under the curse has been confined to six millennial “Days.” The seventh millennium is the Seventh-Day Sabbath Rest. The term “Chiliasm” referred to the whole package, not just the “Millennium” of Christ’s reign over the nations. The Millennial Week eschatology…
Like modern dispensationalists, the early chiliasts were “futurists.” The “great tribulation” mentioned in the Olivet Discourse and in Revelation is the last “week” of years described in the Seventy-Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9. During this seven-year period just before Jesus returns, the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the two prophets of Revelation 11 will preach repentance for 3.5 years, then Antichrist will defile the Temple with the “abomination of desolation,” and then reign…
The earliest Christians following the Apostles based their hope of a future eternal inheritance squarely on the permanent inheritance of the whole earth which God promised to His only-begotten Son, and the Abrahamic Covenant in which God promised a permanent Land inheritance to Abraham’s “Seed” who is Jesus Christ. On the very day that the Son was begotten out of God, the inheritance of the whole earth and all nations was promised to Him. Psalm…
The eschatology of the earliest Christians is called “Chiliasm” (kill’-E-az-um), from the Greek word “chilia” which means a thousand. The term “Chiliasm” is nearly equivalent to our modern term, “millennialism.” However, it does not only refer to the “millennium” of Christ’s reign mentioned in Revelation 20, but also man’s time on earth living under the curse is divided into a series of six previous millennia. The seventh millennium is the “Seventh Day,” the Millennial “Sabbath,”…
From the previous posts in this series, we have shown that the primary “fundamentals” of the mature Abrahamic Faith are two points: (1) That there is one eternal, immortal, all-powerful, and all-sovereign God, who is the Father alone, and (2) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. A secondary “fundamental” is the Hope of the resurrection, the restoration of the whole creation, and the promised land inheritance. As Paul declared, “We…
Mark 4:10-12 (NASB) 10 And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return…
We now turn our attention to the only three passages which use the clause πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, “before the casting down of the world.” All three passages place the Son of God prior to whatever this clause actually meant. All three are significant in determining a correct theology concerning the Son of God, whether He was eternally co-existing with the Father (as in Trinitarianism), whether He did not even exist at all prior to the…
The Temporal use of ἀπὸ: In part II of this series, I covered the three passages which contain the clause ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου in which the preposition ἀπὸ is used causally, meaning “because of the casting down of the world.” In this post I would like to address the remaining four passages which have this clause where the preposition ἀπὸ is used temporally, meaning “since the casting down of the world.” I. Matt. 13:35 (NKJ)…
The Causal use of ἀπὸ: In part I of this series, I pointed out the awkwardness of the noun καταβολῆς (casting down), allegedly meaning “foundation/founding,” and its use in Hebrews 11:11 the only time it appears in the Bible apart from the clause καταβολῆς κόσμου (casting down of the world). In this post I would like to address three passages, where the entire clause appears, which are equally awkward and problematic for the same reason…
Sound doctrine is critical for Christians, but not for the reasons most suppose. It is not that holding a particular doctrinal position on the Godhead, free-will vs. election, the exact motions or rituals one must go through to be saved, or any particular eschatological viewpoint are required in order to inherit immortality. God alone decides who His sons and daughters are, not our list of “hoops” someone must jump through to be acceptable to us….