DAVEH: > ... why do you feel compelled to cling to the T-Doctrine > to explain it? If you were to accept a pre-mortal existence > for all who come to earth, would it not more fully explain > why Jesus is the firstborn, and why we are literally the offspring > of our Heavenly Father?
I personally do not feel any compulsion to cling to the Trinity doctrine. However, I do feel compelled to stick with Scripture and its testimony concerning Jesus Christ and the Godhead. In science I was taught that nice explanations don't mean anything if they do not reflect reality. When I study the Scriptures concerning the term "firstborn," I see it as being spoken about as "firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:18). I also read in psalm 89:27 the phrase, "I will make him my firstborn." Other passages speak about how Jesus was God (John 1:1, Phil. 2:6, Col. 1:16, etc.). I also understand the sense of "firstborn" also as being one that give preference and glory to him, rather than indicating chronological sequence, although in many cases of culture, these go hand in hand. The bottom line is that I have a perception of Jesus Christ as being the everlasting Father, the Logos which has always existed, the one through whom everything that has ever been created was created by him and through him and for him. To say that he himself was created does not fit into this framework in any way. There are a lot of passages that would need to be explained or ignored for me to accept such a premise, and, of course, you would have to deal with my own inner conscience and revelation of who Jesus is (in other words, I am talking about my own subjective sense that my current perception is actually true because there is a witness that goes beyond study on this issue). DaveH wrote: > So as I understand this, you do not believe in the > literal brotherhood of Jesus, I believe in the literal brotherhood in the sense that he literally became flesh. That act made God no longer just my father, but my brother too (literally!). DaveH wrote: > nor do you believe we are the literal offspring > of our Heavenly Father. I'm not sure what you might mean here. Do I believe that the Heavenly Father had sexual relations with someone and begat us? Do I believe that the Heavenly Father produced us through some unisexual means? No. However, I do believe that he created Adam from the dust of the ground and then breathed into him the breath of life. In this sense, we are the literal offspring of our Heavenly Father. However, in this actual act, I believe that it was Jesus who actually did the work, who was at this time not our brother, but God our Creator. It was later, at the incarnation, that he became flesh and thereby became our brother. Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
