One God Report

In Part 1 (the previous episode, #92) I began to respond to some of the claims made in the One for Israel video called “The Trinity and the Torah, a Jewish Defense of the Trinity”. I noted that the so-called “mysterious unity of (one-God-in-three-persons) is not a biblical mystery, but is a man-made mystery that comes from centuries after the Bible was written, from Gentiles land outside of the Land of Israel.   Also, that the idea of agency is a much better way to understand how God’s messengers can speak and act for God.  God’s agents or messengers even speak in the first person as God, as they are delegated and authorized by God to do so. When God’s messengers speak, God speaks.   In the current episode: 01:00  Appealing to Dr. Benjamin Sommer. The necessity to appeal to Dr. Sommer’s ideas for evidence of more one person in God is an admission that the Bible makes no such declaration.   02:47  An example of an essential biblical truth, which unlike the doctrine of the Trinity, is directly and consistently described in the New Testament: that God raised the man Jesus from the dead.   04:54  Since a multi-person God is not declared in the Bible, people, including Gentile Christians, long for some scrap of “Jewish” evidence that God can be multi-personal. This the appeal to Dr. Sommer.   06:06  Who is Dr. Benjamin Sommer? His views on the authority and origin of Scripture, the Documentary Hypothesis, and the Bodies of God. Dr. Sommer’s view is closer akin to Modalism or Hinduism.   12:32  Is the Trinity in the Old Testament? What about Genesis 1:26? Does anyone in the New Testament go to the Old Testament to find evidence that God is triune?   14:54  Is the Trinity in the New Testament? Constructing a god from hints and clues, first finding verses that allegedly claim that Jesus is literally a second deity figure. What about John 1? Romans 10:9, 1 Cor. 8:6 - verses appealed in the One for Israel video do not declare that God is triune, and in fact, declare that the Father is the one God.   19:37  Are Israeli Jewish believers in Jesus Trinitarians? Most would say no. The deceptive bait and switch: finding evidence in the Bible that Jesus is the Messiah, but then insisting that Jesus is literally God.   22:40  A Trinity claim is an attempt to denigrate the only True God, the Father. A challenge from Deut. 32:6, Malachi 2:10 and John 17:1-3    For an analysis of the Documentary Hypothesis, see:  Casuto, U. The Documentary Hypothesishttps://www.amazon.com/Documentary-Hypothesis-Umberto-Cassuto/dp/9657052351   In pdf format: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://shalempress.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/29_3_2011_55_29_cas-gen.pdf    Benjamin Sommer: Quotes from Benjamin Sommer about his book Bodies of God in this podcast: https://kavvanah.blog/2015/05/13/interview-with-benjamin-sommer-on-revelation-and-authority-sinai-in-jewish-scripture-and-tradition/   Benjamin Sommer Lectures: The Bodies of Godhttps://biblicalstudiesonline.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/benjamin-d-sommer-on-gods-body/   Book: The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/bodies-of-god-and-the-world-of-ancient-israel/72E589D9BD86AEDF5DBF5043453C203F   #oneforisrael, #trinityandtheTorah, #deityofchrist, #agency, #billschlegel, #non-binaryjesus, #biblicalunitarian, #benjaminsommer, #bodiesofgod, #deityofchrist, #onegodreport

0:00  Introduction. One For Israel, my own interest in Israel and the Jewish People   1:00  Why is “The Trinity in the Torah” a “hot topic”? Because the Torah does not proclaim that God is triune. There is no declaration in the Bible where the God of Israel says, “I am three persons in one”. If there was such a declaration, there would be nothing to argue about.   Which Stumbling Block? The One For Israel video states that the “stumbling block” for the Jews is the Trinity, the deity of Christ and “incarnation” of one God person of a tri-personal god.  But such things are a non-biblical stumbling block to Jewish faith in the Messiah. These are post-biblical, man-made stumbling blocks that Jewish people are completely right in rejecting.   These man-made stumbling blocks prevent Jewish people from hearing and being confronted with the true New Testament declaration about the Messiah, Yeshua. As the Apostle Paul declared, the stumbling block for the Jews is “Christ crucified”. The biblical proclamation is that the Messiah was put to death, but was raised from the dead and exalted by God to God’s right hand. There is nothing in the New Testament about Jews not accepting the Trinity or incarnation of one divine person of a tri-personal God.   05:49  The “Mysterious Unity of God” which the One For Israel video repeatedly discusses is likewise a non-biblical mystery, entirely foreign to the Bible.   9:09  AGENCY: The biblical principal of “the messenger represents the one who sent him” (agency) is a much better way to understand the few passages that are put-forth as an attempt to show that there is a “mysterious unity of (more than one person who is) God”. Many Christians, including Messianic Jews who believe in the “deity of Christ” are not familiar with the concept of agency. Once agency is understood, the fog of the so-called “mystery” is lifted.   19:09 Summary. The Mystery Solved and Agency 22:09 Looking forward to Part 2 One For Israel: The Trinity and the Torah, a Jewish Defense of the Trinity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7D2djAnAbI&t=146s One God Report Podcast https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onegodreport-podcast   Or, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@billschlegel1   Trinity Preferred Pronouns: He/Him (Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought and Language) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRFJbSlC0-E   Is the God-man Jesus Trans-natured, Non-Binary? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_nDKxXkOg #oneforisrael, #trinityandtheTorah, #deityofchrist, #agency, #billschlegel, non-binaryjesus

The mystery of the Trinity is not a biblical mystery. The "Trinity is a mystery" claim comes from after the Bible was written.  No one in the Bible ever declared that God is a three-in-one mystery. Only hundreds of years after the Bible was written did people begin to claim the Trinity was a mystery not only because they couldn't understand it, but because they know that to claim that “God-is-three-persons” is difficult to align with the biblical claim that God is one. In this current episode (Part 2) we examine more problems with the Trinitarian mystery claim: 1.  Is the "Trinitarian mystery" really just a more positive way to say contradiction and confusion? 2. Trinitarian mystery promotes ignorance, not understanding. 3. Promoting "mystery" as something positive and desirable. 4. Gate-Keepers of the mystery religion 5. Even though it is a mystery, the brightest Christian minds have tried to understand and explain it.  All have failed. 6. Putting faith in the wrong place. Mystery deflects faith from the true biblical declaration of who God and Messiah are. 7.  Mystery is an attack on the Fatherhood of God, attempting to replace the one true God, the Father, with an impersonal "It". 8. The Trinity mystery claim directly contradicts explicit biblical revelation that we can know and understand who God is, and that God is one, the Father.

Trinitarian Christianity claims that the three-person-in-one God is a mystery that cannot be understood. The Trinitarian claim goes something like this: “The Bible says there is only one God. But the Bible also says the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God - so God must be three-in-one. We are only finite human beings, so we can’t really understand how God is three-persons-in-one-God. It’s a mystery.” In this episode we describe how the Trinitarian mystery claim is faulty, and can be “solved”. In the main, the Trinity is solved, or we can say dissolved, by the very fact that it is not a biblical mystery. No one in the Bible claims that the three-in-one-God is a mystery. Neither Jesus nor any apostle ever described the three-in-one-God or explained that it was a mystery. The claims for the mystery of the three-in-one-God are all non-biblical, post-biblical claims. The New Testament never addresses the triune mystery because the triune mystery emerges only centuries after the Bible was written. It was called a mystery bus it was known that a triune God directly contradicted explicit biblical declarations that God is one individual, and that He (one person) is God alone. For the full text of this podcast, see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-mystery-of-trinity-solved.html #mystery of the trinity, #deity of Christ, #biblical unitarian, #theology

Two reasons why the decimation of the Assyrian army in Judah in the days of Hezekiah is significant:   - 1. There is a unique correlation and agreement from three sources of this biblical event from over 2700 years ago:   a. Bible (Isaiah 36-37, 2 Kings 18-19, 2 Chronicles 32)  b. Archaeological finds in Israel and Assyria  c. Assyrian written records   - 2. The biblical authors present and remember the event as parallel to the destruction of the Egyptian military at the Reed Sea.   Both events - the defeat of the Egyptian army at the Reed Sea, and the defeat of the Assyria army in Judeh - are evidence that Yahweh is the Supreme God and that He is with Israel/Judah.

This episode is a review and recommendation for the recently printed book: Little Known Facts About the Trinity On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Known-Facts-About-Trinity/dp/B0BN61Z8Z3/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1674745468&refinements=p_27%3AKohl&s=books&sr=1-1 Christians should ask themselves these questions: Why did God never declare from heaven, or through a prophet or apostle, that HE is three persons in one? Why did Jesus never describe that God is "three in one"? Is a Triune God really biblical? Does the Bible say, “The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God, so God must be Triune”? At 100 pages this well-written book is not a daunting read. The book exhibits substantial research but is not overly academic. The author addresses main “deity of Christ” and Trinitarian claims, points out major interpretation problems and philosophical contradictions of Trinitarian claims and gives alternative (better) explanations of Trinitarian proof texts. The book also explains the post-biblical, non-biblical, often deadly, development of Trinitarian belief. I highly recommend this book. The only adjustment that I suggest be made is to at least mention that another possibility for interpreting John 1 is that John 1 is not describing the Genesis creation. John 1 is introducing the new beginning that God brings about through the man, the Messiah Jesus, who is metaphorically called the Word. As the author of the Book of Hebrews declared, “God…has spoken to us by a son”, and as the Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:21, "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man." The new beginning being done by God is through the man Jesus. This book is a call for believers in the God of the Bible to return to the declaration of the Apostle Peter concerning Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”.

This episode describes six different creations or creation events in the Bible. Not all descriptions of God creating refer to the Genesis creation.  We think about which of the creation events in the Bible Jesus played a role in. We suggest the creation of God’s son Israel is a main backdrop for the Gospel of John, including John’s Prologue. Like Israel, in John's Prologue Jesus is introduced as God's unique son to whom the Father has given glory (John 1:14). Topics and time stamps: 0:00 Introduction to the word “create”. Only God is the Creator. 02:40 The Genesis Creation 05:00 Creation of the People and Nation of Israel 06:47 Transformation or renewal of something that already exists. The renewal of nature is re-creation. 09:35 The Creation of new authorities and powers under the man Jesus: New creation in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 1 12:15 Spiritual Renewal is new creation: Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, renew in me a upright spirit” 13:05 Creation of one new man in place of two, Jew and Gentile. Galatians and Ephesians 2:15 13:49 Which of the above six creations was Jesus involved in? The Tendency of the Trinitarian mind to associate creation specifically to the Genesis creation. 14:56 Which creation is the emphasis of John’s Gospel and Prologue? Isaiah 43 as an example of the Creation of Israel, the Son of God, as a backdrop for the Gospel of John 19:38 God as Father and Israel as Son in the Old Testament and in the Gospel of John. God as Israel’s Father:  Exod. 4:22; Deut. 14:1; 32:5-6, 18-19; Isa. 43:6; 45:11; 63:16; 64:8[7]; Jer. 3:4, 19; 31:20; Hos. 11:1. 22:06 Recreation of God’s Children, Israel, in John’s Gospel 25:50 The Word/Torah instrumental in the creation of Israel. The Gospel of John in agreement with the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus is involved in the formation of renewed Israel 29:19 The recreation or regathering of Israel as a sign and symbol in the Gospel of John, chapter 12 30:27 Jesus’s role in other creation events #gospelofjohn, #prologueofjohn, #newcreation, #bible, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel

Nine evidences that John 1 is not referring to the Genesis creation (with time stamps): #GospelofJohn, #John1, #nontrinitarian, #deityofchrist, #newcreation, #billschlegel 1. 03:19 In the Gospel of John “the beginning” refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. 2. 05:07 “in the beginning” ἐν ἀρχῇ : Needs context. Vast majority of ἐν ἀρχῇ references in the Bible are not related to Genesis. 3. 08:45 Agreement with other Gospels “beginning” which relate to the ministry of Jesus. 4. 10:03 Agreement with other New Testament literature that in Jesus there is a new beginning, a new creation. 5. 12:17 The subject of what comes to be in John’s Gospel is not seas, dry land, plants, animals, planets, stars, sun, etc., but (new) human life. The word "world" in John 1:9-10 does not mean planet earth, but a segment of human society, indeed Israelite society. The subject and context is not the creation of the material "world". 6. 15:09 Some similar language, but for a different purpose. Life, light and darkness in John are not Genesis light, life and darkness. Mistaking parallelism and continuity for identity. 7. 18:54 Themes in the Prologue are associated with Jesus in the body of the Gospel. 8. 21:35 Consolation prize: Commentators recognize John 1 introduces a new beginning. 9. 23:44 John the Baptizer in verses 6-8 has no reason to be in an account of the Genesis creation.

This episode is part 3 of my response to an article posted by Answers in Genesis, which reviewed several of my blogposts about the supposed “deity of Christ”. Part 1 of my response is called “Jesus Can’t be a Mere Man” Part 2 is called ““Jesus HAD TO BE a (Mere) Man, the Bible Tells Me So” In this episode I review three claims in the Answers in Genesis, all which involve verses from the  Gospel of John that Trinitarians believe are evidence that Jesus is literally God, or more specifically, one member of a three-person god.  In each case, the Trinitarian arguments are weighed and found wanting. The topics and verses and time stamps are as follows: 0:00 – Review and Introduction to the current episode 2:59 – “Did Jesus become a Man?” John 1:1 and John 1:14 12:26 – “Did Jesus Pre-exist”? John 17:5, a recollection of a divine being or expression of trust of the man Christ Jesus? 21:48 – “Did Thomas Call Jesus God”, John 20:28. My Lord and my God, Trinitarians get it Wrong. Related links:  AIG article: https://answersingenesis.org/who-is-god/the-trinity/refuting-unitarian-errors-deity-jesus/?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR0LP267XtZkSNsjvNcDzEhyqe7Tk0SI4YSuyRq6PtKseenb1QIYoKgG224  “Jesus Can’t be a Mere Man”  https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/UgADHWPAGub  “Jesus HAD TO BE a (Mere) Man, the Bible Tells Me So”  https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Uor1bWPAGub  “The Word Became Flesh: Why John 1:14 does NOT say that Jesus Became Man”  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-word-became-flesh-why-john-114-does.html  If Jesus Pre-existed, He wasn’t Human  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/06/if-jesus-pre-existed-he-wasnt-human.html  My Lord and My God, Trinitarians Get it Wrong  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/12/my-lord-and-my-god-trinitarians-get-it.html  Jesus is Worshipped So He Must be God  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/06/jesus-is-worshipped-so-he-must-be-god.html  Did Jesus Raise Himself from the Dead  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/04/did-jesus-raise-himself-from-dead-john.html  Tips for Talking to Trinitarians about John 1 (Part 1)  https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/7i3bNXPAGub  #Deityofchrist, #trinity, #gospelofjohn, #john1, #100%man, #answersingenesis, #billschlegel, #simonturpin, #sonofgod

In this episode I show that in contrast to the deity of Christ claim that Jesus couldn’t be a mere man, the Bible declares explicitly that Jesus had to be a real (mere) human being.  It is necessary that Jesus was and is a real (mere) human being.  And, what God did through the real (mere) human being, one man, is sufficient to reconcile humanity to God.  In contrast and contradiction to the Trinitarian deity of Christ claim, the Bible declares that as sin and death came through one man, even so God’s grace, gift of righteousness, and the resurrection from the dead come through one man -- Not through a god-man.  Scriptures in this episode:  John 8:40: “I am a man who told you the truth that I heard from God…”  Acts 2:22: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-  Acts 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified  Romans 5:15: "For if many died through the trespass of one man, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many."  Romans 5:19: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." 1 Corinthians 15:21: “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man”  1 Timothy 2:4-5: God "…desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, a man Christ Jesus"  Genesis 3:4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.  Acts 17:31: “because He (God) has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this H e has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.  Psalm 8: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care for him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels, You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:6-7).  Related Links: AIG article: https://answersingenesis.org/who-is-god/the-trinity/refuting-unitarian-errors-deity-jesus/?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR0LP267XtZkSNsjvNcDzEhyqe7Tk0SI4YSuyRq6PtKseenb1QIYoKgG224  Bill Schlegel Land and Bible blog:  https://landandbible.blogspot.com/ Jesus had to be God to Atone for Sin?  Satellite Bible Atlas https://www.bibleplaces.com/satellite-bible-atlas-schlegel/  Son of God in the Bible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDElO7wU_8  #Deityofchrist, #trinity, #answersingenesis, #billschlegel, #simonturpin. #sonofgod, #mereman