One God Report

In this second episode we continue to discuss the claim that Jesus the Son of God made pre-incarnate appearances in the Old Testament period.  We focus in this episode on the angel of the LORD. No New Testament author claimed that Jesus made pre-incarnate appearances as the angel of the Lord. The claim begins in the AD 2nd century, with Justin Martyr being the first one on record to make such a claim. Why is it that the angel (or Messenger) of Yahweh in the Old Testament is sometimes clearly said to be an angel, but then at other times actually seems to be Yahweh God? Is Jesus the angel of the Lord who is distinct from the Father but is someone still God? Salinger first shows that the angel of the Lord is by no means always the same person or being in every case the angel/messenger appears. In fact, there are human beings in the Old Testament who are specifically called the angel(s) of the Lord. Salinger explains that the key to understanding the passages about the angel of the Lord being distinct from Yahweh but sometimes speaking in the 1st person as Yahweh, or whose works are attributed to Yahweh, is AGENCY. The angel/messenger carries the authority and resources of God who sent him. God is considered to be personally present in the presence of the messenger He sent. Some examples of agency, where the agent is considered to be the one who sent him, are given from both the Old and New Testaments. There is no need for mysterious speculation about an angel who both is and isn’t God. Resource links for this episode: Salinger article: Pre-incarnate appearances in the OT: Truth or Myth Part 1 https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/pre-incarnate-appearances-of-the-son-of-god-in-the-ot-truth-or-myth-part-1/ Troy Salinger blog home: https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/ Bill Schlegel YouTube channel

Interview with painter and theologian Troy Salinger. Troy Salinger's blog is Let the Truth Come Out: https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/ In this first episode of a series, we discuss motivations for why some Christians feel the need to find pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus in the OT. Their motivation is based on the pre-supposition that Jesus was more than a human being. That he was a spirit emanation out of God, a created being like an angel, or God himself, or one member of a godhead. No one in the NT goes to the OT to find evidences of the pre-incarnate God the Son, so those who believe in a pre-incarnate son look for clues themselves to find him. Justin Martyr was the first Christian writer on record to propose the idea that certain appearances of God in the Old Testament were actually Jesus.  Justin Martyr lived in the middle of the 2ndcentury, some 100 years after Jesus was on earth. At least three places in the New Testament say that God can’t be seen. The Trinitarian assumes this refers to the Father (or the Trinity?), but for some reason maintains that the second person of the godhead can be seen. But how is it that the Father can not be seen, but the son who is fully God exactly the same as the Father in every way, can be seen? We discuss three New Testament verses (1 Cor. 10:3-4, 9 and Jude 5) that Trinitarians claim show that Jesus was literally alive in the Old Testament period and involved in the Israelite Exodus from Egypt. In the next episode, God willing, we discuss if the Angel of the Lord who appeared in the New Testament was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. Links for this episode: Troy Salinger blog home: https: //letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/ Pre-incarnate appearances of the Son of God in the OT: Truth or Myth, Part 1 https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/pre-incarnate-appearances-of-the-son-of-god-in-the-ot-truth-or-myth-part-1/ Refutation of the Master’s University Document on the Deity of Christ and the Trinity(8 articles) https://letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/?s=Refutation+master%27s+university (Biblical) Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference, Oct. 15-17, 2012 https://www.unitarianchristianalliance.org/conference/

In this episode (Part 2 of a 2 part episode) we continue to examine and comment on John 5, where Jesus healed a lame man at the Pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem.   In Part 1 (One God Report Podcast episode #52) we discussed the meaning of what it means biblically to be sent by God, and how a sent agent of God is given by God a defined equality to God, and represents God. We gave two reasons why the traditional "deity of Christ" interpretation of Jesus' calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God, is wrong. Jesus was not claiming to have an equal divine nature to God (the Father).  Jesus was not making a metaphysical statement. In this podcast we continue to show that all of John 5 is to be understood in the context of agency: Jesus is the sent human Son of God, and as God's agent has an equality of God. We show that the phrase "equal with God" is best understood in the biblical, Hebraic concept of "agency", an equality between the one sent and his sender.  "The one sent is equal to his sender".  The equality of the Messiah Jesus to God is as God's sent agent, not an equality of divine essence or nature.   The Christology of the Gospel of John is not "incarnation" (God taking on flesh, or becoming human) but "agency", God being represented and granting His authority to His appointed human Messiah Jesus.   For full written text of this episode and episode 2, see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/09/john-518-but-he-was-also-calling-god.html Other resources mentioned in this podcast: Restitutio podcast "Theology 4 – Challenging Conditional Immortality" https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165-theology-4-challenging-conditional-immortality/

In this episode (Part 1 of a 2 part episode) we examine and comment on John 5, where Jesus healed a lame man at the Pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem. We focus on John 5:17-18: "And this was why the Judeans were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." 18 This was why the Judeans were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." We show that the phrase "equal with God" is best understood in the biblical, Hebraic concept of "agency", an equality between the one sent and his sender.  "The one sent is equal to his sender". The equality of the Messiah Jesus to God is as God's sent agent, not an equality of divine essence or nature. The Christology of the Gospel of John is not "incarnation" (God taking on flesh, or becoming human) but "agency", God being represented and granting His authority to His appointed human Messiah Jesus. The equality of the Messiah Jesus to God is as God's sent agent, not an equality of divine essence or nature. For full written text of this episode and episode 2, see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/09/john-518-but-he-was-also-calling-god.html Other resources related to new creation in the Gospel of John mentioned in this podcast: ·  John 1:1, Jesus is the Beginning of God’s New Creation ·  More New Creation in the Gospel of John: Why John’s Prologue Should be Interpreted in the Context of New Creation ·  The Gospel of John, the Historical Context of the New Creation and New Testament Context

Pakistani Haroon Gulzar was studying in a Catholic seminary when he began to understand that God is not a Trinity, but is one, and that Jesus is God's human Messiah. In this interview Haroon's wife Maryam explains about how they came to a Biblical Unitarian faith, and how she, her husband and a team of others are ministering in Pakistan. Related web links: Abraham Church: Pastor Haroon Gulzar https://www.facebook.com/haroon.gulzar.1481 - Unitarian Christian Fellowship Pakistan https://www.facebook.com/Unitarian-Christian-Fellowship-Pakistan-111037450371592 - Maryam Haroon https://www.facebook.com/maryam.younas.31 - World Remit money transfer to Pakistan https://www.worldremit.com/en/pakistan?fbclid=IwAR1LMb_a5IIZVXx31_woI7QDUcp4MFaNRQ8LXwIhESRcs0m848gpeOR_74U&transfer=bnk&selectto=pk&amountfrom=100.00&currencyto=pkr&currencyfrom=usd Account holder: First name: Haroon Last name : Gulzar Account type: Allied Express Bank name: Allied Bank City/Town: Islamabad Pakistan Address: House no. 56, Street No. 9B, Sector G8-2, Islamabad Swift Code: ABPAPKKA IBAN: PK27ABPA0010072822400019 Mobile # : +92 311 0056 922

Jesus said “I am the Root of David” (Rev. 5:5, 22:16, cf. "Root of Jesse", Isaiah 11:1, 10, Romans 15:12). Being the Root of Jesse and the Root of David does not mean that Jesus is God, but rather that Jesus is a descendant of Jesse and David. Some Trinitarians claim that since Jesus is called the Root of Jesse and the Root of David, Jesus must have preceded both Jesse and David, and is the source of their lives and is therefore God. This podcast will explain why this Trinitarian claim is wrong. We will see that being the root of Jesse or the root of David, like being a branch from David, means that Jesus is a physical descendant of Jesse and David. The roots below ground, like the branches above ground, physically extend from the trunk of Jesse and David. Being the root of Jesse or the Root of David has nothing to do with being God. For full text of this episode click here. https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/07/i-am-root-of-david.html

In this episode I examine parallels between modern deviant gender and sexual claims and the claims of traditional Christianity for a dual-natured (God and man) Christ. The parallels are striking, and suggest the dual-natured Christ of traditional Christianity is a deviation, a perversion of the true. 1. A non-binary gender claim is that being one gender does not exclude a person from being another gender. Being a female does not exclude a person from being male. The male / female boundary can be crossed over by the same person. There is fluidity between genders. One can move back and forth between genders, or be both genders at the same time. Likewise, the traditional Christian Jesus is non-binary in that he is both God and human. The traditional Christian Jesus has fluidity. He is not limited by the border between God and humanity. He can be both God and human at the same time. Sometimes the divine Jesus may speak, other times the human Jesus speaks. - 2. Reality is not about appearances. Reality is about who we really are. A woman may have the body of a female, she may appear to be a woman. But what matters is what is inside, who this person really is. Inside she can be male, or again she has fluidity to be male or female “inside”. Likewise, according to traditional Christianity, Jesus had a human body. He lived on this earth. He walked like a man, he talked like a man, and his body even died. But inside he really wasn’t a man. Inside he was really God. - 3. Distorted gender claims change the meaning of pronouns. Along with the attempt to eliminate gender boundaries, a gay or transgender person wants to be referred to with a different gendered pronoun. A person who is really a he wants to be referred to as she. Non-binary gender persons want to not only change the gender in the pronoun, but want to change the number in the pronoun. Even though Demi Lovato is one person, she wants to be referred to with the plural pronouns “they” and “them”. Likewise, traditional Christianity confuses the number in the pronoun in which God is referred to. The traditional Christian God is three persons, “they”, but the Trinitarian three person God is universally referred to, confusedly, as “he” or “him”. Let me read a couple of verses and ask how many persons are involved when the Bible speaks of God. Deut. 4:35 “יהוה He is God, there is no other besides him. How many persons are in the pronouns “he” and “him”? Isaiah 45:5: “I am יהוה and there is no other. Besides me there is no other god. How many persons are in the pronouns “I” and “me”? - 4. As liberal and progressive movements have hijacked language and changed the meaning of words, so has traditional Christianity. Even the word “Christian” has been changed to mean something that it did not mean. In the Bible it was used to mean someone who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. But now the word has been transformed to refer to someone who believes that Jesus is God. Someone who believes that Jesus is God should more truthfully be called a “theosian” or a “deusian”. Trinitarian and deity of Christ believer, could it be that as modern views about gender and sex are a perversion and a deviation from the truth, so is your view of God and His Messiah? Could it be that the same spirit that wants to erase gender boundaries is the spirit that wants to erase the boundary between God and man? Is your dual natured Jesus a non-binary, fluid Jesus? Is the traditional Christian Jesus really a “liberal, progressive” Jesus, a perversion of the true Messiah Jesus of Nazareth? Could it be that God and His Messiah look upon this deviation from whom they really are with the same disapproval that they view the perversion of gender and sex?

Many Christians seem to think that because Jesus is worshipped, he is God. We examine that claim and find it lacking in a number of respects. The claim "Jesus must be God, because he is worshipped" is: 1. biblically ignorant. There are many humans in the Bible that are properly worshipped. 2. anti-Christ, a denial that Jesus Christ is a man. The claim “Jesus must be God if he is worshipped” is in effect: "We will not have this one, this man, rule over us". 3. Contradictory: On the one hand: “Jesus is fully man” but on the other hand: “I’m not worshipping a man.” 4. Not a biblical claim. The Bible never says, “Jesus is worshipped so he must be God”. Rather the claim is based on a misunderstanding of word meanings and wrong philosophical speculation. The biblical model for worship is: There is only one God, יהוה, The Father. We worship God as God. We worship no one else as God other than יהוה, The Father. We worship Jesus as the Messiah who gave his life for us, and the one to whom God has given all authority in heaven and on earth, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. - Full written text of this podcast click here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/06/jesus-is-worshipped-so-he-must-be-god.html Other resources: Podcast and notes/word study of “worship” by Sean Finnegan http://restitutio.org/2016/03/04/should-we-worship-jesus/ Brother Kel article on the word “worship” in the Bible https://www.angelfire.com/space/thegospeltruth/TTD/terms/worship1.html

I took the Trinity quiz on The Gospel Coalition's website (link below). - I make some comments along the way about the quiz, and about a few biblical verses that are presented on the website as evidence that God is a Trinity, and about two lectures on the Trinity by R.C. Sproul. - The Gospel Coalition is an evangelical Protestant organization. I was frustrated and surprised that during the quiz, only one Bible verse was given in support of declarations about the Trinity. Instead, the declarations were backed up by statements from the Athanasian Creed (c. AD 500) and modern theologians.  - In the end, it seems like Evangelical Protestants are being hypocritical. While accusing Jews and Catholics of holding tradition as more authoritative than the Bible, Evangelicals depend on tradition to define their key concepts about who (or what) God and Jesus are.  - The Gospel Coalition "course" on the Trinity, including the Trinity quiz: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/the-doctrine-of-the-trinity/

The Bible is clear that there is only one God. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 32:39, Mark 12:29, Isaiah 44:24, John 17:3. 1 Cor. 8:6, Gal. 4:6).  The name of God in the Bible appears over 6800 times and is spelled with the four Hebrew consonants יהוה. Here is an example of what יהוה the God of the Bible says: Deuteronomy 32:39 “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me.” The Bible is also clear that the Lord Jesus Christ has a God. So, is the one God of the Bible, יהוה, who states that He alone is the only God – is He the Lord Jesus Christ’s God? The only God, יהוה, must be, has to be, the Lord Jesus Christ’s God. So, the Lord Jesus Christ is not God. We look at Scriptures that explicitly state that the Lord Jesus Christ has a God. We see that in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, God is the Father alone.  The only God, the Lord Jesus Christ's God, is the Father. For full text of this podcast see here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/07/jesus-has-god_6.html