When Trinitarians read this verse:
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." - Colossians 2:9 (KJV)
They make it mean that Jesus was equal to the Almighty God, that he was literally "God in the flesh". As always, we must confront 2 of the trinity doctrines biggest enemies: Original Greek and context. Before we get to those topics, it would be good to quickly make apparent what the word 'Godhead' meant to the original translators...
"In older English [Godhead] was a synonym for divinity" - Hastings; A Dictionary of the Bible; and Liddell and Scott; An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon
Trinitarians have since given their own definition to the word "Godhead". Not the definition that matches that of the original translators. This is just another issue that comes with a Bible translation that is over 400 years old, what words meant then are not necessarily what they mean now. Accepting this definition of "Godhead", that it means Jesus is equally the Almighty God, would create a contradiction in scripture.
"...my Father is greater than I." - John 14:28 (KJV)
"Thou madest him a little lower than the angels" - Hebrews 2:7 (KJV)
"...Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death..." - Hebrews 2:9 (KJV)
So if Paul's words were equating Jesus with God, then it would be a direct contradiction of his later letters to the Hebrews. Additionally:
"and you share in this fullness in him" - Colossians 2:10 (NAB)
"...ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." - Ephesians 1:19 (KJV)
Paul says that the Christians congregation "shares in this fullness" and are also "filled with all the fullness of God". So there is only one logical explanation, if Jesus being filled with the Godhead makes him God, then the Christian congregation is also God because, according to Paul, we are filled with that same fullness. The same thing can be said of a Trinity. If being "filled with the fullness of God" makes Jesus a part of the Trinity, then the Christian congregation also sharing in this fullness, must be a part of the Trinity also. It seems to me, that once again Trinitarian logic is proven to be faulty. And obviously, that is not what Paul meant when he wrote this.
"Taken by themselves, these two sentences might be theological statements about the essential nature of Christ...But in both places Paul goes on to speak of what God has done for Christians through Christ..So he seems to be thinking chiefly of the fullness of divine grace which is in Christ, and by him is made available for men....The church is to become...an organism through which he can work perfectly. The ideal will be realized only when all Christians are filled with all the fullness of god (Eph. 3:19), i.e. with the fullness which has its source in God, not the fullness which God has in himself." - A. Richardson; A Theological Wordbook of the Biblex
”These passages most clearly evince that Christ has received his fullness from God, in the sense in which we shall receive our fullness from Christ. It is of no weight in proving that Christ is of the same essence with God." - John Milton; On Christian Doctrine
Additionally, the context rules out equality with God by what Paul states later:
"who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" - Colossians 1:15 (ASV)
Being an image of God, Jesus contextually cannot BE God. An image is "a physical likeness or representation of a person". An image of something is NEVER the original thing. Also the use of Greek words "en" and "dia" with the genitive in Colossians 1:14-17 (ASV) shows that Jesus was the instrument of creation, not the Creator.
As if it those proofs aren't enough of the erroneous understanding that the Trinitarians possess, the original Greek reveals more. The Greek word rendered "Godhead" is "Theotetos" and insisted to mean "the state of being full God". According to many lexicons, including but not limited to, Bauer, Arndt, Gingrigh, Danker Greek Lexicon it means "divine nature, deity, divinity". Also Edward Robinson, in his “Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament”, defines it as "divinity, divine nature". Liddell and Scott's "A Greek English Lexicon" gives the same definitions. What Trinitarians do is called "anachronism", which means they force their own later definitions into the true meaning of Bible times.
Delving deeper into the context and original Greek:
"As a parallel 2Pet. 1:3,4 says those "chosen" may become sharers in "divine nature" (THEIA). Being truly “divinity,” or of “divine nature,” does not make the Son of God coequal and coeternal with the Father, any more than the fact that all humans share “humanity” or “human nature” makes them coequal or all the same age.
If Jesus really were Almighty God then this fullness of the divine quality would be intrinsic to his very being. Yet, this Col. 1:19 explicitly states that this "fullness" was Christ’s because God "saw good," (EUDOKESEN) or it "*pleased *the Father" (KJV) for this to be so. The Greek word translated "saw good" is "eudokeo," and means: "decide, pleased, consider good, consent." (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker Greek- English Lexicon pg. 319; Thayer's Greek Lexicon pg. 258).
Or as Francis Young, Lecturer in N. T. Studies, Birmingham University, England remarked upon this word ["eudokesen"] ". . the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him. . . it was choice, will, purpose, election, rather than essential derivative nature."
Christ *received* his fullness (of qualities) from God, in the same sense that we must receive our fullness from Christ. If Christ were equal to Almighty God he would not need someone else to agree or consent to his having all the fullness of the divine quality! As usual, Christ had to be *granted* the power to carry out the divine purpose (Mat. 28:18). It wasn't his by nature.
The Greek word THEOTETOS is derived from "Theos" plus "tes". A similar word is "ADELPHOS" with the suffix "TES" which means "brotherhood." So there was no mystical Trinitarian meaning of the word “Godhead” at the time English bible was translated:
"-head, as in Godhead and maiden head is now part for the variant -hood, as in boyhood, childhood, knighthood, manhood, womanhood...The connection being 'state, quality...-head originates in OE [old English] -hed, -hood originates in OE -hod or -had, from the since-disappeared independent words hod or had (var hed), state, condition, quality, hence rank, order. Example: Brotherhood...childhood...girlhood...God... manhood..."—E. Partridge; A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English." - BARS-ANERGES
Trinitarians are constantly fighting to prove something that cannot be proved without ignorance. Some people use willful ignorance, others are just not made aware of the facts. I write this blog for those who are not aware but want to be. All that is needed for the truth are the 3 H's; humility, honesty, and hunger. I hope that everyone finds this information beneficial.
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." - Colossians 2:9 (KJV)
They make it mean that Jesus was equal to the Almighty God, that he was literally "God in the flesh". As always, we must confront 2 of the trinity doctrines biggest enemies: Original Greek and context. Before we get to those topics, it would be good to quickly make apparent what the word 'Godhead' meant to the original translators...
"In older English [Godhead] was a synonym for divinity" - Hastings; A Dictionary of the Bible; and Liddell and Scott; An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon
Trinitarians have since given their own definition to the word "Godhead". Not the definition that matches that of the original translators. This is just another issue that comes with a Bible translation that is over 400 years old, what words meant then are not necessarily what they mean now. Accepting this definition of "Godhead", that it means Jesus is equally the Almighty God, would create a contradiction in scripture.
"...my Father is greater than I." - John 14:28 (KJV)
"Thou madest him a little lower than the angels" - Hebrews 2:7 (KJV)
"...Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death..." - Hebrews 2:9 (KJV)
So if Paul's words were equating Jesus with God, then it would be a direct contradiction of his later letters to the Hebrews. Additionally:
"and you share in this fullness in him" - Colossians 2:10 (NAB)
"...ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." - Ephesians 1:19 (KJV)
Paul says that the Christians congregation "shares in this fullness" and are also "filled with all the fullness of God". So there is only one logical explanation, if Jesus being filled with the Godhead makes him God, then the Christian congregation is also God because, according to Paul, we are filled with that same fullness. The same thing can be said of a Trinity. If being "filled with the fullness of God" makes Jesus a part of the Trinity, then the Christian congregation also sharing in this fullness, must be a part of the Trinity also. It seems to me, that once again Trinitarian logic is proven to be faulty. And obviously, that is not what Paul meant when he wrote this.
"Taken by themselves, these two sentences might be theological statements about the essential nature of Christ...But in both places Paul goes on to speak of what God has done for Christians through Christ..So he seems to be thinking chiefly of the fullness of divine grace which is in Christ, and by him is made available for men....The church is to become...an organism through which he can work perfectly. The ideal will be realized only when all Christians are filled with all the fullness of god (Eph. 3:19), i.e. with the fullness which has its source in God, not the fullness which God has in himself." - A. Richardson; A Theological Wordbook of the Biblex
”These passages most clearly evince that Christ has received his fullness from God, in the sense in which we shall receive our fullness from Christ. It is of no weight in proving that Christ is of the same essence with God." - John Milton; On Christian Doctrine
Additionally, the context rules out equality with God by what Paul states later:
"who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" - Colossians 1:15 (ASV)
Being an image of God, Jesus contextually cannot BE God. An image is "a physical likeness or representation of a person". An image of something is NEVER the original thing. Also the use of Greek words "en" and "dia" with the genitive in Colossians 1:14-17 (ASV) shows that Jesus was the instrument of creation, not the Creator.
As if it those proofs aren't enough of the erroneous understanding that the Trinitarians possess, the original Greek reveals more. The Greek word rendered "Godhead" is "Theotetos" and insisted to mean "the state of being full God". According to many lexicons, including but not limited to, Bauer, Arndt, Gingrigh, Danker Greek Lexicon it means "divine nature, deity, divinity". Also Edward Robinson, in his “Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament”, defines it as "divinity, divine nature". Liddell and Scott's "A Greek English Lexicon" gives the same definitions. What Trinitarians do is called "anachronism", which means they force their own later definitions into the true meaning of Bible times.
Delving deeper into the context and original Greek:
"As a parallel 2Pet. 1:3,4 says those "chosen" may become sharers in "divine nature" (THEIA). Being truly “divinity,” or of “divine nature,” does not make the Son of God coequal and coeternal with the Father, any more than the fact that all humans share “humanity” or “human nature” makes them coequal or all the same age.
If Jesus really were Almighty God then this fullness of the divine quality would be intrinsic to his very being. Yet, this Col. 1:19 explicitly states that this "fullness" was Christ’s because God "saw good," (EUDOKESEN) or it "*pleased *the Father" (KJV) for this to be so. The Greek word translated "saw good" is "eudokeo," and means: "decide, pleased, consider good, consent." (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker Greek- English Lexicon pg. 319; Thayer's Greek Lexicon pg. 258).
Or as Francis Young, Lecturer in N. T. Studies, Birmingham University, England remarked upon this word ["eudokesen"] ". . the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him. . . it was choice, will, purpose, election, rather than essential derivative nature."
Christ *received* his fullness (of qualities) from God, in the same sense that we must receive our fullness from Christ. If Christ were equal to Almighty God he would not need someone else to agree or consent to his having all the fullness of the divine quality! As usual, Christ had to be *granted* the power to carry out the divine purpose (Mat. 28:18). It wasn't his by nature.
The Greek word THEOTETOS is derived from "Theos" plus "tes". A similar word is "ADELPHOS" with the suffix "TES" which means "brotherhood." So there was no mystical Trinitarian meaning of the word “Godhead” at the time English bible was translated:
"-head, as in Godhead and maiden head is now part for the variant -hood, as in boyhood, childhood, knighthood, manhood, womanhood...The connection being 'state, quality...-head originates in OE [old English] -hed, -hood originates in OE -hod or -had, from the since-disappeared independent words hod or had (var hed), state, condition, quality, hence rank, order. Example: Brotherhood...childhood...girlhood...God... manhood..."—E. Partridge; A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English." - BARS-ANERGES
Trinitarians are constantly fighting to prove something that cannot be proved without ignorance. Some people use willful ignorance, others are just not made aware of the facts. I write this blog for those who are not aware but want to be. All that is needed for the truth are the 3 H's; humility, honesty, and hunger. I hope that everyone finds this information beneficial.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Is there a specific scripture in the Bible that you are confused about? That you think proves the trinity to be true and would like it clarified? Any questions about the trinity at all, let me know. I would be more than willing to provide the information for you, or the place where you find the information.