For we know in part and we prophecy in part...Now we see but a poor reflection...Now I know in part; then Ishall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Cor13:9-12).
Dear Ed,
It is obvious to me that you truly care and are concerned for my eternal well being. You are scared that God is going to torture me in hell for all eternity. I understand where you are coming from because I was once there myself. I too believed that God had this dark, cruel plan to torment without end those who never even asked to live in the first place. I too believed that everyone who disagreed with my perspective was an enemy of God.
I too thought that my interpretation of Scripture was the infallible , perfect, word of God. After long, deep, concentrated reflection, I now realize that godly men can disagree on interpretations of ancient texts. From the earliest times men who sought after God disagreed about the nature of the Messiah. As you know, godly leaders within your church disagree about Calvinism and Arminianism, they disagree about the rapture of the church, they disagree about the tongues.
Others disagree about the millennium, infant baptism, spiritual gifts, women in ministry, eternal security, predestination, and the nature and duration of hell. Daniel B. Wallace says, "In a historical-literary investigation we are dealing with probability vs. possibility. We are attempting to recover meaning without all the data. This is not a hard science...Unlike the hard sciences, a falsifiable hypothesis in the humanities is difficult to demonstrate because of the vacillations in the levels of ambiguity in the data examined (in our case, the ambiguities in the texts whose authors cannot be consulted" (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, 9).
I think it would be wise for us to take his warning seriously. We are not able to pull John, or Paul aside and ask, what did you mean by that? This leave us to put the pieces together the best we can. Biblical, or any other interpretation is not a perfect science. I understand why you interpret the text the way you do, because I once had the same perspective. You asked what you could do for me. What you could do is to please, please try to understand that godly individuals can and do often disagree about their interpretation.
The same reason why we haved I agreements on the timing of the tribulation or the various views on the millennium are the same reasonswhy some interpret the text as teaching Jesus is the human son of God and not YWHW, the one God of Israel. Ed, I think the church has used hell to scare people enough to not truly consider other viewpoints.
Why would anyone question the Trinity if they thought Godwas going to toast them forever without end if they changed their mind? If we were honest, most of us did not believe that Godwas one being in three co-eternal, co-equal persons when we were saved. We just knew that God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Secondly, even mature Christians who have studied the Scriptures for years, when asked to explain the Trinity either articulate Social Trinitariansim (a God family), where three distinct beings are equally God, or Modalistic Monarchiansim, which is one God who manifests himself in three different ways, forms, ormodes. In other words, most people who claim to be Trinitarians are really only Trinitarians in name, orword, not in reality.
The truth of each persons belief is revealed upon their explanation. If we came across a person in church who claimed they were driving a Hummer, but upon being asked to explain the vehicle, they said it was built on the same frame as a Dodge Neon, and some of the newer ones are convertibles, we would immediately point out, thateven though this person thinks they are driving a Hummer, it is really a PT Cruiser :-) Lastly, the overwhelming emphasis in the NT is that aperson must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, not God, the second person of the Triune Godhead.
This is by far the general tenor of Scripture.
1. When Jesus asked Peter, who do you say that I am? Peter confesses that, "Thou art the Christ (Messiah),the son of the living God" (Matt 16).
2. Paul says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Godraised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom 10:9).
Is this not enough?
3. John says, "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:36). John explicitly tells us the whole purpose of his entire gospel right here. If he wanted John 1 and 8:58 to teach us that Jesus is the second member of a Tri-une Godhead, here was the perfect place. Instead he chose to say, everything I wrote is for the purpose of telling you that Jesus is Messiah.
4. John says, "For God so loved the world that he sent his uniquely begotten son, for whoever believes him shall not perish but have everlasting life"(3:16). 5. John also says, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well" (1 John 5:1). It seems pretty clear that everyone means everyone, no?
I know that you are having a hard time accepting it, but the truth is that I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. I believe that God raised him from the dead. I love both the Father and Jesus his Son. I really hope that some day you can learn to appreciate this and see that I am standing on the plain testimony of Scripture.
posted by Ed Enochs at 10:55 AM
<< Home