Name: What about John 1:1?: An introduction to understanding John 1:1 @billschlegel1
Uploaded: 2024-10-22T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: What about John 1:1?: An introduction to understanding John 1:1

What about John 1:1?: An introduction to understanding John 1:1

Bill Schlegel 2024-10-22 | What about John 1:1?: An introduction to understanding John 1:1

The Cost of Truth: Stories of Biblical Unitarian Christians

Bill Schlegel 2024-10-08 | More and more former Trinitarians, Atheists and Jehovah’s Witnesses are coming to know and believe that God is the Father, and that Jesus is God’s human Son, the Messiah. Here are a few of their stories.

Book available on Amazon:
amazon.com/Cost-Truth-Biblical-Unitarian-Christians/dp/1736918052

#biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel, #bible, #Jesus, #countthecost

Isaiah 53 Suffering Servant is NOT God #toviasinger #benshapiro #isaiah53

Bill Schlegel 2024-09-13 | Who is the Servant described in Isaiah 53?
Israel?
Jesus Christ?
Someone else?
Whoever the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is, it is clear that the Servant is NOT God.

Jewish interpretation predominantly says that the Suffering Servant is Israel. Christians, including Messianic Christians, have insisted that the servant described in Isaiah 53 is "the Messiah" Jesus.

This podcast explains how the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is about both Israel and the Messiah Jesus. But neither are literally God.

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is the Servant of God.

#isaiah53, #michaelbrown, #toviahSinger, #benshapiro, #bible, #sufferingservant, #Jesus

Tim Mackie, Thoughts on the Trinity, a Response #timmackie, #trinity, #bibleproject, #transfigured

Bill Schlegel 2024-08-28 | Dr. Tim Mackie appeared on the Transfiguration Podcast describing some of his recent thoughts about the Trinity. In this video/podcast I review and point out some errors in Dr. Mackie’s claims.

0:00 Intro: Dr. Mackie’s search: How are Trinitarian expressions of God derived from the Bible?

02:20 Definition: What is the Trinity. Confusion between God as the Father alone, Trinitarianism, and Modalism. How many persons/selves is God?

08:03 Partial Knowledge. “Our knowledge of God will always be partial. The Trinity is a mystery.”

14:27 Progressive Revelation “Our knowledge of how many persons God is, was revealed progressively.”

24:00 Agency: the agent (one sent) of the sender is considered to legally be the presence of the sender.

26:14 How and When was the Trinity revealed? A couple New Testament references that supposedly hint that “Jesus is God”. Do Jesus’ miracles prove Jesus is literally God?

37:00 Any common ground between One-God-the-Father believers, and Trinitarians? Different narratives.

40:41 A thank you and challenge to Dr. Mackie.

Resources:
Transfigured Interview: Tim Mackie - The Trinity, Hermeneutics & Doctrinal Development
youtube.com/watch?v=lyCqhMDudYU&t=1561s

Is the Trinity in the Bible? If So, Where?
youtube.com/watch?v=POVaZX3urdc

How and When was the Trinity Revealed?
youtube.com/watch?v=6HaqhjicWv8

My Lord and My God, Trinitarians Get it Wrong, John 20:28
youtube.com/watch?v=hxYp4n52P8Q
Text: landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/12/my-lord-and-my-god-trinitarians-get-it.html

One God Report Podcast:

Land and Bible blog (Bill Schlegel)
landandbible.blogspot.com

Jesus had to be God to Atone for Sin Really?

Bill Schlegel 2024-08-02 | “Jesus had to be God. Jesus had to be God to atone for our sins” Really?
1. The claim is non-biblical, philosophical speculation. This claim is not something argued or presented in the Bible.
2. The Bible says exactly the opposite. The Bible says that Jesus had to be a man, a human being, not just a human nature, to bring about God’s plan of redemption for humanity. God was at work in and through the man Jesus of Nazareth. Who the man Jesus was and is, and what he did, was necessary, sufficient and acceptable to God.
Problems: The claim that Jesus had to be God to atone for sins is not only non-biblical, but it also leads to other, non-biblical, philosophical dead ends.

What deity of Christ folks are claiming is a penal substitution theory of atonement: somebody, or something else, a substitute, had to bear the penalty for my sin.

And that penalty is death. The claim is that instead of me, somebody else had to die for my sin. My sin is worthy of death, so, unless someone pays the death penalty, I will die. If someone else pays the penalty, then I don’t have to die. My sin is worthy of death, so that’s why a death is required for justice. Someone had to pay the death penalty – so instead of me, Jesus, who had to be God, paid that death penalty.

Let’s say I murder someone. The biblical penalty for murder is death. I deserve death. I’ve been convicted in a court of law by jurors and a judge and sentenced to death. But my friend, Mike, right as the judge is about to strike the gavel down and send me off to execution, Mike stands up in the courtroom and shouts “Wait! Stop!”. I’ll pay the penalty for Bill. Kill me instead!”

So, the judge says, “OK, the penalty for this crime is death. If you are willing to pay the penalty, come on over here. Executioners, take the handcuffs off Bill and put them on Mike. Mike, off to the electric chair. Bill, you are free to go!” And everyone in the courtroom nods their head in agreement. That’s fair. The penalty was paid. The judge kept the ancient laws of justice.

Nope. People realize such a tactic is perversion of justice, not a maintenance of justice.

For the “Jesus must be God to pay for sin” folks there is another step in their philosophical, non-biblical speculation. They start thinking: well, maybe one person could give his life to pay the penalty for another (even though they know that biblically – “the person who sins, he shall die” Eze. 18:20, even a father can’t be penalized for the iniquity of his son). But our situation is not just one person for one person. The deity of Christ philosopher thinks, “Whoa, to pay the penalty for all sinners, for millions and billions of sinners, Jesus would have to be eternal God to be enough to do that”.

God died (again, in direct contradiction to the Scriptures). In the Bible God is immortal and does not die. Well, not all of God died. Only one person of God died. So God did but God did not die.

“And death is only the separation of the soul from the body. One person of God, or the soul/spirit of that one person, had taken on a human nature. So the spirit didn’t die, just the human nature.”

Some comments:
1. A person-less human nature (whatever that is) was enough to redeem all the multitude, millions, billion from their sin?
The Trinitarian says that Jesus had to be God to atone for mankind’s sin. But then claim that God did not die, only the human Jesus, or the human nature of Jesus died. So, the very thing the deity of Christ believer claims was necessary for the forgiveness of sin, that God die, did not happen. The deity of Christ believer claims that God had to die, but then turns around and claims that God did not die (only a human nature).
But the Bible says we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son (Rom. 5: 10). Jesus said, “I was dead” (Rev. 1:18). Not “my human nature died and came to life again”; but, “I was dead”
2. In addition, mainstream Christianity insists that the wages of sin is more than just death – it eternal separation from God, eternal conscious torment. What you deserve for sin is eternal conscious torment. For Jesus to satisfy or take your sin in place of you means Jesus must suffer eternal separation and eternal conscious torment in hell. No one has paid that penalty. No one has paid the penalty mainstream Christianity insists Jesus had to be God to pay.
The truth is, God says to Adam, to man - with rebellion and disobedience, “You will die”. But mankind swallows the satanic lie, “I won’t die”. And even worse, we talk back to God and insist, “No God, you die”.

If your philosophical, theological speculation brings you to the point where you proclaim or insist that God died, rethink think your belief.

Resources:
Jesus had to be a “Mere” Man
youtube.com/watch?v=CtQXFuOXBaA

"Jesus had to be God to atone for our sins." Really? Got a Scripture for that?
landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/01/jesus-had-to-be-god-to-atone-for-our.html

God is HE, not THEY: Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought #bible #trinity

Bill Schlegel 2024-06-21 | God is He, not They!

Have you ever thought about why we call God “He”, when the mainstream Christian god is “they”.

Three persons are “they/them”, not “he/him”.

Mainstream Christians are as confused about pronouns as "woke progressives" are. Mainstream Christians insist their god is three persons, but also insist on the using the pronouns “he/him.”

In the Bible, God is called He/Him, because he is he, NOT they. The one God is the Father, and His human son is Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed.

See the lecture called: Trinity Preferred Pronouns: He/Him (Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought and Language)
youtube.com/watch?v=VRFJbSlC0-E

Jesus is Lord, NOT God #christjesus, #jesusislord

Bill Schlegel 2024-06-14 | Jesus is Lord!
Contrary to mainstream Christianity’s belief, to claim and believe that “Jesus is Lord” is NOT a claim that “Jesus is God”. Rather, when the writers of the New Testament use the title “Lord” for Jesus, they do so to differentiate Jesus from God.

There are tens of examples, but here are a couple.

The Apostle Peter:
“God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus…” Acts 2:36

The Apostle Paul:
“God raised the Lord” 1 Cor. 6:14

Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God. Mainstream Christianity confuses the two, but the writers of the New Testament did not.

For more information, see the lecture linked below called: "Jesus is Lord means Jesus is NOT God”
youtu.be/qzaLpY4cxio

Isaac Newton, John Adams: Non-Trinitarian Devout Christians

Bill Schlegel 2024-06-07 | There have been quite a few well-known, devout Christians who were not Trinitarians, like John Adams, the 2nd president of the United States and his wife Abigail, and their son John Quincy Adams, the USA’s 6th president. And listen to this about Sir Isaac Newton, famed British physicist, astronomer and theologian:

Like the Apostle Paul wrote: “As for us, there is one God, the Father…” 1 Corinthians 8:6

Resource:
Documentary: “Sir Isaac Newton: The Gravity of Genius”
Posted as: “Sir Isaac Newton: Unhappy Scientific Genius | Full Documentary | Biography”
youtube.com/watch?v=OK1bCqkn6Vk&t=962s

When were the Gospels Written?

Bill Schlegel 2024-05-31 | Most scholars say the Gospels were not written until the mid AD 60s. Is that right? This podcast describes why they think that, and gives suggestions as to why the Gospels may have been written much earlier.

For full text, see here: landandbible.blogspot.com/2024/05/when-were-gospels-written-historical.html

Resources:
Link to Fuel Youth Camp Registration: register-online.org/FUELRedirect.php

Podcast describing Fuel Youth Camp: youtube.com/watch?v=l7VPCLbVDD0

UCA Conference Registration: eventleaf.com/e/uca2024#map

JAT Robinson, Redating the New Testament.

Which God, or who, was IN Jesus? NOT God the Son. #trinity, #israel #bible #john1

Bill Schlegel 2024-05-03 | According to the Bible, which God, or who was in Jesus? For centuries mainstream Christianity has declared that “God the Son” was incarnated as Jesus. But wait - there is no “God the Son” in the Bible.

In fact, the man, the human person Jesus said specifically that the God that was at work performing miracles and speaking through him was - the Father.

Jesus said, “that you may come to know and understand that…the Father is in me” (John 10:38).
And, “the Father who dwells in me does His works” (John 14:10).

Mainstream Christianity has insisted for centuries that “God the Son” was in Jesus. But Jesus said it was the Father at work and speaking in him.

We do well to follow Jesus and not the traditions of men.

#jesus, #bible, #gospelofjohn, #john1, #israel

Where is the Man Jesus in John 1? #John1, #Jesus, #bible

Bill Schlegel 2024-04-26 | Some Biblical Unitarians (believers in the One God, the Father), don’t see the man Jesus in the first verses of John’s Gospel. Instead, they understand the “Word/Logos” as an abstract plan, design, promise or wisdom that is only personified (described as if it were a person).

Trinitarian “diety-of-christ” and “Arian” believers likewise don’t see the human person, the human being Jesus of Nazareth in the first verses of John’s Gospel. They see only a “divine being/person who became flesh” – but this podcast is not directed toward them. They have bigger problems.

This podcast should challenge believers in One God, the Father, to see that the “personified plan, purpose, wisdom” interpretation of John’s Prologue falls short.

I asked fourteen One God, the Father believers who have lectured or written about their abstract personification interpretation of John’s Prologue, this question:

“At what place in John 1 do you first see the man Christ Jesus of Nazareth or his ministry, either metaphorically or literally, being the subject?“

Their answers should be enlightening.

Other resources mentioned in this podcast:

Perry, Andrew. John 1:1-18 A Socinian Approach
amazon.com/John-1-1-18-Andrew-Perry/dp/0993444083
https://www.academia.edu/42755430/John_1_1_18_A_Socinian_Approach

Whittaker, H.A. Studies in the Gospels
christadelphianbooks.com/detail/1738

Podcast: John 1 is NOT Genesis 1 (8+1 Evidences)
youtube.com/watch?v=XFv33RbrJfQ

Tips on Talking with Trinitarians about John 1
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5oTh8KhdYpIGhrH11AXnxtM

Mean Tweets: Youre a Heretic!

Bill Schlegel 2024-04-12 | For those who come to understand and believe that the God of the Bible is the Father alone (John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:6) and that Jesus is God's human Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God --- you will be condemned by many religious leaders and even family and friends.

This podcast gives some examples :).

Other resources:
Bill Schlegel Youtube Channel
youtube.com/@billschlegel1

Blog
landandbible.blogspot.com

Lecture: Denying Christ: "Jesus is God" Denies that Jesus is the Christ
youtu.be/mQMBh-Hhiw4

John 1 “Beginning” is NOT Genesis 1 “Beginning“ #trinity #Jesus, #bible

Bill Schlegel 2024-04-11 | The Gospel of John starts with the phrase, “In the beginning”. But this “beginning” is not the same “beginning” as Genesis 1. While being an intentional parallel to the Genesis beginning, John 1 describes a different beginning, a “new beginning” that God brings about through the man Christ Jesus.

John’s first verses use Genesis creation words like, “light” and “darkness”, but these are not the “light” and “darkness” of Genesis.

In Genesis, light comes before life. But in John 1:4 it is exactly the opposite: life comes first, and then light.

The darkness in John 1:5 is not the darkness of Genesis 1.

John the Baptizer is in verse 6 of a Genesis creation account?

For more information, see the lecture called “John 1 IS NOT Genesis 1: Eight Evidences "the Beginning" of John 1 is NOT Genesis 1 Beginning” youtube.com/watch?v=XFv33RbrJfQ

Thy Kingdom Come! Interview with Pastor Sean Finnegan, the Gospel (Good News) of the Kingdom of God

Bill Schlegel 2024-04-05 | Pastor Finnegan has written a book called, “Kingdom Journey: A Call to Recover the Central Theme of Scripture.” Pastor Finnegan describes how God’s central promise for humans is not a disembodied escape to heaven, but of resurrection to a full immortal life on a renewed earth. In other words, restoration not relocation.

See the show notes for links to Pastor Finnegan’s book, and also to a previous podcast where Pastor Finnegan discussed “Where do we go when we die?”

Kingdom Journey: A Call to Recover the Central Theme of Scripture
amazon.com/Kingdom-Journey-Recover-Central-Scripture/dp/1666785954

Where do We Go When We Die (Hint: not to Heaven)
youtube.com/watch?v=w8rgs85dBtk

Restitutio podcast: Conditional Immortality https://restitutio.org/2019/02/14/164...

Restitutio podcast: Challenging Conditional Immortality https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165...

He HAS BEEN Raised! (God raised Jesus from the dead)

Bill Schlegel 2024-03-28 | Christians often quote the messenger at Jesus’s tomb: “He is risen!” Then people respond: “He is risen indeed!”.

But that English translation is not so accurate, and could even be deceiving. The declaration is not about what Jesus did to himself, but about what someone else, namely God, did to Jesus.

In New Testament Greek, the verb in the declaration is passive. Jesus was acted upon. He received the action of the verb. A more accurate declaration is “He was raised!” or, “He has been raised!”. That is, someone else raised Jesus.

Tens of times the Bible declares that someone other than Jesus himself raised Jesus from the dead, like the Apostle Peter in Acts 5:30, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus…”.

For more information, see the lecture linked below called “He has been raised! He has been raised indeed!”

“He has been raised! He has been raised indeed!”
Audio
youtube.com/watch?v=NrFZVwoZKq8
Text:
landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/04/he-has-been-raised-he-has-been-raised.html

Some Bible verses that declare that God, someone other than Jesus, raised Jesus from the dead.
Acts 2:24 God unleashed the pains of death.
Acts 2:32 God raised this Jesus
Acts 3:15 God raised up the Prince of life
Acts 3:26 God raised up his Son
Acts 4:10 God raised him from the dead
Acts 5:30 God of our fathers raised him up
Acts 10:40 To this God raised the third day
Acts 13:30 God raised him from the dead.
Acts 13:33 God has fulfilled this promise.. to resurrect Jesus
Acts 13:34 He (God) raised him from the dead
Acts 13:37 God raised Jesus
Acts 17:31 God raised him from the dead.
Romans 4:24 He who raised Jesus from the dead
Romans 6:4 Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father
Romans 8:11 He (God) who raised Jesus from the dead
Romans 10:9 God raised him from the dead.
1 Corinthians 6:14 God raised up the Lord
1 Corinthians 15:15 God raised Christ
2 Corinthians 4:14 The (God) who raised the Lord
Galatians 1:1 God the Father who raised him up
Ephesians 1:19, 20 because of the mighty power of the Father when He (God) raised the Christ from the dead
Colossians 2:12 God who raised him from the dead
1 Thessalonians 1:10 to whom He (God) raised from the dead, that is, Jesus
Hebrews 13:20 The God of peace raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead
1 Peter 1:21 God raised him

God became flesh? Your God is Flesh? #trinity #deityofchrist #john1:14 #walkaway

Bill Schlegel 2024-03-22 | The Word became Flesh: Why John 1:14 Does NOT Say that God Became Man
youtube.com/watch?v=z4HepHkyujk

landandbible.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-word-became-flesh-why-john-114-does.html

For Christians who believe in the deity of Christ, the most concise statement in all of the Bible that “God became man” are four words from the Gospel of John, chapter one verse fourteen, “the Word became flesh.”

Let me ask deity of Christ believers, “So you believe that God became flesh?” To be more precise: you believe that one person who is your God transformed into flesh? Turned into flesh?

If your God became flesh, that would mean that your “God is flesh?” Ask yourself if this statement really sounds biblical and if you really believe it: “My god is flesh”.

If that sounds non-biblical or strange, maybe John 1:14 doesn’t say what you think it says.

If you are interested see the lecture linked below called:
The Word became Flesh: Why John 1:14 Does NOT Say that God Became Man
youtube.com/watch?v=z4HepHkyujk

Is the Trinity one Being, or Two? #trinity #walkaway #christianity #biblicalunitarian

Bill Schlegel 2024-03-15 | A quick question for my Trinitarian friends: is your god one being, or two beings? Trinitarian doctrine insists that God is one because the three persons who are God are “one being”.

One being? But wait, doesn’t Trinitarian doctrine also insist that one of the god-persons became a human being? That makes two beings. So which is it? Is the Trinitarian god one being, or two beings? And if they are only one being, does not that eliminate the human being, Jesus of Nazareth?

You might want to check out the lecture linked below called “The Trinity’s Disappearing Essence: The Claim that “God is three persons in one Essence” eliminates the humanity of Jesus”.
youtube.com/watch?v=ixbzhPb7Xv8

Clip from RC Sproul: For the Doctrine of the Trinity, 49:50
youtube.com/watch?v=Sh72wgZEcKk

Jesus and Apostles DID NOT Find the Trinity in the Old Testament #jesus #bible #trinity

Bill Schlegel 2024-03-08 | Neither Jesus nor any author of the New Testament appealed to the Old Testament in an effort to find hints or clues that God is a trinity, much less to prove that God is trinity.

That’s right. Not Jesus, not Paul, not Peter, not John - none of them appealed to an Old Testament passage like Genesis 1:26 or Isaiah 9:6 to find evidence that God is triune.

So, allow me to ask Trinitarians who search the Old Testament for supposed evidence that God is a triune being:

Neither Jesus nor any apostle -- they didn’t search and discover in the Old Testament evidence that God is triune, why are you?

For more information, see the link to the lecture called: “Finding Evidence for the Deity of Christ in the Old Testament is not a New Testament Exercise”
youtube.com/watch?v=KWjdmfW1iLw

Genesis 1:26 Let us make man is NOT Evidence for the Trinity #trinity #walkaway #bible

Bill Schlegel 2024-03-01 | Some Trinitarians claim that God’s statement “Let us make man” in Genesis 1:26 is evidence for a tri-personal god. But those who make this claim are not keeping up with Trinitarian scholarship.

For instance, here’s the scholarly, evangelical Word Biblical Commentary: “Christians have traditionally seen this verse as adumbrating the Trinity. It is now universally admitted that this was not what the plural meant to the original author.” (Wenham, G. J. Genesis 1-15, Vol. 1, p. 27. Dallas: Word Incorporated, 1987).

“It is now universally admitted” is very strong language. If you are a Trinitarian and believe that Genesis 1:26 is evidence of a multi-person god, you should investigate why conservative Trinitarian scholars don’t think so. For more information, see the discussion linked below called: “’Let us make man...’ Is Genesis 1:26 Evidence that God is a Trinity?”

Scholars of the conservative evangelical NET Bible note on Genesis 1:26: “The plural form of the verb has been the subject of much discussion through the years…Many Christian theologians interpret it as an early hint of plurality within the Godhead, but this view imposes later trinitarian concepts on the ancient text… In its ancient Israelite context the plural is most naturally understood as referring to God and his heavenly court".

Other examples where God speaks to his heavenly court are Genesis 3:22, 11:7, 1 Kings 22:19–22; Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6; Isaiah 6:1–8.

“Let us Make Man in Our Image: Is Genesis 1:26 Evidence that God is a Trinity?”
Text: landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/09/is-genesis-126-evidence-that-god-is.html
Audio: youtube.com/watch?v=spJQzioMDNY

Must We Believe in the Trinity? #walkaway #trinity, #deityofchrist #jesus

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-23 | Almost all mainstream Christian denominations, churches and schools begin their statements of faith with a declaration that God is three-persons-in-one. Here is an example from a Christian university:

“We teach that there is but one living and true God … eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…”

But where does the Bible teach that to be a Christian or to be saved we must believe that God is a three person being? Hint: it doesn't.

In contrast to mainstream Christianity’s doctrinal statements, neither Jesus nor the apostles taught that God is a Trinity, and never required that people believe that God is a Trinity (Yet people were being saved by the thousands!)

There is a major disconnect between the claims of mainstream Christianity and the apostles of Jesus. Mainstream Christianity requires a belief in the Trinity. The New Testament does not.

For more information, see the lecture linked below :
“Is the Trinity in the Bible? If So, Where?
youtube.com/watch?v=POVaZX3urdc&t=6s

Trinity, Preferred Pronouns: He/Him #trinity #walkaway #jesus

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-16 | If the one God is a Trinity, that is, three persons, then God should be referred to with plural pronouns "they/them".

But like the modern “woke” movement, Trinitarians refer to their multi-person god with singular pronouns, “he/him.”

Here are some typical statements from a local church statement of faith”
“The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. “He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being” “To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.”

But Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not “Him”. Three persons are not “him”. Three persons are “they”. Calling a three-person-god "Him" is as wrong. In modern terms, “woke”.

The Bible calls God He/Him thousands of times because in the Bible God is one person, the Father.

For more information, see link to the lecture
“Trinity, Preferred Pronouns: He/Him (Woke-ism in Trinitarian Thought and Language)”
youtube.com/watch?v=VRFJbSlC0-E

and
Is the God-Man Jesus Trans-natured, Non-Binary
youtu.be/V-_nDKxXkOg

God the Son is NEVER in the Bible! #trinity #walkaway #jesus #sonofgod #billschlegel

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-11 | The title “God the Son” is used in Mainstream Christianity, but “God the Son” NEVER occurs in the Bible. In the Bible, God is never a son. This title, “God the Son” is a subtle perversion of the biblical title, “Son of God”.

The title “Son of God” in the Bible is ALWAYS given to created beings, especially to human beings, and especially to the nation of Israel. In Exodus 4:22 God said “Israel is my first-born son”. And, as Israel’s representative, the King of Israel who descends from David is uniquely called the Son of God (e.g., 2 Sam. 7:12-14, Psa. 2:2-7, Psa. 89:26-27).

In the New Testament Jesus, the Son of David is called the Son of the Most High God (Luke 1:32, 35; 8:28). And, those who come to a relationship to God through Jesus are called the sons of God (Rom. 8:19, Gal. 3:26).

Again, “God the Son” is never in the Bible.

For more information, see the linked video called “The Son of God in the Bible”.
youtube.com/watch?v=WaDElO7wU_8

#trinity, #walkaway, #Jesus, #sonofgod, #billschlegel,

The Trinity is NOT Revealed in the Bible! #trinity #walkaway #jesus, #bible

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-08 | The Trinity is NOT Revealed in the Bible!

Most Christians will find it surprising that mainstream Trinitarian scholars admit that the Trinity is not revealed in the Bible. Neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament was God revealed to be a Trinity. Listen to Trinitarian, Dr. James White, author of the book called “The Forgotten Trinity”.

James White: “Do you want to know where the Trinity is revealed? Right here in the gutter between the pages (of the Old and New Testaments)”

The audience laughed, but Dr. White was serious. The Trinity is not revealed in the pages of the Bible.

If you are surprised by the claim that the Trinity is not revealed in the pages of the Bible, or if you think the Trinity is revealed in the Bible, check out the lecture linked below “How and When was the Trinity Revealed”.

“How and When was the Trinity Revealed”
youtube.com/watch?v=6HaqhjicWv8

Is the Trinity in the Bible? If so, Where?
youtube.com/watch?v=POVaZX3urdc

James White video, “Why We Believe, the Trinity”
youtu.be/C-2nYJHXj60?t=265

“We cannot speak of the doctrine of Trinity… as revealed in the New Testament, any more than we can speak of it as revealed in the Old Testament” (B.B. Warfield, “The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity”, in “Biblical Theological Studies”, 1952, pp. 32-33 as quoted in Sanders, Fred. The Triune God, Zondervan, 2016, p. 89.)

The Bible says the One God is the Father alone, not the Trinity. #trinity #walkaway

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-06 | Mainstream Christianity insists that the one God of the Bible is the Trinity. Jesus (John 17:3) and the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 8:6) declared that the Father is the one and only true God.

Who is right?

If, as Jesus and Paul said, that the one true God is the Father, then the Trinity is an idol, an impostor.

Check out the One God Report podcast link below.
youtube.com/watch?v=Ol-g813scvg

Why Some Christians Dont Believe in the Trinity #ForrestMaready #deityofchrist, #walkaway

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-03 | Podcast: Why Some Christians Don’t Believe in the Trinity
youtu.be/myq7MPkzLKI

Book: Why Some Christians Don’t Believe in the Trinity
store.forrestmaready.com/products/why-some-christians-dont-believe-in-the-trinity

amazon.com/Some-Christians-Dont-Believe-Trinity/dp/B0CMKB1KY6/ref=sr_1_8?qid=1706814856&refinements=p_27%3AForrest+Maready&s=books&sr=1-8

Forrest Maready website:
forrestmaready.com

Red Pill Gospel: Christianity, before it was Ruined: Interview with Forrest Maready
youtube.com/watch?v=8rrgf8ygLo0

#forrestmaready, #trinity, #deityofchrist, #walkaway

#ForrestMaready: Why Some Christians Dont Believe in the Trinity

Bill Schlegel 2024-02-02 | One God Report Podcast 114

“They believe in God. They believe in Jesus. They believe in the Holy Spirit. But they don’t believe in what is considered the most important doctrine of them all…they don’t believe in the Trinity.

“If you are a Christian, what you were taught about the Trinity is probably wrong.

“If you’ve ever wondered exactly how Christians have come to what might seem to be a strange interpretation of the nature of God, this book should provide you with a crystal-clear look into the study and understanding of how and why many believers insist that God is one and not three.

#forrestmaready, #trinity, #deityofchrist, #walkaway

Why Some Christians Don’t Believe in the Trinity
store.forrestmaready.com/products/why-some-christians-dont-believe-in-the-trinity

amazon.com/Some-Christians-Dont-Believe-Trinity/dp/B0CMKB1KY6/ref=sr_1_8?qid=1706814856&refinements=p_27%3AForrest+Maready&s=books&sr=1-8

Forrest Maready website:
forrestmaready.com

Red Pill Gospel: Christianity, before it was Ruined: Interview with Forrest Maready
youtube.com/watch?v=8rrgf8ygLo0

Christianity: Jesus is Not a Human Person! #wlcraig, #trinity, #deityofchrist

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-26 | Mainstream Christianity denies that Jesus is a human person because otherwise Jesus would be two persons: a god person and a human person. For more information, check out the link below.

Mainstream Christianity: Jesus is not a Human Person!
youtube.com/watch?v=5qKrogW3MUM

Explanations: Jesus is not a Human Person
landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/08/jesus-christ-is-not-human-person.html

Jesus has a God! #walkaway #trinity

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-21 | #Jesus (has a God)
youtu.be/W2EtHh2BoW8

"I pray that the GOD OF our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom..." (Eph 1:17 NRS)

#walkaway "Why I'm not a Trinitarian"
youtu.be/FHoqpnxUyz8

I and the Father are one and the glory I had with you - are NOT Deity of Christ texts

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-15 | When Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), was he claiming to be God?

No. We see Jesus use the same language of more than one person being “one” in John 17:11, indeed of believers being “one” with both Jesus and the Father. What he means is a one-ness of purpose and intention, a one-ness of unity toward the same goals.

Was it the God Jesus who prayed, “Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world came to be.” No. Rather this was the prayer of the man Jesus the Christ expressing his faith in the pre-determined promise of God. Expressing trust in God’s promise, Jesus was speaking of a future reality as if it had already happened.

We see in John 17:20-24 that the Father GAVE to Jesus glory before the foundation of the world, that Jesus already had been given that glory when he was speaking, and that he already gave the same glory to others who had not yet believed in him.

Additional resources:
One God Report Podcast
open.spotify.com/show/1fJjk0QUhsyr8r9hVCgoFk

Bill Schlegel YouTube
youtube.com/@billschlegel1

Lecture: The Glory Jesus had with God
youtube.com/watch?v=LXu_2Sn4kg4

If Jesus Pre-existed, He Was Not Human
landandbible.blogspot.com/2019/06/if-jesus-pre-existed-he-wasnt-human.html

#deityofchrist, #biblicalunitarian, #John17_5, #John 10_30, #gospelofjohn

Only the Father Knows - Jesus and the Spirit Didnt?

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-09 | Why would God the Father keep information from "God the Son" and "God the Spirit"?
"Jesus is God" but he didn't know when he is returning?
"As for us, there is one God, the Father" (1 Cor. 8:6).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is not God #walkaway

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-06 | Believe the author of the Gospel! The author tells his readers why he recorded the miracles that Jesus did. NOT so we would believe that Jesus is God, but so that we believe that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God".

In the Bible, "the Christ, the Son of God" is NEVER God Himself.

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 1:3. #walkaway, #trinity

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-05 | The Bible says many times that the Lord Jesus Christ has a God.

Example: 1 Cor. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"
There is only one God (the Father, 1 Cor. 8:6, John 17:3). The God of the Lord Jesus Christ is the one God.

In the New Testament, God is never a Trinity. #walkaway #trinity

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-03 | "As for us, there is one God, the Father..." (1 Corinthians 8:6).

In the Bible, God is never a Trinity.

Coming to Understand God is not a Trinity, the man Jesus is the Christ#biblicalunitarian, #walkaway

Bill Schlegel 2024-01-02 | "God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power" (1 Corinthians 6:14).

#walkaway "Why I'm not a Trinitarian"
youtu.be/FHoqpnxUyz8

John the Baptizer also Came down from Heaven

Bill Schlegel 2023-12-28 | For full podcast
youtu.be/rmeSU7uQU-c

John the Baptizer Came Down from Heaven

Bill Schlegel 2023-12-23 | In this episode our guest, theological author and blogger, Troy Salinger, shows that the biblical metaphors “to come from heaven”, “to come from above” and “to come from God” are to be understood figuratively and apply to John the Baptist (and other Old Testament prophets) as well as to Jesus. When referring to human beings, these figures of speech do not mean to literally descend from some existence in heaven. Rather, the figures refer to humans being commissioned, instructed, authorized and empowered by God.

In his exposition of John 3:31-36, Salinger shows the context of “coming down from heaven” relates to the testimony of John the Baptizer and Jesus on the one side (“from heaven”), in contrast to the Judean religious authorities on the other side (“of the earth”).

The testimony of the Baptizer and Jesus is to believed because they (and their testimony) have come from God, from heaven. The testimony of the religious leaders on the other hand, is “from below, from the earth”, that is, of human origin.

For the full text of this podcast, see Salinger’s blog “Let the Truth Come Out”.
letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/24/john-331-36-a-problematic-text

Other resources:
“I came down from heaven”: Metaphors in the Gospel of John
youtube.com/watch?v=egnYn2JHRjM

Pre-incarnate Appearances of the Son of God in the Old Testament: Truth or Myth
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5p1klRmE6uAaU7uGSOMDuCX

Is the Memra the Pre-incarnate Son of God
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5rvmD5Q9dO68RFlfeg_cc8C

#deityofchrist, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #troysalinger, #billschlegel

Top 5 New Testament Verses that show that JESUS is NOT GOD

Bill Schlegel 2023-11-18 | In this episode we continue the countdown of Top Ten New Testament verses that show that Jesus is NOT God. In the previous episode we looked at #10-6. In this episode we deal with #5-1.

Verses considered in this episode include:

(5.5) 1 Corinthians 15:21
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

5. 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 he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead." (Act 17:31 RSV)

4. Acts 2:22, 36
"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…

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

3. 1 Timothy 2:4-5
God… “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

2. 1 Corinthians 8:6
Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

1. John 17:3
“Father….this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Compare John’s purpose statement: John 20:30-31: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 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.”

“Consolation” Verses:
Many verses which declare that God, someone other than Jesus, raised the Lord Jesus from the Dead, e.g.,
1 Cor. 6:14, Romans 10:9
“And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.”
Romans 10:9
“…believe in your heart that God raised him (the Lord Jesus) from the dead”

Acts 5:30
The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

Matthew 24:36
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

John 14:28 (10:29)
“The Father is greater than I”

#deityofchrist, #newtestament, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #billschlegel

Bill Schlegel blog
landandbible.blogspot.com

Did Jesus Raise himself from the Dead?
landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/04/did-jesus-raise-himself-from-dead-john.html

Top 10 New Testament Scriptures that show that Jesus is NOT God (#10-6)

Bill Schlegel 2023-11-09 | In this two part episode we look at 10 verses from the New Testament which give direct evidence that Jesus is NOT God.

Many Christians have heard of a few verses that supposedly declare that Jesus IS God, but few Christians have heard about verses that show that Jesus is NOT God.
In this episode we examine five (OK, plus) verses:

10.  2 Cor. 1:3 (Eph.1:3, 1 Pet. 1:3, Rom. 15:6, etc.)
The Lord Jesus Christ has a God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort”
Ephesians 1:17
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, (Eph.1:17)
Revelation 3:12
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.
Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God,
and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down
from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

9.    John 20:17
“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

8.     Mark 12:29-33 where Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God the LORD is one. And you shall
love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…”
(Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one). “He
is one, there is no other but he, and to love him…”

7.    John 8:40
“…but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the
truth that I heard from God.”

6.    Romans 5:15
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Resources:

⁠Kapusta, P. The Epistle to the Hebrews: An Anthology of Quotations⁠
⁠amazon.com/Scripturae-Contra-Trinitatem-Alternative-commentaries/dp/B0CKD3L7N6/ref=pd_sbs_sccl_1_1/146-8304861-2985060?pd_rd_w=WeOyj&content-id=amzn1.sym.9e4bb0e3-6517-4128-9279-264b7296d379&pf_rd_p=9e4bb0e3-6517-4128-9279-264b7296d379&pf_rd_r=GFQ5GF78ZPBYJ26M0WQK&pd_rd_wg=QQCBt&pd_rd_r=79fbd551-3f12-4afb-a5a6-a82a1301ac54&pd_rd_i=B0CKD3L7N6&psc=1⁠

⁠“Before Abraham Was I Am”: Was Jesus Claiming to Be God?⁠
⁠open.spotify.com/episode/5pmSAXdTJeieFqgouEZfIO?si=kxH4ujFFTKyq_dkWFIbbXg⁠

Reading the New Testament without Trinitarian glasses, and Hamas Attack Question

Bill Schlegel 2023-10-21 | This episode has two parts:

Part 1, I ask a question about the objectives of the Hamas attack.
October 7, 2023—a date which will live in infamy— Israel was
suddenly and deliberately attacked by the militant, terrorist forces of Hamas, the Islamic organization in authority in the Gaza strip.

Part 2, Reading the New Testament without Trinitarian Glasses

I look at the first eight verses of the Book of Revelation as an example of reading a New Testament text without the presuppositions and prejudices of Trinitarian belief.

We discover that in the biblical text Jesus is not the LORD God Almighty, who was and is and to come. Rather, Jesus is the faithful witness who died is the first-born from the dead. Jesus’ God is the Father, the LORD God Almighty who is and was and is to come.

Resource links:
⁠In the Book of Revelation, God is not the Lamb, and the Lamb is not God⁠
⁠youtube.com/watch?v=4VGgzoGD8Qw⁠

Hamas charter
⁠https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp⁠

Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الإسلامية
or Ḥarakah al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement".

Samples of Hamas Charter: Preamble
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it"

Article 8
Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.

Basam Naim, Hamas Head of Political and International Relations, “We did not kill civilians…”
⁠youtube.com/watch?v=Egipqa0ZhUk&t=2s⁠

Hamas Chief of National Relations Abroad, Ali Baraka: We Have Been Secretly Planning the Invasion for Two Years
⁠twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1712030588872351872⁠
⁠youtube.com/watch?v=lzZsms0LJWQ⁠

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh (from Qatar) 10/14/23
⁠youtube.com/watch?v=1TsgINcg-ss⁠

Why Did Israeli Intelligence Fail so Disastrously
youtube.com/watch?v=Sqpur37h2jY&t=297s

Failure of the Israeli-Gaza High Tech Border Fence
timesofisrael.com/why-did-israel-think-a-border-fence-would-protect-it-from-an-army-of-terrorists

#Hamas, #Israel-Hamas, #trinity, #deityofchrist, #unitarian, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel

Jesus is God Denies that Jesus is the Christ #incarnation

Bill Schlegel 2023-10-01 | Who is Denying Christ – Me or a Person who Believes that “Jesus is God”?

When I first came to understand that the man, the human person Jesus of Nazareth, is God’s Christ (the Messiah המשיח), the human Son of God, quite a few of my former Trinitarian and deity-of-Christ-believing friends accused me of “denying Christ”.

Here I was confessing and proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, yet many people were saying I was denying Christ!

For a complete text of this episode, click here:
landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/who-is-denying-christ-me-or-person-who.html

This episode explains how those who claim that "Jesus is God" is a denial that the human person, Jesus, is the Christ.

Let’s ask Trinitarian, deity of Christ believers this question. I would really like to hear Trinitarians, or oneness believers answer. I’m interested in honest, civil discussion. The best place to answer is probably the Bill Schlegel YouTube channel. youtube.com/@billschlegel1

Here’s the question – I’ll ask it in various ways for clarification: Do have a problem with God exalting a human person, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, to His (God’s) right hand? Do you deny that the human person, the human being, Jesus of Nazareth came into being, was born, lived, was put to death, was raised from the dead by God and exalted to God’s right hand? Are you ashamed of the human person, Jesus of Nazareth? Do you think who this human person is and what this human person did is not sufficient to be the one mediator between God and man? Again, is there an exalted, glorified human person at the right hand of God? Do you have a problem with that?

#deityofchrist, #trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel, #denyingchrist, #antichrist,#incarnation

#Walkaway Why I am Not a Trinitarian

Bill Schlegel 2023-09-18 | A faith journey. How I was introduced to Christianity, became a teacher in a Christian college in the Land of Israel, and came to understand that the God of the Bible is not three-persons-in-one-being.

I believe in God (the Father) and in Jesus the Son of God (the Messiah), and in the spirit of God - but I'm not a Trinitarian.

For the full text of this episode see here:
landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/walk-away-why-i-am-not-trinitarian.html

Other resources mentioned in this episode:
Biblical Unitarian Christian Alliance conference:
unitarianchristianalliance.org/registration-is-open-uca-conference-october-19-21-2023

Satellite Bible Atlas
bibleplaces.com/satellite-bible-atlas-schlegel

Revised English Version
revisedenglishversion.com/Gen/1/nav1

Video Testimony, Bill and Stephanie Schlegel
⁠youtube.com/watch?v=9LA9Uq-8xMc⁠

Jesus is Lord means Jesus is NOT God

Bill Schlegel 2023-09-05 | In Romans 10:9 the Apostle Paul states that part of salvation depends on a person confessing with their mouth that “Jesus is Lord”, or the “Lord Jesus”.
This episode aims to show that, contrary to traditional Christianity’s belief, to claim that “Jesus is Lord” (or the “Lord Jesus”) is NOT a claim that “Jesus is God”.

Rather, when the Apostle Paul, like other writers of the New Testament,
uses the title “Lord” for Jesus, he differentiates Jesus from
God.

Another way to state this truth: in his epistles Paul uses the titles Father and God for God (the Father alone), and the title Lord for the human person, Jesus the Lord Messiah.

Time Stamps:
00:01 Introduction: LORD or Lord? There are many people in the Bible who are Lord, but are not God.

03:12 The titles “God, Father, God the Father, God our Father” : All of God or just one member of God?

05:13 Does the Apostle Paul use the title “Lord” for Jesus to equate Jesus with God, or distinguishing Jesus from God. Paul never uses the title “Lord” for God.

07:31 An example from Peter, Acts 2_36, “God made Jesus Lord and Christ”

09:00 Romans 10_9 “Jesus is Lord”. Romans 15_6 “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus”

12:06 First Corinthians 8_6, “As for us there is one God, the Father…and one Lord, Jesus Christ”

21:24 More examples of “Lord” meaning that Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God, 2 Cor. 1_3 and Ephesians 1_17

23:00 Other biblical authors who distinguish between God and the Lord Messiah Jesus: James 1_1, 2 Pet. 1_2, and Jude 1_25. The Gospel of John never refers to God as Lord, except in 3 places where the author directly quotes an Hebrew Scripture passage that contains the name YHVH.

26:42 Summary and Challenge. Jesus is the Lord Messiah, not the LORD God.

For full text of this episode, see here
landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/09/in-romans-109-apostle-paul-states-that.html

“Hear O Gentiles, the LORD your God, the LORD is (Three in) One.”

Bill Schlegel 2023-08-12 | Or, Three is One and One is Three

For the full written text, see here. landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/08/hear-o-gentiles-lord-your-god-lord-is.html

01:56 The Trinitarian, deity of Christ “compound unity” claim is not a biblical claim (compare the claim that God is a mystery, or that God is a mysterious unity). No one in the Bible says, “one means a compound unity”, or “one can be three as a compound unity”.

04:15 Let’s put the shoe on the other foot. Suppose I say I believed that God, YHVH, is one individual (or one self, one person), but you showed me a Scripture where Jesus declares the greatest commandment is, "Listen...YHVH our God, YHVH is three." But I confidently look you in the eye and say: "Well, sure, three substances but one person."

05:28 The “three-persons-in-one” claim involves a clever word trick. Would you believe me if I said, “Zach is my son. Isaiah is my son. Eitan is my son. Zach, Isaiah and Eitan are one son.”

08:40 A compound unity means the members are only parts or components. We must have all the parts to make a whole. In classic Trinitarian theology, God is *not* a compound unity! That would mean that the Trinity is three separate beings, none of which is God, but collectively they combine to constitute God. That isn't what the doctrine of the Trinity teaches.

10:37 The Trinitarian claim is a denigration of the Father, since the “compound unity” claims that the Father is only one of three persons who makes up the one God.

11:04 The Trinitarian claim is in direct contradiction to New Testament Scripture. The Apostle Paul says “As for us there is one God, the Father…” (1 Cor. 8:6, cf. John 17:3). In the New Testament, the one God is the Father, not the Trinity.
11:39 If YHVH is a “compound unity”, meaning more than one person, then YHVH יהוה is not a person, but a group, or a family. A group or family is a an "it".

12:26 Trinitarian interpretation is a low view of Biblical Revelation. Should we really think that Moses was either so uninformed, so lacking in knowledge, or so ineffective a teacher that he couldn't have told Israel that YHVH is a compound, mysterious unity of three persons in one?

13:27 There is no record of opposition to a three-in-one God from the opponents of Jesus and Paul. This silence shows the three-in-one God was not being preached by Jesus or Paul.

14:39 YHVH and God (Elohim and Theos) are referred to thousands of times in the Bible with singular pronouns.

17:22 “God” in the New Testament is never a compound unity of more than one person.

17:55 The “YHVH is three-persons-in-one” claim is a denial of the humanity of Jesus. Trinitarians insist their God is one because the Father, Son and Spirit are one compound unity, one essence, one nature shared by three persons. The claim eliminates the other central claim of modern Christianity that God has taken on a second nature, a second essence.

19:33 The Trinitarian “three-in-one” claim also denies that the human person Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. Otherwise, there would be four persons in the Trinity.

Did the Apostle Peter Call Jesus Our God in 2 Peter 1:1?

Bill Schlegel 2023-08-01 | For text notes to this podcast, click here:
⁠⁠landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/08/does-apostle-peter-call-jesus-christ.html

Here's the question regarding 1 Peter 1:1. Did Peter think that Jesus Christ
was “our God? Two points:

1.  Even for deity of Christ believing Trinitarians, to claim that Peter is calling Jesus Christ “our God” is a big problem. Isn’t your God
the Trinity? And, what about the Father? What about the “Spirit”? In a frantic effort to find some evidence that “Jesus is God”, aren’t you ignoring and dishonoring the One whom Jesus called the only true God, the Father (John 17:3). Aren’t you dishonoring the one of whom Paul said “as for us there is one God, the Father” (1 Cor. 8:6)?

The deity of Christ interpretation dishonors Peter and falsely testifies
about Peter. And, any and all “deity of Christ” claims are a denigration of the Father, since they claim that the Father is not the one true God.

2.  It is clear from many other Scriptures that Peter knows exactly who God is, and who the Lord or Savior Jesus Christ is. Peter does not
confuse the identity of God and Jesus. The fact that the deity of Christ claim appeals to some supposed point of Greek grammar for one two less clear verses, and ignores the testimony of the rest of Scripture is simply poor exegesis.

To Peter, the Lord and Savior Jesus is not God. To Peter, but the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ has a God, who raised him from the dead. We can see what Peter means in 2 Peter 1:1, “in the righteousness of our God, and (the) Savior Jesus Christ” by reading Peter’s other descriptions of God and Jesus. Let’s start with the very next verse:

2 Peter 1:2, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

Who is “God” in this verse? Are we really to believe that Peter switched
who was God from verse 1 to verse 2. I hate the deity of Christ identity
confusion. I reject the deity of Christ identity confusion.

John 17:1-3, having eternal life involves knowing, having knowledge of two persons, two beings:
1. The Father, the only true God, and
2. Jesus the Messiah whom the Father sent.

Compare the “distributive” aspect of both 1 Pet. 1:1 and 1 Peter 1:2:

“the knowledge of…” two persons (God, and Jesus our Lord).
“the righteousness of…” two persons (our God, and the Savior
Jesus Christ).

1 Peter 1:3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

For Peter, God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. God and the Lord
Jesus are two different persons, two different beings.

Acts 2:22-24. "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a
man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know --   this Jesus... God raised him up…”

For Peter, Jesus was a man whom God worked through, a man who was killed, whom God raised up. Two different persons, two different beings.

Acts 2:36   “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

For Peter, God MADE Jesus Lord and Christ.

The ultimate testimony of Peter as to whom he considered Jesus to be is
found in Peter’s declaration after Jesus asked him point-blank, “Who do you say that I am?”

In Mark, Peter declared: “The Christ!”  The Christ is not God.
In Luke, “The Christ of God!” The Christ of God is not God.
In Matthew, “The Christ, the Son of the Living God”.  The Son
of the Living God is not the Living God.

Peter in 1 Peter 1:1 is not contradicting himself and is not confused
about the identity of Jesus. The deity of Christ interpretation accuses Peter of contradicting himself. But it is not Peter who was confused about the identity of Jesus, it is deity of Christ interpreters.

Related web link: Troy Salinger Examines the Granville Sharp Rule:⁠letthetruthcomeoutblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/2-peter-11-titus-213-and-the-granville-sharp-rule-a-new-approach

#deityofchrist, #1Peter1:1, #nontrinitarian, #trinity, #billschlegel

Are Trinitarians Idol Worshippers? Are Trinitarians Saved?

Bill Schlegel 2023-07-15 | Full text to this episode here. landandbible.blogspot.com/2023/07/are-trinitarians-idol-worshippers-are.html

It’s a good question. I don’t know if there is a black and white answer because there are different degrees and facets to the question. Many trinitarians that I know seem to not really know what they believe, and functionally or “practically” believe in in One God, the Father.

There are different levels and degrees of judgment. Like James said, teachers will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1).

I am not confident that “everything is going to be alright” for someone who insists that God is a triune being, a Trinity, or that “Jesus is God”. Trinitarianism is messing with what Jesus called the greatest commandment: that Yehovah our God is one (Deu. 6:4, Mark 12:29-34).

Exodus 20:2-3 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

So the question is: who, or what (according to Trinitarianism), is the one God. Is the one God the Father alone, or is the one God a tri-personal being, a substance, or a group, or a family, that has more than one person. These can’t both be the one God. The one God is either the Father alone, or the one God is the Trinity.

And the New Testament says that the One God is the Father:
John 17:1-3 “Father, this is eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
1 Corinthians 8:6, “As for us there is one God, the Father...”

Trinitarianism is a form of anti-Christ since it denies that Jesus Christ is a human person. To Trinitarianism, Jesus of Nazareth was never a human person, only a “human nature, flesh” that the divine person “took on”. All “deity of Christ” interpretations of passages like John 1 and Philippians 2 attempt to do two things:

1. denigrate the Father by declaring that someone or something else other than the Father is the one true God, and
2. rob the man Christ Jesus of who he is and what he did. Since Trinitarianism insists that Jesus is a god-person who only “took on” human flesh or human nature, that means there never was or is a real human person Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth. Otherwise, Jesus would be two persons: a god-person Jesus and a man-person Jesus from Nazareth. But traditional Christianity decided in AD 451, almost 1600 years ago, that Jesus is not two persons. He is only the god person. The man Jesus of Nazareth never did anything -never humbled himself, never obeyed God, never trusted God - because he never existed. “He was only a god-person all along.”

1 John 2:22-23 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Who is denying the Son? Someone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God -- or someone who denies that the Jesus, a real human person, is the Christ.

1 John 2:22 does not say, “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is God”. Far from it. People like me believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, recognizing the biblical presentation of who Christ is, and who the Son of God is. The Son of God is never literally God in the Bible. The title Son of God is given to created beings, especially to Israel, and to Israel’s chief representative, the king of the line of David.

Christ means anointed. Anointed by God. In the Bible, the Christ is never God.

We do have a judge, the man, the human person, Jesus the Christ from Nazareth. The Apostle Paul stated that God “will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this He has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). One day we will stand before the resurrected, glorified Messiah of God, the man Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:5, Romans 5:15, 2 Cor. 5:10). Have we said in our hearts during our time in this age “a mere man can’t judge us, we will not have that man rule over us”?

Will the resurrected, glorified human Jesus say, “Depart from me, I never knew you” to the person who insists in this age that Jesus is not a man but is some imaginary pre-human eternal god or god-man?

Ironically, perhaps some Trinitarians may be saved by what they’ve insisted they aren’t saved by, i.e., works (Matt. 16:27, 12:36-37; Romans 2:6-7, 2 Cor. 5:10, 1 Cor. 3:12-14, Gal. 6:7-9, James 2:20-26). I have a feeling that one of those works will be how people treated the children of God who believe that God is the Father, and that the man Jesus is the Messiah (1 John 5:1, John 8:42, Matt. 25:41-46).

People like you and I are not the final judge (Romans 2:16). We don’t have all the information. God has appointed the man Jesus Christ, and given him the authority to judge (Acts 17:31, John 5:22, 27). But I think people like you and I can warn others.

“So each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

$200 Cash Prizes, and A Complaint before YHVH

Bill Schlegel 2023-07-05 | Offering three separate $200 prizes (total $600)!

$200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament where “God” (Theos, Ha Theos) means the Trinity.

$200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament that mentions “God the Son”.

$200.00 to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament that describes Jesus as “fully God and fully man”, or “truly God and truly man”.

Such verses should be easy to find. Many evangelical doctrinal statements start out by declaring that the Bible is the sole authority for belief and practice, and then immediately state that God is three persons in one God, that God the Son is one of those persons, and that Jesus is “fully God and fully man”.

The complaint, and prayer before YHVH is that he would raise up a remnant of 7000 Israelis that believe that He is the only true God, and that the man Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth is God’s Messiah.

#trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #deityofjesus, #unitarian, #billschlegel

1,315 Reasons that the God of the Bible is not a Trinity

Bill Schlegel 2023-06-25 | Episode 100 – offering a $100 prize to anyone who can find a verse in the New Testament where “God” (Theos, Ha Theos) means the Trinity!

Difference between a Triad vs. the Trinity

James White, The Forgotten Trinity, p. 23:
“Within one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”

Athanasian Creed:
“Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally…
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.”

“…we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

Quotes from Murray Harris book, Jesus as God, explaining that that “God” in the Bible never means the Trinity, never means the Trinitarian God, the Tri-person-one-being of mainstream Christianity.
p. 47 footnote: Hebrews 1:1

Biblical references in this episode:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his unique (or only begotten) Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"

Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

1 Cor 8:6 “As for us, there is one God, the Father….and one Lord, Jesus Christ…”

Eph. 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

1 Thess. 1:1, 9-10, 3:11, 13,

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all…

To believe that the God of the Bible is a Trinity, one must believe these statements:
“In the Bible, God is never the Trinity. But the God of the Bible is a Trinity.”
“The God of the Bible is a Trinity, but in the Bible God is never a Trinity”

Trinitarians need to write a book “The Trinity as God” in which all 1315 references to God in the New Testament are examined to see which of those references mean the Trinity. It will be a very short book.

Who is God in the phrase “Son of God”?
Who is God in the phrase “Spirit of God”?

Who is God Most High in the phrase “Son of God Most High God”?
If the Father is God Most High, then neither the Trinity, nor Jesus, are God Most High.

The Trinity is a denigration of the Father, whom Jesus called the only True God and whom Paul says for us there is one God, the Father. If the Trinity is the one God, then the Father is not the one God.

The Father and the Trinity can’t both be the one God. One of them is an idol.

Summary: Every verse of the New Testament which contains the word “God”, all 1315 of them, is evidence that the God of the Bible is not a Trinity.

#trinity, #JesusisGod, #murrayharris, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #billschlegel

Bound him for 1000 Years: Literal or Symbolic, with Dr. Dustin Smith, Part 3

Bill Schlegel 2023-06-13 | This is part 3 of a three-part series with Dr. Dustin Smith, Pre-Millennial or A-Millennial

In this episode Dr. Smith describes the “Tale of Two Cities”. Like the original readers of the Book of Revelation, readers even now are challenged to associate with, indeed be part of, the godly New Jerusalem and not ungodly Babylon.

In a similar metaphor, readers of Revelation are encouraged to associate with, indeed be part of the Bride of Christ, which is the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 10-11) and not with the Harlot, which is ungodly Babylon (Rev. 17:4-6).

Dr. Smith examines the 1000 years mentioned in Revelation 20. He understands the 1000 years to be symbolic of a significant time period that has a definite fixed end. Satan is bound for followers of God and Jesus, but at the same time rampant in the world outside. Similarly, in Jesus’ Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13) good and evil co-existence for a period of time until the fixed day of separation and judgment.

Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith
biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com

The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus
amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK

#millenium,#premillennial, #amillennial, #1000 years, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian,#returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel, #Revelation, #kingofheaven

Judgement of the Righteous and Unrighteous at the Same Time, with Dr. Dustin Smith (Part 2)

Bill Schlegel 2023-06-03 | The Bible declares that Jesus the Messiah will rule over a real, physical kingdom on earth. Is the first part of that rule a period of 1000 years that then transitions to an "eternal state"? Or, does the return of Jesus begin the eternal state?

Premillennial or Amillennial, interview with Dr. Dustin Smith, Judgement of the Righteous and Unrighteous at the Same Time

Dr. Dustin Smith is currently Professor of Theological Studies at Reformed University near Atlanta, Georgia. Among other writings, he is co-author of the book "The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus" and he is the host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast.

The pre-millennial view of the return of Christ holds that the unrighteous are judged 1000 years after the righteous. In this episode, Part 2 of our discussion, Dr. Smith gives biblical evidence that the righteous and unrighteous will be judged at the same time – when Jesus returns and raises the dead – not separated by a period of 1000 years.

Scriptures referred to in this episode:
Matthew 13:30, 39-43, the Kingdom of Heaven Parable of the Wheat and Tares and its Explanation
Matthew 13:49-50, the Kingdom of Heaven Parable of the Dragnet
Acts 17:40-41, “God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man…”
Matthew 25:31ff, The Parable of the Separation of the Sheep and Goats at the Return of Jesus
Matthew 7:21-24, “Not all who say to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom
Matthew 12$1ff, “The men of Nineveh…and the Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation…”
Revelation 11:15-18, “The kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ”

Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith
biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com

The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus
amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK

#millenium, #premillennial, #amillennial, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel

Pre-Millennial or A-Millennial: with Dr. Dustin Smith, Part 1

Bill Schlegel 2023-05-29 | Dr. Dustin Smith is currently Professor of Theological Studies at Reformed University near Atlanta, Georgia. Among other writings, he is co-author of the book "The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus" and he is the host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast.

In this first of a series of three One God Report podcast episodes, Dr. Smith describes some differences between pre-millennialism and a-millennialism. Eventually we are leading up to the question: is the 1000 years in Revelation 20 to be understood as a literal 1000 years, or does the 1000 years symbolically represent something else?

0:01 Introduction and Preview

Dr. Smith makes these points in the current episode:

06:20 Definitions: Pre-, Post- and A-millennialism

10:15 Both pre-millennial and a-millennial views see two levels, or two tiers, two time-periods to the kingdom of God.

For pre-millennialism the two tiers are:
1) after the physical return of Jesus, a literal 1000-year rule of Christ on earth, and then
2) the eternal kingdom which begins after the 1000 years.

For amillennialism the two tiers are:
1) the kingdom of God and of His Christ has already been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus and his ascension to heaven at the right hand of God. And
2) the eternal kingdom is consummated when Jesus physically returns to earth. The amillennialism that Dr. Smith describes believes that Jesus will physically rule over a kingdom on earth, just not for an intermediate 1000-year period. Rather, Jesus’s return is the transition to his to an eternal rule on earth.

In this podcast Dr. Smith begins to explain some problems with the pre-millennial view.

17:35 Pre-millennialism maintains that even after Jesus returns and raises the dead, some non-believers, that is, mortals, will enter the millennial kingdom. But biblically, there are considerable problems not only with mortals entering the kingdom of God, but with people continuing to die after the resurrection which accompanies the second coming of Christ (Matt 25:46; 1 Cor 15:23-26, 54-55; 2 Tim 1:10; Rev 21:4).

21:54 Pre-millennialism maintains that the resurrection of the just precedes by 1000 years the resurrection of the unjust, that is, the righteous are resurrected when Jesus returns, but the unrighteous 1000 years later. But in the Bible the resurrection of the just and the unjust always occurs at the same time, (e.g., Dan 12:2; Matt 12:41-42; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Rev 11:15-18). Specifically, the resurrection of all the dead occurs at the return of Jesus (1 Thes. 4:13-17).

Biblical Unitarian Podcast, Host Dr. Dustin Smith
biblicalunitarianpodcast.podbean.com

The Son of God: Three Views on the Identity of Jesus
amazon.com/Son-God-Three-Views-Identity-ebook/dp/B07FYTZFZK

#millenium, #biblicalunitarian, #unitarian, #returnofchrist, #deityofchrist, #dustinsmith, #billschlegel

From Israel: Six Views of God and the Messiah

Bill Schlegel 2023-05-19 | I interview six different people in Israel to answer these questions:

Who is God and how do you know?
Who is the Messiah and what is his relationship to God?
Is there are specific Scripture or two that explain your view of God or the Messiah?

The people interviewed include:

02:28 Yaakov (Yaaki) a more or less secular Israeli who became a public high school Bible teacher.

09:00 Elena, who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union.

12:24 Moses (Moshe), a Jewish believer in Jesus who parents were Holocaust survivors.

18:52 Shaaban, a Muslim Arab (not Israeli).

22:30 A group of religious Jewish men.

26:14 Jonathan, a American Israeli Jew who believes in One God (the Father) and the human Messiah Jesus.

One God Report Podcast
open.spotify.com/show/1fJjk0QUhsyr8r9hVCgoFk

Land and Bible blog:
landandbible.blogspot.com

#israel, #Jewishbelieversjesus, #deityofchrist, @trinity, #biblicalunitarian, #onegodreport, #billschlegel