Doctrine of the Trinity

Transcription

1 Doctrine of the Trinity ST506 LESSON 06 of 24 Peter Toon, DPhil Cliff College Oxford University King s College University of London Liverpool University This is the sixth lecture in the series on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. I begin with the prayer used in my own church for Ascension Day. Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the heavens so we may also, in heart and mind thither ascend and with him continually dwell who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. In the last lecture we reflected upon the name the Father and saw that the one who is called God in the Old Testament is the one who is called the Father in the New Testament. Now we move on logically to the next step, and we reflect upon Him who is called the Son of this Father, the only begotten Son of this Father. Theologians tell us that the central problem or the central question of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is that of the deity or the divinity of Jesus the Christ and the relation of this Christ to the Father. And therefore, in this lecture what I want to do is quickly to survey the evidence concerning the deity of Jesus the Christ and the relation of Jesus the Christ to the Father. And so what I shall do is, in the main, follow the presentation of Arthur W. Wainwright in his book The Trinity in the New Testament [London: SPCK, 1962; reprint ed., Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2001]. But the material I m going to cover, I m going to cover necessarily at speed, and it is much the same material that you will be familiar with in what is called the doctrine of the person of Christ, or Christology. And therefore, if you have already done a course in the doctrine of the person of Christ, this lecture will serve to recall much of that to your mind, and if you haven t yet done such a course, this lecture will be an introduction to it. But in this series of lectures it is with regard to the Holy Trinity and, therefore, is slanted in that direction. 1 of 10

2 So let us proceed then on that basis, and the first point that we shall make is this. Not only is the Father the one who is known as the Father called God, Theos, but also in the New Testament Jesus the Christ is also called Theos, called God. The number of times in which Jesus the Christ is called Theos is not as many times as the Father is called God, but these times are significant. And I now want to read to you these passages and maybe at your leisure you can look them up in a commentary and reflect upon them further. I would also bring to your notice that recently Professor Marie Harris of Trinity Seminary in Deerfield, north Chicago, has published a book concerning the use of Theos in the New Testament of Jesus Christ. And thus she examines these verses that I m going to quote along with others in that book. It s a rather technical book, but it is a very useful book. So then here are the passages. First of all, from Romans 9, verse 5, Of whom, that is, of the Jews, is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. And then from Hebrews 1, verse 8, But of the Son, S-O-N, But of the Son God saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. Then from John chapter 1, verses 1 to 2, In the beginning was the Word, that s the Logos, and the Logos, the Word was with God, and the Word, Logos, was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And a little later in that first chapter of the gospel of John, The only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. Then from the twentieth chapter of the gospel of John, Thomas answered and said to Jesus, My Lord and my God. To the letter of Paul to Titus chapter 2, in verse 13, Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. And finally, from the second letter of Peter, and the first chapter and the first verse, In the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. When you look through the commentaries, especially the learned commentaries, you will no doubt discover that there is some dispute or another concerning each of these verses. But even if several of them are removed in the sense that the textual evidence does not point clearly to Jesus being called God, the fact is that when we ve done all this work, there always remain several and several applying the strictest criteria, in which Jesus the Christ is specifically called God. 2 of 10

3 On this same theme, if we move outside the New Testament into the very early books from the primitive church, for example, if we go to the Didache..., we find there that Jesus is actually called God. In the Didache chapter 10, verse 6, we get the words Hosanna to the God of David, and this is a reference to Jesus the Christ. And Pliny writes that famous line of the Christians singing a hymn to Christ as God. [Pliny the Younger, a Roman official, wrote to the emperor Trajan about how he should deal with Christians.] Those of you who know the letters of Ignatius will remember that he frequently calls Jesus the Christ God. We may suggest that this form of address in these very early Christian documents, this manner of describing Jesus is not likely to have suddenly sprung into being and come, as it were, out of nothing. It would appear to be that this is a tradition within the Christian church of thinking about and speaking about Jesus who is the Christ. And therefore, then, the first evidence toward what we may call the deity of Christ is the naming and calling of Him God. The next title to which we turn is the title of Lord, Jesus Christ the Lord. I m sure that you ve studied the use of the Greek word kurios in the time of Jesus and of the apostles, and you will be aware that this Greek word is used in a variety of ways in the Greco-Roman culture. It is used, for example, of the master of servants. It is the kind of address which in traditional English is communicated by the word sir. It is the courtly address of your majesty. But over and above that, and this is important for our work, it is used in the translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint. It is used there in a way which is very significant. The word itself comes around eighty-four hundred times in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament. It is used of human beings in only four hundred of these instances. And it is used of God in the remaining eight thousand. And of these eight thousand, sixty-seven hundred are substitutes for the name of God in the Old Testament, the name that we used to pronounce as Jehovah, and these days we are taught to say Yahweh. So Christians who were bought up on the Septuagint, and most were, would naturally associate the title and the name Kurios with the one God of Judaism. In the early church, beginning with the apostles, it would certainly have been expected that God the Father would be called also the Lord, Kurios, because of this background I have just referred to from the Septuagint. It would, however, have been possible to have refrained from using this title of Jesus the Christ. But we know from the evidence of the New Testament, and from the evidence of the early writings following the New Testament period, that Jesus was, from the very beginning, called the Lord. 3 of 10

4 We see this, first of all, in the Acts of the Apostles in the address of Peter following the marvelous descent of the Holy Spirit. We find in verse 21 of chapter 2, where he is quoting from the book of the prophet Joel, these words, And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. [In that] context, Peter addressing this crowd after the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus the Christ points to the meaning of the word Lord here being that of Jesus the Christ. But if that isn t clear, later in his sermon we read that Peter declares, Therefore let all Israel be assured of this God, that is, God the Father, has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And then, if we turn over just a few pages in the Acts of the Apostles, and we turn to the account of the stoning of Stephen and we read verses 59 and 60 of chapter 7, we hear this: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then he fell upon his knees, and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. There are many other passages that we could turn to, and of these I think the one that is most important for us to note is that in Philippians chapter 2, and especially verses 9 through 11. You will remember here that Paul is either citing an early Christian hymn or using one that he has composed himself. And this hymn, first of all, describes the descent of the Son of God. Second, it describes what He became and what He did for us men and for our salvation. And then it describes His exaltation. Let me read to you verses 9 through 11, which describe the exaltation of Jesus, Jesus as the resurrected Jesus, Jesus with His flesh, with His human nature. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, that is, super exalted Him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, Kurios, to the glory of God the Father. Perhaps you ve noticed how in popular choruses and in popular understanding the name which is above every name is often taken to be the name of Jesus, that is, Jesus. Now the name Jesus is a wonderful name; it means the Lord is our salvation. Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent. But here the name of Jesus, the real name of Jesus, the true name of Jesus, the name which is His, truly His, is Kurios. He is the Lord. And perhaps you note here as well that while God the Father is certainly Kurios, we ve already noted why, because of the Septuagint s use of the word Kurios, at the same time without any concern as it were for getting this illogical, Paul can declare that Jesus Christ is Kurios to the glory of God the Father who is also Kurios. 4 of 10

5 There are other passages, as I said, that we could look at, and I would suggest that what you can do again is to take a good concordance and look up the word and follow up some of these texts and use a commentary to reflect upon them further. You will, for example, come across passages like 1 Corinthians 8, verses 5 and 6, where Paul says that although there are in the many religions of the Greco-Mediterranean world, gods many and lords many, that s the general use of the word kurios, the Christians, he says, the Christian church has one God who is the Father who is also the Lord, but also over and above and within, as it were, one God who is the Father, one Lord who is Jesus the Christ. So the early church then, the disciples, the apostles, from time to time specifically called Jesus the Christ, Theos, God; they also more often and as part of the basic Christian confession of faith said Jesus is the Lord, Jesus the Christ is the Lord. And now I want to bring to your attention passages, and I shall only notice some of them, wherein there is specific worship of Jesus the Christ. Let me read to you first of all one such from 2 Peter 3, verse 18. This is what is usually called a doxology. Peter says, But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then, to him, that s to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be the glory, the glory that is due to God, To him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen. And then turning over a few pages to the book of Revelation, to the apocalypse of John, and to chapter 1, verses 5b and into verse 6, where we have this doxology, Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood, and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Here you have once again the close relation and the giving of glory to both the God who is the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Son of the Father. The praise and glory are ascribed unto each one. And then there is that which I ve already noticed in an earlier lecture from Romans 9, verse 5, where we read of Christ who is over all, God blessed forever. There s another doxology, God blessed forever. Continuing to look in the book of Revelation, which is a marvelous book for the praise and adoration of Almighty God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we find two ascribings of worship both to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ the Son. First of all, in Revelation 5, in verse 13, And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them heard I saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb be the blessing and the 5 of 10

6 honor and the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Here we have in the beautiful symbolic language of the book of Revelation, a reference to the Father, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, a reference to the Son, And unto the Son, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. Unto each one and both together as one, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. And then a little later in the book of Revelation, the seventh chapter and verse 10, where salvation is ascribed unto God and again unto the Lamb, the one and the same salvation, Salvation unto our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. Again, there are many other places that we could give our attention to in the New Testament, but time will not allow that, and I m sure that you are very able to do this for yourself. And so, what I want to move on to next is the prayers which are addressed to Jesus Christ. Some of them we have noticed already. Some of them we haven t. But again, if prayer is addressed to Jesus the Christ and done in such a way that it reaches its final end in Him, then of course that is a sound indication that He is Theos, He is God. Already we have noticed the prayer of the martyr Stephen, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord Jesus, lay not this sin to their charge. But at the end of 1 Corinthians we ve got a little bit of Aramaic and the language which our Lord Himself probably spoke in Palestine, and we ve got the invocation maranatha, which means our Lord come. It was probably an ancient Christian formula which Paul learned from the Christians who were in Christ before him. And likewise the invocation of Revelation 22, verse 20, Come, Lord, may also spring from this source. There s another passage which is somewhat hidden away in the gospel of Saint John which shows the prayer was made to Jesus Christ and was acceptably so offered in the New Testament period. In John chapter 14 and verse 14, according to the most reliable textual authorities, if you read the commentaries you ll find a discussion on that matter, Jesus says, If ye shall ask me anything in my name, that will I do. That can only be interpreted in a straightforward way as being a prayer to Jesus Christ. And then, for your further reflection, I want to ask you to note the use of the Old Testament in a certain way in the New Testament and by that noticing and that comparison you will see how Jesus is being considered as divine. The quotation which I invite you to look at and think about is from Isaiah chapter 8, verses 13 and 14, The Lord of hosts, him shall ye sanctify, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for 6 of 10

7 a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel. These words of Isaiah are quoted in two writings of the New Testament in the letter to the Romans and in 1 Peter. The words quoted are, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Romans 9:33). And from 1 Peter 2:7 8, He became the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. You will recall from our reading of the text that Isaiah called God, Yahweh, a stone of stumbling, but Paul and Peter both give this title to Jesus the Christ. The way in which they use the quotation suggests that it was part of a hymn used in worship, and this lends weight to the belief that the title was applied to Christ in worship and was part of a common tradition of understanding which did not spring from any particular apostle but was part of the general understanding of the early church. And then 1 Peter 3:15, But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Kurios, as Lord. This you could say is a reminiscence of the Old Testament passage rather than a quotation from it. The Old Testament passage in question here is probably Isaiah 29:23, They shall sanctify my name, saith the Lord, yea they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel. Although this is not an exact quotation, it is likely that the writer was aware of the Old Testament background and was transferring to Jesus an honor which had formally, that is, within Jewish understanding, been given to Yahweh Himself. And then Hebrews 1:6, Let all the angels of God worship him. These words are based on a clause of Deuteronomy 32:43 which appears only in the Septuagint and not in the Masoretic Hebrew text. The writer of Hebrews may have been influenced also by the Septuagint version of Psalm 97:7. But whatever be the exact background, the quotation is used in Hebrews to show the superiority of Christ through the angels and therefore to place Him in what we may call the realm of the divine and... may even be, again, a formula used in Christian worship since it is included in a group of quotations with which it is assumed that the readers of the letter to the Hebrews are familiar. Maybe all that sounded a little technical. You can think about it as you go along, but the whole point of it is to bring to your attention the way in which, and the varied ways in which, prayer is offered to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is worshipped as God. We ve looked up to now at Jesus Christ being called God, at Jesus Christ being called the Lord, at doxology s address to Jesus Christ, at prayers which are addressed to Jesus Christ, and now what we need to look at is the way in which that Jesus in the New 7 of 10

8 Testament is intimately associated with judgment, the judgment of God, the creation and the sustaining of the universe, and then with salvation. So we turn first of all to notice how that Jesus the Christ is related intimately to the idea, to the fact of the judgment of the world. And in terms of the Old Testament, God Himself is the judge. So let us begin with that familiar picture of the Son of Man judging. This is Matthew 25, verses 31 and following, But when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he, that is, He the Son of Man, shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. That is a pretty clear statement of Jesus seen here and described here as the Son of Man, perhaps the favorite title of Jesus for Himself described as the Son of Man doing that which God alone can do, that is, to judge the nations. Here are two more statements by Jesus. The first from Mark 8:38, For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man, that s Jesus Himself, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And the idea there is coming as the judge. Then from Matthew 10, verses 32 to 33, which is paralleled in Luke 12, verses 8 to 9, Everyone who shall confess me, says Jesus, before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God. But he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. Again, a reference that points only in one direction, that Jesus takes on the role, God s role as judge. Turning to the Acts of the Apostles, there are three references to judgment, 10:42, And he charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this is he which is ordained of God to be the judge of the living and the dead. That s pretty clear that Jesus the Christ is the one ordained of God the Father to be the judge of the living and the dead. And then 17:31, Inasmuch as he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained, a reference obviously to Jesus as the one in His manhood, the man. And then we read of Paul, He reasoned of righteousness and temperance and the judgment to come. And the context requires us to understand the judgment to come is intimately related to the office and work of Jesus the Christ. 8 of 10

9 When we turn to the letters of Saint Paul, we find that these letters offer us abundant evidence that he believed and taught that Jesus the Christ would come as judge. You could say that he stresses this theme more in the earlier than the later epistles, but you ve got to say that it is not absent from any of them but is understood or specifically stated in them all. In the first epistle to the Thessalonians Paul says that the Lord Jesus will come with His saints. The Thessalonians are urged to be blameless (3:13). Quote, To the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God, and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. And later he writes in the same letter, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And these passages obviously in context refer to the coming of Jesus in judgment as the judge. In fact, in the second letter to the Thessalonians (1:7 10), the Lord Jesus, we are told, will be revealed from heaven when the angels of his power, in flaming fire rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. We could continue to give you quotations from Paul and from other New Testament writings, but again I commend to you the simple task of following these through with the help of a concordance and then you will, as it were, see it all for yourself clearly. So that is Jesus and judgment. And now we turn to Jesus and the creation. On several occasions in the New Testament it is made clear, first of all by Paul, and also by John, of the place of Jesus the Christ the Son of God in the creation of the universe. Colossians 1:16, For in him, in Christ, were all things created, in the heavens, and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, that s the heavenly world of all the angels and archangels and the visible world on which we live, this universe. And he continues, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things have been created through him, and unto him. We get three prepositions there concerning the place of Jesus the Christ, the Son in creation, in Him, through Him, and unto Him. And then there is the famous prologue of the gospel of Saint John wherein we are told in the opening verses of the gospel of John that all things came into existence through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. There are other references, for example, in the opening part of the letter to the Hebrews, but again I will encourage you to follow these through for yourself. And in thinking about the 9 of 10

10 creation, remember that in the New Testament, Jesus is not only the one by whom and through whom the old creation came into existence. He is the one in and through and by whom the new creation comes into existence. And then as we turn to the theme of salvation we find again that He, Jesus, is the one who is stated to be the savior. And, of course, Yahweh, God, is also stated to be the savior. In the Acts of the Apostles (4:12), And in none other is the salvation, for neither is there any other name under heaven that is given among men, wherein we must be saved. And chapter 15 of Acts, We believe that we shall be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So salvation is very much in the New Testament also said to be brought to us, made possible for us by Jesus Christ. Of course, He is called the author of salvation and the cause of salvation, but at the same time God the Father is said to be the savior, and the very association of Jesus with the Father in the bringing of salvation brings to our notice that He who brings and gives salvation must Himself be God. Therefore, if I may summarize as we get to the end of this particular lecture, if as theologians say the critical problem is the relation of Jesus to God, Yahweh, the Father, then we find that Jesus is Himself called God. Jesus is Himself called the Lord. Jesus Himself is worshipped with the worship due to God. Jesus is prayed to as prayers are offered to God. Jesus judges the world. Jesus is involved with the Father in the creation and sustaining of the world and in the creation of what we call the new creation. And Jesus with the Father is called the savior. We shall move on to think about the Holy Spirit in the next lecture. Christ-Centered Learning Anytime, Anywhere 10 of 10