Dear Char... peace to you... and here are the responses I promised, dear one. Note, any bolding, underlining, coloring, etc., will be mine, to show WHY I responded to you... and respond now... as I did/do:
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Why not, Shelby? Why is it that you are not sure? How could I have made it clearer for you than word for word, which you had above?
(Smile) I was sure, dear Char. I was being accommodating (which many folks need... and apparently value over truth)... and trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, that PERHAPS I misunderstood you. I know you and others would have considered it arrogant for me to say that "No, that's NOT what you stated." Since the record was there, I felt no need to be explicitly direct.
To my question:
"Is it your position that you all are... ummmmmm... correct... BECAUSE you a "large body... all over the world, of very many denominations"?"Quote:
Why do you think that, Shelby? What is it in what I wrote that led you to ask such a strange question?
The question wasn't strange, dear Char. And there was nothing "in" what you wrote - it was simply what you wrote. Period. Really.
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I claimed no position. I told the truth. I merely described the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, a doctrine believed by a very large number of Christians who BELIEVE it. Not because very many do. But because they believe it. As I do. With all my heart.
Ummmm... and that's not the same thing (you described it because many believe it)?
To my question:
"Or is it because Christ himself revealed it to you?" I note that you response to THIS question was quite curious to me. It was:
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Indeed. God the Father and God the Son: Matthew 11:27. "No-one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
Funny, I quoted that to YOU. But let me ask you now: you say, "indeed," that Christ revealed it to you (at least, that was MY question). May I ask HOW he did so?
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God the Holy Spirit: John 14:16-17, 26.
So, your position is that God is the Holy Spirit? Okay, we'll look at that and the verses in a sec. But I have to ask you: Is Christ the Holy Spirit, as well? Paul, of course, wrote that he is (
2 Corinthians 3:17). So, I have to ask: Is the Holy Spirit ALSO the Holy Spirit? I mean, per what you state, added to what Paul stated... is it not that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all "God"... but that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all... the Holy Spirit! Yes?
Are they all Christ, too (i.e., God, Christ, the Holy Spirit... all Christ)? I am not asking sarcastically. I am trying to understand how it changed from them all being God... to them now all being the Holy Spirit... and, depending on your response... them all being Christ.
"I shall ask the Father
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you for ever,
that Spirit of truth
whom the world can never receive
since it neither sees nor knows him;
but you know him,
because he is with you, he is in you."
"but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you."First, you DO know that the word "he" here, is from the Greek word
autos, which means, in addition to "he"... also "she"... AND "it"... and that the Greek word for "whom" is
hos... which also means "which" and "that"?
Second, it is the "spirit of truth." May I ask you, in light of Christ's words recorded just a few verses up (14:6)... who that "truth" is... and so whose SPIRIT was being spoken of? I will quote the verse for you:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life."Based on what Christ is recorded to have said (since we're going with what he was recorded to have said), would it not have been HIS spirit (the spirit of truth) that the Father would send? Perhaps a closer look at the Greek will help. The Greek word for "Comforter" or "Advocate"... is
parakletos... or "paraclete." Is there another verse, perhaps by someone who would KNOW, that would tell us who that "Comforter," "Advocate"... or paraclete is? There is.
1 John 2:2. That verse states:
"My children, I am writing this to prevent you from sinning; but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, [Jesus] Christ, the upright." Jerusalem Bible
"My little sons, this I write to you, so that you may not sin. But if anyone has sinned, we have an Advocate with the Father, [Jesus] Christ, the Just One." Catholic Public Domain Bible
What about what that "spirit" does? You quoted:
"But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;"I ask you: WHO leads God's sheep? Is it not the Fine Shepherd himself?
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. Do not the sheep FOLLOW the Shepherd... he who LEADS them? And what about who the sheep learn from? Christ said that that Spirit would not speak from itself/himself but only as it/he learned. Did he not say that HE did NOTHING of his own initiative, but ONLY as HE learned... from the Father??
Dear Char, our Lord did not call HIMSELF the "Holy" Spirit... because he had not yet been GIVEN that designation. Because he was not yet GLORIFIED:
"On the last day, the great day of the festival, [Jesus] stood and cried out: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water." He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because [Jesus] had not yet been glorified." John 7:37-39He COULDN'T take credit/glory, dear one... for something that had NOT OCCURRED yet!
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At work since Creation, having previously spoken through the Prophets, the Spirit wil now be with and in the disciples to teach them and guide them into all the truth.
YES! And WHO is that One?
Hebrews 1:1, 2 -
"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things..."Matthew 28:20 -
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”John 14:23 -
"Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."Romans 8:9, 10 -
"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you."To my question:
"If he revealed it to you, HOW did he do that? By what means?"Quote:
See above.
But I did not see a response that answered the question, dear one, but only what appeared to be ambiguity and perhaps even avoidance.
To my question:
" By holy spirit? And if by holy spirit, HOW did he do it? "Quote:
As above.
Again, you seem to be avoiding the question, not responding to it. My questions were quite specific.
To my question:
"Or, if by holy spirit, do you mean by the Holy Spirit, isn't that the same one as Christ himself, per 2 Corinthians 3:17? "Quote:
I note that introductory "Or". A lawyer's trick of false logic. There is no "or". This is a supplementary question. You mean "And". As such, the answer would be, no, it is not the same, and Christ, although ascending to his Father as spirit, is not "a" spirit, and most definitely not a "same one". The Holy Spirit and the Son are not the same person, as we see in the verses quoted above.
Yet,
2 Corinthians 3:17, 18 states, in the JERUSALEM Bible:
"Now this Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And all of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit."To me comments/questions:
"If so, and so by Christ, the Holy Spirit... where is the "extra" Holy Spirit you and others speak of coming from? Who is that one... and what is his/its 'name' (because many believe in such an entity because of their belief that Christ disciples were to be baptized "in the name of the Father (so, okay, JAH/JAHVEH, Yahweh, even Jehovah)... and of the Son (Jah eShua, Joshua, Yeshua, etc., or even "Jesus")... and pf the Holy Spirit (whose name is... what, dear one?)."Quote:
"If so"....but it is NOT so. (see above.) Thus the rest of this question, built upon that "if so", is dependent upon a false supposition. There is no "extra Holy Spirit, that is either your imagination running away with you or a failure to understand. Or deliberate obfuscation, of which, of course, you would not be guilty.
But it you who are in error, yes, as to WHOM that Spirit is? Or, at least, you're not in agreement with either Christ or Paul, as both of them are recorded, yes?
To me question:
" If not by any of these, when HOW do you KNOW? Who (or what?) "told" you... and how?"Quote:
Answered above, but I note that introductory "If not by any of these"...another lawyers' trick designed to confuse but not only has the device already been discerned and addressed but the very point itself answered.
But you DIDN'T answer, dear one. You "deflected" by interjecting some comment about "lawyers' tricks", which were NOT used at ALL. I asked you very simply questions, in an effort to try to understand WHY you believe as you do.
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Your suppositions are not correct, and my submission has been clearly stated and justified.
Sadly, I must disagree, that it is YOUR submission that is in error, dear one. And not justified at all. Nor clearly stated but, again, ambiguous, if not avoiding, altogether.
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This is one of those very important areas where we differ, you and i.
Yes, but that's what I trying to do: find out WHY we differ... if we claim the same spirit and Christ.
To my comment:
Yes. But I can share with you HOW I know, dear one. I am not sure your position is supported... by holy spirit, the Holy Spirit, Christ, the Bible, God, or anything other than the traditions and customs of men. I am open, however, to discussing it with you, if you care to.Quote:
I see that once again you are not sure, Shelby. I hope that my answers above have helped to clarify it all for you.
And, again, I am TRYING to accommodate you, dear Char. Because, in TRUTH, your responses are neither supported... nor make sense. Truly. But I am giving YOU the benefit of the doubt that perhaps the ambiguity lies with me. But I don't think that's the case, luv.
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Arianism was one of the very early areas where different forms of belief and understanding separated from the greater number of the early Christians.
I am not sure that that is accurate, dear one, but that a certain form of worship that has fomented to a much larger extent is what "separated." And so as I stated, I don't agree with ALL that such do. But thank you, for those who may not have.
To my comment:
May I ask, on what do you base your position as to that? Because the chart indicates just the opposite. At least, the Arians seem to think so. I am not a fomenter of Arianism (and to clarify for those here who might be confused, dear Char and I are not meaning "Aryanism," as in modern skinheads/Nazism - they are not the same thing). Quote:
I do not base my answers on the very simple chart you found, Shelby. Arianism was studied as part of the specialisms within my degree, and thus in depth.
I did not comment so as to imply that you DO base your answers on such, dear one, but that apparently SOME believe as YOU stated (in effect) that no one who believed themself a christian did.
To my comment:
"I'm sorry, dear, dear Char, but I can't see Peter, let alone Christ, needing fancy red shoes and great hats, etc. Nor can I see either of them living off money taken from widows... or sanctioning educational complexes/institutions, etc.Quote:
I'm sure you can't, Shelby, not, naturally, that you would want to stress and exaggerate anything that could be cast in a negative light to do with the Church. As we know, many things have changed in the last two thousand years. Neither do you know, perhaps, of all the good that is done.
I'm exaggerating the presence of fancy red shoes and great hats, etc.? And money taken from widows, etc.??
And I am not sure you believe I am not singling you out, dear Char... but I'm not. I would pose the same questions to anyone. I only address you because YOU addressed ME (this was a thread I started, remember... and YOU responded to?)
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I am sure that many and varied beliefs can be found "out there". There is no limit to mental ingenuity.
And that was my point, which you initially denied, luv. That is what this was all about. That you can't see that YOU denied that, at the first, is... curious to me.
But I have now responded, as I believe you deserve. I hope some of it helps... and, as always, wish you the GREATEST of love and peace!
YOUR servant, sister and fellow slave of Christ,
Shellama