Magdalenbrother
May 28th 2004, 04:47 AM
Isaiah 6:
The prophet has a awesome vision. He sees God (and doesn't die!*). He realizes how sinful he is , he and the whole Jewish people (note that he doesn't distinguish the two!). Then...
"Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."
A burning ember took away the sin of Isaiah...
But wait, isn't the power to remit sins the exclusive monopoly of Jehovah Elohim, the Lord of Hosts? Yes, by Jove it is !
But see: a burning coal took away Isaiah's sin: it is God !
A stone, a piece of coal is God !
Now if you realize why this conclusion is both right and wrong, you will understand why similar Trinitarian arguments applied to Jesus are both right and wrong.
Right when they apprise us of the fact that a divine prerogative is exercised by someone other than God the Father;
Wrong when they infer from it that the person who exercises this prerogative must necessarily be God Himself.
There is such a thing as participatory theology, folks.
*How funny, the whole OT is full of apparitions and visions of God but some Biblical authors still want us to believe that noone can see God and remain alive!:ahem:
The prophet has a awesome vision. He sees God (and doesn't die!*). He realizes how sinful he is , he and the whole Jewish people (note that he doesn't distinguish the two!). Then...
"Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."
A burning ember took away the sin of Isaiah...
But wait, isn't the power to remit sins the exclusive monopoly of Jehovah Elohim, the Lord of Hosts? Yes, by Jove it is !
But see: a burning coal took away Isaiah's sin: it is God !
A stone, a piece of coal is God !
Now if you realize why this conclusion is both right and wrong, you will understand why similar Trinitarian arguments applied to Jesus are both right and wrong.
Right when they apprise us of the fact that a divine prerogative is exercised by someone other than God the Father;
Wrong when they infer from it that the person who exercises this prerogative must necessarily be God Himself.
There is such a thing as participatory theology, folks.
*How funny, the whole OT is full of apparitions and visions of God but some Biblical authors still want us to believe that noone can see God and remain alive!:ahem: