Article Never an Early Issue over the Identity of God or the Origin of Jesus

[Ray Faircloth]

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Never an Early Issue over the Identity ​

​

of God or the Origin of Jesus ​

Whenever there is a change of highly significant beliefs or procedures, controversy is inevitable. This was true in the first century during the transition period from Judaism to Christianity when there were indeed a number of major teachings and practices that changed. Some of these issues caused controversies among Christians themselves and some of these issues led to persecution of Christians by the Jewish leaders. So, we ask the following two questions:



Was there, in the biblical record, any issue among the earliest Christians over whether or not Jesus had been ‘God the Son’ who then was transferred into Mary’s womb?



Was there, according to the biblical record, a teaching that was preached so that there would be discontent and even persecution of Christians by the Jewish leadership who were expecting a Messiah entirely from the human gene pool i.e., one descended from Abraham through David (Deut. 18:18)?

The Main First Century Controversies

among Christians​

The accepting of Gentile Christians as now being the people of God along with Jewish Christians (Gal. 2:11-14).

Gentile believers not being required to keep the regulations of the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:23-29).

Jewish Christians not being required to keep the regulations of the Mosaic Law (Col. 2:16, 17; Heb. 10:10).

Correct usage of the gifts of the spirit (1 Cor. 12-14).

Orderliness at meetings (1 Cor. 14:34-40; 1 Tim. 2:8-15).

The respectful celebrating of the Lord’s Evening Meal (1 Cor. 11).



However, it is evident that the controversies among the first century Christians never involved whether or not Jesus had previously been a different being who had come from heaven, but rather one who was fully human with no past life in heaven. Jewish Christians expected a Messiah entirely from the human gene pool i.e., a person descended from Abraham through David? Furthermore, almost all leading scholars agree that the concept of pre-existence was entirely of pagan Greek origin and not taught in the Hebrew Scriptures. Nevertheless, there were issues that brought persecution from the Jewish leadership and different issues that brought persecution from the Gentile authorities.

Issues Bringing Persecution from

the Jewish Leadership​

The resurrection of Jesus as proclaimed by Peter and John (Acts 4:2; 5:28).



That Jesus would destroy the temple and “alter the customs which Moses handed down to us” as supposedly proclaimed by Stephen (Acts 6:14; 7:54-58).



That Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God as proclaimed by Paul (Acts 9:20-25).



For Paul’s bringing a Gentile i.e., Trophimus from Ephesus into the inner courts of the Temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:28-29).



For Paul’s preaching that Jesus “had died and was now alive” (Acts 25:18-19).



As can be seen from this list, the Christian teaching issues concerning Jesus which brought down the wrath of the Jewish religious leaders upon them primarily concerned the claim that he is the Messiah and that he was resurrected. So, we see that:



Not once were Christians accused by Jewish leaders of teaching that God was more than one person.



Not once were Christians accused by Jewish leaders of idolatry because of teaching that Jesus was the Almighty God.



Also, if the earliest Christians had preached about a pre-existent Messiah, they would have been severely persecuted by the Jewish leadership for preaching a significantly distorted version of the coming Messiah. However, the Bible record shows that the earliest Christians were never persecuted over this subject and so showing how very unlikely it was that they ever believed in a pre-existent Jesus.

Issues Bringing Persecution from

the Gentile Authorities​

The advocating of “customs that are not lawful for us [in Philippi] as Romans to accept or practice” (Acts 16:21) by Paul and Silas.



The proclaiming that Jesus, as the Messiah, had to die and rise from the dead (Acts 17:3) by Paul and Silas in Thessalonica.



An accusation that Christians were “acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7).



For Paul’s teaching that idols were not really gods (Acts 19:26) and so causing the crowds to chant for many hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”



In fact, not once were the earliest Christians accused by Gentiles of teaching that Jesus was actually God’s agent for the creation of the universe. In fact, there is nothing in the biblical record, particularly in Acts, of the preaching by first century Christians that a so-called ‘God the Son’ had descended into Mary’s womb.

There Never Was an Issue Over a Pre-Existent

Messiah in the First Century​

All of this is evidence that the earliest Christians never changed their view away from the biblical and Jewish statements concerning the coming human Messiah as one who would be descended from Abraham and in the line of David i.e., entirely within the human gene pool. Indeed, it would be strange if Christians had engaged in the above controversies and put up with persecution over the above listed issues and yet never engaged in a controversy or suffered any persecution because of Christian acceptance of a teaching that Messiah had now been revealed as being ‘God the Son’ descended from heaven through Mary’s womb. Such a major issue would surely have brought controversy if it really had been taught.



PRE-EXISTENCE WAS A MID-SECOND CENTURY ISSUE

The first century Middle Platonic philosopher Numenius introduced the idea of a second transcendental entity between the Supreme Being and the universe. From this the Christian Justin Martyr used the word pre-existence with reference to Jesus in about 150 C.E. The rest of the details of this developing issue leading to Trinitarian thinking can be examined later.



THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE TRINITY

Once certain second century Christians had accepted the concept of pre-existence with reference to Jesus the next stage was that of making it an eternal pre-existence as taught by Origen later in the second century, and finally into the full-blown Trinity in 481 C.E. and onward. However, some Trinitarians try to teach that the doctrine of the Trinity was believed by the earliest Christians. To show that this is not true one only has to consider all the above noted controversial issues and the resulting persecutions.

The Issue of Whether or Not God Was a Trinity

Was Raised More Than 300 Years Later​

Starting in Egypt in the early fourth century, the Church debated whether or not Jesus was actually the Almighty God as part of a triune God-head. Between the years 318 and 381 no less than 25 councils met specifically to address this issue.



Three councils came to no conclusion.

Fifteen councils agreed that Jesus was a created being (Arianism).

Seven councils agreed that Jesus was fully God with no beginning (as taught by Alexander and Athanasius).



After Theodosius became emperor in A.D. 379, he made it illegal to hold a non-Trinitarian belief. Therefore, it was a political decision that has resulted in the Trinity doctrine coming to be the touchstone doctrine of the churches today rather than true monotheism. So, it is evident that neither Jesus nor the earliest Christians taught or believed that Jesus was the Almighty God or that God was more than one person as defined in the doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, the controversial issues and resulting persecutions of Christians of the first century never involved ‘how many God is;’ that is to say, there was no argument that God was more than one person or that Jesus was God in a metaphysical sense. Just as with the Jews of the first century the Christians of that time believed in the unitary Shema which is: “Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29). Furthermore, almost all scholars agree that the Trinity was not taught in the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, the claim that the earliest Christians had believed that God was more than one person and that Jesus was actually God Almighty is proved to be false. Certainly, if it had been the case, and the Christians had proclaimed this belief, they would have been severely persecuted by the Jews because of their pure unitary monotheism. However, the biblical record shows that, although persecuted over the many issues just listed, Christians were never persecuted for any supposed Binitarian or Trinitarian or pre-existence teaching. All of this is evidence that the earliest Christians never changed their view away from the biblical and Jewish statement of the unitary Shema, that “Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29). It would indeed be strange if Christians had engaged in the above controversies and put up with persecution over those issues and yet never engaged in a controversy or suffered any persecution because of Christian acceptance of a teaching that God was now revealed as being three persons of one substance. Surely, there would have been some who raised this as a controversial issue if it really had been taught.

Conclusion​

Dr. John Hey writes:



“When it is proposed to me to affirm that “in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons of one substance, power and eternity, the Father, Son and HS, I have difficulty enough! My understanding is involved in perplexity, my conceptions bewildered in the thickest darkness. I pause, I hesitate. I ask what necessity there is for making such a declaration...but does not this confound all our conceptions and make us use words without meaning. I think it does. I profess and confess my confusion in a most unequivocal manner. I make it an essential part of my declaration. If I pretended to understand what I say [why is this a holy thing?] I might be a Tritheist or infidel. But I could not both worship the one true God and acknowledge Jesus Christ to be Lord of all. It might tend to promote moderation, and in the end agreement, if we were industrious on all occasions to represent our own doctrine as wholly unintelligible.” Lectures in Divinity, Vol. 2, pp 249, 251, 253.



And Raymond E. Brown states that,



There is no sense in which the Johannine Jesus replaces the God of Israel who has traditionally been confessed as one: “Eternal life consists in this: that they know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, the one whom you sent” (Jo 17:3)...Thus Johannine Christology never replaces theology.

An Introduction to the Gospel of John, p 249.

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As already noted, the Trinity has been terribly problematic and so very illogical that modern day scholars have attempted to find ways which will explain it.

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The New Creation in Revelation 3:14​

James Dunn comments that: “There is no indication that Jesus thought or spoke of himself as having pre-existed with God prior to his birth” (Christology in the Making, p. 254). So, when Jesus describes himself in Revelation 3:14 as: “…the faithful and true witness…the beginning of God’s creation” he is not saying that he was the one who brought the material creation into existence. Therefore, to understand what is meant we have to examine the context to this saying.



GENERAL CONTEXT

Jesus is the same ‘beginning’ of the new creation as he is in Colossians and Romans, that is, “…that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29) because, “…he is the head of the body, the church; who is its beginning, first-born from the dead...” (Col. 1:18). Also, the context of the entire book of Revelation concerns primarily events of the future. So, as with Colossians 1:15-20, “the creation” noted in Revelation 3:14 began with Christ’s death and resurrection so that Jesus became the beginning of this New Creation, he being the first to be resurrected to immortality and therefore: “...the firstborn (pre-eminent one) of the dead” (Rev. 1:5, 18) just as Paul had earlier also called Jesus, “...the firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:18).



THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT

The immediate context of Revelation 3:14 is that of Jesus’ words to the New Creation in the seven congregations, so that they would remain as faithful Christians. To this New Creation Jesus says:



vs 11: “Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.”

vs 12: “I will make them pillars in the temple of my God…I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on them my own new name.”

vs 21: “I will grant to him to sit with me on my throne.



Also, please note that the context or 3:14 is in the present tense showing that this is not a reference to the time of the original material creation. It refers to the creation which came into existence at the time of writing for: “...us to be a certain first fruits of his creatures” or “first fruits of his creation” (Jas. 1:18 REB). This is just as “firstborn of creation” refers to the new creation rather than meaning that Christians were the first ever of creation. For the above reasons the translators of the NLT saw fit to render verse 14 as:

“This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation.”

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Therefore, this statement in Revelation 3:14 refers to the creation which commenced with Christ’s death and resurrection. This New Creation, noted in Galatians 6:15 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 will finally involve the ultimate regeneration of believers, rather than the material Creation. However, the Greek word arche is variously rendered: beginning, origin, originator, cause, source, originating source, head, chief, sovereign, or ruler. Indeed, arche has a double meaning of which head, chief, sovereign, or ruler fit better with the context of the New Creation described in Revelation 3. So, arche is also rendered “Ruler” in The Common English Bible, The Complete Jewish Bible, The Easy-to-Read Version, The New Century Version, and the NIV. It is also rendered “…the Chief of the creation of God” in Young’s Literal Translation. Sadly, the focus on a pre-existent Christ, as creator of the physical creation, by Justin Martyr in A.D. 150 effectively removed Jesus from his status as the ruler, beginning, the first-born, pre-eminent one, and agent of the new creation.

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