Subject: Apostles, Prophets? An Office for Today? |
Bible Note: Greetings Joe! Reformer Joe already made an excellent response to your post, but allow me to make a few more comments. 1) Trinity: You wrote: "There are many passages that state there is only one God yes... but where in the Bible does it state this is the "Trinity" and the Godhead is no where explained as that of the "Trinity" in the Nicene Creed... that is the problem with the doctrine, yes, the creeds states it and gives a detailed definition, but the Bible does not teach the doctine of the Trinity, the creeds do... do you see my delema? I base my beliefs on the Bible, and the Trinity is not in the Bible, so how can it be upheld as concrete?" Yet, the Trinity is taught in the Bible. Does it come out and say: "This is the doctrine of the trinity!" No! But, as Joe already pointed out, the Bible does teach: a) That there is only one God, period! b) That the Father is God. c) That Jesus is God. d) That the Holy Spirit is God. e) That these three are distinct Persons. Now, how can all of these statements above be true at the same time. If we make Father, Son, and Holy Ghost into three Gods, then we violate the first Biblical premise (The Shema). If we say that there is only one God but He simply manifests in three different ways, then we violate the last Biblical premise (the heresy of modalism). So, the doctrine of the Trinity is simply a systematic way of explaining the above truths - one God, three Persons. 2) Apostles and Prophets: You wrote: "So if we can do this, why should we not have Apostles and Prophets to settle these petty doctrinal issues? As far as I've read, God doesn't like confusion, which is why He had Prophets and Apostles." If this were true (i.e. - that prophets and apostles solve all petty doctrinal issues), why were there so many false doctrines floating around while the apostles were still alive. Colossians is one letter written simply to combat false doctrine. Galatians is another. Even if we still had Apostles and Prophets today (it really doesn't matter to me one way or the other), the Bible is still God's self-revelation to man and our only source of authority. So, they would have to be in agreement with it anyway, else they would be false prophets. :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |