Monday, February 22, 2016

Ephesians 1:17 and Illogical Trinitarian Argumentation

That the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. (Eph 1:17)

This is another text that shows Paul's subordinationist Christology, something one finds elsewhere in Ephesians 4:5-7. In this verse, after the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 2:9), the Father is still the God of Jesus Christ, and the latter is in subjection to the former (cf. 1 Cor 15:22-28).

Furthermore, it is the person of the Father singularly who is said to be the originator or "father" of glory (Gk.: ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης), not all three persons of the "Triune being" of God. This hearkens back to the theological implications one finds in Heb 1:3, where the glory Christ has is not of/from Christ Himself but is something He has due to His participation with the Father, and showing that Jesus is not autotheos (i.e., inherently God).

One common attempt by Trinitarian apologists in their desperate attempt to salvage any biblical basis for belief in their dogma is that, while many texts differentiate, not just the person of the Father from the Son, but "God" from the Son (e.g., Psa 110:1; John 17:3; 1 Cor 8:4-6; 1 Tim 2:5), as there are texts that call Jesus θεος (e.g., John 20:28), a Trinitarian Christology is required.

There are many problems with such a line of "reasoning," including the fact that in some texts where Jesus is called θεος, He is still presented as being subordinate to the Father (e.g., Heb 1:8-9, a Midrash of Psa 45:6-7 [see a discussion here]). Additionally, using this "logic," Jesus and the disciples are numerically identical and equal. True, the New Testament does include statements distinguishing Jesus and the disciples, but it also includes statements that treat the disciples as if they were Jesus:

He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. (Matt 10:40)

Furthermore, the Bible explicitly states that Yahweh gave the Law of Moses to the people of Israel (Deut 28:1; Ezek 20:11). However, in other instances, Moses gave the Law to the people (Josh 22:5), and in other instances, we are told that it was given by angels (Acts 7:53; Gal 3:19). Using the "reasoning" of Trinitarian apologists, we must conclude that "Moses" and "angels" are "Yahweh," or that Moses and the angels are members of the Godhead (or part of the "divine identity" or numerically identical to the "One God").


As we have seen yet again, Trinitarian theology is inconsistent with the biblical texts and sound exegesis thereof. Those who wish to be true “Biblical Christians” must reject the doctrine, not embrace it, as it presents a false conception of God and Christ (cf. 2 Cor 11:4).