When commenting Heb 1:3, Geisler and Rhodes noted that
. . . Mormons fail to recognize
that the incarnate Jesus is one person with two natures—a divine nature
and a human nature. (Norman L. Geiser and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists
Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations [Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Baker Books, 1997], 283, italics in original)
Notice, however, that they must split the single person of Jesus into
two persons (at least functionally) when addressing Mark 13:32:
We must distinguish between what
Jesus knew as God (everything) and what he knew as man. As God,
Jesus was omniscient (all-knowing), but as man he was limited in his knowledge.
The situation can be schematized as follows:
|
Jesus as God |
Jesus as Man |
|
Unlimited in knowledge |
Limited in knowledge |
|
No growth in knowledge |
Growth in knowledge |
|
Knew time of his coming |
Did not know time of his coming |
Hence, in Mark 13:32, Jesus was
speaking from the vantage point of his humanity. In his humanity, Jesus was not
omniscient, but was limited in understanding, just as are all human beings. If
Jesus had been speaking from the perspective of his divinity, he wouldn’t have
said the same thing. (Ibid., 139, italics in origianl)
As with so many Protestant apologists, they fall into the trap of
Nestorianism.
