Friday, October 20, 2023

D. Charles Pyle on the Father being "the God of" Jesus

We know that Christ is called God in the New Testament (See John 1:1c, for example) as well as the Book of Mormon (Title page; 3 Nephi 12:14) and Doctrine and Covenants (e.g., Section 19; introduction; 19:4, 16, 18). Yet the glorified Christ himself very specifically states of the Father that he is “my God” multiple times (Revelation 3:12 pin many manuscripts, also in verse 2 of the same chapter]). We also know from the Bible that the Father is “the God of” Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:31; Ephesians 1:3, 17; as also the Greek of Romans 15:6; 1 Peter 1:3, and as the “O God . . . thy God” structure in Hebrews 1:8-9 implies in the KJV). We know what the phrase “the God of” means when used in the phrase “the God of Abraham” so why is it an issue to believe it when also used to refer to the relationship between the Father and Son? If both propositions are true then there is no logical conclusion than to believe as did earlier Christians, such as Justin Martyr . . . that the Father and Son are two Gods.

 

D. Charles Pyle, I Have Said Ye Are Gods: Concepts Conducive to the Early Christian Doctrine of Deification in Patristic Literature and the Underlying Strata of the Greek New Testament (Revised and Supplemented) (North Charleston, S.C.: CreateSpace, 2018), 79-80 n. a