Wednesday, December 7, 2022

V. H. Fisher (RLDS) vs. the "manifestation theory" of Christology to Defend Modalism

  

The “Manifestation” Theory

 

The theory that Jesus Christ was simply the manifestation in the flesh of the Supreme Deity is without scriptural foundation. It is argued that God created a body, which was the “human of his divine,” and into this body he allowed a meager portion of His power, or glory, to operate. That is to say, that God divided Himself to that extent, to the amount of glory furnished Jesus.

 

The truth is that the body of Jesus Christ, that which was born in Bethlehem of Judea, was not the body of God but the body of his Son, Jesus Christ. The Son existed and was an associate with God long before the body was prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is true that God blessed Jesus and gave Him of His power, but the spirit which possessed the body of the Son was the same that was with God in the beginning—the same spirit which created all things for God. Observe the following scripture:

 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2, KJV).

 

This Word refers to the spirit of Jesus Christ. It will be noted that it is spelled with a capital W, which is used when divinity is referred to. He was with God and all things were made by Him (see verses 2 and 3):

 

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for he was before me” (John 1:14-15, IV and KJV).

 

John speaks of this Word as a living being, the Only Begotten of the Father, that was made flesh and dwelt among them. And John further states that while this Only Begotten of the Father came after him (John), yet He (the Only Begotten0 was preferred before him, “for he was before me.”

 

The spirit of Jesus Christ was with God from the beginning, and that same spirit, the spirit of the Only Begotten, possessed the body that was crucified upon the cross for the sins of man:

 

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:47, IV; Luke 23:46, KJV). (V. H. Fisher, The Godhead [rev ed.; Independence, Miss.: Price Publishing Company, 2001], 40-41)