Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Father (Jehovah) is God Alone
(From the RDB Files)
1. God is Jehovah (YHWH in Hebrew text) Alone.
2. Jehovah is the Father Alone.
3. The Father (Jehovah) is the God of the Messiah.
4. The Father (Jehovah) is God Alone.
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Bible students should know, as basic information, that most English Bibles have mistranslated God's only personal name as "LORD" over 6000 times. This name, YHWH in the Hebrew OT text, is properly transliterated as "Jehovah" (ASV, MKJV, Young's, etc. and in a few places such as Ps. 83:18 in KJV and Exodus 3:15 in MLB, LB, etc.) or "Yahweh" (JB, NJB, Rotherham, etc.). This name is found in Hebrew as:
http://www.studylight.org/lexicons/hebrew/hwview.cgi?n=3068
It is important to have this knowledge in order to better understand exactly who is the only true God.
1. God Alone = Jehovah (YHWH in Hebrew text) - Ps. 83:18; 86:10; Is. 37:16, 20 (and numerous Israelite personal names like 'Elijah' which means 'God is Jehovah').
Psalms 83:18 That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah (YHWH), Art the Most High over all the earth. - ASV.
Ps. 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone. 11 Teach me thy way, O Jehovah (YHWH); I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name. - ASV.
Is. 37:16 O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, that sittest [above] the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. - ASV.
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2. Only Jehovah = the Father in heaven - Ps. 2:7 (Acts 13:33); Is. 64:8 (and numerous Israelite personal names like 'Abijah' which mean 'The Father is Jehovah')
Psalms 2:7 I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me [the Messiah], Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. -ASV.
Acts 13:33 that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. - ASV.
Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. - ASV
But there are no personal names in scripture which mean "Jehovah is the Son" or "Jehovah is the Messiah," or anything else to indicate that the firstborn son of God is Jehovah or is God.
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3. The Father (Jehovah) is the God of the Messiah
Micah 5:2-4 2 And thou, Beth-Lehem Ephratah, Little to be among the chiefs of Judah! From thee to Me he cometh forth--to be ruler in Israel, And his comings forth [are] of old, From the days of antiquity. 3 Therefore he doth give them out till the time She who bringeth forth hath brought forth, And the remnant of his brethren return to the sons of Israel. 4 And he hath stood and delighted in the strength of Jehovah, In the excellency of the name of Jehovah his God - Young's.
Ro. 15:6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. - NASB.
Revelation 1:6 and He [Jesus Christ in heaven] has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. - NASB.
2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. - NASB.
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4. The Father (Jehovah - see above) = only true God
John 17:1, 3 "Father, .... 3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. - NASB.
Jeremiah 10:10 "But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living God," - ASV.
The Father (Jehovah) = only God for Christians - 1 Cor. 8:6
1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. - RSV.
1 Corinthians 8:6 yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live. - TEV.
Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. - NASB.
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6 comments:
Hey Elijah, how are you doing! I'm a fellow JW here and I had a question about the trinity as it relates to this topic. You use 1 Corinthians 8:6 to show that the Father is God alone but some trinitarians think that when it says One Lord, Jesus Christ...that is really saying one God, Jesus Christ. Meaning that there are two Gods mentioned but they arn't two but one. And they say the Apostles choose to write Lord instead of God so as not to confuse it with ho theos or God( which means God the father to them). How would one respond...it seems that no matter what tactics you use to show Gods "oneness" is easily reasoned around if you just apply the rule that any time in the bible that you see Ho theos...it is talking about the God The Father.
Actually then 1 Corinthians 8:6 becomes a little redundant saying, "yet there is for us only on (god the father), The father,... I don't know. It's a mess. Why do trinitarians feel like they dictate when God means just god the father and when it means god in "oneness"?
Elijah response:
Ho theos (“the God”) is used only for the Father, because the Father IS God alone! (John 17:1, 3, NEB).
The great kerfuffle caused by those who finally forced the trinity doctrine on Christendom (fourth century A.D.) concerned who would be called and worshiped as fully God.
They declared three persons as equally God (ho theos): The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is ho theos, the Son is ho theos, and the HS is ho theos according to the fallacious trinity doctrine.
As for “Lord” the Greek word used is Kurios/Kyrios (which means “Lord,” “Master,” or “Sir” - see Greek lexicons and Bible concordances). It is used by slaves to their masters, wives to their husbands, men and women to strangers (usually rendered as “Sir” in English), men to angels, or to just about anyone considered to be of a higher authority (including Jesus and God, of course). To insist that its use must mean that any person so called is God (or somehow comparable to God) is just pure poppycock!
If the Son is God as the trinity doctrine insists, he must be clearly and repeatedly called God (ho theos).
what about those who believe the trinity doctrine but dont believe that the son is Ho theos...they go on the fact that since Ho theos means god the father we wouldn't expect jesus to be called ho theos because that means he would be the father.
Also, doesn't Ho theos (the god) is used only for the tather because the father is GOD alone..isnt that kinda circular? I'm a Jehovah's Witness myself but i'm having a hard time of why God is not specified as being one in substance and nature. It seems both trinitarians and non trinitarians look at into the bible with their own presuppositions. for instance someone once said to me...John 17:3 says only true god in relation to the father. it doesn't say the only true god who is the father.
Do you see what I mean? It seems like a hopeless battle that is impossible to argue against or for. this is the same person as before. And thank you very much for answering my questions
Sorry, I don't see what you mean,
Ho theos doesn’t mean God the Father. It simply means ‘the god’ or ‘the mighty one.’ This is the God of gods, the Most High, Almighty God who is God ALONE. It just so happens that this person who is the only true God IS the Father alone.
It is somewhat like recognizing that Jesus is The Son (ho huios), but also insisting that everyone else who is called “son” (huios) is also equally the Messiah. A member of the ‘Messianity’?
“Ho theos (the god) is used only for the Father because the Father is GOD alone…. isnt that kinda circular?”
I don’t see anything which could be called circular reasoning there. It’s just a statement of what scripture actually tells us.
Circular reasoning is like this: “The Book of Mormon is true because it says so in the Book of Mormon.”
“John 17:3 says only true god in relation to the father. it doesn't say the only true god who is the father.”
John 17 is Jesus’ last prayer before his death. He begins by addressing the Father alone, “Father,…and continues praying to the Father alone in verse 3 where he says “you, the only true God…” There is no way around it. Jesus states that the Father is the ONLY true God.
Okay thank you I get it now!...William Lane Craig seems to believe that Ho theos,sometimes translated to the father, means God the Father. So i was merely using his definition of what Ho theos meant.
And BTW, thank you so much for this site! It's incredible and has really helped me delve into why I DON'T believe in the trinity. May Jehovah continue to bless your efforts!
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