Quote:
Originally Posted by UntoHim
Forget about attitudes, they are not relevant to the discussions - besides it's just a not-so-thinly veiled ad hominem attack. (against Forum rules ) Don't worry about my attitude, please address what I have written. Semantics...well now that's fair game.
God desires does not = God needs. God longs for does not = God needs. God wants does not = God needs. God seeks does not = God needs. It is exactly this kind of concept that leads to heretical teachings such as Witness Lee's "four-in-one God". And no amount of provisos, addendums or exception clauses can make them biblical. None of the passages provided have established that God actually needs man. He does not need man to be "represented" (Adam and Eve blew that gig for us in Genesis 3) He does not need man to do a job for him. (for all the details read the Bible). God does not need man to be "expressed" (Only ONE person on earth was/is God's "express image") and God certainly does not need man to be glorified ("I will not share my glory with another")
Don't downplay semantics too much now. Words mean things. If we have any technical questions regarding the semantics of the Bible we might be better off consulting true experts in the field, and not fly-by-night theologians like Witness Lee. And by the way it does not take word games to prove Nee and Lee wrong....it's just a matter of going to the source material itself and maybe consulting some real scholars, theologians and linguistic experts to help us out a bit.
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OK, let's get our definitions straight so we are all on the same page.
1. Did God
need Ananias to go speak to Paul? If not what is the correct term to use?
2. Did God
need Mary in order for Jesus to be incarnated? If not what is the correct term to use?
3. If the church is the Body of Christ, does Christ
need His body? If not what is the correct term to use?