Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake
Freedom,
At what point in time did the Triune God co-existing and co-inhering from eternity past to eternity future become separated?
Are you saying that in incarnation, when the Word become flesh, the co-inherence of the Triune God changed?
I believe the definition of "Para" as may be found in John 6:46, 7:29, and 16:27 maintains the eternal status of the essential Trinity. That is orthodox is it not?
Drake
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No one is trying to 'separate' God into three gods, and it seems like you are misrepresenting the arguments that have been made. Even the supposed 'tritheism' of Christians at large was a straw man constructed by Lee. The distinction that the vast majority of Christians make between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not made in err, it’s as simple as people following the pattern that the Bible presents us with. Consider what kind of language the Apostle Paul used when referring to God, particularly in his salutation at the beginning of each epistle. He used phrases like "
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus." Actually, probably a majority of these greetings mention both the Father and Son. When faced with such distinct language as a pattern, upon what basis would we move to a more general terminology like “the Triune God”?
As
Igzy has pointed out, I do think there is some leeway in how we develop an understanding of who God is, but I take issue with how Lee handled things. The Trinity represents an understanding of God which has deemed to be orthodox. It's perfectly acceptable to have a common understanding by which to compare teachings that could be heretical. I don't think that Lee was purposely trying to teach anything heretical (albeit maybe he liked saying things for shock value), but
heretical was exactly the perception that outsiders got. And of course he wasn't willing to retract or revise anything he said, he only doubled down, and the problem increased. Ultimately, statements like the "
Triune God became flesh" or "
the Son is the Father" neither reflect the language used to refer to God in the Bible, nor is something that most people would be comfortable with. So why was Lee so insistent on his own terminology?