Quote:
Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!
But this is much like theologians trying to corner a concise understanding and definition of the nature of our Triune God - I don't believe it can be done, and we will dance around and around trying to nail-down the issue until we see Jesus face to face
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Sons to Glory,
I don't think anyone is trying to give a definition of God. Nor do I think such a thing is possible and I don't think historical figures like say Athanasius or Cyril of Alexandria thought they were doing that either.
Rather they were trying to do a couple of things. First they were trying to weed out false statements about God. One can do that without giving a definition. And they were trying to say why those statements were false.
Second, they were trying to preserve what was delivered to them by the Apostles and that of course doesn't require us to think that they were trying to give a definition. The same is true for the work of church councils. The Nicene Creed for example says that the Father and the Son are of one essence, yet it provides no definition of the divine essence. It is a corral not a diagram.
As to Lee's view of deification, the difference it makes at least in some part is the difference between saying that there is God and what God creates, or saying that there is God and other things are or become extensions of God. The first is Christianity and the second is panentheism, where the world is or becomes an extension of God's essence.
Honestly, I think Lee was just sloppy. I also think all that power went to his head. The restorationist views didn't exactly instill humility in Lee or any of his followers, at least none that I ever met. I think he was doing this on the fly. Came to the US and was all gung-ho and then he started facing opposition.
I wonder, but do not know if combined with changes in Lee's texts, if looking at his works chronologically would indicate that he either changed in the face of criticism or was trying to avoid it while still holding on to his original views. Stuff like that has happened before in the course of Church history.
In short, like many people doing it all on their own, they make mistakes in understanding the scriptures, sometimes big ones. And if they aren't willing to be corrected and they have power, well, the mistakes will persist and people will most likely be harmed.
I hope that helps.