Selwyn concentrates, in his study today, on the fact that some people question whether or not Christ was a real human being.
As he says: ‘God on a cross scandalised the ancient world of philosophy, and it seems to be doing the same to some religionists in our own day.’ This fact – God on a cross –  is also a major stumbling block to those who follow the teachings of Islam.
It’s very important to keep in mind that we don’t fully understand the nature of God in terms of: three persons – one God. In a human sense, the Trinity is best described as an antinomy (the mutual contradiction of two principles or correctly drawn inferences, each of which is supported by reason). As I’ve mentioned before, in Deuteronomy 4:35, there is the following: ‘ … you might know that the Lord is God beside him there is no other.’ In Genesis 1:2, we find these words: ‘ … and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’
In the Gospels, Relevation and most of the letters, we will find something like what we see in Matthew 28:18-19, ” … All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We can go through and read all the references in Scripture to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - but we cannot fully understand these facts. And, this is where the problem arises – there are a number of theologians who can’t accept the fact that there are aspects about God which they will never understand. So, they develop solutions to ‘the problem’ in an attempt to provide an explanation which will satisfy their arrogant ‘reason’. Hence, theories such as the one Selwyn mentions, that ‘God was united with the man Jesus at His baptism and then left him before the crucifixion’, are formed to get around ‘the scandal of God on a cross’.
Selwyn’s conclusion on a slightly different but related issue, is excellent: “The question of good and evil is not a question of spirit and matter: it is a question of the will. The seat of evil is in the will, not in matter. Of course, matter has been affected by the evil that came into the world through Adam and Eve’s sin, but to root evil in matter, and not in the will, is an attempt to blame evil on something other than personal responsibility – a foolish but self-serving evasion. The Christian faith meets us where we are – in the flesh – and offers us redemption in the flesh, not from the flesh. We live for Jesus in our bodies, not apart from them.”
Many of the ‘twist and turns’ of liberal theology are fruitless attempts to erode personal responsibility in regard to sin (which also negates the need for a personal Saviour, dying in your place, on a cross) - do you agree?
God takes a body
Selwyn concentrates, in his study today, on the fact that some people question whether or not Christ was a real human being.
As he says: ‘God on a cross scandalised the ancient world of philosophy, and it seems to be doing the same to some religionists in our own day.’ This fact – God on a cross –  is also a major stumbling block to those who follow the teachings of Islam.
It’s very important to keep in mind that we don’t fully understand the nature of God in terms of: three persons – one God. In a human sense, the Trinity is best described as an antinomy (the mutual contradiction of two principles or correctly drawn inferences, each of which is supported by reason). As I’ve mentioned before, in Deuteronomy 4:35, there is the following: ‘ … you might know that the Lord is God beside him there is no other.’ In Genesis 1:2, we find these words: ‘ … and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’
In the Gospels, Relevation and most of the letters, we will find something like what we see in Matthew 28:18-19, ” … All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We can go through and read all the references in Scripture to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - but we cannot fully understand these facts. And, this is where the problem arises – there are a number of theologians who can’t accept the fact that there are aspects about God which they will never understand. So, they develop solutions to ‘the problem’ in an attempt to provide an explanation which will satisfy their arrogant ‘reason’. Hence, theories such as the one Selwyn mentions, that ‘God was united with the man Jesus at His baptism and then left him before the crucifixion’, are formed to get around ‘the scandal of God on a cross’.
Selwyn’s conclusion on a slightly different but related issue, is excellent: “The question of good and evil is not a question of spirit and matter: it is a question of the will. The seat of evil is in the will, not in matter. Of course, matter has been affected by the evil that came into the world through Adam and Eve’s sin, but to root evil in matter, and not in the will, is an attempt to blame evil on something other than personal responsibility – a foolish but self-serving evasion. The Christian faith meets us where we are – in the flesh – and offers us redemption in the flesh, not from the flesh. We live for Jesus in our bodies, not apart from them.”
Many of the ‘twist and turns’ of liberal theology are fruitless attempts to erode personal responsibility in regard to sin (which also negates the need for a personal Saviour, dying in your place, on a cross) - do you agree?