THAT in the Bible?
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Is THAT in the Bible?
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Is THAT in the Bible?
Why did it take the prophets so long to arrive at monotheism?
road to monotheism led through two “gates:”
1) The affirmation that YaHWeH was creator; he, not Baal,
controlled nature (as in Elijah’s triumph against the prophets of
Baal on Mt. Carmel, 1 Kings 18; it is YaHWeH who brings, and then
breaks, the drought); and
2) The affirmation that YaHWeH controlled history, not only in
the Exodus, but as shown in bringing foreign invasion, and exile to
Babylon—and return from exile!
|Who Was the First Monotheist?
writings, dating from 540 B.C., are collected in chapters 40-55 of the
book of Isaiah.
lived and worked during the Babylonian exile, when he announced the fall of
Babylon, and Israel’s return from exile.
name of the most eloquent poet and the profoundest thinker in the Old
Testament is unknown; he is referred to as “Second
Isaiah” because his writings are found in the second part of the
book of Isaiah.
It was this author who was the first to affirm that YaHWeH was the only
journey to monotheism led through the two gates:
1) The affirmation that YaHWeH was creator.
says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:… I made the
earth, and created humankind upon it; it was my hands that stretched
out the heavens, and I commanded all their host (Isaiah 45:11-12);
2) The affirmation that Yahweh was the Lord of history. [It
is YaHWeH] who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the
earth as nothing (Isaiah 40:23).
these two postulates, Second Isaiah concludes that YaHWeH is the only
God: could the world really have been created by more than one God?
could more than one God control the events of history?
here it is, the vision of one, universal God, from the unnamed
prophet-poet-theologian of the exile.
says the LORD [YaHWeH], the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD
of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no
god.... Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know
not one (Isaiah 44:6, 8).
This monotheistic insight generated a
sharp critique of idolatry, which not only was contrary to the Ten
Commandments, but was an object of derision. 10Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can
do no good? 11Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the
artisans too are . 12The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the
coals, shaping it with hammers,
and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength
fails, he drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a
stylus, fashions it with
planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with
human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. 14He cuts down cedars or chooses a
tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He
plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it can be used as fuel.
Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down
before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire; over this
half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. He also warms himself and
says, "Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!" 17The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows
down to it and worships it;
he prays to it and says, "Save me, for you are my god!"
… a neat bit of satire!
this monotheistic teaching is not to be kept secret (Isaiah
am the LORD [YaHWeH], and there is no other; besides me there is no
god. . . . [All peoples are to know] that there is no one
besides me; I am the LORD [YaHWeH], and there is no other.
a corollary of monotheism is universalism (i.e. Israel’s
mission to all nations)!
Universal Mission in the Service of a Universal God
author likely knew that in
affirming monotheism he was emptying
the pantheons of the nations. If YaHWeH was the only God, then the
nations were in effect left god-less, without any God. How were the nations to
learn of the one true God, unless . . .
• Unless the people of Israel were to share their unique knowledge of God,
the nations [i.e. gentiles] would be left
with no God at all.
• Was it possible that Israel had been called to be the chosen
people, not for privilege, but for service?
• Thus Second Isaiah often refers to Israel as the Servant of
the Lord, and
• This servant is called to world mission.
And now the LORD
says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, . . . “I will give
you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of
the earth” (Isaiah 49:5-6).
But the servant of the Lord is called not
only to world mission, but to suffering.
Suffering of the Servant
The servant of the Lord appears as a public spectacle,
before nations and kings.
So he shall startle
many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him. . . . He
was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted
with infirmity . . . . Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our
diseases . . . . But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for
our iniquities . . . . All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all
turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. . . . yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors (Isaiah 52:15; 53:3-6, 12).
The servant in this section is in some sense the epitome
of Israel in its sufferings; in some sense a reflection of the prophet’s
own sufferings, in company with other members of the exiled community; and
in some sense the portrait of an ideal servant, who embodies qualities of
innocence and commitment not often encountered in human life.
This sacrificial interpretation of suffering is arguably
unique in Israelite religion, and was destined to have an influence far
beyond what the author might have imagined.
The work of this unnamed, sixth century prophet is the
high water mark of the Jewish Bible, for its teaching on monotheism,
universalism, and vicarious
We find echoes of this universalism
in Jonah and Ruth. To what extent might one
describe historic Judaism as universalistic? a missionary faith?
|Was Paul a monotheist?
talked like a monotheist: “We
know that ‘no idol in the world really exists,’ and that ‘there is
no God but one.’ . . . for us there is one God, the Father, from whom
are all things and for whom we exist” (1 Corinthians 8:4,6)
in the next breath he adds,
“… and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom
(1 Corinthians 8:6)
So, what is he saying about Jesus?
is saying that Jesus Christ is the agent of creation; and if so, he
• That Christ is
• That Christ shares in the divine prerogative of creation, and
hence is regarded as divine.
• Similar ideas are to be found in Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews
1:1-3; John 1:1-14.
• The term “Son of God,” used frequently in the New
Testament, sends the same message.
Philippians 2:6-11 Though he was in the form of God,
[Christ Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be
emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human
likeness. And being found in human form, 8he
humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death
on a cross. 9Therefore
God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every
name, 10so that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, 11and every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Hebrews 1:1-3 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in
many and various ways by the prophets, 2but
in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir
of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He
is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very
being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on
high. . . .
John 1:1-3, 14, 18 In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He
was in the beginning with God. 3All
things came into being through him . . . . 14And
the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory,
the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ... 18No
one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the
Father’s heart, who has made him known.
Is the doctrine of the Trinity
in the New Testament?
Is this a doctrine of the Trinity?
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19.
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of
the Holy Spirit be with all of you,” 2 Corinthians 13:13.
We do not yet find here the formulation,
later incorporated into the creeds, that God is one substance (substantia),
or divine nature, in three persons (persona, hypostasis), or modes
If the doctrine of the Trinity was not
worked out until the Councils of Nicea (325) and Constantinope (381), the
raw materials of the doctrine were present in the New Testament:
• The belief in the unity of
God (Mark 12:29; 1 Corinthians 8:6);
• The belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6;
Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews 1:1-3; John 1:1-14); and
• The belief in the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God and also the
Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9).
The formula reached in the fourth century
attempted to maintain both the unity of God and the three
simultaneous modes of God’s existence, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It’s quite a journey, from ancient
Hebrew beginnings (pre-henotheistic?), to the henotheism of Moses, to the
monotheism of Second Isaiah, and finally to the incipient trinitarianism
of the New testament, and the technical trinitarian definitions of the
fourth century—almost seventeen centuries!
practical doctrine of the Trinity:
God [the Father] so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who [through the influence of the Holy Spirit]
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).
in the well-known (but often under-appreciated) creation narratives of
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Is THAT in the Bible?
October 27, 2003