Land and Bible

People have said that I’m part of a cult. They mean it, of course, in a derogatory sense. These same people that derogatorily accuse me of being part of a cult believe that God is somehow a combination of three persons in one essence. They also believe that one of those persons of the three-person god also has a human essence (or nature). So, this belief system that accuses me of being part of a cult has for their god three persons in one essence, but one person in two essences.   Three persons in one essence, but one person in two essences. But I’m the one, supposedly, who is part of a cult with a strange belief system. And they don’t notice that in their definition of who God is, they have eliminated the possibility that Jesus the Messiah (Christ) is a real human person. Otherwise their description of their god would be three persons with two essences (a divine essence and a human essence). Wait, check that. Their description of their god should be four ...

Many trinitarians believe that Jesus’ prayer in the Gospel of John 17:5 shows that Jesus pre-existed: “and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made” (RSV). Podcast explanation of John 17:5 (and John 10:30), see here . For a video presentation on John 17:5, see here . As with any difficult biblical passage, we must consider the context of Jesus' statement in this prayer to God (the Father). Just two sentences before, as recorded in John 17:3, Jesus prayed to God: “Father (17:1) …this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God , and Jesus the Messiah whom you have sent.” In John 17:5, two sentences after Jesus said that the Father is the only true God, it would be very strange for Jesus to imply that he too, Jesus himself, is also God. Father = God Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is directed to the “Father”. In the New Testament, Jesus’ Father is synonymous with “God”. When Jesus says, "Fat...