READERS VIEWS
By Maria Ruby Leynes, MD
Message: As written in the Bible, there is only ONE and TRUE GOD, the Creator of heaven and earth. It makes sense that all the others created are FALSE gods such as the graven images of gods made out of stone, wood or metals made by men. Angels and humans are called Elohiyam in the Bible, a DESCRIPTIVE name meaning power, functions, in plural and common forms, above animals and plants, all mere creations of GOD and therefore NOT gods.
At the end of time the righteous will be children of GOD, but never be GODS, contrary to what is written in the first 2 articles in this website. Humans will be God-LIKE, made to the image and likeness of God, but NEVER gods to the level of the only ONE and TRUE GOD. Christian doctrine of deification or the process of becoming a god maintains the distinction between God and the created order, the humans, and is based on it. "WE become gods, NOT by nature but by grace". Our share in the divine life is by grace, and not by nature, distinct from Jesus' natural divinity. There will be a hierarchy for humans, angels, etc, but there is only one GOD in the kingdom of GOD, and all will worship HIM. At the end of time, Jesus will stop being a mediator for mankind as his mission of redemption has been accomplished. He can never be a subordinate to GOD as He is truly GOD. Jesus never ceased as GOD when he was a man and will reign in oneness to GOD for all eternity,
The two natures of Jesus, Divine and human, are UNITED in the one person of Christ. In his Divine nature, he was GOD before time began, Uncreated, without beginning or end. There was never a time when Christ " became" GOD. He always "was" GOD and always will be from the time of His conception until His resurrection.
Jesus did not need to be baptized by John because he is SINLESS. He and the Holy Spirit are one, our ALMIGHTY and MOST POWERFUL GOD. As in the Bible he only wanted to begin his ministry with a public example of obedience to God by Baptism. Matt.3:12-15 says, "Allow it to be now, for it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. So he allowed him to be baptized." 1Peter 2:21 says, "For Christ has set an example for us, that we should follow in His steps."
In the Genesis, when GOD said, "Let Us create" in plural pronoun, this foreshadows the Holy Trinity, meaning one GOD in three PERSONS, GOD the Father, GOD the Son, and GOD the Holy Spirit, and NOT the angels, because they are NOT Gods nor were they made to the image and likeness of God.
Jesus as both GOD and man and the Holy Trinity are MYSTERIES of Christian faith that are BEYOND the realm of human minds. Only after our glorious ascent into heaven after the end times that we will fully grasp the mysteries of our faith. FAITH, repentance, obedience to the commandments, Baptism, and corporal works of mercy are all needed to be saved.
By Dr Aladin Mariano
True, while there are “many gods”(as the Bible said) there is only one God to be worshipped, the Father, all others are not to be worshipped at the end of times. Even Jesus, the firstborn son of God, confirmed this truth and when Jesus had put down all under him, he himself will acknowledge God to be over all, including himself , “ so that the Father will be over all”. Although, at the time of Genesis, the Cteator-God(Yahweh Elohim, aka El Shaddai) the one who incarnated to man-Jesus Christ commanded them to worship him but only for a time until the Son put down all for the Father to be overall to be the only God to worship.
Only one God was commanded to be worshipped: the one referred to as Yahweh-Elohim(translated Lord God), El Shaddai(translated as God Almighty) in the Old Testament that incarnated to “man-Jesus” who also commanded us in the New Testament, to “worship the Father” as he is above Jesus as “Son of God”. Satan, the “god of this world” must NOT be worshipped, although called “god” nonetheless. I hope you see the difference btw “god to worship” and the “only one GOD to worship” at time appointed, “above all gods” (Psalms 97:9) accordingly.
BTW, “what” refers to the “word” translated from the original text “god”. This is why the title, “What …”the “word” meant.
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By Maria Ruby Leynes, MD
My comment to the article of “What is God “ is not regarding its message but pertains to the article in general. For one who is not an eminent Bible student, as most of the readers are including a colleague, this article is confusing and even repulsive personally as well. The mere title of “What is God” (“What” is a pronoun used only to refer to nonliving THINGS) and the in depth comparison of God with lower beings are disrespectful to me. In essence the main objective of my comment was to stress to those readers who have gotten confused that there is only ONE God, the Creator, no matter what names are given to Him.
As mentioned in my comments, there are things in the Bible that are beyond the realm of human minds, such as Jesus being truly God and truly Man and the Holy Trinity. John 13:7 says “Jesus answered and said to him: What I do, thou knows not now: but thou shalt know hereafter.” No amount of human explanations can define these mysteries. The word “ understanding” in the last sentence of your reply is NOT sufficient to explain these doctrines. Humans can never be gods; the Bible is the word of God, only Him knows what it totally means. One thing that is crystal clear, Jesus is God; in the Book of Revelation, “He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords” at the end of time.
There is no teaching authority except the one Church that Jesus established before he left. Matthew 16: 18-19 says “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” “Peter” comes from the Greek word “rock.” Jesus makes him the foundation on which the church is to be built. The word “church” means “assembly“ or “society“ of believers. The Hebrew equivalent is used in the Old Testament to indicate the chosen people. In pertaining to the Church, Jesus shows it to be the Messianic community foretold by the prophets. Peter has the key to the gates of heaven. This power is exercised through the Church. “Binding” and “loosing” are rabbinic terms referring to excommunication, then later to forbidding or allowing something. Not only can Peter admit to the kingdom; he also has power to make authoritative decisions in matters of faith or morals.
The Bible warns of ERRONEOUS interpretations: Timothy 4: 3-4 says, “ For there shall be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned into fables.” There will be those who will REJECT the core teachings of the Church about the Scriptures, and listen to those who teach their own theories.
The one TRUE Church, the foundation of Christian teachings, has four attributes: 1) She is ONE, In Eph. 4:4-6, St. Paul wrote - “Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same spirit to all. ONE Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God, the Father of all,” 2) She is HOLY because its founder, Jesus Christ, is all-holy and we should expect what He established to be holy too through her relationship and attachment to God, 3) She is UNIVERSAL or CATHOLIC, as Mt 28: 19-20 say“ Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (referring clearly to the Holy Trinity) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,“ and 4) She is APOSTOLIC, meaning she is upheld on a lasting foundation “the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev 21 :14). She is indestructible (Mt 16:18). She is upheld INFALLIBLY or PERFECTLY in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops. There could only be ONE core teaching of the Church or there will be confusion from countless explanations. Only the CATHOLIC CHURCH has such a governing hierarchy and can trace its authority, in an unbroken succession, back to the apostolic authority established by Christ himself.
All these facts are also explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism contains the essential and fundamental content of the Catholic faith in a complete and summary way. It presents what Catholics throughout the world believe in common. It presents these truths in a way that facilitates their understanding.