If Jesus were God, who did he pray to?

[CarlinAnnArbor]

How many comprise "Man"???

Man is not a person, but a kind of being. There are 7 billion who call themselves "Man."

How many beings currently comprise God?

At the moment 2. The Father and the Son.

At the Resurrection of the dead, many more will be Sons and Daughters of God, and sisters and brothers of Jesus Christ.

Jest was praying to the other member of the Godhead

 

[JohnDB]

How many comprise "Man"???

Man is not a person, but a kind of being. There are 7 billion who call themselves "Man."

How many beings currently comprise God?

At the moment 2. The Father and the Son.

At the Resurrection of the dead, many more will be Sons and Daughters of God, and sisters and brothers of Jesus Christ.

Jest was praying to the other member of the Godhead

Again pantheism...

 

[emilynghiem]

That's modalism...not going to work either.

Nor is pantheism...

Whatever works for that person.
If someone thinks in modalism or they think like a Jehovah's Witness
(and see Jesus and Michael as ONE),
if that is how God truth makes sense to that person,
that is their language and that is how to speak/represent to that person.

 

[JohnDB]

Whatever works for that person.
If someone thinks in modalism or they think like a Jehovah's Witness
(and see Jesus and Michael as ONE),
if that is how God truth makes sense to that person,
that is their language and that is how to speak/represent to that person.

You haven't seen the cartoon yet have you?

The two Scottish guys giving St Patrick a difficult time over this...it's on YouTube...

It's a funny but true explanation of the Trinity and how people mess it up a lot in their quest to define God...

 

[emilynghiem]

You haven't seen the cartoon yet have you?

The two Scottish guys giving St Patrick a difficult time over this...it's on YouTube...

It's a funny but true explanation of the Trinity and how people mess it up a lot in their quest to define God...

What I find to be the best use of the Trinity is to
learn from how different people respond to it, what does and does not make sense to them and why.

Or better yet, start with what they believe in as their own take on the Trinity
and just use THAT system if that is what works for that person!

Buddhists have the Three Refuges: Buddha Dharma and Sangha
How they interpret these three tells me how they see the three levels that the Trinity represents.

The Taoists and Psychologists have similar systems of
Mind Body Spirit (which is one I use the most in practical everyday relations and communications)
Superego Ego Id
or
"Individual, Collective, and Relationship between the two"
I use this the most because I constantly deal with INDIVIDUAL people with their
own beliefs/perceptions who are trying to make sense of COLLECTIVE groups/institutions and society
made up of other INDIVIDUALS or GROUPS with their OWN systems, trying to either defend
or project theirs in conflict or competition with other people/groups doing the same thing!

One friend of mine had his own personal philosophy of
Respect for Truth
Respect for Freedom
and Respect for Environment or People in Society

So that tells me how he sees the three levels or relations that the Trinity represents.

I tend to relate to people in terms of how the UU and the Constitutionalists spell out principles:
UU
* Free and responsible search for TRUTH and Meaning
* Right of Conscience
* Goal of World Community and interconnectedness with global humanity

Constitutionalism
* Freedom of Speech as equal Judicial power
* Freedom of the Press as equal Legislative/Legal power
* Free Exercise of Religion as equal Executive power
And combining these together for checks and balances:
Right Peaceably to Assemble as equal right of security and protections of the laws
Right to Petition for redressing grievances as equal right of defense, representation and due process
(including right to mediation, dissent and consent)

The issue of the Trinity is not so much trying to force one interpretation on other people,
but discovering what each person or group uses to represent the same THREE levels.

Then using these parallel systems to communicate with each other
relative to how each person understands God and the relationships
between individuals and collective truth, society or humanity.

 

[JohnDB]

What I find to be the best use of the Trinity is to
learn from how different people respond to it, what does and does not make sense to them and why.

Or better yet, start with what they believe in as their own take on the Trinity
and just use THAT system if that is what works for that person!

Buddhists have the Three Refuges: Buddha Dharma and Sangha
How they interpret these three tells me how they see the three levels that the Trinity represents.

The Taoists and Psychologists have similar systems of
Mind Body Spirit (which is one I use the most in practical everyday relations and communications)
Superego Ego Id
or
"Individual, Collective, and Relationship between the two"
I use this the most because I constantly deal with INDIVIDUAL people with their
own beliefs/perceptions who are trying to make sense of COLLECTIVE groups/institutions and society
made up of other INDIVIDUALS or GROUPS with their OWN systems, trying to either defend
or project theirs in conflict or competition with other people/groups doing the same thing!

One friend of mine had his own personal philosophy of
Respect for Truth
Respect for Freedom
and Respect for Environment or People in Society

So that tells me how he sees the three levels or relations that the Trinity represents.

I tend to relate to people in terms of how the UU and the Constitutionalists spell out principles:
UU
* Free and responsible search for TRUTH and Meaning
* Right of Conscience
* Goal of World Community and interconnectedness with global humanity

Constitutionalism
* Freedom of Speech as equal Judicial power
* Freedom of the Press as equal Legislative/Legal power
* Free Exercise of Religion as equal Executive power
And combining these together for checks and balances:
Right Peaceably to Assemble as equal right of security and protections of the laws
Right to Petition for redressing grievances as equal right of defense, representation and due process
(including right to mediation, dissent and consent)

The issue of the Trinity is not so much trying to force one interpretation on other people,
but discovering what each person or group uses to represent the same THREE levels.

Then using these parallel systems to communicate with each other
relative to how each person understands God and the relationships
between individuals and collective truth, society or humanity.

Ok.... I'm Totally not into collective truth.

There's only one God. (I'm not him) And He is One.
He might relate to each of us a tiny bit differently but He doesn't change himself to be something different than who He is.

He made me...I didn't make him and can't define him.

 

[there4eyeM]

Anyone who has read the New Testament knows the Jesus' words answer this question. Believer or not, what Jesus said is consistent and enlightened.

 

[emilynghiem]

Ok.... I'm Totally not into collective truth.

There's only one God. (I'm not him) And He is One.
He might relate to each of us a tiny bit differently but He doesn't change himself to be something different than who He is.

He made me...I didn't make him and can't define him.

God doesn't change.
But our relationship and perception changes.

And people like Buddhists or Atheists who take a nontheist/secular
approach see God/Life in different terms than people who
relate to God as a Personified entity.

Same God, but the representation to diverse people or cultural groups
is quite different, as unique as each individual soul.

NOTE: by "Collective truth" I mean the sum of all these diverse ways.
So the EXPRESSION of this is relative and not the same for people.
but the CONTENT of Universal laws and truth is consistent across all systems.
Collective truth includes both the Universal/absolute
and the diverse/relative ways of expression/representation of truths.

 

[JohnDB]

God doesn't change.
But our relationship and perception changes.

And people like Buddhists or Atheists who take a nontheist/secular
approach see God/Life in different terms than people who
relate to God as a Personified entity.

Same God, but the representation to diverse people or cultural groups
is quite different, as unique as each individual soul.

NOTE: by "Collective truth" I mean the sum of all these diverse ways.
So the EXPRESSION of this is relative and not the same for people.
but the CONTENT of Universal laws and truth is consistent across all systems.
Collective truth includes both the Universal/absolute
and the diverse/relative ways of expression/representation of truths.

Well...
I'm not sure about all of that...
What I do know is that God is an inconvenient truth. People like to "conveniently forget" (meaning deliberately forget) who God is and what He says and even His existence.

And this deliberate forgetting has caused an immense amount of chaos in the world... and even in our various cultures.

When people aren't sure what gender they are but are absolutely positively convinced beyond all shadow of doubt about who God is...I'm going to sincerely doubt anything they have to say on the subject. (If I were to become confused about gender identity all I would need to do is jam my hand into my pants and the truth will be obvious once again... but these people still don't seem to be convinced by even the most obviousness of test results)

 

[ding]

If Jesus was God, who did he pray to?

When he got baptized from the Jordan, who made the proclamation that “this is my beloved Son...”¿

Can Jesus be God and still sit at God's right hand?

 

[BrotherOppa]

Dear BrotherOppa
Both Father and Son are SMITH.
Both Father and Son are GOD.

But they are distinct persons.

Would it help to explain this way:
the Judiciary is GOVT
the Executive is GOVT
both are GOVT
but Judiciary is distinct from Executive
which are NOT THE SAME AS EACH OTHER.

Yet both are GOVT.

When Obama who was EXECUTIVE GOVT sent
reps to appeal to the JUDICIARY, yes, this was
one branch of govt petitioning to another branch of govt.
BOTH ARE GOVT. but the two branches are DISTINCT.
one appealed to the other to establish a common decision on LAW.

[another way I have heard it explained:

Dear BrotherOppa
Both Father and Son are SMITH.
Both Father and Son are GOD.

But they are distinct persons.

Would it help to explain this way:
the Judiciary is GOVT
the Executive is GOVT
both are GOVT
but Judiciary is distinct from Executive
which are NOT THE SAME AS EACH OTHER.

Yet both are GOVT.

When Obama who was EXECUTIVE GOVT sent
reps to appeal to the JUDICIARY, yes, this was
one branch of govt petitioning to another branch of govt.
BOTH ARE GOVT. but the two branches are DISTINCT.
one appealed to the other to establish a common decision on LAW.

[another way I have heard it explained:
ICE is WATER
VAPOR in the air is WATER
both ICE and VAPOR are WATER
but ICE and VAPOR are not the same as each other.]

ICE is WATER
VAPOR in the air is WATER
both ICE and VAPOR are WATER
but ICE and VAPOR are not the same as each other.]

So why did he have to call himself the Son? Why did he have to pray to himself and call himself father?

 

[ding]

So why did he have to call himself the Son? Why did he have to pray to himself and call himself father?

The trinity is not a mystery to be solved, it is a relationship to be entered into.

 

[DudleySmith]

Still trying to make a big mystery out of nothing here, I see.

Son Of Man, The - Bible Definition and Scripture References

Discover the meaning of Son Of Man, The in the Bible. Study the definition of Son Of Man, The with multiple Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias and find scripture references in the Old and New Testaments.

www.biblestudytools.com

And, for the Peanut Gallery, a fairly decent blog on the Trinity and why it's not 'polytheism n stuff'.

The Doctrine of the Trinity: No Christianity Without It

If any doctrine makes Christianity Christian, then surely it is the doctrine of the Trinity. The three great ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed—are all structured around our three in one God, underlying the essential importance of Trinitarian...

www.thegospelcoalition.org

There are others as good or better, so as always do your own research, and learn to spot the cranks.

 

[JohnDB]

Still trying to make a big mystery out of nothing here, I see.

Son Of Man, The - Bible Definition and Scripture References

Discover the meaning of Son Of Man, The in the Bible. Study the definition of Son Of Man, The with multiple Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias and find scripture references in the Old and New Testaments.

www.biblestudytools.com

And, for the Peanut Gallery, a fairly decent blog on the Trinity and why it's not 'polytheism n stuff'.

The Doctrine of the Trinity: No Christianity Without It

If any doctrine makes Christianity Christian, then surely it is the doctrine of the Trinity. The three great ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed—are all structured around our three in one God, underlying the essential importance of Trinitarian...

www.thegospelcoalition.org

There are others as good or better, so as always do your own research, and learn to spot the cranks.

You know good and well that people prefer to worship a god of their own making instead of the God who is....

Been that way for thousands of years now...don't think that will change anytime soon either.

 

[DudleySmith]

You know good and well that people prefer to worship a god of their own making instead of the God who is....

Been that way for thousands of years now...don't think that will change anytime soon either.

That's why Christianity is the best theology around; it's a vast improvement over pagan cults and materialist cults like Marxism and 'libertarianism'.

 

[Road Runner]

So why did he have to call himself the Son? Why did he have to pray to himself and call himself father?

I don't know, but I don't think we're supposed to know otherwise He would have told us Himself and it's not something we have to know to be saved so I'm not going to try and figure it out anymore.

 

[JohnDB]

I don't know, but I don't think we're supposed to know otherwise He would have told us Himself and it's not something we have to know to be saved so I'm not going to try and figure it out anymore.

There is an answer but it's in the Anthropology of the era the scriptures were written in.

 

[Road Runner]

There is an answer but it's in the Anthropology of the era the scriptures were written in.

Well then unless anybody here is over a thousand years old, we probably won't know the answer in this lifetime.

 

[ding]

There is an answer but it's in the Anthropology of the era the scriptures were written in.

I'm curious. I'll bite. What's the answer?

 

[Road Runner]

I'm curious. I'll bite. What's the answer?