Many Christians pray to Jesus, or even to a Trinity. Who did Jesus direct us to pray to? Who did the apostles pray to? Who should we pray to?
Who should we pray to?
WHO DID JESUS PRAY TO?
Matthew 11:25 – “Jesus said, ‘I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth . . . Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do'” (NIV). Jesus, our perfect “example”, prayed exclusively to the Father (1 Peter 2:21-22).
John 17:1 – “Jesus . . . looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father . . . Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you'” (NIV). – Jesus prays to his Father, not to himself, and asks his Father to glorify his name, so that Jesus could glorify his Father.read more
Did Early Christians Pray to Jesus In The First Century?
Even though Jesus taught, “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven . . . ” (Matthew 6:9 NAB), many people pray to Jesus. However, Jesus himself prayed to his “Father” (Matthew 11:25; Mark 14:36; John 17:1).
Some assert that early Christians prayed to Jesus in the first century, and even assert there are scriptures that support their claim. In this article, we’ll examine such assertions by using the word “ASSERTION”, and the word “BIBLE” to examine what the scriptures actually say.read more
What Does Judges Tell Us About God and the Trinity?
What does Judges tell us about God and the Trinity?
It is claimed that Almighty God is a Trinity of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit, in one God. What does the book of Judges tell us about Almighty God and the Trinity? Is the Trinity in the historical book of Judges? Surprisingly, there is a wealth of information in the Old Testament book of Judges that can help us to answer these questions.
THE BAALS
“The sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and served [worshipped, marginal reading] the Baals” (Judges 2:11 LSB). Notice that they served/worshipped “the Baals“. We can’t help but note the similarities between “the Baals” and the Trinity. “The title ‘Baal,’ meaning ‘lord’ or ‘master’, belonged to a large number of Canaanite, Phoenician, and Syrian deities, including especially the storm god Hadad Baal, widely revered as lord of the earth” (NAB note). Each locality often had its own version of “Baal”, such as “Baal-berith” and “Baal-zebub” (Judges 8:33; 9:4; 2 Kings 1:2,3,6). Similarly, Trinitarians have their “God the Son” and “God the Holy Spirit”, in addition to the Biblical “God the Father”, all the while claiming they’re only one God. Trinitarians have largely eliminated God’s name “Yahweh” from their biased Bible translations, in lieu of the substitute generic titles “LORD” and “GOD”. What is especially interesting about Judges 2:11 is that most translations render the Hebrew as, ” . . . did what is evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals”. In other words, they ‘did what is evil in the eyes of the LORD, and served the Lord [Baal]’, which does make good sense. In their speech and writings, LORD & GOD are the terms usually used to describe Yahweh, and sometimes they even call Yahweh Jesus or Christ, all of which bears similarity to ancient pagan Baal worship. The sad thing is, they’ve sacrificed truth on the altar of their “false doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3 ISV).read more
There is some controversy as to how should John 1:1 be translated. Trinitarians often use the verse to support their contention that Jesus is the eternal Almighty God.
The traditional rendering in English is:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
There are many other variations of rendering John 1:1 which are more accurate according to the Greek text, both in translation or paraphrase, John 1:1c also exist:
1808: “and the Word was a god” – Thomas BelshamThe New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome‘s New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.
1822: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.)
1829: “and the Word was a god” – The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829)
1863: “and the Word was a god” – A Literal Translation of the New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863)
1864: “and a god was the Word” – The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, New York and London (left hand column interlinear reading)
1879: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979)
1885: “and the Word was a god” – Concise Commentary on The Holy Bible (R. Young, 1885)
1911: “and [a] God was the word” – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[17]
1924: “the Logos was divine” – The Bible: James Moffatt Translation, by James Moffatt.
1975 “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word” – Das Evangelium nach Johnnes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany
1975: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (S. Schulz, 1975);
1978: “and godlike sort was the Logos” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin
1985: “So the Word was divine” – The Original New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield.
1998: “and what God was the Word also was” – This translation follows Professor Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John, ed. Daniel J. Harrington.
2017: “and the Logos was god” – The New Testament: A Translation, by David Bentley Hart.
GREEK ANALYSIS
“Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated ‘the word was with the God [= the Father], and the word was a divine being'” (Dictionary of the Bible, 1965, by scholar John L McKenzie, S J).read more
It is sometimes said that the Trinity is the main teaching of the scriptures. During a crucial time for God’s people, before and after the destruction of Jerusalem, and thereafter God’s people taken off into exile to the world power of Babylon, God raised up and mightily used his prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel as major prophets for his people then, and for us now. Their recorded prophecies are in books bearing their names in the Bible’s Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures, the Old Testament, and comprise a total 112 chapters. Naturally, we would expect to see the Trinity doctrine in these very important Bible books if the doctrine is true. No one can rightly say Trinitarians are not very imaginative and creative in their trying to find something in the Bible to support their doctrine. For example: “It has been said that Ezekiel is the prophet of the Spirit, as Isaiah is the prophet of the Son, and Jeremiah the prophet of the Father” (brothersoftheson.com).” In the light of such glowing claims, we do well to ask, “Is the Trinity in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel?”read more
Psalms is one of the longest books in the Bible. Based on what many scholars and experts assert, we would expect to find the Trinity doctrine in such a long and prominent Bible book. Is the Trinity in Psalms?
Does it strike you as odd that even the most scholarly proponents of the doctrine admit it is neither understandable nor explainable?
“The most difficult thing about the Christian concept of the Trinity is that there is no way to completely understand it or explain it. God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him. But we do trust the Bible, which teaches that the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. At the same time, the Bible also teaches there is only one God. So, the one God exists in three Persons. It’s possible to understand some facts about the Trinity and some of the relationships the different Persons of the Trinity have to one another. But, ultimately, how a single Being can exist in three distinct Persons is incomprehensible to us. Our inability to understand, however, does not mean the doctrine of the Trinity is untrue or unbiblical. The word Trinity is not found in Scripture. It is a useful term in discussions of the triune God, as we speak of three coexistent, co-eternal divine Persons who are One. Although the word itself is not found in the Bible, the concept represented by the word Trinity certainly is.”-–GotQuestions.orgread more
Trinitarianism asserts that Jesus Christ is a “God-man”. However, promoting this “God-man” is actually “antichrist”. How so? Notice:
“God-man (Koinē Greek: θεάνθρωπος, romanized: theánthropos; Latin: deus homo is a term which refers to the incarnation and the hypostatic union of Christ, which are two of mainstream Christianity‘s most widely accepted and revered christological doctrines.The first usage of the term “God-man” as a theological concept appears in the writing of the 3rd-century Church FatherOrigen:]’This substance of a soul, then, being intermediate between God and the flesh – it being impossible for the nature of God to intermingle with a body without an intermediate instrument – the God-man is born.'”— Wikipediaread more
What does “only begotten” mean in Jesus case? “Monogenēsmay be used as an adjective. For example, monogenēs pais means only child, only legitimate child or special child. Monogenēs may also be used on its own as a noun. For example, o monogenēs means “the only one”, or “the only legitimate child” . . . Some interpretations of the word “unique” attempt to preclude birth, yet the full Greek meaning is always in the context of a child (genes). A unique child is also a born child, hence the full meaning of the word “begotten” as found in John 3:16 (KJV), for example”—Wikipediaread more
“A true and accurate knowledge of the Trinity is a blessing in and of itself . . . the Trinity is the highest revelation God has made of himself to His people. It is the capstone, the summit, the brightest star in the firmament of divine truths”—The Forgotten Trinity, page 10
“The Gospel according to Matthew . . . no otherwas so frequently quoted in the noncanonical literature of earliest Christianity”—Preface to Matthew in the New American Bible (NAB)read more
