I read the blog post. He is a well-meaning but uninformed evangelical who has not been formally trained. His presentation is chock-full of speculation, as well as outright errors. For example, we do not have 5,000 ancient Greek New Testaments just lying around in museums all over the world. We have copies of individual books and letters, but mostly fragments. The very concept of putting all those books together into a single volume is a modern invention. It is still considered something of a novelty in the Orthodox world…remind me again who was doing all the copying of these Greek texts? Cyprian probably did not quote the Comma: Cyprian wrote in the 3rd century but I am not aware of any manuscripts of Cyprian that contain the Comma that date prior to the 5th century. The first time the Comma shows up as part of the actual text of 1 John itself is in the writings of the Gnostic heretic Priscillian. A lot is made of when this or that author lived but not nearly enough attention is given to the age of the manuscripts of their writings. In some cases, the lapse of time is centuries. I could go on. I didn’t find the presentation persuasive.
Yes, the written Holy Scriptures(the Bible-graphos-)refer to the Word of GOD, and say that the Word(Logos)is GOD-John 1:v.1, and they say also the Word(Logos) is the Spirit-John 4:v.24, and that the Spirit(Logos)was made flesh-John 1:v.14-and this profound mystery is clearly explained by the author of Hebrews 1:v.1-3 saying: 1 God(the Word-Logos), who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (by the Spirit, the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of GOD spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.) 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He-GOD,the Word-Logos- made the worlds; ( without JESUS was not any thing made that was made-John 1:v.3.) 3 Who being the brightness of His glory, and the EXPRESS IMAGE of His person(the Word made flesh, yes, the Word-GOD-Logos- made flesh), and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. You are saying above that >>>Logos(GOD) and graphos(LETTER) sound equates in the Bible because English does not have a big enough lexicon. And you interpret "The Bible(GRAPHOS-LETTERS) and Jesus(the Word-Logos-made flesh) are not one and the same, and Jphn;s meaning is not that the bible became flesh<<<. (WELL, the point here is not the biblical book itself, but it's content-graphos-, but the written Word of GOD in the Bible-graphos- was inspired by the Holy Spirit of GOD-Logos-). For exemple, the Word-yes, the Word-GOD(Logos)-would never have been made flesh if He-the Word-Logos- had not said and also had been written in the prophets(today the Bible), mainly Isaiah 7:v.14 that "the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, a VIRGIN will conceive, and bear a SON, and shall call His name Immanuel-(that means GOD-the Word- with us). If the prophecy which was given to Isaiah did not exist by written in the prophets as we read in the Bible and preach it, regarding the conception of a virgin in Israel, the Messiah would have not been born in the fourth Day or 4000 years after Adam-Genesis 1:v.16.Take a look. By the way, the letter(graphos) kills, but the Spirit(the Word-GOD-Logos) gives life-2 Corinthians 3:v.6. They which preach the Holy Scriptures only by the letters -"graphos"- are killers of souls, only the Spirit-the Word-GOD-Logos- gives life.
This, in my opinion, is true in the same way that the words of The Word from the words of scripture when received by the hearers resulted in life of the living Spirit within them while the words of the Pharisees resulted in continuing death through lack of the Spirit in those hearers of the Pharisees deathly preaching of the words of the scriptures. .
Yes, your interpretation is very interesting, a revealing and very wonderful message. Yes, as you said, "the words of the Pharisees resulted in continuing death...preaching the words of the Scriptures"- Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvin. It's exactly as it occurred in Genesis 3, so I am not surprised because the Jewish Pharisees were/are sons of Devil, as JESUS said in John 8:v.43-45. Take a look. Comparing the messages of JESUS with the messages of the Pharisees, we can easily see and understand the great difference of preachings in both sides. The Bible is the source fo this Judgment. Pharisees's Preachings by Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvin Regarding Pharisees's preachings, JESUS Judged them, saying: Matthew 23:v.13&15&24& 28&33: 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (GOD forbide us) 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? JESUS's Preachings-In Him was the Word - the Word is GOD John 5:v.39-40 39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. John 7:v.38 38 He that believeth on me, as the Scripture(graphos)hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 6:v.47-51&63 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever:... 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life. John 11:v.25-26 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 7:v.38 38 He that believeth on me, as the Scripture(graphos)hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 21:v.25 Tthere are also many other things which Jesus did, ... To the only wise GOD our Saviour, be Glory and Majesty, Dominion and Power, both now and ever. Amen.
I would just interpret their meaning and relevance, in the context of what we can understand of His personality and the Gospel message that Jesus Christ preached. I agree though that a deliberately selective use of them in support of extremist bigotry is a disservice to the person who spoke them when he was on earth. Many believing disciples of Jesus Christ have little appreciation however of just how radical his preaching was regarded by his religious opponents. It was they who were bigoted, not he. They preached a gospel of sorts. Thus it is possible to preach, even today, a bigoted gospel. The more Pharisaical, the more bigoted, the more bigoted the more Pharisaical. Our gospel should always be what Christ would say, not anyone else. .
Hebrews 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις So here God is Theos, and there is no reference to the word, but rather the past tense lalesas which translakes as 'spoke. Hebrews 1:2 but 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. ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι' οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας: The point being made here is about the eternal haratcter of Jesus as the Son of God participating in creation, so not a created being. Hebrews 1:3 He 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, ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, Karakter tes upostaseos is the claim that Jesus was of the exact same substance as God the Father. remati tes dunameos traslantes as powerful word, or word of power, and is clearly neither logos or graphos. My concern about your exegetical method here is that you appear to run a big risk of reading into the text, rather than reading out of the text. This is always a great danger. Firstly I would never assume that graphos meant Bible, especially when written before the Bible was understood. Bible of course simply means 'the books' or 'the library', which we take s the canon of scripture, somewhere between 66 and 83 books depending on which tradition you sit within. The Isaiah passage was probably first written in celebration of the birth of Hezekiah, in a time of great hope for a new period in Israel's history. Christians have come to see that it also serves as a foretelling of the birth of Jesus, and that is entirely appropriate. Your argument however is that if this had not been written in Isaiah, then the Incarnation would not have happened. My problem with that argument is that God is not the prisoner of the book, the tabernacle, or a given institution. Now I did take a look at Genesis 1:16 "God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars." which for most of us will be a reference to the Sun and the Moon, given that at the time it was written the predominant cosmology would have been terra-centricity rather than helio-centricity which we generally all accept today. However, it relevance to this conversation illudes me.
The point is about the Holy Spirit, one of the three distincts Persons which testifies in heavenly places in Christ. You should know that there is a great difference between speech and preaching with enticing words of man's wisdom, and the speech and preaching through a demonstration of the Spirit and of Power, so that the faith of the hearers should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the Power of GOD. The Word of prophecy reveals that in the latter times many will not endure sound doctrine and some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables, undertand?
JESUS said: The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. So, you are right. There is a great difference between those which have JESUS as their Master, and those which have deceitful men Masters and they turn away their ears from the Truth, and turn unto cuningly devised fables.
GOD made two Great Lights in the fourth Day, the GREATER LIGHT and the LESSER LIGHT, but BOTH LIGHTS are Great. Wonderful, very wonderful. JESUS came in the fourth Day after Adam, JESUS is the Greater Light, if you interpret Greater Light as a mere Sun, your thinking is from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective, for GOD said by the prophet Malachi - Malachi 4:v.2-3: - 2 Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the Day (in the LORD's Day, the seventh and last Day or seventh and last millennium) that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. JESUS, the Greater Light, said: I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. JESUS is the Greater Light. Let there be light, and there was light, because our GOD is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. JESUS still said in the fourth Day: My Father worketh hitherto, and I work-John 5:v.17. Without JESUS would be impossible the men be born again according the will of GOD since the beginning, and be created in His own image, in the image of GOD. Genesis 1:v.26-27. About another great Light, the Lesser light, you would say it is the moon, and your thinking is from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective. The moon does not have its own light in itself, the light of the moon is the reflection of the light of the Sun if we think from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective. From GOD's perspective, the moon, the lesser Light-Genesis 1:v.16- is the Holy Spirit, and he is the lesser among the three because the light that he reflects is from JESUS, not from he himself. John 16:v.12to 15- JESUS said: 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all Truth: for HE shall not speak of HIMSELF; but whatsoever HE shall HEAR, that shall HE SPEAK: and HE will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for HE SHALL RECEIVE OF MINE, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that HE SHAL TAKE OF MINE(take the Light like the moon), and shall shew it unto you. Revelation 12:v.1 - And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman CLOTHED with the Sun(CLOTHED with the Light of JESUS), and the MOON under her feet(the Holy Spirit giving support to the woman HERE in the earth) , and upon her head a crown of twelve stars(12 apostles of the Lord). There is a lot of STARS, multitudes of STARS, countless stars, but all stars must be careful, yeah, the stars need to be very careful, because the red Dragon with his TAIL, according is revealed by the Greater Light and Lesser light, he drew the third part of the STARS of heaven, and will cast them to the earth. Be careful and get ready Daniel 12:v.1-3 and 10-12 1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (there will be resurrection-see also 1 Thes. 4:v.15-16.Take a look). 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the STARS for ever and ever. 10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (2nd half of the week, week 70th Daniel 9:v.27) 12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. The current world of Devil and the works that there in, will be burned with everlasting fire. 2 Peter 3:v.7 The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 2 Cor.3:v.6
This of course is the Heresy of subordinationism and I don't need to discuss it, nor do I need to promote it. I reiterate my concern about your exegetical methodology.
The letter kills, the Spirit - GOD - gives life. What does the Word of GOD say? The Word is GOD-John 1:v.1. If the Word is in your heart, not the letter(the letter kills), but the Spirit, then GOD is in your heart, and the Spirit gives you life. Marvelous, very marvelous. JESUS, the Greater Light, said: I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. JESUS is the Greater Light. Let there be light, and there was light, because our GOD is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. JESUS still said in the fourth Day: My Father worketh hitherto, and I work-John 5:v.17. Without JESUS would be impossible the men be born again according the will of GOD since the beginning, and be created in His own image, in the image of GOD. Genesis 1:v.26-27. About another great Light, the Lesser light, you would say it is the moon, and your thinking is from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective. The moon does not have its own light in itself, the light of the moon is the reflection of the light of the Sun if we think from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective. From GOD's perspective, the moon, the lesser Light-Genesis 1:v.16- is the Holy Spirit, and he is the lesser among the three because the light that he reflects is from JESUS, not from he himself. John 16:v.12to 15- JESUS said: 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all Truth: for HE shall not speak of HIMSELF; but whatsoever HE shall HEAR, that shall HE SPEAK: and HE will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for HE SHALL RECEIVE OF MINE, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that HE SHAL TAKE OF MINE(take the Light like the moon), and shall shew it unto you. Revelation 12:v.1 - And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman CLOTHED with the Sun(CLOTHED with the Light of JESUS), and the MOON under her feet(the Holy Spirit giving support to the woman HERE in the earth) , and upon her head a crown of twelve stars(12 apostles of the Lord). There is a lot of STARS, multitudes of STARS, countless stars, but all stars must be careful, yeah, the stars need to be very careful, because the red Dragon with his TAIL, according is revealed by the Greater Light and Lesser light, he drew the third part of the STARS of heaven, and will cast them to the earth.
So, you think the Holy Spirit is…the moon. And your exegetical basis for this assumption is…what exactly? (None of the passages you cited make this connection.)
No, you are saying that like Botolph, I don't think what you think the Holy Spirit is the moon. Why didn't you quote my own words? What I said is what the Word of GOD says: GOD created two Great Lights: The Greater Light and the LESSER Light. You, like Botolph, are interpreting and saying the Lesser Light is the moon, not me. The letter kills, the Spirit - GOD - gives life. What does the Word of GOD say? The Word is GOD-John 1:v.1. If the Word is in your heart, not the letter(the letter kills), but the Spirit, then GOD is in your heart, and the Spirit gives you life. Marvelous, very marvelous. JESUS, the Greater Light, said: I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. JESUS is the Greater Light. Let there be light, and there was light, because our GOD is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. JESUS still said in the fourth Day: My Father worketh hitherto, and I work-John 5:v.17. Without JESUS would be impossible the men be born again according the will of GOD since the beginning, and be created in His own image, in the image of GOD. Genesis 1:v.26-27. About another great Light, the Lesser light, you would say it is the moon, and your thinking is from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective. The moon does not have its own light in itself, the light of the moon is the reflection of the light of the Sun if we think from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective.
I think he is suggesting that the Holy Spirit (Like the moon does the sun's), reflects the LIGHT of Christ, in the world, METAPHORICALLY speaking. I'm wondering if the phrase 'from God's perspective' might be being used as we might use the term 'metaphorically speaking'. We might simply be having a transliteration problem here. He does not appear to be suggesting that the Holy Spirit is actually the moon, but he seems to be having difficulty in getting his meaning across the language barrier. .
The problem that you are running into is that the Creeds specifically reject the notion that either the Son or the Spirit are ‘created’, as well as the notion that one of the Persons is greater or lesser than one or more of the other(s). Each Person is as fully the Creator as the other two are; all are equally God and Lord (cf. Athanasian Creed), and this means that each Person is, according to the Creeds, God ‘of himself’ (cf. Calvin’s Institutes I.23). The analogy between the Holy Spirit and the moon fails for that very reason, which is why I asked - and have not yet received an answer - what the exegetical basis for that allegorical interpretation would be.
I think the point of the phrase 'From God's perspective is a thinly veiled claim for an epistemic primitive - something which is before knowledge and cannot be questioned. In the words of Shania Twain 'that don't impress me much! '
It either stands for “whatever I want the text to mean”, or it’s meaningless. An infinite being cannot have a specific “perspective” without becoming part of the whole which it is meant to transcend. The Jewish and Christian Scriptures, like all other literary works, were intended to be read and understood by human, not divine, beings.