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According to the following inspired passage, God desires to save all human beings: “First of all, then, I counsel that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all human beings , including kings and all in positions of prominence; so that we may lead quiet and peaceful lives, being godly and upright in everything. This is what God, our Deliverer, regards as good; this is what meets his approval. He wants ALL HUMANITY to be delivered and come to full kno

There is a debate regarding whether John Calvin himself held to the doctrine of limited atonement, that Christ died for the elect alone, or whether he actually held to the view that Christ died to redeem the entire human race. The evidence from his own writings seems to strongly suggest that he held to the latter view, namely, that he believed that Christ died for the salvation of the entire world, to redeem every man without exception, while also maintaining that the saving

In this post I will use the case of Judas Iscariot to refute the Calvinistic doctrine of T.U.L.I.P.  by  showing that the God-breathed Scriptures emphatically teach that Christ chose him for the express purpose of saving him, even though the Lord knew that he was a devil whom Satan would tempt to betray God’s uniquely begotten and beloved Son: “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ He spoke of Judas Iscariot,  the son  of Simon, f

In this post I will be quoting from the works of another early church father, namely Hilary of Poitiers, in respect to his Trinitarian beliefs. The citations will show that Hilary affirmed that the Son was timelessly begotten, and therefore not a creature, since the Son has been eternally God with the Father. The quotations will further prove that Hilary believed the Son to be subject or subordinate to the Father, yet not as a creature of God, but rather as the Father’s etern

The following extract is taken from St. Ambrose who refutes the claim that Christ’s begetting implies that was created. All emphasis will be mine. Chapter 7. The likeness of Christ to the Father is asserted on the authority of St. Paul, the prophets, and the Gospel, and especially in reliance upon the creation of man in God’s image. 48. The Apostle says that  Christ  is the image of the Father — for he calls Him the image of the invisible  God , the first-begotten of all crea

I share this nugget from the church father St. Ambrose who expose the futility of thinking that the Father precedes the Son in time: 59. “I do not say,” answerest thou, “that the Son existed not before time; but when I call Him “Son,” I declare that His Father existed before Him, for, as you say, father exists before son.” 1785  But what means this? Thou deniest that time was before the Son, and yet thou wilt have it that something preceded the existence of the Son—some creat

The list of quotes cited here is taken from David W. Bercot’s  A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs , published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998, pp. 255-262. The author will mention the particular volume and page number of the ten-volume set of  The Ante-Nicene Fathers , ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, 1885–1887, reprinted by Hendrickson in 1994). For instance, this 1.144 means volume 1, p. 144. Bercot will also signify whether the Chri

The list of quotes cited here is taken from David W. Bercot’s  A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs , published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998, pp. 241-255. The author will mention the particular volume and page number of the ten-volume set of  The Ante-Nicene Fathers , ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, 1885–1887, reprinted by Hendrickson in 1994). For instance, this 1.144 means volume 1, p. 144. Bercot will also signify whether the Chri

The list of quotes cited here is taken from David W. Bercot’s  A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs , published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998, pp. 262-265. The author will mention the particular volume and page number of the ten-volume set of  The Ante-Nicene Fathers , ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, 1885–1887, reprinted by Hendrickson in 1994). For instance, this 1.144 means volume 1, p. 144. Bercot will also signify whether the Chri

The list of quotes cited here is taken from David W. Bercot’s  A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs , published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998. The author will mention the particular volume and page number of the ten-volume set of  The Ante-Nicene Fathers , ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, 1885–1887, reprinted by Hendrickson in 1994). For instance, this 1.144 means volume 1, p. 144. Bercot will also signify whether the Christian writer

The book of Proverbs personifies God’s attribute of Wisdom as a woman (1)  whom God begot before all creation: “ Does not wisdom call out?  Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud… ‘ I, wisdom , dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion… The LORD brought me forth ( qanani )  as the first of his works, before

CHRIST’S ETERNAL GENERATION In this post I am going to prove that, contrary to claims of anti-Trintarians, begetting and creating are not necessarily synonymous as far as the Holy Bible is concerned. I will cite instances where the Holy Bible refers to individuals who were already in existence even before they were begotten. For instance, Israel’s king is said to have been begotten by God on the day he began ruling on God’s throne as God’s earthly representative: “But as for

The list of quotes cited here is taken from David W. Bercot’s  A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs , published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998. The author will mention the particular volume and page number of the ten-volume set of  The Ante-Nicene Fathers , ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, 1885–1887, reprinted by Hendrickson in 1994). For instance, this 1.144 means volume 1, p. 144. Bercot will also signify whether the Christian writer

The following is taken from the monumental work titled  The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense , authored by Robert M. Bowman Jr. & J. Ed Komoszewski, published by Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2024, Part 2: Like Father, Like Son: Jesus’ Divine  Attributes , Chapter 13. Was Christ the First Creature?, pp. 251-255. In my estimation this is  THE  best and most comprehensive exposition and defense of the biblical basis for the Deity of Christ. Every seriou

One of the OT texts, which was widely appealed to in the early Christian centuries as the very words of Christ in his prehuman existence, is Proverbs 8:22-36. There, God’s Wisdom describes herself as already being there with YHWH from before the creation of the world. The reason why both orthodox and heterodox Christians viewed this as the speech of the preincarnate Christ is because the NT writings expressly identify Jesus as the Wisdom of God, and employ some of the same ph

The following is taken from The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecies: Studies and Expositions of the Messiah in the Old Testamen t, eds. Michael Rydelnik & Edwin Blum, published by Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 2019, pp. 739-746. All emphasis will be mine.  Proverbs 8 The Messiah: Personification of Divine Wisdom SETH D. POSTELL Proverbs 8:22-31 has long been regarded as an important passage for the Christology of the Church. For many throughout Church history, this passage

The following is taken David W. Bercot’s  A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs , published by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts in 1998. Bercot refutes those who cite early Christian writers to prove that Christ was a created being solely because these authorities often used the Greek terms for create and birthing interchangeably in describing the Son’s begetting from God. Bercot demonstrates that none of these “orthodox” writers believed that the Son was a cr

One of the proofs which Muhammadan polemicists give to show that Jesus was only a national prophet, one sent solely for the Israelites, is that the New Testament describes him as the King of Jews and physical heir of David’s throne over the house of Jacob: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his kingdom there shall be no

In this post I will demonstrate that God’s intention was to rule as the sole King of Israel, and that God never wanted for his people to have a human king reign over them.    I will show how God in his infinite wisdom planned to eventually become Israel’s one and only Ruler, which will be fully realized on the day when Christ ushers in the new heavens and new earth. YHWH: Israel’s only true King The Hebrew Bible plainly states that it was due to Israel’s rebellion and defianc

I continue from where I left off: NT Usage of Theos Pt. 1  ( https://www.samshmnthelogy.net/post/nt-usage-of-theos-pt-1 ) . In this segment I will be looking at the passages where Jesus is described as theos  in the fullest and absolute sense of the term. First Example “But of the Son he says, ‘ Your throne, O God ( ho theos ) , is forever and ever , and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore