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The following are questions with
answers taken from various Wikipedia articles. This is to
highlight some relevant points on the subject—"Is Jesus the
Son of God or God the Son?"—which people should understand
before continuing the bible study. The answers are excerpts
taken from the full articles written on the subject. You can
readily study the full articles by clicking on the source
link after each answer.
Note: The answers to the following religious questions
are taken from various Wikipedia articles due to their
neutral point of view principle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view
However, we still highly recommend that you search the
internet for more information on the subject.
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From the previous
Lesson-3A.2, the basic difference between the Trinitarian and Non-trinitarian
views revolves around the belief in the divinity of Jesus.
Trinitarians call Jesus "God the Son", He is God
incarnate a true God and a true man. Whereas, some Non-trinitarians, like the Unitarians
believe Jesus was a great and a prophet of God, perhaps
even a supernatural being, but not God
Himself. Let us continue our study
so we may come to know how Jesus is called in the Bible.
God the Son
3B.1 How do Trinitarians
explain "God the Son"?
From the Wikipedia
articles on "God the Son", these are written:
God the Son is the
second person of the Trinity in Christian theology.
The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of
Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but
distinct in person with regard to God the Father
and God the Holy Spirit (the first and third persons
of the Trinity). God the Son is co-eternal with God
the Father (and the Holy Spirit), both before
Creation and after the End (see Eschatology). So
Jesus was always "God the Son", though not revealed
as such until he also became the "Son of God"
through incarnation. "Son of God" draws attention to
his humanity, whereas "God the Son" refers more
generally to his divinity, including his
pre-incarnate existence. So, in Christian theology,
Jesus was always God the Son,[1]
though not revealed as such until he also became the
Son of God through incarnation.
Source: Wikipedia, God the Son,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_the_Son
(as of Apr. 15, 2010, 08:31 GMT).
Trinitarians explain
"God the Son" as follows:
-
God
the Son is the second person of the Trinity
-
The
doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth
as God the Son, united in essence or nature but distinct in
person with regard to God the Father and God the
Holy Spirit.
-
God
the Son is co-eternal with God the Father (and the
Holy Spirit), both before creation and after the
End.
-
Jesus
was always God the Son,
though not revealed as such until he also
became the Son of God through incarnation.
3B.2 Is
Jesus called "Son of God" or "God the Son"
in the Bible ?
From the
Wikipedia articles on the "Son of
God", these are written:
In the Hebrew Bible
or Old Testament of
the Christian Bible:
In the Hebrew Bible,
the phrase "son(s)
of God" has various
meanings: there are
a number of later
interpretations. Our
translation most
likely comes from
the Septuagint,
which uses the
phrase "Uioi Tou
Theou", "Sons of
God", to translate
it.[7]
-
The Hebrew
phrase Benei
Elohim,
often translated
as "sons of
God", is seen by
some to describe
angels or
immensely
powerful human
beings. The
notion of the
word as
describing
non-divine
beings most
likely comes
from the
Targumic Aramaic
translation,
which uses the
phrases "sons of
nobles", "Bnei
Ravrevaya" in
its translation.
-
It is used to
denote a human
judge or ruler
(Psalm 82:6,
"children of the
Most High"; in
many passages
"leaders" and
"judges" can
seem to be
equivalent). In
a more
specialized
sense, "son of
God" is a title
applied only to
the real king
over Israel (II
Samuel 7:14,
with reference
to King David
and those of his
descendants who
carried on his
dynasty; comp.
(Psalm
89:27-28).
In Judaism the term
"son of God" was
used of the expected
"Jewish mashiach"
figure.[8]
Psalm 2 addresses
someone as both
God's messiah
(anointed king) and
God's son.
In
the New Testament of the Christian
Bible:
Throughout the
New Testament (see "New Testament
passages", below) the phrase "son of
God" is applied repeatedly, in the
singular, only to Jesus. "Sons of
God" is applied to others only in
the plural.[9]
The New Testament calls Jesus God's
"only begotten son" (John 1:14,
3:16, 3:18, 1 John 4:9), "his own
son" (Romans 8:3)). (It should be
noted that while the use of the
original Greek word "μονογενής,
monogenhs" is often translated as
"only begotten," another usage for
it in the Septuagint is
"one-of-a-kind" (Heb 11:17) where
Isaac is described as μονογενής
although he was not Abraham's only
son according to the Old Testament.[10])
It also refers to Jesus simply as
"the son" in contexts in which "the
Father" is used to refer to God the
Father.[11]
Source: Wikipedia, Son of
God,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_God
(as of Apr. 15, 2010, 15:30 GMT).
From the Wikipedia articles on "God the Son",
these are written:
Old
Testament:
The expression "God the Son" is not
used in the Old Testament. However
it has the following references to
"sons" of God:
-
Genesis 6:2ff: The disobedient
sons of God who have
children by the "daughters of
men".
-
Hosea 1:10. Israel, rejected
now, will later be sons of
the living God. [Cited by
Paul in Romans 9:26.]
-
Psalm 82:6. All are gods, and
sons of the Most High.
[Ascribed to Jesus in the John
10:34.]
-
Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. The sons
of God report to Yahweh,
Satan among them (in 1:6; 2:1).
New Testament:
The exact phrase
"God the Son" is not
in the New
Testament. Later
theological use of
this expression
reflects what came
to be standard
interpretation of
New Testament
references,
understood to imply
Jesus' divinity, but
the distinction of
his person from that
of the one God he
called his Father.
As such, the title
is associated more
with the development
of the doctrine of
the Trinity than
with the
Christological
debates. There are
over 40 places in
the New Testament
where Jesus is given
the title "the Son
of God", but
scholars don't
consider this to be
an equivalent
expression. "God the
Son" is rejected by
antitrinitarians,
who view this
reversal of the most
common term for
Christ as a
doctrinal perversion
and as tending
towards tritheism.
Source:
Wikipedia, God
the Son,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_the_Son
(as of Apr. 15,
2010, 15:38 GMT).
SON of GOD
or GOD the SON?
Based on the
above references, the use of the phrases "Son of God"
and "God the Son" in reference to Jesus Christ are
easily determined:
Clearly,
the phrase or expression "Son of God" is extensively
used in the Old and New Testament of the Bible, whereas,
the term "God the Son" is not used at all.
What is the reason, why the
expression or title "God the Son" came to be used, even
if it is not used in the Bible?
From the same
Wikipedia article "God the Son" as shown above, we can
read the following:
-
Later
theological use of this expression reflects what
came to be standard interpretation of New Testament
references, understood to imply Jesus' divinity. . .
.
-
The
title "God the Son" is associated more with the
development of the
doctrine of the Trinity . . .
. . . . . . which include the
doctrine of Incarnation.
Are there
objections for the use of the expression or title "God
the Son"
by anti-trinitarians?
-
There are over 40
places in the New Testament where Jesus is given the
title "the Son of God", but scholars don't consider
this to be an equivalent expression to "God the
Son".
-
"God the Son" is
rejected by antitrinitarians, who view this reversal
of the most common term for Christ as a doctrinal
perversion and as tending towards tritheism.
Is Jesus called the "Son
of God" or "God the Son" in the Bible?
Based on
the verses of the Old and New Testaments of the Holy
Bible, it is confirmed that Jesus is called the "Son of
God" in the Bible, and never as "God the Son".
There are 47
places in the New Testament where Jesus is given the
title "the Son of God".
By contrast,
the term "God the Son" does not appear at all.
Note:
You
can easily verify it in any Online Bible by using the
search term "Son of God" or "God the Son"
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