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Decepto-Meter
Deceptive quote: Trinitarian
Leaves out the comment that JW's theology is of pagan origin.
Boer, Harry R.: A Short History of the Early Church
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Harry R. Boer, A Short History of the Early Church quoted in, Should you believe the Trinity?, Watchtower publication
Watchtower Deception exposed:
But why? Certainly not because of any Biblical conviction. "Constantine had basically no understanding whatsoever of the questions that were being asked in Greek theology," says A Short History of Christian Doctrine.
The first emperor to become a Christian, Constantine had basically no understanding whatsoever of the questions that were being asked in Greek theology. ... Even though he had a general antipathy to the controversies, and even though he himself had only a rudimentary "theology," he was still not entirely without sympathy for the problems which arose. In any case, he permitted himself to be more fully instructed about many things by his episcopal counselors. The decisive catchword of the Nicene confession, namely, hoinoousios ("of one substance"), comes from no less a person than the emperor himself. To the present day no one has cleared up the problem of where the emperor got the term. It seems likely that it was suggested to him by his episcopal counselor, Bishop Hosius (Ossius) of Cordova, and it was probably nothing more than a Greek translation of a term already found in Tertullian (A Short History of Christian Doctrine, Bernard Lohse, 1966, p51-53)
Comment:
The Watchtower misleads you to believe that Constantine was totally uniformed and came up with the Nicene creed all by himself, yet he leaves out the important comment where Lohse says that Hosius came up with the word. Another source says this about how generally uninformed the delegates were, proving Constantine was part of the majority and not some pagan ignoramus!
"Apparently a fairly large percentage of the delegates were not theologically trained, but among those who were, three basic "parties" were discernible: Arius and the Lucianists, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia; the Origenists, led by Eusebius of Caesarea, already highly reputed; and Alexander of Alexandria, with his following." (God in Three Persons, Millard J. Erickson, p82-85)
More misused quotes:
What Anti-Trinitarians Quote
"Justin [Martyr] taught that before the creation of the world God was alone and that there was no Son. ... When God desired to create the world, . . . he begot another divine being to create the world for him. This divine being was called . . . Son because he was born; he was called Logos because he was taken from the Reason or Mind of God. . . . Justin and the other Apologists therefore taught that the Son is a creature. He is a high creature, a creature powerful enough to create the world but, nevertheless, a creature. In theology this relationship of the Son to the Father is called subordinationism. The Son is subordinate, that is, secondary to, dependent upon, and caused by the Father. The Apologists were subordinationists." (A Short History of the Early Church, Dr. H. R. Boer)
What they left out to deceive you:
The full quote says: "When God desired to create the world, he needed an agent to do this for him. This necessity arose out of the Greek view that God cannot concern himself with matter. Therefore, he begot another divine being to create the world for him." (A Short History of the Early Church, Dr. H. R. Boer)
Our comment
Boer flatly states that the deity of Christ is found in the New Testament and was taught by the Apostolic Fathers before the age of the Apologists. Further, Anti-trinitarians mislead the reader with the quote they supply about Justin Martyr.
Boer, therefore is saying that the faith of Justin Martyr that Jesus is a "created divine being" originated with Greek mythology and not the New Testament! In other words, Boer is saying that Justin's view of Jesus being a created agent to do God's work was of pagan origin! We believe that Subordinationism is taught in the New Testament. Interesting that Boer also claims that Constantine's son, Constantius, used his role as emperor to enforce Arianism, to exile pro-Nicene opponents and influence theology towards Arius. Hence the argument that Constantine is the catalyst of trinity doctrine is no stronger than the argument that Constantius is the catalyst of Arian doctrine.
Full texts
"This centrality of Christ in the faith and witness of the church arises
directly out of the New Testament. There he is presented as the Savior of
mankind, the head of the church, and as Lord, fully divine and fully human.
The early church accepted him as a man, and confessed and worshiped him as
God. It placed him on the same level as the Father and the Holy Spirit. It
did this naturally and without any feeling of contradiction. The church
recognized the mystery of the person of Christ, but rather than debating
the mystery it adored and revered it. This mystery aspect of the person of
our Lord has never been lost in genuine Christianity. However, it has often
been pressed into the background. This is what happened during the fourth
through eighth centuries, when the person of Jesus Christ became a subject
of intense theological debate not always very spiritual in character. There
were three outstanding reasons for the church's concern with the question:
a. The spread of the gospel to the Gentiles introduced Greeks into the
church. The educated Greek mind was highly studious and intellectual. It
loved to reflect on difficult problems in theology and philosophy. b. Greek
philosophy made a sharp distinction between the spiritual and the material.
Becoming a Christian did not always alter this Greek way of thinking. For
the Greeks the creation of the world and the incarnation of the Son of God
were major religious and intellectual problems. How can God (pure spirit)
create the world (matter) and become man (matter and spirit)? c. The Old
Testament is strongly monotheistic. If Christ is very God, what is his
relationship to God the Creator.- the God of Israel? For these reasons it
was probably unavoidable that questions about the person of Jesus should
arise to which the New Testament gives no direct answer. These questions
were of two kinds: the first group concerned the relationship of Jesus
Christ to God the Father; the second group of questions dealt with the
problem of the relationship between the human nature and the divine nature
of Christ. In this chapter we are concerned with the first group of
questions. VARIOUS ANSWERS: The matter is put quite clearly in the first
chapter of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all
things. were made through him, and without him was not anything made that
was made.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace
and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the
Father. (John bore witness to him, and criedi "This was he of whom I said,
'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me." (vss. 1, 2,
14, 15) In short, how is it to be understood that the Son who in John is
called the Logos (i.e., the Word), and who ' became a human being in Jesus
the Messiah, is both with God and is God? How can God at the same time be
one and more than one? How is the Son related to the Father? This was the
question before the councils of Nicaea in 325 and Constantinople in 381.
The controversy to which this question led laid the basis for the Christian
doctrine of the Trinity: it is therefore generally called the Trinitarian
Controversy. The church considered various answers to this question before
finding a common mind. We shall briefly discuss these answers. 1. The
Apostolic Fathers: The Apostolic Fathers wrote between A.D. 90 and 140.
Their discussion of the person of Jesus Christ simply repeated the teaching
of the New Testament. None of the Apostolic Fathers presented a definite
doctrine on this point. In this respect the New Testament, the Apostolic
Fathers, and the Apostles' Creed stand in one line. 2. The Apologists: With
the Apologists, Greek philosophy became associated with Christianity. The
best known of them was Justin Martyr, a man from Samaria whose parents were
Roman. He was a student and a teacher of philosophy before his conversion.
He remained a philosopher, regarding Christianity as the highest
philosophy. He died a martyr for the faith between 163 and 167. Justin
taught that before the creation of the world God was alone and that there
was no Son. Within God, however, there was Reason, or Mind (Logos). When
God desired to create the world, he needed an agent to do this for him.
This necessity arose out of the Greek view that God cannot concern himself
with matter. Therefore, he begot another divine being to create the world
for him. This divine being was called the Logos or the Son of God. He was
called Son because he was born; he was called Logos because he was taken
from the Reason or Mind of God. However, the Father does not lose anything
when he gives independent existence to the Logos. The Logos that is taken
out of him to become the Son is like a flame taken from a fire to make a
new fire. The new fire does not lessen the older fire. Justin and the other
Apologists therefore taught that the Son is a creature. He is a high
creature, a creature powerful enough to create the world but, nevertheless,
a creature. In theology this relationship of the Son to the Father is
called subordinationism. The Son is subordinate, that is, secondary to,
dependent upon, and caused by the Father. The Apologists were
subordinationists." (A Short History of the Early Church, Harry R. Boer,
p108-110)
"Arianism: Up to this point the Trinitarian debate had taken place entirely
in the West. We now move to the East, where the debate became a great
controversy. It lasted sixty years, involved the entire eastern church, the
western church in part, and occupied the attention of eleven emperors. The
long discussion began with Arius, a presbyter in the church in Alexandria.
He was a disciple of Lucian, who in turn was a student of Paul of Samosata,
bishop of Antioch from 260 to 272. Paul was an Adoptionist (Dynamic
Monarchian). He taught that the Logos or Reason of God dwelt in the man
Jesus. This Logos had also been in Moses and in the prophets; in Jesus,
however, it was present in much larger measure. As a result, he was united
with God in a relationship of love as no other man had been. Therefore, God
"adopted" Jesus after his crucifixion and resurrection and gave him a sort
of deity. Three synods in Antioch dealt with Paul's teaching, and the third
one (in 269) condemned and excommunicated Paul. These views deeply
influenced Arius. Like the western Adoptionists, he was concerned about the
unity of God. Therefore, he taught that the Father alone is without a
beginning. The Son (or Logos) had a beginning; God created the Logos in
order that he might create the world. Since the Logos was the first and
highest of all created beings, Arius was willing to call the Logos God. But
this was only a manner of speaking. The Logos was a creature. And God
himself could not create the material world; indeed, Arius considered God
so far removed from men that it was impossible to know him or to have
fellowship with him. Arius was thoroughly Greek in his conception of God.
Arius' view of Christ was much inferior to that of either Theodotus in the
West or of Paul of Samosata in the East. In their view, the man Jesus whom
God adopted was fully and truly human. Not so the Jesus of Arius. In his
teaching, Jesus had a human body but not a human soul. The Logos took the
place of the human soul in Jesus. He was therefore a creature who was
neither God nor man. He was not God because the Logos that was in him was
created; he was not man because he did not have a soul. Moreover, the Logos
was subject to change: he could become a sinner. Such was the teaching
which Arius began to set forth in about 311. Alexander, the Catholic bishop
of Alexandria, convened synods which condemned his views, and he was forced
to leave Alexandria. Nevertheless, he gained a great following. There were
three reasons for this:' a. His views seemed to protect the unity of God
against the danger of polytheism. b. They satisfied the deep-rooted Greek
idea that God cannot be the creator of the material universe. c. They gave
high honor to the Son or Logos of God and even declared him to be God. The
controversy spread to all parts-of the East. Theologians, monks, and church
leaders took sides in the debate. The common people did, not understand the
issues, but nevertheless they aligned themselves with this or that view."
(A Short History of the Early Church, Harry R. Boer, p113)
"Politics and Theology: In 337, Constantine died and his three sons
inherited the empire. Constantine 11 received the far western part:
Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Constantius received the far eastern part:
Macedonia, Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor, Palestine, Syria, and Egypt.
Constans received the area lying in between:, Italy, North Africa, and
Illyricum. Both Constantine 11 and Constans took the western position and
supported Athanasius. Constantius supported the Arians. In 340, Constantine
II was killed in battle with the forces of Constans, leaving the empire
divided between Constans in the West and Constantius in the East. In 350,
Constans was assassinated by the rebel German emperor Magnentius. Three
years later Constantius defeated and killed the latter. Thus, by 353 the
entire empire was in the hands of power of the empire, Constantius decided
that the religious question should now be decided once and for all. In
councils held in the West at Arles and Milan, he forced the western bishops
to abandon Athanasius, and he exiled some of their leaders. In 357 a
council held in Sirmium in Illyria forbade the use of ousia (nature) in
speaking of the relationship between the Father and the Son. With this the
homoousios of Nicaea became a dead confession. This was a complete victory
[for the Arians]." (A Short History of the Early Church, Harry R. Boer,
p117)
Go To Alphabetical Index Of Deceptive Quotes
Written By Steve Rudd, Used by permission at: www.bible.ca
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