Triune God Sabbath School Experience
Today (January 7, 2012) my wife Diana and I went to church with some misgivings as to what might confront us. We had sent out thirty-seven copies of the Theos magazines, with a personal letter, to many of our local church members. You can look at the letter HERE. The Sabbath school Superintendent began by reading from a devotional with Joshua 24:15 as the call to “choose the God you serve”.
The main lesson began with a comparison between Deuteronomy 6:4 and Matthew 28:19 as an attempt to show the apparent inconsistency between the one God of Deuteronomy and the three of Matthew. From that point the class entered into a lot of human speculation with little or no Scriptural support for their theories. The word “one” of Deuteronomy 6:4 was compared to Genesis 2:24 in an attempt to prove a plurality of God. The word “us” of Genesis 1:26 was also used to try and prove the same theory.
Getting a chance to speak I brought out that the word “one,” Hebrew “echad” is used many times in the Hebrew scriptures of a singular unit or person. I pointed out that the plural “us” of Genesis 1:26 is called “the plural of majesty”, as illustrated in Ezra 4:18, and does not necessarily refer to more than one divine being. I showed that in contrast to a plurality of God, 1 Corinthians 8:6 reveals “one God the Father”.
A person tried to prove that the word “begotten” in the Bible was added by Origen around A.D. 200. They went on to say that this word should be axed out as it was added by the Catholics. We were told that the word “begotten” only meant “unique”.
My wife, read Prov. 8:23-30, stating that the Spirit of Prophecy spoke of this reading as a literal account of the pre-incarnate son of God.
Philippians 2:6 was read with an emphasis on Jesus being “equal with God”. I brought out that the Bible always speaks of God the Father as supreme, and that while Jesus is divine as the Son of God, He always spoke of His Father as greater than himself. I pointed out from 1 Cor. 15: 27-28 that all things were put under the feet of the Son, the Father being excepted, and when the great controversy is ended these verses speak of the Son as being subject to the Father.
The class soon ended, I was amazed at the confused and scattered state of the understanding of our people, and can only pray that God will open their eyes to the truth of the Father and His Son. I am very thankful for those who were willing to share with me, when I was not too anxious to hear.
I spoke to several people this Sabbath. One brother thanked me for the material we sent. He said that it raised more questions than it answered, but he was going to finish reading them. Another brother thanked us for the material. He told me he knew of Maranatha media and that it is a good site. A husband and his wife thanked us for the Theos magazines. She stated that she had some questions regarding the Trinity, and had written a paper on it years ago. She was hoping to re-find it. I shared many things with them both, and was able to give extra material to them both. The head elder stated that he believed in the Trinity, but he was willing to read the material. I was able to share with another sister that I did fully believe in the deity of Christ as the Son of God. Another sister came up to me and showed me the book, “The Godhead Re-examined.” She asked if the authors were straight. I replied they were, in my opinion, as they espoused the pioneer view. I encouraged her to study for herself.
I believe that God moved in a very special way this Sabbath to agitate people to study for themselves. Praise the Father! Thanks to all who supported us in prayer.
