I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. – Daniel 7:13-14 ESV
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 any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. – John 1:1-4 ESV
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. - Psalm 16:8-9 ESV
Often even to an atheist the idea and concept of God is relatable, understandable, and potentially even conceivable. There are reasonable paths that can lead to the comprehension and admission of some form of theism. And yes to be sure that leap from atheism to theism is great indeed, but it is one that can be arrived at without much commitment to a particular God or Being, let alone a religion, tradition, or practice. In this way then the leap from theism to Christianity can be considered a leap of at least an order of magnitude greater in both substance and kind from that of atheism to theism more generally. Philosophically theism is like deism in that it simply acknowledges the existence of a super-natural, meta-physical power and being that is essentially immaterial in nature. In other words empiricism and scientific determinism simply do not control it or supersede it. Basically every major religion subscribes to such a notion in one degree or another. When Jesus lived and walked the world was already largely theistic and certainly Judaism proclaimed the Lord God more specifically than any other religion known to man at the time. Israel, the people of the Lord, knew better, perhaps more than most, just how profound and significant the consequences of the Messiah were and in particular what it meant for Jesus to be that Messiah. Jesus Christ then is in large part what makes Christianity unique or different from any other religion, this much is likely obvious. But why exactly? And of what value is it for any one of us to be particular and precise regarding the type and nature of God exactly?
For any theism – monotheism, pantheism, panentheism, or polytheism – there arises a difficult question regarding the nature of God relating to the nature of man. For the monotheistic God, how can the Father, the Lord, truly be with His people if the people themselves are fallen and not fully and completely God? And even further how can material and imperfect humans commune fully with a perfect, immaterial God? It simply cannot be accomplished. There will always be a gap or a distance or a chasm that we could never reach across and fully be with Him. Often today a common response provided to this question and dilemma is of a more pantheistic or panentheistic nature. “God is in all things,” “All things are in God,” “We are all God,” “God is all of us and all things” are simple examples of such a response. And at first glance it seems reasonable enough to accept such a claim. There is of course, by nature, a universality and completeness to God and so why wouldn’t such a claim be true? The issue for the pantheist, the panentheist, and the polytheist, unlike the monotheist, is that once such a claim is granted then there can be no real particularizing of God and therefore God very quickly loses all dimension, definition, nature, and being. If all things are God then how does meaning sustain itself in the universe? If God is everywhere in all things and all ways then is there anything one can do that is not of God? Take a lying, cheating, and murderous man and compare him to an upright, honest, and good man – are both the exact same in the eyes of God now? Does nothing matter anymore? Such a theology and universe rapidly descends into a form of multiplicity, which leads to contradiction, and ultimately nihilism. This is not to say that a polytheistic culture like that of Greece, Rome, or India cannot have morals and ethics – it is just that the theology is not the coherent function which binds those ethics. Multiplicity inherently begets hierarchy and hierarchy demands a zenith. The path to truth then ultimately leads to some form of monotheism. To a singularity, unification, oneness, and integrity as in the word integer. And yet even within that singularity we find a panoply of options, considerations, and differences. Which God is the most one true God, the most High of them all?
Among most people it is often not difficult to find agreement and common ground upon the idea of the Most High God, or the Highest God of all. The human mind can rather easily conceive of hierarchies as well as taxonomies of various kinds and it seems to be no different theologically. Indeed even within most polytheistic theologies there is some form of a highest god of all gods for example. Likewise throughout the Old and New Testament we find numerous occasions of various different gods being challenged against each other and against the God of Israel. The faith and practices of the Israelites are time and again put to the test and temptation of various different types of gods. Time and again the Bible stories all point to the supremacy of the One True God – the Lord God Most High – and the Bible itself is largely a collection of one people, the Israelites, and how they both succeeded and failed over time to follow, understand, obey, and worship the Lord God Most High and His commandments. Being Jewish Himself, Jesus Christ, and therefore all of Christianity, falls directly within this greater Jewish story and structure. Christianity, as far as I’m aware, is unique among the world religions as it is the only religion birthed directly out of another religion.
Reading through the New Testament and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ we find numerous stories of healings, miracles, and wild testimonials of how He served and saved people physically. Whether He gave sight to blind people (an absolutely miraculous transformation to consider), cured leprosy, and even gave Life to those now dead, or fed a multitude of thousands with fishes and bread, Jesus served people in very physical ways. The body of the people around him was a direct and powerful avenue to reveal the nature of Him and His body. If Jesus did not walk with those people and heal them, who would or even could? In most cases many of the people He served had lifelong illnesses or exhausted all the known medical and spiritual resources available and still could not be healed. And then of course there are numerous miracles like walking on water, transforming wine from water, multiplying fish and bread, and most especially raising His own body from the dead and resurrecting Himself fully and completely. Clearly the nature of Jesus Christ was at the very least not disconnected from His body – indeed His body and the bodies of all others – was clearly a pivotal, recurring, and consistent focus throughout His entire ministry and purpose. Theologically this has great significance for us all, and to my knowledge and understanding, is one of the key and unique aspects to Jesus Christ being the second person of the body of God. Even among Christians, there seems to be much confusion regarding the exact nature of the Christian God. And although for all of us, God is at least in part a mystery that no one knows completely, there are aspects of God that we can know, do know, and are able to know even more. Let us establish as clearly as possible those aspects of God that are within our reach, our comprehension, and our understanding in hopes that we may soon know and understand ever more of Him. In what may be one of the only original and unique thoughts within human history, Christianity identifies the Holy Trinity of God. What is this Trinity, what does it mean, and why is it significant?
The Holy Trinity, at least as I understand it, consists of three persons or natures of God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. A common phrase for this is “three in one and one in three.” The obvious and reasonable first response is that this is not a monotheistic God, but rather a pantheistic or polytheistic God. But this would be an inaccurate or uninformed rebuttal to the Holy Trinity. It is not three different Gods, but rather one God that holds three natures or ways of relating. In comparison other major monotheistic Gods subscribe whole-heartedly to the first person of the Holy Trinity – God the Father. Indeed many general theists and deists would as well. Pantheists and panentheists would likely more lean towards the third person of the Holy Trinity – God the Holy Spirit – for It is more similar to a great universal, pervading, “all things” type of God. No religion, as far as I am aware, claims and sustains the second person of the Holy Trinity – God the Son. Admittedly this claim is very unique, very bold, and extremely powerful, because in part it carries significant theological and philosophical implications and complications that both monotheistic and polytheistic theologies simply do not and cannot address let alone resolve.
The second person of the Holy Trinity is man. It is the body of God. The issue of course, and one reason the claim is so revolutionary, is the fact that God simply by definition cannot have a body. God cannot be a man. Indeed this is often the largest contention with Jesus Christ today as well as when He walked among us. The Messianic claim is a bold and forthright claim. Who among us now or ever could make such a claim? Who among us is without fault? Without blemish or snare or sin? We are all born of women and men who themselves are born of women and men who are all broken, incomplete, faulted, and imperfect. And so genetically then we are all insufficient. Genetically then humanity has inherited an artificial and fraudulent cap or ceiling if you will of which none of us can surpass or overcome, no matter how hard any of us tries. This is in part the greater significance of Jesus Christ being born of immaculate conception. Very specifically his genes were not of the same, broken mankind – He was literally born of God, through a woman but not of a man. As such Jesus Christ, although himself a man with human body and form, was also decidedly not of the fallen Adamic post-Eden genetic lineage. He was – and is – a pure genetic line within the fallen, human genetic line of the Messianic King of Israel – King David. None of us – no one – can compare to such a man as this for who among us was born in such a way? Who among us is genetically solely the Son of God the Father? Who among us is not born of flesh and blood, woman and man? He is both man and God the same one man, one body. His body is God’s body and now is also our body too. And amen for that!
And yet the nature of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, extends ever further, beyond His own particular body and form. The first person of the Holy Trinity is referred to as the Father God. This is significant for by definition the Father must always have a Son – by definition. In this way the Son is as eternal as the Father – the Son being ever-present with the Father even from the beginning. These types of First Principles are one area, it seems to me at least, which transcend the abilities of our human minds to fully capture or comprehend. Most minds, when hearing such a claim that the Son is as eternal as the Father, will immediately object and say the Father comes first and THEN the Son comes – just as a father exists before a child is birthed. But this is mistaken – for prior to the son being born that father is by definition NOT a father at all – for no son is yet born. It is only when a son is born that a father exists – again by simple definition. In this way so it is with the Christian God. There was never a time when the Son was not One with the Father – nor the Father with the Son. Only the Son knows the Father – and only the Father knows the Son. This is a Christian theological precept that extends beyond the individual form of Jesus Christ, though it also of course includes Him and His human form. This is an eternal nature of the Christ, the Holy Trinity, and the body of God. The Christ is the Father. The Father is the Christ. There was never a time when they were not One and Together. By definition, the Father always has His Son – and with Him is He well pleased. In this way, although perhaps it extends beyond our human understanding, if and when we can begin to grasp this nature of the Father and the Son then we begin to grasp the body of the Christian God. There is no place that He is not, there is nothing that He is not the source, all falls under Him and within His domain and reign. He is the King of Kings. It is through the Son that we know the Father and likewise that the Father knows us. And it is good – most indeed good.
The purpose of any type of theology – no matter what type – is ultimately regarding salvation. There are different paths or understandings of God, religion, and theology, but the entire reason any of us consider such matters is not just for better understanding but also for a more lasting communion with God – however any of us define that. Salvation is in a way the complete communion with God such that it cannot be undone or broken or sullied. And truly all men seek complete communion and salvation with God. The question then becomes, without the second person of the Trinity – irrespective of Jesus Christ in particular for a moment – how can any theology offer salvation? What do I mean by this question? Take a monotheistic God that subscribes primarily to the first person of the Trinity – God the Father – what is the mechanism by which a person attains complete communion with God the Father? How could such a thing be possible at all? If God is completely perfect in all ways then logically the only way we too could commune with Him completely would be for us to also be completely perfect too. Otherwise if we fail in any way, shape, or form in His perfection then we, by definition, have lost communion with the Father in that area. We are then fallen. Can we restore our fallen nature and return to full communion? Theoretically yes of course we can. But do we? No in practice we do not – in fact we seem to fail more often than we succeed in perfectly communing with Him. We simply cannot sustain it – and frankly isn’t it too tall an order to ask of any human to literally be God? Who can accomplish such a task? And if none of us can accomplish this then what good is our monotheistic God? If we cannot fully commune with Him what real value is He to us here and now?
Plato, with his theory of forms, was considering a similar dilemma and attempting to find a solution. Often Plato’s theory of forms is explained with the ideal chair example. All of the chairs made are attempting to be the most ideal chair, but alas this ideal form of chair is simply not attainable in any particular way, though it is still manifest in various particular ways. We know for example the difference between a table and a chair, and this is because their ideal forms are different. The difference between a table and a chair is fundamentally distinguishable in a more clear and precise and manifest way than the difference between two types of chairs. Although also different, the styles of chairs are still both chairs, and so they share the same ideal form. In contrast to this, Aristotle came and said that Plato was mistaken – the ideal forms were not creating the particulars – it was the particulars that created forms. And further those particulars could be accidental and therefore may or may not relate to the substance of the form itself. And furthermore none of these forms are eternal in nature. In this way Aristotle focused far more heavily than Plato on observing the physical and particular world around him – creating extensive records of biological notes and taxonomies as well as empirical methods of research, analysis, and observation of the particular world around him. Plato on the other hand, being more focused on his eternal forms, thought more abstractly and considered the relations and dynamics between these abstract forms and how we as humans can live them out more particularly such as through justice, virtue, beauty, and goodness for example. In both cases Plato and Aristotle are wrestling with the near paradoxical nature of the Holy Trinity, though neither one of them made the miraculous and admittedly preposterous conclusion of the three being one. God the Father being the highest ideal form and the Son is the complete particularization of that ideal form. Finally through the material body of Jesus Christ is God the Father. For Plato then Jesus Christ could be the perfect particularized human as well as the perfect particularized God – manifesting the ideal form of both God and Man. Aristotle rejecting Plato’s theory of Forms, doesn’t have a similar direct correlation to the Holy Trinity in the same way as Plato. It is also interesting and noteworthy that historically Plato was referenced and used extensively to shape Christian theology for hundreds of years before Aristotle was even known to Christian scholars at all. It wasn’t until the time of Thomas Aquinas that Aristotle reached Christendom through the influence of Islam that his works and ideas began to be incorporated into Christianity. This was in large part thanks to Aquinas as he applied Aristotle’s works to a larger more systematic approach for logically and conclusively proving and arguing for the nature and existence of God as well as establishing a form of metaphysics and underscoring subtle distinctions between essence and existence to name a few. But even then, the Platonic theory of Forms was and frankly still is situated at the root of Christianity, the Holy Trinity, and salvation. Indeed Plato’s works sit at the heart of all monotheisms, unable to bridge the gap and solve the dilemma of particularization. Jesus Christ, Christianity, and the Holy Trinity finally do solve the dilemma. The ideal form that is the monotheistic Father finally, through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, particularized itself fully, completely, and most majestically and as such all forms, through Him, can and will return to the Father – the ideal form. The Son truly is the way to all salvation for all.
Now if all this is accepted and understood, the next natural question becomes okay so what do I need to do exactly to participate in this process of salvation? What exactly does this Christian theology ask of me? Must I now become Christian? And if so what does that mean? There are so many denominations and forms both official and unofficial, both legitimate and illegitimate? Many speak of Jesus Christ, but indeed even He Himself said many will speak of me but are not with me and I know them not at all. It would appear then that there is actually a sort of polytheism within the monotheism of Christianity itself; in stark contrast to both Judaism and Islam for example which are far more regular, uniform, and singular. How then does one participate as a Christian exactly? What does it mean to have and to hold the Christian God? Personally I cannot speak for all in this regard as this is a personal journey for each of us to decide. But from what I can surmise from the Gospels themselves it does NOT appear that worshipping within any one of the particular Christian faiths is required at all for the simple fact that none of them even existed when Jesus Christ walked. Indeed if any faith can claim to be the one, true, and proper faith surely it would be Judaism for it is the faith and practice of Jesus Christ Himself as well of His disciples. And certainly I would not and do not object to such a practice in the slightest – indeed in many respects I too follow and subscribe and enjoy many Jewish ways, customs, and heritage. But I tend to suspect that all such things are more circumstantial and particular which is to say preferential at best. I do not see how such things can be functionally related to one’s salvation at all. If I walk into one church building versus another church building versus no building at all how could I be more or less saved? What does any building have to do with anyone’s salvation since none of these buildings existed when He walked? Clearly it cannot and is not about such physical, material particularities. Of course it is also just as possible to indeed find Him at a particular church or building or religion. The Son of Man is both with all things and with no thing. We must be ever watchful for Him. He both rejects and also accepts all peoples and all ways. He is truly the alpha and the omega.
The only particularity that seems to matter at all is Him and Him alone. His body, His form, His being, His blood, and indeed His resurrection and ascension are all the methods and mechanisms for all of our salvation. Our faith in Him matters. The clothes and customs and buildings appear to matter very little if not at all – indeed He is the king of all peoples and nations and languages – so naturally it makes sense for there to be a multiplicity of ways and means of worshipping Him. Such particulars do not matter to Him it seems to me. What matters is Him – the worship, the faith, the pursuit, the love of Him – for He and He alone is the great initiator, the great minister. He is that which is and that which matters – for through Him does the Holy Spirit – that third person of the Holy Trinity – issue forth upon us from the Father, making us whole and complete and fulfilled by His Grace. And now, finally, through the Son and The Holy Spirit can we more fully commune with Him the Father. The body of God is all one. The Holy Trinity is one God, one body, one man, one Spirit – all dynamic, alive, full, complete, eternal, and transcendent – Life supreme, King of Kings, God of God for all of us under His Great Majesty and supreme reign. In this way we can read and meditate upon the Gospels, upon Him and upon His Word. We can read and understand the languages, the stories, the philosophies, and the traditions of His Jewish and Christian people, their ways and customs, and His lineage and fulfillment of them all. And most especially we can seek Him, to see Him, to know Him, to commune with Him for He alone is the master key that opens the master door to the great kingdom of God the Father. His body is our body. He is the door and the way. And He is all of ours simple and for the taking. Let us all partake and commune with Him now and forevermore. Hallowed be His Name.