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Harlot of Babylon According to Irvin Baxter, Trinity and Oneness, Part 10
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We continue the discussion of verses from the first two chapters of Colossians here in Part 10.
In COLOSSIANS 1:16 the apostle Paul says, "For by Him [by God the Son, who existed with the Father before any creating took place (see John 1:1-3, 10, 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:2, 3)] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions or rulers or authorities [[This includes Satan and his extensive kingdom of evil, but it must be understood that he and the ones who followed him in his rebellion were not created evil. Anyway, the Creator has the authority and power to judge and remove beings He has created, which He will do at the proper time. That is the easy part, but God's plan included working things out in a way that He would save a gigantic number of people (the elect) and give a powerful demonstration of the fact that there is no room for rebellion and sin in His world.]] - all things have been created through Him [God the Father created all things through God the Son, who existed with Him before any creating took place.] and for Him [for God the Son; certainly not for the human nature of Jesus which, according to the oneness point of view, is destined to cease to exist]."
COLOSSIANS 1:17 says, "He [God the Son] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Obviously "He is before all things" in time, since all things were created "by Him" and "through Him" (Col. 1:16). God the Son is also before all things in His exalted position over them. And Col. 1:17 also informs us that God the Son has been active in holding things together since they were created. We are talking about a Person, God the Son, not a thought, or a word, etc. in the mind of God. These verses that speak of the preexistence of God the Son with the Father should suffice in themselves to show that the oneness view of God is wrong. My article, "The Name Yahweh and God the Father and God the Son: The Name Yahweh and a Listing of Some of the Large Number of Passages in the Hebrew Old Testament Where We Can See God the Son Along with God the Father," gives many examples where we see God the Son existing as a distinct Person along with God the Father and actively engaged in the things that were taking place throughout the Old Testament.
SOME EXCERPTS FROM "A DEFINITIVE LOOK AT ONENESS THEOLOGY: IN THE LIGHT OF BIBLICAL TRINITARIANISM" BY EDWARD L. DALCOUR (3rd edition, revised, updated & expanded; adapted from Ph.D. Thesis from North-West University; copyright © 2011 by North-West University in South Africa; 215 pages). This is one of the books I read in preparing to write this paper. This scholarly work is written from a biblical, Trinitarian point of view. Edward Dalcour deals with many of the relevant passages of Scripture, with the early Christian teaching, and with several popular oneness writers, including David Bernard. I disagree with Dalcour on several details, but I believe he effectively shows that the oneness viewpoint is wrong, seriously wrong. I'll include several excerpts from this book here, but I believe most of the book is worthy to be excerpted.
"The oneness notion that the interactions between the Father and the Son (and Holy Spirit) were mere interactions among natures or modes severs the biblical teaching of the personal loving interaction between the Persons of the Trinity. [[This is extremely important. For one thing, a key feature of the glory of our salvation is that the VERY SPECIAL LOVE that God the Father has for His unique Son is shared with all true Christians, those who become united with the Lord Jesus through new-covenant salvation (see John 17:20-26 for example).]] However, the Oneness idea that 'natures' can actually love, talk, or pray to each other, or exhibit any kind of emotion toward one another is not only irrational, but also unbiblical.
Only self-aware cognizant persons can engage in personal emotive activities such as giving and receiving love or intellectually communicating with each other - abstract natures cannot. [[Keep in mind that the oneness viewpoint is that the Son doesn't exist until the virgin birth, at which time God the Father takes upon human nature and a physical body. The Son isn't a person; he is the human part of the God-man. Some oneness believers say he is only the physical body. It is totally necessary to understand that God the Son always existed with God the Father, through whom everything that was ever created was created.]] Scripture presents that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit each possess personal attributes and characteristics, which constitute personhood. As shown in subsequent chapters, the three Persons in the Trinity possess personal attributes and personal characteristics such as love, anger, the exercising of the will and mind, etc., which, as stated, constitute personhood" (pages 47, 48).
"...'The expression of love between Father and Son are explained as communication between the divine and human natures of Christ' ("The Oneness of God" by David K. Bernard, 1983, 22 [The quote is not from page 22 of the copy of the book that I have.] Dalcour was quoting from Bernard.) In other words, the 'Father' mode loves the 'Son' mode, or Jesus' human nature loves His own divine nature, and the reverse. ..." (page 75). "In oneness doctrine, the 'Father' and the 'Holy Spirit' are merely names or descriptions of the divine nature of Jesus" (page 76). According to oneness theology the Son mode didn't exist until the time of the virgin birth. On pages 106-108 of "The Oneness of God," under the heading "The ending of the Sonship," Bernard says that the role of the Son will end when Jesus "in His role as Son, and as His final act as Son, will present the church to Himself in His role as God and Father." He is basing this on 1 Cor. 15:23-28. Revelation chapters 21 and 22 should suffice to show that God the Son will continue to reign with God the Father forever. Revelation 22:5 shows that we will be reigning with them. None of the three Persons of the Trinity can come to an end; They are eternal Persons!
Dalcour has the heading "The Trinitarian Formula [with water baptism] in the Early Church" (pages 110-113). I'll quote a few sentences. "...there has never been a church father (Greek or Latin), recognized Christian theologian, or biblical commentator that has provided a modalistic [oneness] understanding of Matthew 28:19. Despite the...historical evidence, the UPCI vigorously contends that 'the early church Christian leaders in the days immediately following the apostolic age were Oneness' (Bernard ["Oneness of God"], 1983, pages 236-37) and taught that water baptism must be done 'in the name of Jesus' to achieve salvation (cf. Paterson ["The Real Truth About Baptism in Jesus' Name"], 1953, pages 12, 27); Vouga ["Our Gospel Message
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