@secondson saidYes and apparently he has three persons in him!
Have you not read that there's only one God?
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Concerning Christians usage of the word Person, persons, distinct persons in relation to the Triune God -
From -
https://contendingforthefaith.org/en/the-error-of-insisting-on-three-persons-as-a-litmus-test-of-orthodoxy/
[my bolding]
Title:
The Error of Insisting on Three “Persons” as a Litmus Test of Orthodoxy
Summary:
While it is common (and not wrong) to refer to the Three of the Divine Trinity as three “persons,” the term persons is problematic because it can lead to misunderstanding. This article examines whether Norman Geisler was justified in criticizing a statement of faith in the journal Affirmation & Critique because it did not explicitly use the word persons in its definition of the Trinity.
...
Norman Geisler, in a letter to Ron Kangas, A&C‘s Editor-in-Chief, called these statements concerning the Trinity unorthodox, stating:
First, if you desired to be considered orthodox in your “Statement of Faith,” then why did you leave out the word “person” of the three members of the Trinity. To be orthodox you should have said “three [persons] being distinct” and “we confess the third [person] of the Trinity.”2
Thus, to Geisler any statement speaking of the three of the Divine Trinity that does not use the word “persons” is unorthodox. Furthermore, Geisler, in an article co-signed by Ron Rhodes, denounce the teaching of Witness Lee and the local churches as heresy based on the following statement made by Witness Lee:
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not three separate persons or three Gods; they are one God, one reality, one person.3
...
Augustus H. Strong, whom Geisler and Rhodes referred to as “the noted Baptist theologian,” said:
The term ‘person’ only approximately represents the truth. Although this word, more nearly than any other single word, expressed the conception which the Scriptures give us of the relation between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it is not itself used in this connection in Scriptures, and we employ it in a qualified sense, not in the ordinary sense in which we apply the word ‘person’ to Peter, Paul, and John.6
J. Scott Horrell, Professor of Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, notes:
If the term nature is difficult when we speak of God, the term person is all the more complex. Theologians such as Tertullian, the Cappadocians, Augustine, and Aquinas differ in their concept of person, even if modern and postmodern conceptions vary considerably more.7
This is only a sample of the full discussion. Seriourly interested readers wanting to know the local churches co-workers' defense against criticisms on teaching on the Trinity may read more at
Contending For the Faith
https://contendingforthefaith.org/en/the-error-of-insisting-on-three-persons-as-a-litmus-test-of-orthodoxy/
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If anyone is confused about why I cut and pasted in the above:
We in the local churches are criticized from one side as saying "three persons" about God and on the other side for not saying "three persons".
How could both opposite criticisms be true?
The article is about what I have said all along and what Divegeester agreed with. That is that human language is limited in explaining the nature of God.
And terms like "person/s" may be used guardedly. If we don't press them too far they help to express the mysterious nature of God.
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“Slink away”
Yes - Slink away.
From telling us who you meet with past or present so the style examination you perform may be done on you in turn.
Let's see if Divegeester has the guts to tell the world who are the believers he has come together with. Or will we be treated to a barrage of excuses for his concealment.
So far, ... he slinks away.
Strict and exacting on OTHERS.
Merciful and accommodating on HIMSELF.
@sonship...14 pages in and you still haven’t answered.
@divegeester said
Sonship, for three years I’ve been asking you if I have to believe in the trinity doctrine to be saved and for three years you have been refusing to give me a straight yes or no answer, because you claim that there isn’t one. I’ve told you for three years that I don’t believe you.
Here is a copy/paste from the statement of beliefs from the website of your own church sect:
”In order to be saved, one must have a living faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Every genuinely saved one has what the Bible calls the “common faith” (Titus 1:4), which includes what we must believe in order to be saved: we must believe that the Bible is the complete divine revelation wholly inspired by God; that there is a unique Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God incarnated to be a man; that Christ died on the cross for our sins, shedding His blood for our redemption; that on the third day He was bodily raised from the dead; that He has been exalted to the right hand of God and made the Lord of all; and that He is coming again for His own and to set up His kingdom on earth.”
https://www.localchurches.org/beliefs/salvation/
There it is in unequivocal black and white text. So why is it so hard for you to copy/paste this text and justify it when I’ve been asking you for clarity for three years?!
Of course I don’t believe in the trinity doctrine and therefore you cannot classify me as Christian and therefore I will burn in Hell with the rest Of the unbelievers.
Perhaps you were right to be ashamed of this.
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Here are the websites of four congregations I have met with for an accumulated over 40 years from 1974. Usually Statements of Faith and Testimonies can be examined.
The church in New York City
http://churchinnyc.org
The church in Newton, Mass.
https://www.localchurches.org/churches/newton-ma-usa/
The church in Boston, Mass
http://churchinboston.org
The church in Dunn Loring, VA.
http://churchindunnloring.org
Share with us about the fellow seekers of God you have me with and their positions of Salvation and Statements of Faith.
Why do you want to conceal your gatherings in secretive obscurity ? Are you afraid that exposing your congregations to the light may invite the charge of "cult" or "sect" ?
Are you ashamed of something ?
@sonship saidIs there any chance at all of you addressing the OP, of are you going to continue to avoid the simple question in it to you like some sort of plague?
Here are the websites of four congregations I have met with for an accumulated over 40 years from 1974. Usually Statements of Faith and Testimonies can be examined.
The church in New York City
http://churchinnyc.org
The church in Newton, Mass.
https://www.localchurches.org/churches/newton-ma-usa/
The church in Boston, Mass
http://ch ...[text shortened]... gations to the light may invite the charge of "cult" or "sect" ?
Are you ashamed of something ?
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Is there any chance at all of you addressing the OP, of are you going to continue to avoid the simple question in it to you like some sort of plague?
STRICT AS ALL GET OUT with everyone else.
MERCIFUL, ACCOMMODATING, and LENIENT, on YOURSELF.
We've got it. By not admitting to any group of people with whom you have practically shared communion you can hide indefinitely from being examined as you RELISH examining others.
What's up with this? Is it that as soon as TWO of you are together you have the dreaded "corporate religion" ?
SHOW US a "Statement of Faith" under which YOU have gathered.
SHOW US a "In Order To Be Saved" statement under which YOU have gathered.
GO!
@sonship saidStop ranting and feel free to start a thread on whatever topic you wish to discuss.
@divegeesterIs there any chance at all of you addressing the OP, of are you going to continue to avoid the simple question in it to you like some sort of plague?
STRICT AS ALL GET OUT with everyone else.
MERCIFUL, ACCOMMODATING, and LENIENT, on YOURSELF.
We've got it. By not admitting to any group of peo ...[text shortened]... hered.
SHOW US a "In Order To Be Saved" statement under which YOU have gathered.
GO!
This thread is about my OP, it's about why you are so furtive about your strange beliefs and it's about error, your error, like the one in the OP written by your own church leaders.
@divegeester saidNo. This thread is about you, what you think about others, about how much bile a troll like you can heap on anyone that dares to oppose your unbiblical version of God.
Stop ranting and feel free to start a thread on whatever topic you wish to discuss.
This thread is about my OP, it's about why you are so furtive about your strange beliefs and it's about error, your error, like the one in the OP written by your own church leaders.
@secondson saidThis is a discussion forum and sonship’s strange beleifs and his furtiveness when asked about them is a legitimate topic.
No. This thread is about you, what you think about others, about how much bile a troll like you can heap on anyone that dares to oppose your unbiblical version of God.
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@divegeester saidThis "error" you mean ?
Stop ranting and feel free to start a thread on whatever topic you wish to discuss.
This thread is about my OP, it's about why you are so furtive about your strange beliefs and it's about error, your error, like the one in the OP written by your own church leaders.
[my bolding]
In order to be saved, one must have a living contact with Jesus Christ. Therefore, in bringing unbelievers to salvation, we emphasize prayer and calling on the name of the Lord. According to Romans 10:9 and 10, if a man is to be saved, he must believe in his heart and confess with his mouth.
Once a person has been saved, he may have both the assurance of salvation and the security of salvation. Once we are saved, we are saved forever.
From The Beliefs and Practices of the Local Churches
The above is just what I have been writing here for years.
You haven't the courage to associate yourself with any congregation on earth.
You're the one acting like you're trying to conceal errors.
@sonship saidNo, not what you have written in your post as a deflection (tut-tut); as you well know I’m referring to the error lifted from the statement of belief written by the the leaders of your Local Church group and which is written in the OP of this thread and many times afterwards and which you have been refusing to say whether you agree with it or not.
This "error" you mean ?
[my bolding]
[quote] In order to be saved, one must have a living contact with Jesus Christ. Therefore, in bringing unbelievers to salvation, we emphasize prayer and calling on the name of the Lord. According to Romans 10:9 and 10, if a man is to be saved, he must believe in his heart and confess with his mouth.
Once a person h ...[text shortened]... urself with any congregation on earth.
You're the one acting like you're trying to conceal errors.
This is not going to go away sonship.