francisdesales said:
Mysteryman said:
Of course there is nothing wrong with a dictionary. But a dictionary does not dictate what scripture is saying. The usage of a word from scripture is how we study the scriptures. Not how a dictionary gives a definition of a word. Understanding words and their meaning is important, but we must first look at the scriptures to see how and when and why they are used within scripture. How they are used in association. Never, ever is the word "person" used in association with God Almighty, never !
This is your argument?
Sorry, but the dictionary DICTATES the meaning of what we find in Scriptures, not the other way around. Without defining the meaning of a word, the letters in the bible are just meaningless characters. The Bible does not tell us the definition of a person. It refers to humans, but it does NOT follow that those are the limits of understanding of the meaning.
Referring to God as a Person is similar to referring to God as an "Entity" or "Being". They are philosophical definitions that are not against the meaning of Scriptures. With the definition given for a "person", God certainly fits that criteria, so God is a Person, philosophically speaking. This is a necessity, to speak philosophically about God, because God is, by nature, mysterious.
Hi Joe:
Do you know what the definition of the word "father" means, without taking out a dictionary to confirm its meaning ?
The same should hold true with the word "person"
The word "Person" is not similar to the words "entity or being". Angels are spirit beings and evil spirits are also called devil spirits. Satan who was once called Lucifer in heaven, and is a spirit being, not a person ! A human being can be a person, but a spirit being cannot be a person ! Earthly is earthly or of the earth, to say terrestrial, and heavenly is of heaven , or to say celestial.
The reason people want to use this word "person" in association with God, is to bring God down to their level of understanding. Instead of growing spiritually, many , if not most , do not want to grow spiritually. They would prefer to remain ignorant, and they also would prefer not to grow spiritually. They spend more time defending their ignorance , than putting forth effort to grow spiritually.
Bringing God down to the level of man/mankind is the only way in which some can come to any kind of understandings of God. This is carnal thinking, but this is the way in which babes find a way to understand at their level.
God was never associated as being a person anywhere within scriptures. Knowning this to be true, then why do people associate in such a manner ? Simple , the answer is ignorance and wanting to remain ignorant. Also, they want to remain as a babe , who only drinks the milk of the word. This also means, that they are unskillful in the scriptures, and they wish to remain as such.
Trinitarism wants to make God three persons or three entities. God is one, and He is only
one entitiy when speaking of God Almighty ! God is One ! Not three ! You can say God is one, until you are blue in the face. As long as you continue to explain God as three entities,
you are not calling God Almighty one entity !
God created man in His own image , and man is not three entities ! Man is only one person ! Adam was not three persons ! Nor was he three entities ! Adam was a father, and God called him a son of God (figuratively speaking), but God never called Adam, a Holy Spirit . God gave man , by breathing into his nostriles , not only the breath of life, but also the spirit of man. Prior to breathing into the nostriles of man, man was already created in the image of God. Man was not created in the image of God with a spirit. And never with the Holy Spirit. Man was created both male and female. Not body , soul and spirit ! Man has a body, and a soul, and was given a spirit, the spirit of man. But man was not created as such. Man was created in the image of God, male and female. One entity, which became two. Man and woman. Then God tells the two to become one again. < This is the image of God !
). Father Hagerty was a Catholic priest and also a professor at the Univ. of Notre Dame. He wrote with those intending to teach in mind, so it is an extremely in-depth book. He discusses the first 6 councils, Arianism, Modalism, as well as the history of the Holy Trinity throughout Church history. I thought it was an extremely informative book.
