SonByAdoption said:
My dear friend Saint Francis. I hope you've had a great 7th day Sabbath weekend and also great Sunday first day of the week. Thank you as always for witnessing and sharing trying to convince me and others of the errors of abandoning the orthodox catholic faith. I aplogize deeply that I have not been responding to your posts in a more timely manner. Thank you for always being respectful and setting a good example.
And to you, as well. When it is all said and done, I hope we can at least be a good example for others on how to conduct proper discussion in apologetics.
SonByAdoption said:
francisdesales said:
"These words from Jesus clearly show ANOTHER Comforter exists, one who existed FROM THE BEGINNING (as my next citation shows), making your thesis dead on arrival... ""He has SEEN the Son from the Beginning. The Beginning, according to John 1, is literally, BEFORE CREATION.""The Spirit has been there from the beginning and ALSO proceeds from the Father."
I'm afraid you have given a slight misinterpretation of the Bible passage you have provided. Jesus is continually talking to the disciples using the pronoun YOU 3 times consistently referring to the disciples and not to some third being.
"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to YOU from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father," clearly Jesus is talking to the disciples and He continues to talk to them "He will testify about Me, and YOU will testify ALSO, because YOU have been with Me FROM THE BEGINNING.""...These things I did not say to YOU AT THE BEGINNING, because I was with YOU. "John 15:26,27&16:4 New American Standard Bible.
???? Of course Jesus is speaking
to the Apostles! And He says
He will send to THEM another Comforter. How much simpler can this get??? The OTHER Comforter will testify of Jesus and so will the Apostles. You are clearly missing the obvious English translation of this passage.
I will send to you Another Comforter.
Jesus will send to the Apostles a DIFFERENT Comforter, another one. HE will send THIS OTHER One.
Really. Be honest. Just admit you are wrong and move on. There is really nothing more to add here. The clear interpretation by anyone without a bias mind against the Trinity will see this passage as an ordinary promise that Jesus will send a different comforter to the Apostles at a later time...
SonByAdoption said:
Jesus talks about 2 testifying about Him 1st this Comforter who will come and the 2nd the disciples who have been with Him from the BEGINNING OF HIS MINISTRY.
It is true that the Apostles testify to the Christ. And this is ONLY because the Spirit within the Apostles...
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 1 Cor 12:3
This same Spirit Christ promised to the Apostles during the Last Supper. He sent them on the feast that we celebrated yesterday, Pentecost, during which the Holy Spirit came as tongues of flames upon the disciples of Christ gathered in the upper room.
In addition, John writes that the testimony of God is GREATER than man, and gives the proof of God's testimony of the Christ...
This is he that came by water and blood, [even] Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 1 John 5:6-8
Note, the three are one. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost... The Father sent the Word in the flesh, and then, the Father and Word sent the Holy Ghost, the OTHER Comforter, at Pentecost, to serve as the Church's means of sanctification and vivication in the world today.
SonByAdoption said:
Here is two other verses that prove that FROM THE BEGINNING in your Bible passage is talking about the BEGINNING of HIS MINISTRY and not the BEGINNING OF CREATION"
Even as they delivered them unto US, which FROM THE BEGINNING were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;" Luke 1:2
"That which was FROM THE BEGINNING, which WE have heard, which WE have seen with OUR eyes, which WE have looked upon, and OUR hands have handled, of the Word of life;"1st John 1:1
These verses do not prove anything, since they do not address the beginning of the Word, but the beginning of the Word MADE FLESH,
EYEWITNESSED by man. Naturally, no man eyewitnessed the generation of the Word from the Father.
I will also remind you that you seem to have an inability to stay on topic, since we are not speaking of eternal generation. Again. I ask you to concentrate on how many Comforters have been sent by the Father. One or Two.
SonByAdoption said:
I don't think that you were deliberately trying to lead people astray in your slight misinterpretation of John 15:26,27. I'm sure it was an honest mistake. You saw the phrase from the beginning and assumed it was talking about the creation and reasoned that He could not be talking to the disciples well let me please remind you that the Bible only talks about two beings preexisting the beginning of creation.
Well, that's a relief that I am not being accused of being maliciously dishonest... :P
But again, you stray from the topic. I would be happy to discuss this other topic elsewhere, but it is clogging up this thread with unnecessary discussion that adds nothing to how many Comforters God sent to the Apostles...
SonByAdoption said:
Bible Believing Jews Old Testament and New Testament only worshiped two Divine Beings and they'd never heard of any Third being.
Where is your evidence that the New Testament Christians only worshipped TWO Divine Beings???
I have never heard of such a thing. There is only ONE divine Being. God. This God has several relationships existing within Himself, what we call "Persons". The Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
SonByAdoption said:
The Trinity is a Gentile creation.Who is this Holy Spirit supposed to be anyway in the Family of God. Is he the Son's uncle?[/size] Or is he perhaps the Son's twin brother as in the Hindu Trinity Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Vishnu is supposed to be Christ and he was incarnated his name was Krishna.
Listen, in Satan's Pagan trinities He can get worship openly Shiva the destroyer in India. But Satan invented the Christian Trinity so he could be worshiped by Christians more subtly. It breaks my heart every time I go to my Seventh Day Adventist Church and they are praying to the Holy Spirit and worshiping it and singing songs to it even though we have no Biblical example for doing this because I know who they are really worshiping when they are sending up prayers to an unknown god [this third person]that the Bible knows nothing about.
[/quote]
None of this sort of silliness regarding paganism or Jesus' uncle will get the correct answer. The Bible cleary speaks of the Holy Spirit as a Person distinct but not separate from God. We worship God and when we realize that God's Spirit is worthy of worship, being God, we worship the Holy Spirit, since it is THROUGH Him that we are able to say "Jesus is Lord". He is our OTHER Comforter that our Lord sent to us.
Be Comforted that the Spirit grants us such a grace, and be wary of making your comments about God's Spirit...
And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. Luke 12:10
Clearly, the Son of Man is not the Holy Ghost here. And does one blaspheme against someone OTHER than God and it is NOT FORGIVEN??? Again, I posit that the Church has had plenty of time to ponder these verses and have gotten it right, being the pillar and foundation of the truth due to this same Holy Ghost.
Thanks for your time. I will keep you in my prayers.
Regards