I have following the thread on the Trinity and discussing the points with my wife who has put the following point forward. Jesus on Earth as a man was tempted by Satan. It is the nature of these temptations which seems to indicate that Jesus is not the same being as Almighty God. In the second and Third temptations Jesus makes reference to God as a seperate being. E.G. You must not put God to the test and It is God alone you should worship. If Jesus was God or an expression of God the temptation to worship Satan and be given the kingdoms of the world would have been bizzare. How does belief in the trinity fit into this scenario?
Jesus Tempatations by Satan
by cantleave 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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glenster
What I have on the comparison of the JWs leaders' and mainstream view about
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is on pp.6b-10 of "Glenster's Guide to GTJ
Brooklyn." The issue of the devil attempting to tempt Jesus three times is
about 1/4th down the page on p.8. Use Edit > Find > tempt
http://www.freewebs.com/glenster1/gtjbrooklyn8.htm -
frankiespeakin
I like the part where the devil takes Jesus up an unusually high mountain to show him all the kingdoms of the earth truly evidence of a limited knowledge that existed at that time,,as if there was such a mountain high enough to see the very distant kingdoms thousands of miles away with out a telescope no less.
Yeah and the whole story about only worshipping one Deity and sinning against god to do otherwise exudes cultic like mind control behavior.
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frankiespeakin
It is easy to see how this type of jealous god mythology can set up a control system that would propel itself into our 21st century and still have believers. Fear of displeasing this angry deity acting as a mind closing switch towards other beliefs or mythologies,, the classic God is good,, the devil bad,,, and not being on god side as taught in the gospel bad,,and can so easily can be use like a stick to beat the flock into submission toward church leaders through their cleverness of usage they can demonize just about anything depending on the gullibility level of believer..
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DrJohnStMark
I like this one too. I am no expert in biblical Greek and have sometimes been wondering what may have been written between the lines in the original text (with the choice of particular phrases), for example where Satan seems to be questioning the whole concept: "If thou be the Son of God..." (Mt.4:6)
It's also fun to see how Satan is "reasoning from the scriptures" exactly the way the Society does, using one verse at a time. -
glenster
Another article on the Devil tempting Jesus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_of_Christ"It is easy to see how this type of jealous god mythology can set up a control
system...they can demonize just about anything depending on the gullibility
level of believer."
See the list of links on p.43 at the next link. There have been people who
were hurtfully 'centric about people different than themselves among the
believers and non-believers (also race, etc.) and people who weren't. You don't
want to commit the irony of trying to disparage a whole group in the name of
complaining about the problems caused by some people being too 'centric.
http://www.freewebs.com/glenster1/gtjbrooklyn43.htm"...show him all the kingdoms of the earth...with out a telescope no less."
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_inerrancy#Some_Clarifications_of_the_Doctrine_of_Inerrancy -
Chalam
How does belief in the trinity fit into this scenario?
Philippians 2:5-11 (New International Version)
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.John 1:1 (New International Version)
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus was with the Father in the beginning and was God. He humbled Himself and came to earth as a man to die for mankind. If you want the third part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has come down from heaven and rested on Jesus at His baptism, just before He went to the desert to be tempted. Blessings, Stephen