Does Genesis 1:26 support Devine Trinity???

by zagor 92 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • sonnyboy
    sonnyboy

    “let us create a man in our image according to our likeness”

    Doesn't "our" denote more than one person?

    *not that I believe in this hokey nonsense anyway*

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    Zagor:
    First things first - the bible is a canon, not a single book. "Disproving" one story does not invalidate the wisdom of all the other authors/books.

    Secondly, did you actually read that link I supplied?

  • zagor
    zagor

    LT, I'm reading it now, still half way through it. But I'm not convinced at all to be honest; many of those things can be explained differently. I've also pulled out the book of Enoch which clearly called Jesus the Elect One

    Chapter 39: 6a And in that place mine eyes saw the Elect One of righteousness and of faith, 7a And I saw his dwelling-place under the wings of the Lord of Spirits.

    Apparently, the elect one and lord of the spirits are two quite distinct personalities i.e. different bodies, different ranks, different everything However, I do respect your view and I can see now why many believe in trinity. In any case original question of this thread was whether Genesis 1:26 proves trinity. Meaning that man would also have to manifest trinity within him. Statement that those three components are actually body, mind and spirit really doesn’t convince me as I’ve already explained in my previous post. But I do respect that our views and angles of looking at things may differ. No hard feelings.

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    Tis just food for thought - nothing more, nothing less

    Btw, when was "Enoch" written?

  • Will Power
    Will Power

    zagor:

    In any case original question of this thread was whether Genesis 1:26 proves trinity.

    actually, the question says does it SUPPORT divine trinity? If one already believes in the father, son & holy spirit, as being ONE, that scripture would support that belief.

    But like Paduan quoted earlier - (paraphrase) you search the scriptures thinking that in them you'll find eternal life.....

    The Jews do believe in a spiritual afterlife. The idea of hell is to scare you straight (so some have used whatever works) - similiar to dFing - it has been widely compared to a state without God.

    Thinking flesh & blood one can only come up with black & white, life or death scenarios. I doubt if ones who use the word ALMIGHTY to describe their God put such limits on ITS essence.

    good morning, wp

  • hmike
    hmike
    man would also have to manifest trinity within him.

    Sorry zagor, but being created in the likeness and image of God doesn't require this feature. We don't really know what this refers to; we can only speculate. It could be referring to sinlessness and purity, or the ability to choose, or reason, or other possibilities.

  • zagor
    zagor

    G’day Hmike, how are you doin?

    We don't really know what this refers to; we can only speculate

    For you to make such an authoritative statement you would have to speak about something I know nothing about. Hebrew is certainly not one of those things. Genesis 1:26 uses two words Tsehlem and Demuth.

    tseh'-lem -image - from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, or figuratively - illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially in the case of an idol, something cut out Same word is used in Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image [tselem].” As well as in Leviticus 26:1, Psalam 106:19, Isaiah 40 :18-20 and Isaiah 44: 9-17

    demuth -Likeness – similitude, likeness or similitude of external appearance, in likeness of, like as. “An exact duplication in kind" (Savelle, 1990, 141).

    Both image and likeness are used in their singular form. On the other hand personal pronoun "Our" (btselemnou kidmusainu) doesn’t leave any doubt that those addressed could have seen, in new creation (man), characteristics they themselves possessed.

    Hence, demanding that man was created in either of two possibilities:

    1. If god is trinity man was created in “Our” image i.e. representing all three divine entities.

    2. God was talking to someone else with similar characteristics. Rabbinic tradition says he was talking to angels – however since we are already quoting Greek scripture we might as well one more Colossians 1:15 –17.

    He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist.

    This would indeed elevate Jesus to an extraordinarily high position of being image of invisible god and firstborn of all creation, hence having very similar characteristics. In either case the man when created was a true physical manifestation of god’s spiritual characteristics and qualities, i.e. he was in true sense a Son of God (Luke 3:38).

    No hard feelings

    Good morning WP

    Thank you for pointing that out, I actually know what was meaning of the thread since I’ve started it, besides as the thread progressed it went beyond whether Genesis 1:26 only support trinity into whether it proves it. The thread on the other hand was not about existence of the soul (nephesh).
    Good thing to point out is that doctrine of soul (nephesh) has had it development over the centuries. Even today it means different things to different groups. Regardless of whether there is one or not (which I was neither promoting not disputing I my argument) I simply pointed at complexity such argument poses when used to make comparison between divine trinity and human (body, soul, spirit – godhead, Jesus, holy spirit).

    LT,

    Book of Enoch was found among other books in Dead See Scrolls (DSS), if we are to believe scholars that DSS were left by Jewish Essene community we have to accept that the Book of Enoch was widely available long before the first Christian church was established. In fact even Jude quotes from it in his book Jude 14, 15.

    I’ve visited your site and listened to your talk. Man that took balls. If I didn’t hear it with my own ears I wouldn’t believe it. You are truly brave man. Hope we will have many more constructive conversations

  • the_classicist
    the_classicist
    Book of Enoch was widely available long before the first Christian church was established. In fact even Jude quotes from it in his book Jude 14, 15.

    The Ethiopian Church accepts it (Book of Enoch) as canonical, but thats the only Christian church.

  • LouBelle
    LouBelle

    We are created in Trinity - Body, Soul, Spirit

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    Zagor:So in Genesis the statement "our" is likely refering to the creator God and at least one other who must share (holding in common) the essence of what they will co-create, yes?

    This is fundamental, before we even get onto the subject of the attributes of "man".

    It surely means that in the role of creation, God is either composite (e.g.a Trinity) or there are several "God"s (if we accept that the "creator" is God and that God is God, at least in part, due to his creatorship).

    On the second point; Enoch was written before the Christian Era? Therefore, how come you stated that he wrote about Jesus?

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit