Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!usc!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!njin!paul.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: vrdxhq!bram!joe@uunet.uu.net (Joe Saladino) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: How does the Godhead function? Message-ID: Date: 26 Nov 90 02:17:36 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: BRAM Corporation Lines: 40 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu drew@anucsd.anu.oz.au (Drew Corrigan) writes: :I have another question. How do Trinitarians see the Godhead as functioning? ... :The reason I ask, is that the way I read the NT, there appears to be a clear :chain of authority within the Godhead. God the Father is in charge and :Jesus Christ is the "executor" of the Father's will. The Father told Jesus :what message to say when he came to earth as a man. The time of Jesus' :return is (will be) a decision of the Father. Jesus is described as God the :Father's "Christ" - ie the Messiah sent by the Father. The issue here is that Jesus came to earth to live as a man. He was to live as man should have lived had he not sinned. To satisfy the justice of God Jesus had to rely on His father in the same way we must. Had He used His divine power to bail Himself out, would have made His life on earth an interesting experience but would not have satisfied God's requirement for 100% righteousness from man as a man. -- Regards... __ ___ __ |__) |_ ) |__| |\/| {joe@bram.UUCP} Joe Saladino @ |__) | \ | | | | Corporation {verdix!bram!joe} -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- verdix_____________ Home (503) 626-9991 tektronix___percy__\___bram Office (503) 626-2772 reed_______________/ FAX (503) 626-5766 [I would object to the concept -- which your comments might suggest -- that Jesus had superhuman power but abstained from using it. The problem is that this makes him appear to be a superhuman entity playing at being human. As I understand it, in the Incarnation, the Son took on a real human existence, with all the finiteness and limitations implied by that, and in this context, he did not have any special powers. Whatever miracles he did were done by his Father at his request. This may in fact be what you are saying. Because Christ is a single Person with two natures, it is appropriate to speak of him as both human and God, and your comments may be meant to be taken in the context of Christ as God. But some Christians have had reservations about whether Jesus was *really* human, so I thought it was worth pointing out the danger. --clh]