In my last post, there was a comment left by "Anonymous" which leads me to talk today about the Trinity.
Anonymous pointed out that the WMSCOG calls Ahnsahnghong "Father Ahnsahnghong," and "Christ Ahnsahnghong," and also the "Holy Spirit." Yet as Christians, we do not call Jesus "Father Jesus."
This is because WMSCOG's interpretation of the Trinity is different than the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
I asked a teacher at my sister's church about the Trinity during one of my study sessions with her. I was wondering how "Mother" fit into the Trinity--does she actually make the 3-in-1 God a 4-in-1 God? No they believe she is an entirely separate female "God." It is the male "God" (Ahnsahnghong) who has shown himself through the Trinity.
She described the Trinity as similar to water. Water can appear as a liquid, solid, or gas, but it's still water. Likewise, God has shown Himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but all of those are still one God. Or, she said, you could imagine an actor playing different roles on the stage.
Then she went on to say that because of this, you can interchange the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit throughout the Bible and not have a problem. You could say that God the Son gave Moses the 10 Commandments, or you could say that the God the Father died on the cross, or the disciples were baptized in God the Son on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. That's when I knew something was not quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on it until another of my readers here referred me to the term "Modalism."
The mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity is one God in three eternal, coexistent Persons, each distinct from the other yet all together one God.
But the WMSCOG interpretation sounds more like Modalism, which is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are different "modes" of one God, but not distinct Persons.
Modalism is apparently one of the most common errors in regards to the Trinity, and it's easy to fall into. I've noticed this myself after researching it. In trying to explain the Trinity to my own children, I found that I sometimes used examples that actually show Modalism rather than the Trinity. So it's something for us all to be aware of.
There are resources around the web about Modalism. Here are a couple links that you might use to get started if you wanted more info:
at basictheology.com
and at gotquestions.org
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I just need to add a little note to this post...
The WMSCOG has a problem with the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. They think it's confusing that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be different yet the same.
The Trinity is a very difficult concept to understand. Here are two very good pages from gotquestions.org that help explain and put it in perspective:
What does the Bible teach about the Trinity?
and What is Trinitarianism? Is Trinititarianism Biblical?
They also include a different picture illustrating the Trinity than my example of a Venn diagramm in the comments below. No picture will explain the Trinity fully--it's just meant to help.
My purpose of this post is not to argue Modalism vs. the Trinity. I believe in the Trinity, but I can understand where the idea of Modalism comes from. My purpose is to point out that the WMSCOG does not believe in the Christian definition of the Trinity. They have taken the word and given it a different meaning. It's something you should be aware of when they they are talking to you about the "Trinity."
Biblical Answers to the World Mission Society Church of God
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.--1 John 4:1
Are you or a loved one struggling with this group? Do you need Biblical answers about the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCoG or CoGWMS), their founder Ahnsahnghong (Ahn Sahng/Sang-Hong) or their current leader "Mother Jerusalem" (a.k.a. "Heavenly Mother God," Zang/Zahng Gil-Jah, or Chung Gil Cha)? Thank you for coming here. I hope my blog helps you. Questions and comments are always welcome.
Are you or a loved one struggling with this group? Do you need Biblical answers about the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCoG or CoGWMS), their founder Ahnsahnghong (Ahn Sahng/Sang-Hong) or their current leader "Mother Jerusalem" (a.k.a. "Heavenly Mother God," Zang/Zahng Gil-Jah, or Chung Gil Cha)? Thank you for coming here. I hope my blog helps you. Questions and comments are always welcome.
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Quotations are from the NIV or NKJV unless otherwise noted.
I have a question for you, If Jesus Christ is not God the Father in the flesh, then How do you explain Isaiah 9:6?
ReplyDeleteIsaiah 9:6 -- For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Here it says that the child and son born will be called Everlasting Father?
Did you ever have to do Venn Diagrams at school? They look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_Diagram
ReplyDeleteThat's the image that helps me with the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all of the same essence--they are all God. Yet, there is distinction about them--things unique about each.
Here is a good webpage about the Trinity:
www.deceptioninthechurch.com/trinity.html
Your question is, in Isaiah 9:6 why is the Son called Everlasting Father?
God the Son is of the same nature as God the Father.
Beyond that, the Hebrew word for "father" has 9 definitions in the lexicon (http://www.studylight.org/lex/heb/view.cgi?number=01).
I'll save you the time of looking and put them here:
1. father of an individual
2. of God as father of his people
3. head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan
4. ancestor (grandfather, forefathers -- of person, of people)
5. originator or patron of a class, profession, or art
6. of producer, generator (fig.)
7. of benevolence and protection (fig.)
8. term of respect and honour
9. ruler or chief (spec.)
Since I know that the Father and the Son are disctinct from each other, definitions 3/5 and 8 also fit.
I dont believe in the trinity sense the the actually word 'TRINITY" isnt no where in the bible at all. But in Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means "GOD WITH US" you can put it together with Matthew 1:23......ENOUGH SAID.
ReplyDeleteHi again, bigcedbeatz.
ReplyDeleteThe word "Trinity" is not in the Bible, but the idea is. The idea of the Trinity is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each presented in the Bible as distinct individuals (they interact with each other) and as each having the nature of God. Yet the Bible also only allows for one God. Therefore, we have the concept of the 3-in-1 God.
There are a variety of groups who have a different concept of God, but that is the defined concept of the Trinity. If you want to talk about the "Trinity"--that is what is meant, the 3-in-1 God.
The problem here with the WMSCOG is that they talk about a "Trinity" but define it differently. If they want to do that, they need to NOT use the word "Trinity", but instead use the proper word "modalism" or another word that fits their concept better.
It's like someone wanting to talk about a newly discovered species and insisting on putting it in the class Insecta (insects), when it actually has eight legs and two body sections. Well, to be scientifically classed as an insect, the creature must have 6 legs and 3 body sections. The new creature cannot scientifically be called an insect because it doesn't fit the requirements. (In fact, it would belong to the arachnid group--spiders.)
I hope that analogy helps.
In a similar way, the Bible does not directly tell us to avoid drugs. Does that mean it's ok to partake in cocaine, meth, heroin, etc.? No. By reading the Bible we know that God wants us to take good care of our bodies. So even though the words (stay away from drugs) are not here, the idea is.
I normally use Godhead or Divinity instead of Trinity. Because as you can see, the trinity carries a bad name as there are more than one version of it. The bible definately contains Godhead and Divinity in the bible though ;)
ReplyDeleteGood point, Jonny. Thanks!
ReplyDelete