The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-01-20


been alone for an untold period his first
creation OF an intelligent being In his own
likeness was accomplished. The disttN-
guished one referred to in this Scripture
is the Only Bcgotteu OF the Father, the
Alpha and the omega, the beginning ana
the ending of Jehovahs direct creation.
The Logos was he who subsequently be-
came man When a man he was styled
'the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself
Ransom-prCe for all, to be testified In
due time" Il Timothy II, g. lie was
both the beginning and the ending OF the
direct Divine creation, to the intent that
the Almighty might use him as hts
great and hcnored Agent I'm the creation
Of angels and men and In the ordering Of
their affairs
The speaker declared that Christian
thought respecting Messiah the Son Of
the Highest, is in confusion because Of
the general neglect to investigate tn"
Scriptures bearing on the subject lie
pointed back to the beginning OF the
Christian Era and declared that soon att
err that time "A controversy arose in the
Church and as result great confusion
has since prevailed At time when
there were no such Bibles as we now pos
sess. with concordances, marginal refer
ences, etc; at time, too. when the
masses were unable to read disputattor
ran high The Jews took the ground that
by the power OF the fallen angels.
Some Christians took the opposite eX-
treme-that Jesus was not merely a Son.
but was God the Father himself who for
a time appeared amongst men, and In
false humility styled himself the Son or
God when, i'm reality. he was the Father
of lights" Some carried this thought t.,
the extreme teaching that there are three
Gods who are in unison in harmony. ia
oneness of spirit or work Others held
that there Is but one God, but that in
some uneXplainable manner he divides
himself into three parts equal In power
and glory Stll others, rejecting these eS
IRENE views, claimed that Jesus had no
prehuman existence, that Joseph was his
father etc
But all the while, said Pastor Russell
the Scriptures bore the plain testimony
that Jesus was the beginning OF the Gre
alton of God. the First Born, the Log0s-
the first Divine expression.
1.-THE Word Made Flesh"
The Scriptures explain that the Logos
was made flesh and dwelt amongst mer
and we beheld his glory, the glory Of the
only bcgotten OF the Father" He thus
took upon him the form OF servant
that he by the grace OF God might taste
death FOR every man. Having finished
the work given him by the Father the
latter raised Jesus from the dead by his
(Jehovah's) own power, exalting Jesus
again to the spirit plane OF being with
added glory-"far above angels" philip
plans ii. 7-0.
We read that God sent his Son into thu"
world to redeem the world, but 1t Is mis-
take to suppose that his coming was com
pulsory; that the sufferlngs OF Christ
were enforced on the contrary. the
Scriptures declare that the heavenly Fa-
ther set before his Son, the First-Begot'
ten of all creation the promise of glori-
Gus reward % He should have the pleas
ure of doing the Fathers will (9 Al
though this would cost him a great sacri
fee nevertheless. 1t would bring him the
great distinction of being for a thousand
years the Mediator between God and men
the great Messiah and Dclivercr OF man
kind from the reign Of sin and death. 90
Additionally, he should be returned from
the earthly conditions to the heavenly
conditions, as a spirit being, and with
added glory.
The Trinity of the Bible.
Various are the views called the doc
trne of the Trinity The Bible does teach
that ito us there is one God the Father,
Of whom are all things and one LORD
Jesus Christ by whom are all things and
we by him" and that there Is one holy
Spirit OF the Father, holy power, Will,
mind, energy. and that this is the mind OF
Christ. by virtue of his full submission OF
his will to do the Fathers will. This holy
Spirit IS also to be the spirit, mind or vii!
of the Church.
All Christians must OF necessity believe
in the Father and in the Son and In the
holy Spirit and must recognize that these
are not contrary infiuences-that they are
at one, in full harmony. But the un-
scriptural theory of some that there are
three Gods in one person, and the oppo-
, site theory of others that there Is one Goo
in three persons-these errors OF the Dark
Ages are not only irrational but wholly un-
scriptural. Not only does the Bible not
contain the word Trinity, but neither does
| Il contain the thought OF Trinity.
In the seventh century this dogma OF
three Gods in one God and one Cod In
, three Gods had become widely accepted
and, because there was no Scripture 10
support It, some one originated a little
t, Scripture to cover the point adding to
the Word OF God, contrary to tho warn
ings OF the Scriptures. Pastor Russell
| advised his audience to take their pens
and strike out the interpolated words,
which are not to be found in any Greek
manuscript OF earlier date than the sew
enth century. He cited the following words
to be marked off In ! John. chap. 8, VS.. L
: sin heaven, the Father, the Word and the
Holy Ghost and these three are one"
Also in VS.. 8, the words "and there are
three that bear witness in earth"
! No scholar denies that these words are
spurious. Why then should we recognize
and teach them, confusing ourselves ana
others thereby? When they are stricken
out the passage reads smoothly and beau
tifuly and in harmony with the remain
der of the Scriptures How absurdly the
passage reads In our common version
telling US that the Father and the Son
and holy Spirit are bearing witness In
heaven that Jesus is the Son OF God! Do
not the angels know this without any wit
ness being given?
Honor the Son as the Father.
Pastor Russell quoted his text so as TO
| show the force of the Greek original! the
! lSogos was a God who from the beginning
| was with the God who never had a begin
! ming. The word God both in the Hebrew
| and In the Greek. signifies mighty one
! In the Old Testament Scriptures both an
! gels and men are styled elohim, gods. when
| occupying high positions or being special
! ly deputized as Divine agents. The Apos-
| tie has the same thought when he speaks
| OF THE God and Father OF our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ"
The efficient worker is worth hunt
ing for-worth a small want ad cam
paign."
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