THE KENOTIC THEORY

THE KENOTIC THEORY ON CHRIST’S NATURE (Part 1) PBCAA Homecoming December 28, 2011

QUOTED FROM BROTHER FELIX’S BOOK, P. 51 “Evidences of the pre-existence of Jesus were stated ‘after’ he emptied himself. He said to the Jews in the temple, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.’ (John 8:58).

CHRIST’S PRE-EXISTENT STATE • JOHN 8:57-58. • JOHN 17:5.

John 8:58, Greek NT Tischendorf • πριν αβρααμ γενεσθαι εγω ειμι, • PRIN ABRAAMGENESTHAIEGO̅ EIMI, “Before Abraham Came to be, I am.”

GENESTHAI • GENESTHAI is aorist infinitive middle deponent of the verb GINOMAI, which means “to become,” “to come into existence” (Rogers and Rogers, The New Linguistic & Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament, p. 204). • Note the contrast with EGO EIMI, “I am,” which simply means “I exist.”

The expression simply means Abraham HAD A BEGINNING, because he “came to be,” he “became,” or he “came to existence.” • John 8:58 is one passage I do not use to prove Jesus’ deity. I use it only to prove that He existed in eternity.

The expression “I am” (present tense) in this passage is designed to refer to a past time. • Applied to God, the expression denotes His continuing exist-ence WITHOUT respect to time (Barnes).

We divide time into past, present, and future. However, God does not measure His existence in this manner, “but that the word by which we express the present denotes his continued and unchanging existence” (Barnes' Notes on the New Testament).

John 17:5, Wescott-Hort και νυν δοξασον με συ πατερ And now glorify ²me ¹thou, Father, παρα σεαυτω τη δοξη ‘η ειχον with thyself with the glory which I ³had προ του τον κοσμον ειναι παρα σοι before the world was with Thee

“Glorify Thou Me” • δοξασον, DOXASON, “Glorify,” is the aorist imperative active of the infinitive DOXAZO, “to glorify,” “to honour.” • The aorist denotes a point-action, or a one-time action, or a “punctiliar occurrence” of an action, or an action seen as a whole. There is a sense of urgency in the aorist tense.

“With thine own self” • Meaning: “In heaven, Father, grant me a participation of the same honour which You have, the same honour which I had with You.” • “He had just said that he had glorified God on the earth; he now prays that God would glorify him in heaven” (Barnes).

“With the glory” “With the honour.” The word includes the notion of happi-ness, glory, and everything which could render the condition the one asking as “blessed” (Barnes).

“Which I had with Thee” It cannot be argued that Jesus had “seemingly” lost this glory! For if He had, why ask the Father to glorify Him? That, to me, is pure sophistry, not logic! The verb ειχον“had” shows that in heaven Jesus had been in continuous possession of that honour and glory like the Father, which glory and honour He also lost, or laid aside, when He came to earth! • ‘η ειχον, HE EICHON, “which I had,” imperfect indicative active of εχω, ECHO, “I have.” • The imperfect tense shows linear type of action as in the present tense, except that it portrays that action to be happening continuous-ly in the past.

“Before the world was.” • Amore distinct and clear declaration of the pre-existence of Christ Jesus. • “Before the creation of the world.” • “Before there was any world.”

IN HEAVEN, CHRIST WAS GOD • JOHN 1:1, 2. • JOHN 1:18.

JOHN 1:1 ΄εν ΄αρχη ην ‘ο λογος και ‘ο λογος ΄ην προς τον θεονκαι θεος ΄ην ‘ο λογος. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was face to face with God and the Word was God.

The literal meaning is “face to face with God.” • This shows that Jesus was not only associated with the Father in glory, or had been His companion in the great beyond; PROS TON THEON expresses that position he had, vis a vis with, in relation to, the Father. To emphasize this point, I use Ex. 33:20, “And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live.” Also John 1:18, ”No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Simply stated, in heaven Jesus was not man but God! προς τον θεον

“It was not the distinctness and the fellowship of another being, as if there were more Gods than one, but of One who was Himself God -- in such sense that the absolute unity of the God head… is only transferred from the region of shadowy abstraction to the region of essential life and love” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary). και θεος ΄ην ‘ο λογος • “And the Word was God.” • In substance and essence the Word was God, possessing the same conscious personal existence as God himself, distinct from God, but associated with God.

JOHN 1:2, Wescott-Hort • ουτος ην εν αρχη • This one was in the beginning προς τον θεον. withGod. The same

θεον ουδεις εωρακεν πωποτε • God no man has seen never • ‘ο μονογενης θεος ‘ο ων εις • the only begotten God, the one beingin • τον κολπον του πατρος εκεινος εξηγησατο • the bosom of the Father, that one declared [Him] JOHN 1:18, Wescott-Hort at any time No man has seen God who is in He hath declared

‘ο μονογενης θεος • “The only begotten God.” This is the reading from Greek NT-Wescott-Hort. • Scrivener (1894) and Stephanus (1550) both had HUIOS, “Son.”

WHILE ON EARTH, CHRIST STILL RETAINED HIS DEITY • JOHN 20:27-28. • COLOSSIANS 2:9 • COLOSSIANS 1:19

JOHN 20:27-28 • 27 “Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. • 28 Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”

SAGOT SA MGA OBJECTIONS NYO, KUNG MAYROON MAN… • ISA LANG PO ANG KAUSAP NI TOMAS(v. 28). DIOS AMA PANGINOON KO JESUCRISTO DIOS KO

SAGOT SA MGA OBJECTIONS NYO, KUNG MAYROON MAN… • The endings in the Greek are the same, in the second person! Father God HO KURIOS MOU Jesus Christ HO THEOS MOU

“MY LORD AND MY GOD” (JOHN 20:28) • The language was addressed to Jesus himself: "Thomas—said unto him." • There is no evidence that this was a mere expression of surprise or astonishment, as the INC (Manalo) had supposed. • The Saviour did not reproveThomas or check him as using any improper language.

COLOSSIAN 2:9 (Wescott-Hort) • ‘οτι εν αυτω κατοικει • For in him dwelleth • παν το πληρωμα της θεοτητος • all thefullness of the Godhead • σωματικως. • bodily.”

‘οτι, hoti,“for,” “because.” • εν αυτω, en auto̅, in him; the antecedent of this pronoun is Jesus (2:8). • kατοικει, katoikei,“dwells,” “abides.” Present tense, has the sense of continuing action or state. May also be translated “continually dwells.”

παν το πληρωματης θεοτητος , • “All the fullness of the God-head, of the divinity, of the divine nature.” • The fullness of deity has been continually dwelling in Jesus, and has never left Him!

σωματικως, somatikos, “bodily.” • The word means “having a bodily appearance, instead of existing or appearing in a spiritual form” (Barnes). • The fair sense of the phrase is, “that the divine nature became incarnate, and was indwelling in the body of the Redeemer” (Ibid.)

It does not mean that the “whole divine will was in Jesus,” for θεοτης GODHEAD does not mean the WILL OF GOD! TITLE

Nor does it meanthat the fullness of DIVINE KNOW-LEDGE dwelt in Jesus, for this is not the proper meaning of the word θεοτης GODHEAD.

Nor can it mean, that a fairness of divine gifts was entrusted to him, for this is not the mean-ing of the word θεοτης GODHEAD.

The obvious meaning is that God became incarnate, and appeared in human form. • There is no other idea which so naturally expresses it. • And there is no other mode by which the concept can be ex-pressed without a forced construction.

It does not mean that one attribute of the Deity became incarnate in the Saviour. • It was the whole Deity that became incarnate, and appeared in human form.

God became incarnate? • John 1:1 says the Word was God. • John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh.” • “The Logos became incarnate, and had his tabernacle among us, being full of grace and truth” (Mace NT)

For it was the good pleasure of God the Father that in Jesus should all the fullness [of the Godhead] dwell. COLOSSIANS 1:19

END OF PART 1

THE KENOTIC THEORY