My Second Christological Discussion with Dr. S. Lewis Johnson
About two years later, I phoned Dr. S. Lewis Johnson and asked if I could visit him again to resume our discussion on Christology. He accepted, and this time we talked for about three hours in his home. One thing I recall him saying was, “postribulationism is winning the battle against pretribulationism on the seminary level.” I learned years later that that was quite true. Lewis may have said that since he was now teaching at TEDS and being more exposed to other viewpoints. He also seemed to now favor this posttribulationism, which is called classic premillennialism as opposed to Dispensational premillennialism, which DTS advocates.
This time Lewis was firmer with me about Christology than the previous time we discussed it. The main thing I remember him saying this time was, “If you keep on believing this way, you are not a Christian!” That was a jarring pronouncement. But I really was not surprised since I knew that both the Catholic and Protestant Churches proclaimed that non-Trinitarians, especially people who do not believe in the full deity of Christ, are not Christian. And they often refer to the Nicene Creed for support. It identifies Jesus as “very God of very God” and declares several anathemas on anyone who believes otherwise.
Ever since I had gotten to know Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, he would write me a letter about once per year. I always appreciated that and would write back. But now, after we had had these two, lengthy, Christological discussions, and I was no longer believing Jesus is fully God, Lewis didn’t write me anymore or phone me. Moreover, we never saw each other again. I was very disappointed. I knew all along that I would be losing Christian friends because of my change in Christological belief. Indeed, it was many.
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To see a list of titles of 130+ posts (2-3 pages) that are about Jesus not being God in the Bible, with a few about God not being a Trinity, at Kermit Zarley Blog click “Chistology” in the header bar. Most are condensations of my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ. See my website servetustheevangelical.com, which is all about this book, with reviews, etc. Learn about my books and purchase them at kermitzarley.com. My books are: The Gospels Interwoven (1987); Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia (1990); The Third Day Bible Code (2006); The Restitution of Jesus Christ (2008); Warrior from Heaven (2009); Solving the Samaritan Riddle: Peter’s Kingdom Keys Explain Early Spirit Baptism (2015).
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