Conclusions about the Doctrine of the Trinity and Identity Christology So, does the Bible ever unequivocally say God is three Persons/persons? No! Does the word “Trinity/trinity” ever appear in the Bible? No! In the NT gospel sayings of Jesus, does he ever state expressly that he is God? No! In all of the more than twenty evangelistic sermons or summaries of such in the book of Acts, do those early Christians ever say God is three Persons/persons, or God came... Read more
Writing The Restitution of Jesus Christ and Choosing a Pseudonym I ended my full time career on the regular PGA Tour at the end of 1982. It was because I no longer was an exempt player. That means you automatically are eligible for all tournaments and thus don’t have to qualify on Monday’s. (In 1983 they started the All-Exempt Tour, as it is now.) With a family and at age 41, I wasn’t going to go to the Tour Qualifying... Read more
(All of the following of this essay, thus parts 10-12, was written on 10/19-20/2018) Overcoming the Last Two Barriers and Abandoning the Preexistence Into the late 1980s, there were two NT texts I called “barriers” because they were the only biblical texts keeping me from believing the Bible only says Jesus was a man, thus not God. So, I continued to believe Jesus was and is divine, but not to the extent the Father is. These two texts were John... Read more
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... Read more
The following is the beginning of my treatment of Rev 1.8 in my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ: Despite such strong evidence in The Revelation that Jesus Christ is not God, a bare few traditionalist expositors assert otherwise concerning Rev 1.8.[1] This passage reads as follows in the NASB: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” These traditionalists assume that Jesus Christ is... Read more
My First Christological Discussion with Dr. S. Lewis Johnson—Section D Here are other points Dr. S. Lewis Johnson and I discussed that day, but not in this order. I do not recall what Lewis’ response was when I mentioned that God raised Christ from the dead and that days later Christ ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God on God’s throne. I then proposed that God so acting upon Christ suggests that Christ was subordinate... Read more
Xander Schauffele Defeated Tony Finau with a birdie four on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to win to win the HSBC Champions at Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, China, today. Finau drove into a sand bunker and was forced to lay up on his second shot short of the water fronting the eighteenth green. He then missed his twenty-foot birdie putt while Schauffele easily two-putted for his birdie to get the win. Twenty-nine year old, long-hitting Tony Finau... Read more
My First Christological Discussion with Dr. S. Lewis Johnson—Section C Dr. S. Lewis Johnson and I then discussed the Arian Controversy and the Nicene Council of 325. Church historian Eusebius had been a prominent figure at the council. He took a middle position between the teaching of Presbyter Arius and that of Bishop Alexander, thus being dubbed a “semi-Arian.” Athanasius, the bishop’s assistant, afterwards became the determined defender of the Nicene Creed for decades. Lewis said Athanasius was right about... Read more
My First Christological Discussion with Dr. S. Lewis Johnson—Section B I then asked Dr. Johnson about 1 John 4.15. It reads in the NASB, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” He replied, “Mormons and others say they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. But you must believe in the biblical meaning of the term Son of God to be saved, and they don’t because they don’t believe... Read more
My First Christological Discussion with Dr. S. Lewis Johnson—Section A By now, in the mid-1980s, Dr. S. Lewis Johnson was still living in Dallas while commuting back and forth to Chicago to teach two days per week at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). I phoned Lewis and requested to come and see him to discuss “something important in theology.” I didn’t tell him specifically what it was about. He welcomed me, as he had on other occasions. We met alone... Read more
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