Download - Jesus Was His Own Father
JESUS WAS HIS OWN
FATHER!!
By Derrick Gillespie
INTRODUCTION:
The title of this article/manuscript may strike you as absurd, and indeed it would certainly be if
that is what this writer was meant to say (of which I certainly am not for one moment saying).
But this title was chosen to show the absolute absurdity of those who believe that the Godhead of
the Bible (presented biblically as the Father, but with him united with and represented by His
Son and the Holy Spirit) is simply one Godhead Being or one Godhead Person only. It was also
chosen to show that this is also what is being unwittingly taught by those (like binitarians and
semi-Arians/homoeans), despite correctly teaching the Father and Son to be separate beings, yet
rejecting the separate being or personhood of the Holy Spirit (even while declaring the Deity and
personality of God’s Spirit)!! This I will show in this article/manuscript as I set out to prove the
necessity of there being not just two, but indeed a THIRD separate person of the Godhead who is
inseparably united with the Father and Son; WITH ALL THREE UNITED NOT AS ONE
INDIVISIBLE SUBSTANCE, BUT AS THREE SEPARATE DIVINE BEINGS (a doctrine
mistakenly labeled as tri-theism by critics)!! Hence this article will not only seek to refute the
“oneness Pentecostals” in their Unitarian viewpoint, but also orthodox Trinitarians who teach
one tri-personal indivisible Being or ‘divine organism’ of the Godhead, as well as refute
binitarians and semi-Arians who teach only two separate Godhead beings while presenting the
Holy Spirit as simply the Father and Son in actual essence or actual personage, i.e. the Spirit is
simply the ACTUAL personage or being of the two Godhead persons of the Father and Son AT
THE SAME TIME who “extend” themselves to us as their Spirit. For too long too many
Christians have been either afraid, can’t be bothered, or lacked the research material or polemic
and insight to confront fully the issue of who really is the God of the Bible!! In this
article/manuscript the tough questions will be asked, and the seemingly tough questions posed by
some will be addressed without fear or favor. It is my hope that in the end the reader of this
article/manuscript will allow good sense and the truth of the Bible to prevail, even as you search
the Scriptures for yourself to prove who really our God is!!
HOW WOULD JESUS BE HIS OWN FATHER?
Any doctrine which declares Jesus (the Son of God) to be literally God the Father himself, or
even that the Spirit is literally and actually Jesus Himself, or is Jesus’ “extended essence” then
that doctrine is in effect declaring Jesus to be His own Father (since “essence” means what a
person or thing literally is)!! Why? Because it was the Father who begot Jesus through the
agency of the Holy Spirit, and thus for the above described doctrines it would logically mean that
Jesus begot Himself as literally His own Father, or literally by Himself as the Holy Spirit.
‘Oneness Pentecostals’ (sometimes called “Jesus Only” believers) or, more technically,
modalists or ‘Sabellians’, are the most obvious teachers of this absurdity; even though they will
deny it vehemently. However a little application of logical deduction or syllogism will prove this
to be true, no matter how much they try to get away from it, or explain it away. All Oneness
Pentecostals will freely admit that they do believe that Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and
that Jesus is the Holy Spirit. Now it is obvious that if Jesus is all three literally then it is
INESCAPABLE that He (as Son) had Himself (as the Father) as is His own Father. And only
dishonestly seeks to deny that this is the natural and obvious conclusion. Oneness Pentecostals
try to avoid this glaring reality by lamely trying to explain that the Eternal spirit Father is not the
human Son, but the spirit Father was “IN” the Son whom He begot as a human Son by way of
the Spirit overshadowing Mary. But this is simply trying to play semantic hopscotch, or trying to
display theological gymnastics. So why do they labor so much to prove Jesus is the “Everlasting
Father” (i.e. God the Father himself) by misapplying Isaiah 9:6? It is obvious they do believe
that the person we know as Jesus (the Son of God) is also the Father of that Son!! The truth of
the matter is that “Jesus” is the name or label for a divine person, and if that person we call Jesus
is (by the “oneness” argumentation) both the spirit Father, the human Son, and He is also the
Father’s Spirit, or all three literally, and as the one God, then it is INESCAPABLE that Jesus is
His own Father, if he is both the Father and the Son as Jehovah God.
One can see then why people justifiably accuse the oneness Pentecostals of making Jesus send
Himself to earth, then pray to Himself (or to His Spirit self within his human self), and later
resurrect Himself to sit at His own right hand. All rather absurd realities if you ask me!!
What is true also is that not only oneness Pentecostals are guilty of this chief absurdity under
consideration (i.e. making Jesus out to be His own Father), but also binitarians (like certain
‘Armstrongites’ or Church of God affiliates who have recently reformed H.W. Armstrong’s
earlier stance on the Holy Spirit), as well as semi-Arians who believe in the Deity of the Spirit,
but in only two Godhead beings (since the Spirit, they argue, is the literally the personal Father
and the personal Son in actual personage at the same time). Thus when the Spirit begot Jesus, if
that Spirit was the literal personhood of Jesus Himself then, tadaa, Jesus was begetting His
human self as His own Spirit Father (since, as so-called ‘binitarian’ Armstrongites argue, the
Spirit is Father and Son in literal personage at the same time). I will show too that if orthodox
Trinitarians insist that the Father, Son, and Spirit are literally the same organism, the one
numeric indivisible substance, or one indivisible Being called God, then they too are guilty of
making this one Being CONTINUOUSLY “beget” a part of “Himself” called Jesus the Son, thus
orthodox Trinitarians too make Jesus His own Father (as the traditional pictures/paintings of the
orthodox Trinity shows three faces of Jesus on the same neck or body).
WHICH DOCTRINE LOGICALLY SOLVES THIS PROBLEM?
This then raises the question? Which doctrine effectively avoids teaching the above described
absurdity? Obviously the one which does not make Jesus either His Father literally, or make
Jesus the Spirit literally, but simply accepts that the Spirit is a third separate person of the
Godhead who REPRESENTS and acts on behalf of both the Father and Son. This therefore
means that the Spirit could have acted on the Father’s behalf to beget Jesus (but with the Father
being naturally accredited the ‘Fatherhood’ of Jesus as the “Head” of divinity, just as the Father,
as the Head of divinity, is accredited the Creatorship of the universe despite it was done on His
behalf by Jesus operating through the power of the Spirit) and thus Jesus is in no way absurdly
seen as begetting Himself as the one Spirit, or sending Himself as the one Spirit to earth, or
sending the Father as the one Spirit to earth (which could never happen). By now you would
realize that it is this belief that this writer subscribes to (as PROUDLY held by Seventh-day
Adventists), despite it is labeled as “UNORTHODOX” Trinitarianism, and even castigated by
the Papacy as tri-theism or polytheism, simply because we believe in the separate personhood of
Father, Son and Spirit as the one Godhead. But I am never the one to welcome being called
“orthodox” by the Papacy or general Christendom, and I am comfortable with the Roman
Catholics labeling us as “heretics” (when ironically they are the ones who are heretics when the
truth of the Bible is seen for what it is). What is clear though is that binitarians cannot effectively
accuse Seventh-day Adventists of being “polytheists” when they themselves CORRECTLY
believe that Father and Son are two separate beings worthy of divine worship equally (see John
5:23), and who are CORRECTLY seen equally as “our God”; but not properly considered as two
“Gods”. Therefore binitarians (like reformed Armstrongites) avoid using this polemic against SD
Adventists and seek to criticize Adventist beliefs about God by using other forms of
argumentation. But I will expose those arguments as lacking foundation (not matter how strong
they may appear) even as I delve further into the issues related to who really our God is.
A WARNING ABOUT ARMSTRONGITE TEACHING ON THE GODHEAD!
But before moving on let me say one important thing about Armstrongites. Of all the Godhead
doctrines in Christianity I do believe theirs is the most eclectic, the most convoluted, and the
most deceptive, since it poses as so many things it really is not, and is actually very subtle in its
errors. For instance, Christians, generally speaking, are either Trinitarians, Binitarians, or
Unitarians (i.e. believing respectively in three, two, or one being (s) as comprising the one
Godhead). Armstrongites however, while declaring themselves to be “Binitarians” (or so-called),
yet they actually believe that the Godhead is presently incomplete (i.e. only “PRESENTLY
consisting of two beings”), and that eventually millions of saved humans will become God
(capitalized) in Paradise, and they will actually become “the Creator”, and “God”, “even as
Jesus, and the Father are God” (as H.W. Armstrong presented the so-called “PLAIN
TRUTH” initially). Thus Armstrongites are none of the above three labels for Godhead
doctrines, but in fact they are “millionarians” as it were (to coin an appropriate phrase, since
there is actually no ‘official’ theological label for this rather strange belief)!! Also, you will
notice the way Armstrongites all over display varying degrees of adherence to the original
Armstrong teaching on the Godhead. For instance, Armstrong initially taught that the Holy Spirit
was just a force use by God, yet today some Armstrongites are reforming this so-called “PLAIN
TRUTH” to declare otherwise (i.e. declaring that the Spirit is not a force, and is not a “third
person” of the Godhead, but that he is the actual person of Jesus Himself, while being the actual
person of the Father Himself at the same time). All of this is now taking place even while some
Armstrongites are now fully declared orthodox Trinitarians (as they have come full circle to
recant the earlier beliefs). Obviously it is a misnomer to be calling oneself an “Armstrongite”
WHILE denying or reforming certain of Armstrong’s own teachings as he declared them to be
the so-called “PLAIN TRUTH”!! Also, you will find certain Armstrongites decrying the creeds
of Trinitarians, and yet they borrow many of the same expressions to refer to the God, or to the
persons of the Godhead whom they declare is ONLY “PRESENTLY” a binity (i.e. AT THE
MOMENT consisting of two Godhead beings). Thus you will hear them regularly accepting
Jesus as being “very God of very God”, as being “co-eternal”, “co-essential”, and “co-equal”
with his Father (all terms borrowed from the Trinitarian creed but tailored to apply to their so-
called Binity). And yet while none of these expressions are in the Bible itself, you will then hear
them turning around to argue that the expression “Trinity” is not in the bible. How laughable!!
The words “co-eternal”, “co-equal”, “co-essential”, “omnipotent”, “omnipresent”, “omniscient”,
etc, are all not there (which they freely use), but the meanings behind the expressions are
certainly there. They will even be heard using the expression “triadic” when referring to God
revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit, but then turn around and deny the very meaning of triadic,
and also deny that this word is a synonym for “a trinity” (despite respected dictionaries declare
the truth to be otherwise). You will often see them using ‘sleight of hand’ tactics in their
polemics (which is often missed by the listener or reader who is not quick to pick up on this very
subtle form of sophistry). For instance, while certain of the ‘new’ Armstrongites deny H.W.
Armstrong’s initial teaching that the Holy Spirit is a force, some will today go even halfway with
the Trinitarian in accepting that the Holy Spirit is God, and is personal (and he couldn’t be a
force or an impersonal entity), but declare him as only “personal” in so far as the Father and Son
are persons whom the Spirit literally is in extension as their personal “essence”. But you will
notice that the ‘new’ Armstrongites never take up the dictionary to define what the “essence” of
a person really is, and what the “extension” of someone would be, and they will never admit that
the Father or Son could not be separate beings (but rather would be more like Siamese twins) if
they are both the one Spirit literally in personage (as they espouse). And they will not admit that
the Father and Son could not send themselves if they literally are the one Spirit whom they both
send as their so-called “essence”. You will notice too that they will declare how very
interchangeable the Spirit of the Father and the Son is, as the “extension of their persons” at the
very same time, and so whatever the Spirit does it is actually the literal person of the Father and
Son doing that equally at the same time. But notice how they quickly stop short of saying that
when the Spirit overshadowed Mary and begot Jesus, then it would also HAVE TO mean that
the person of Jesus (as the Spirit) ALSO begot or fathered that “only begotten Son” on earth.
That is what I call crafty ‘sleight of hand’ in polemics. But this article/manuscript will not
hesitate to call a spade a spade. One’s hermeneutics must be consistent, and if it really is the truth
it should not deceive (whether wittingly or unwittingly).
WHAT OF UNITARIANS?
There are different types of Unitarians, or believers who seek to preserve the oneness of God as
simply one literal Being or one numeric Person only, and this group include Jehovah’s Witnesses
(also called Arians), oneness Pentecostals (also called “Jesus only” believers, sabellians or
modalists), among other groups (with so-called semi-Arians believers forming a large part of the
remaining groups). Jehovah’s Witnesses are the most strident Unitarian group, but are also the
most blatantly erroneous, since they blasphemously make Jesus a creature like ourselves (by
misapplying Rev. 3:14 and Prov. 8:22-31), and they deny the absolute divinity, and truly
“begotten” and natural but eternal Sonship of Jesus in order to preserve the Father as the only
One to be considered as “our God”, even while vehemently denying that John 20:28,29
compared with Heb. 1:2-3,6,8,10, and John 3:16 compared with Prov. 30:4, as well as Is. 9:6
compared with Micah 5:2 (just to quote a few texts) prove their doctrine to be offensively
heretical. But they don’t teach that the Spirit is personal, nor is even the person of the Father and
the Son, but they teach that the Spirit is Jehovah’s impersonal or active force he uses to
accomplish his will. Thus, even while they are clearly in error to hold this view (to be proven
later in this discourse), yet they can’t be accused of teaching Jesus to be His own Father. Thus
we can move on to the oneness Pentecostals; Unitarians who are most brazenly forthright in
teaching that Jesus as the spirit Father begot the human Son also called Jesus. My opening
remarks has already proved that simple deduction would make them guilty of teaching Jesus to
be His own Father. But what of their stubborn refusal to see the Godhead as consisting of more
than one divine person who can each be properly called “God” in and of themselves, and yet be
unitedly comprising the one Godhead? I think it noble of them to want to preserve the oneness of
the Godhead that the Jews are noted for, but the problem is that they seem to think the Jews had
it all right, and in fact fail to see that the Jews stopped accepting further revelations from God to
clarify and expand on the oneness of the Godhead to the point of rejecting His own Son who was
with Him all along speaking s an “us”, as seen in Gen. 1:26,27 or in Gen. 3:22-24 compared with
Prov. 30:4. This is because they, like the Jews, fail to appreciate the legitimate meaning of the
word “one” as also being a composite union (as a married couple or family is) when the
Godhead is considered in FULL revelation.
[THIS THEME IS COMPLETED IN THE BOOK “IDENTIFYING ERRORS ABOUT GOD MABE EASY”. CLICK
HERE FOR A FREE COPY OF THIS CLIMAXING DISCOURSE ON THE ISSUES]