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The Word Jesus Christ.God the infinite
1/14/2008 3:30:11 PM
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Tonight I'll take up the Word of God. As Jesus Christ.
First a brief explanation . Again I'll quote Abdu'l-Baha from His "Some Answered Questions"+ later another author , Michael Sours who has touched upon many Christian beliefs too.
First a short explanation why Jesus Christ is called the Word:
"The perfections of Christ are called the Word, because all the beings are in the condition of letters, and one letter has not a complete meaning; whilst the perfections of Christ have the power of the Word, because a complete meaning can be inferred from a Word. As the Reality of Christ was the manifestation of the divine perfections, therefore it was like a word. Why? Because He is the sum of perfect meanings. This is why He is called the Word."
Abdu'l-Baha
In a previous article I have spoken about the Trinity, explaining the Bahai view , thereby saying that Gud is above His creatures in all respects. He manifests His attributes in His Messengers but in Essence He/She/It stays in an inscrutable position where there is no access, just like the sun in the sky stays in its place. The Holy Spirit are like the rays of the sun, radiating from that unknown Essence of the Eternal Being, God. They are reflected in a stainless Mirror which here stands for the Holy Messenger, Christ for exemple.
What does it matter how God is positioned,as long as we know His Messengers and can bask in the sunshine of the love of God, through their intermediating. To some it does matter very much. As for me I like to ponder upon Gods supreme and unfathomable Being, too high for us to snare by our limited thinking , our imagination. The infinite Being in itself must remain a mystery, it is wonderful !that we cannot describe or fathom Gods Essence in any way. I believe it is the best for us. Among other things we , though grown up, must find the way to feel that we are the ones to be looked after.We are the ones that can be described by God. Did we understand our parents when we were kids? No much later if ever.
For me it was simple: Can my painting understand me, even though I may make it very lively one day?
So, I believe, now late in history mankind will realise the true "position" of God, that is, that He cannot be incarnated in the flesh. He stands above such an assumption. I'll quote from the Bible for you, that it is correct that God has never become flesh through His Messengers, neither through Christ. God cannot be incarnated, that is, He, the Infinite, stands above what the finite mind can conceive..
So, here are, The"Responses to the argument that the apostles taught that Jesus is 'The Incarnation of Gods Essence' explained by Michael Sours.
The Christian belief that Jesus is God in essence, in the flesh, is based primarily on interpretations of the New Testament and particularly, on statements made by the Apostles John and Paul. The following verses are one source of this belief; verse 1:14 of John is where the term 'incarnation' originates:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John1:1)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John1:14, emphasis added)
Briefly the Christian understanding is:..the Word is equated with God (John 1:1) and, according to the text,'became flesh'(John 1:14, Latin, in carne) in the Person of Christ. Christians believe this means God 'incarnated' both His essence and attributes, that is, made Himself come into the world of the flesh. In addition to these verses, Christians also point out that Paul has written:
Christ Jesus, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God (Phil.2:5-6; see also Col.2:9)
From a Bahai point of view, this passage can be understood as referring to the divine perfections: the light of God, but not the complete Essence of God. Other Biblical passages can be understood in the same way. For exemple, when it states God became flesh, the meaning is that the Word of God, and the perfections of God became manifest in the flesh, that is , in the Person of Jesus. Jesus lived perfectly the teachings He preached, and thus He is the Word.
Paul writes that Christ is the 'image of the invisible God' (Col.2:15). Paul does not say that He is the incarnation of the invisible essence of God' we can assume 'form' to mean the divine perfections, since God does not have a physical form. In this respect, to say 'equal with God' can be understood to mean what Bahaullah expresses with these words: (my emphasis)
Whatsoever is applicable to them (The Manifestations of God) is in reality applicable to God, Himself, Who is both the Visible and the Invisible (The Book of Certitude).
The attributes of God, such as His omnipresence, make it impossible for finite creatures, like ourselves, to comprehend His Being. Because of God's nature, God is beyond containment in the visible world. But because signs and evidences of God are evident in all things, we are able, within our limited perception, to perceive God in the visible world. Thus God can be perceived in the world but not contained in the world.Abdu'l-Baha provides this explanation:
the Word and the Holy Spirit, which signify the perfections of God, are the divine appearance. This is the meaning of the verse in the Gospel which says:'The Word was with God, and the _Word was God';
for the divine perfections are not different from the Essence of Oneness. The perfections of Christ are called the Word, because all the beings are in the condition of letters, and one letter has not a complete meaning; whilst the perfections of Christ have the power of the Word, because a complete meaning can be inferred from a Word. As the reality of Christ was the manifestation of the divine perfections, therefore it was like a word. Why? Because He is the sum of perfect meanings. This is why He is called the Word.
The Bahai argument rests on the simple logic that an infinite God is uncontainable, especially in a finite physical form such as a human body. However , the perfections of God, His attributes, can be and are reflected in the human form of the Prophets and Manifestations. In fact, the Bahai belief is that all humans must strive to reflect these perfections.
According to the Bahai teachings, if the infinite God were reduced to a finite form, He would cease to be God."
Solomon states:
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. (Kings 8:27)"
How can we actually see God, we cannot even look up at His sign, the sun, which quickens every growing thing on earth.
We are the children of God and we have once been children of our parents. How could we ever have understood our parents, the grown ups, while still children.I say this again as a simile. Would we , even if they tried very hard to make themselves understood to us kids, have developed the instruments for perceiving their grown up station, their world of thinking, their 'scope?' Those capacities we had not developed then. Would we have listened at all, if they tried..
Bahaullah reveals in His Hidden Words:
O SON OF MAN!
My majesty is My gift to thee, and My grandeur the token of My mercy unto thee, That what beseemeth Me none shall understand, nor can anyone recount. Verily, I have preserved it in My hidden storehouses and in the treasures of My command, as a sign of My loving kindness unto My servants and My mercy unto My people.
I hope that this is received by you as a relief, not as a thing burdening you, that youdo not think I have tried to in the slightest degreee diminish Jesus's station as the Mouthpiece of God, His glory and Uniqueness.
As I have pointed out before I came to realise the Divinity of Christ upon becoming a Bahai. Such is the Bahai Faith, that it does glorify Christ, as was promised to be done by Gods New Messenger,in the Bible.
Bye for now from your friend
Laila
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