Ever since I’ve come to believe that God is the Father, and that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that the spirit is the Spirit of God, people have said – actually Christian people have said - that I’m part of a cult. They mean it, of course, in a derogatory, pejorative sense.

If the belief in the Trinity, three divine persons in one essence, and the belief in a fully-god-fully-man-Christ, a Christ who is a divine person with two natures – if these beliefs are developments made after the New Testament was written, made in places like Alexandria Egypt, Athens Greece, Constantinople and Cappadocia Turkey, and Rome Italy -- then these beliefs are aberrations, “cultish” if you will, not the real God nor the real Christ of the Bible.

Is the Trinity in the Bible? If So, Where? https://youtu.be/POVaZX3urdc

If the Bible is Right, God is NOT a Trinityhttps://youtu.be/S1-qBYVrkdU

HIGH Costs of Deity of Christ Interpretationshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUqWXumvcp5o5e2TeBnpzLE7XLJgwh_tp

Dr. Kegan Chandler, Cult Rhetoric and Unitarian Christologyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQFRabqSqE&t=2s

Isaiah 42:8 I am YHVH (Yahweh, Yehovah), that ismy name; my glory (cavod, כָבוֹד) I give to no other,nor my praise to graven images.

Deityof Christ theologians claim that since Jesus has (God’s) glory, or was given glory by God, he must be God, because God doesn’t give His glory to anyone else.

That claim is a philosophical, rationalistic kind of claim that no one in the Bible makes. It’s kind of an end around claim that runs into dead ends.  For instance, if Jesus is God, why did God have to give him glory? Can God lose his glory and than someone else who is God give it back to him.

This kind of claim really reveals a certain kind of biblical ignorance, or a willing ignorance. It’s the kind of claim that reveals a desperate search for some evidence to make Christ into God. It’s contrived “evidence”. 

To understand what Isaiah 42:8 and 48:11 are really saying, all we have to do is look a bit at the context of the statements. There are two parts to that context that shows that deity of Christ claims about these passages completely miss the point.

The statement in Isaiah 42:8 “I give my glory to no other” are in the context of Israel’s idolatry.

1. God DOES NOT give His glory AS GOD to anyoneelse. Specifically, God does not share His glory with other gods or idols. God will not allow Israel to believe that someone or something else is their god.God warned: “I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Exo 20:5).

2. God DOES give glory to others the nation of Israel, notto show that these others are God, but to show that the God who gives the glory is their God, the only God.  

Deity of Christ interpreters totally miss the meaning of these passages in the Book of Isaiah.

Note to listeners: After I publishing the podcast, I see that the quote, translation and interpretation of Romans 5:2 is not as clear-cut as the translation I quoted (RSV). The Greek is more ambiguous. The Greek does not have the word "sharing". The Greek is more literally "we boast(glory) in(with) hope of the glory of God".

Because of the ambiguity, the RSV supplied "sharing". But it should be italicized that "sharing" is not in the text. I see another translation (CJB) supplies "experiencing the glory of God". Most translations, which is probably better, just render "we rejoice in the glory of God".I feel I over-stated the case after seeing that word "sharing" is not in the Greek. I would edit that section, but YouTube won’t allow editing since it apparently has already made the video available in other languages (?). So, I’d just encourage people to think about what Paul meant by writing “we rejoice with hope of the glory of God”.The other famous verse in Romans about us having something to do with God's glory is Rom. 3:23, "we all fall short of the glory of God". This verse suggests some human participation or expectation of believers in/with God's glory. Romans 2:7 says we "seek for glory and honor and immortality". 2 Cor. 4:6 describes the "knowledge of God's glory".Unfortunately, most translations are inconsistent (probably with theological bias) on Psalm 84:11. Instead of translating "the LORD (YHVH) God gives grace and glory", English translations make it "favor and honor". But the second word is the same word cavod כָבוֹד as Isaiah 42:6.Another point I would make about “giving glory”: In the Bible to give glory is often an idiom for giving recognition where recognition is due. This is why God won’t give glory to idols in His work of creation or with Israel.

This episode continues the contrast between the biblicaldoctrine of the hope of resurrection of the dead compared to the common mainstreamChristian expressions about death being only the separation of the soul fromthe body and so-called promise of going to heaven.

Whilethe New Testament emphasizes the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the futureresurrection of believers, many Christians today speak of the dead asimmediately entering heaven as disembodied souls. The personnever really dies. But we see that many Scripture passages – we will look at afew in just a moment (Acts, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians) – that highlightthe hope of resurrection at Christ’s return, not immediate ascension to heaven.

Incontrast to the biblical hope of resurrection, popular phrases such as “went toheaven” or “is now in a better place” reflect a Greek, Platonic view of thesoul's separation from the body at death—an idea rooted in Plato’s Phaedo,where death is seen as liberation of the soul from the body. MainstreamChristianity has drifted from the early Christian hope in resurrection toward aless real and disembodied afterlife.

Additional Resources:Where do we go when we die? Interview with Pastor Sean Finnegan ⁠https://youtu.be/w8rgs85dBtk⁠Conditional Immortality ⁠(Restitutio podcast)⁠⁠https://restitutio.org/2019/02/14/164-theology-3-conditional-immortality/⁠ Challenging Conditional Immortality (Restitutio podcast)⁠https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165-theology-4-challenging-conditional-immortality/⁠ #bible, #gotoheaven, #deityofchrist

Fuel, Church of God General Conference Youth Camp, July 13-18, 2025. North Manchester, IN

https://register-online.org/FUELRedirect.php

What is Fuel Youth Conference Like?

https://youtu.be/l7VPCLbVDD0

UCA International Conference, July 24-27, 2025, Denham Grove Hotel, Uxbridge, (London), UK

https://sites.google.com/unitarianchristianalliance.org/ucaukintconference2025

Converge, August 1-3, 2025 Hiram College, SE of Cleveland, OH https://www.eventleaf.com/e/converge

Many mainstream Christians claim that at death, only thebody dies while the soul lives on, consciously entering the presence of God. In this view, believers never really die—they skip over death entirely by transitioning instantly into eternal life.

There is no place in the Bible that defines death as the separation of the soul from the body.

So where did this concept come from?

Plato’s Influence: Not the Bible

The idea that "death is the separation of the soul from the body" comes from Greek philosophy, especially Plato.

In his dialogue Phaedo (also called On the Soul), Plato, through the voice of Socrates, taught that:

“Death is the separation of the soul from the body... and the state of being dead is the soul’s being alone by itself, apart from the body.”— Phaedo 64c, 67d

In this podcast we explore some implications of the Platonic "death is the separation of the soul from the body" claim on mainstream Christianity.

Full text here: https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-big-lie-death-is-separation-of-soul.htmlAdditional Resources:

Where do we go when we die? Interview with Pastor Sean Finnegan https://youtu.be/w8rgs85dBtk

Conditional Immortality (Restitutio podcast)

https://restitutio.org/2019/02/14/164-theology-3-conditional-immortality/

Challenging Conditional Immortality (Restitutio podcast)

https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165-theology-4-challenging-conditional-immortality/

#bible, #gotoheaven

Doctrinal Statements of Trinitarian Seminaries, Universities and Churches have problems, such as:

1. The first two statements often contradict each other. Protestant institutions declare the Scriptures are the sole authority for belief and practice, and then in the next breath describe and eternal multi-person god who is never described in such terms in the Bible.

2. Doctrinal statements off refer to God with the singular pronouns he/him/his, but then suddenly describe god as multi-persons, whose pronouns should be they/them/theirs.

#trinityevangelicaldivinityschool, #libertyuniversity, #southernbaptist #trinity, #Jesus, #deityofchrist, #bible#trinity, #Jesus, #deityofchrist, #bible

In this podcast we take a closer look at the historical context in which 1st century readers of John’s Gospel would have understood this Gospel to be about a new beginning. 

We will also see how other New Testament authors saw in Jesus a new beginning, the beginning of God’s new creation. 

Finally, we will note one big problem with the typical “deity of Christ” interpretation of John 1:1.

For full written text of this podcast click here.

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-gospel-of-john-historical-context.html

Previous podcasts referred to in this podcast:

-

#7) "What about John 1:1?" (Part 2) - Jesus is the Beginning of God's New Creation 

https://anchor.fm/onegodreport-podcast/episodes/7-What-about-John-11--Part-2---Jesus-is-the-Beginning-of-Gods-New-Creation-eaqlk5

-

15) More New Creation in the Gospel of John: Why John's Prologue Should be Interpreted in the Context of New Creation

https://anchor.fm/onegodreport-podcast/episodes/15-More-New-Creation-in-the-Gospel-of-John-Why-Johns-Prologue-Should-be-Interpreted-in-the-Context-of-New-Creation-edv8kr

Many Trinitarians claim the Trinity is "biblical". This episode presents two reasons why that claim is faulty:

1. The Trinitarian methodology - how they arrive at believing that the one God is multi-persons - is not biblical.

2. The language used, in fact needed, to describe the Trinity and the "deity of Christ is is not biblical.

#trinity, biblicalunitarian, #deityofchrist

In this current podcast we discuss another HIGH cost to payfor any deity of Christ interpretation of Scripture.  All deity of Christ claims not only dishonor the Father, but they also dishonor the Christ, the man Jesus of Nazareth, the Jew who was born in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.  In fact, all deity of Christ claims in the end deny that the human person Jesus Christ ever existed.

Deity of Christ Interpretations of the Bible Dishonor the Father, the Only True God

If Jesus is God, then God the Father is not the one true God. The claim that “Jesus is God” becomes the main building block used by humans to construct a multi-person god. If Jesus is one member of a multi-person (or a Triune god) then the multi-person god is the one God, and the Father is not.

Mainstream Christians agree that there is one God.  “Weare monotheists. We believe in one God”. But for mainstream Christians, the one God is made up of three persons. 

Either the Father, a singular self, is the one true God, or a multi-person god is the one God.

But if the Father is the one true God, then the claim that “Jesus is God” (that God is multi-persons) is an attempt to denigrate the only true God -- the Father. What deity of Christ and Trinitarian interpreters are doing is attempting to put another god on the face of and in the place of our God and Father.  

The HIGH cost of any “deity of Christ” interpretations is an attempt to claim that the Father is not the one, the only true God.  Christians need to decide: who is your God. Either the Trinity, or the Father alone. Your God can’t be both.

For full text of the podcast, see here:

https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-high-cost-of-deity-of-christ.html

#deityofchrist, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel