Written by John Carson
Hebrews 1 is rich in theology. One can study this chapter alone for months and still be enthralled with its richness. My purpose for this study in Hebrews is to identify who these passages are speaking about, then to seek answers about their individualities.
Why is this important? As a Trinitarian, I can point to different Biblical passages that speak of the Father being the Eternal God, Jesus being the Eternal God and the Holy Spirit being the Eternal God, while showing that the three are the one true God. However, there are Modalists who will come to what appears to be a similar conclusion... They believe the Father is God, Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God. In reality though, their theological positions are worlds apart from Trinitarian's. For they teach these are not Persons that co-existed together eternally, but are different manifestations of one Person.
There are plenty of Old Testament references foretelling of the future coming of the Messiah. But do the references to the Messiah (Son) in Hebrews 1 clearly show His distinct individuality from the Father? And was this eternal? Are these passages speaking of these two, the Father and Jesus as being a single entity (Modalism), or co-eternal and co-equal individuals (Trinitarianism)?
Before we begin, identifying the characters will help with our study. To make the identities easier to see, I have highlighted clear references to the Father in green, clear references to Jesus in red and possible references to the Holy Spirit in blue.
Who is the writer of Hebrews referring to? Both Modalists and Trinitarians agree this is Jesus. The One Who sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high is Jesus who has a more excellent name than the angels.
From this point the writer of Hebrews introduces Someone Who speaks of Another.
The Father is speaking about the same Person, Jesus (verses 3-4... “Who”, “he” and “himself”) is clearly identified here in verse 5 as being the Son.
The Father is speaking about the Son.
The Father commands all the angels to worship Him (Jesus). Notice also the Father brings Another into the world. It does not say He sends Himself.
The Father is speaking about the Son.
Whose throne and kingdom are these? The Father says they belong to Jesus, and the Father called Him God.
The Father is speaking about the Son.
Notice also the Father refers to God as Another besides Himself and the Son. The structure of the sentence may suggest there are three characters (there are at least two). The Speaker (Father - First Person Singular, see verses 5 and 8), is referring to One (Holy Spirit - Second Person Singular), who anoints Another (Jesus - Third Person Singular).
Note: The opinion that the word “God” here in verse 9 as referring to the Holy Spirit, is my own, and may not reflect the opinions of others from Doorway Christian Outreach. Others view this word “God” in this verse as referring to the Father speaking about Himself in the Second Person Singular.
The One speaking (Father) says God (in my opinion the Holy Spirit) anointed thee (Jesus) with the oil of gladness.
The Father is speaking about the Son.
Who laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning? The Father is not speaking to Himself, but to the same Person He has all along. The heavens are the work of whose hands? Thine (Jesus') hands. This verse is one that needs to be pondered deeply because it brings us to the main point of the study. The Father refers to Another (Jesus) as acting as God (creating heaven and earth). This is before the incarnation!
The Father is speaking about the Son.
Thou (Jesus) remains. He will not perish.
The Father is speaking about the Son.
Thy (Jesus') years shall not fail. Jesus is the same yesterday (verse10), today (verse 11), and forever (verse 12). See Hebrews 13:8.
As you have noticed, the references the Father made to Jesus was not broken anywhere throughout these passages. This is a serious problem for Modalists. If God the Father refers to the Son in the third person singular (example; thou, thee, thy, thine, him, as are seen above), then the Father was speaking of Another Person. Since the Father has been speaking of this One as active prior to His incarnation (verse 10), then He (Jesus) eternally existed as a separate personage than the Father.
Conclusion: Jesus existed and acted as God prior to the incarnation and therefore eternally co-existed with the Father. The Trinity doctrine therefore has a firm foundation in Scripture.
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14.09 | 00:17
Is it your intent to share your faith with me? I'm a devout Latter-day Saint.
30.06 | 17:21
Let's add, the keys to Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18) the key of David (Rev. 3:7) the key of knowledge (Luke 11:52) and the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt.16:19) only given to Simon/Peter.
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Intuitive
10.02 | 23:31
Checked out the great video. 👍 Thumbs up!
The Mormon Religion was officially founded by Joseph Smith Jr. on April 6. 1830 after the Book of Mormon (BOM) was published in that same year.
Joseph Smith Jr. was born in Vermont on December 23, 1805. He claimed that when he was 14, he received a vision from God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees near his home where he received instructions not to join any of the Christian churches because they were all wrong.
Three years later, Smith claimed that an angel named Moroni (a character found in the BOM) appeared to him in his bedroom whom he said revealed to him that he was selected to translate "Reformed Egyptian" (a language that does not exist) from gold plates into old English. These plates were supposedly hidden near Palmyra, New York and are said to be written around the 4th century. The BOM was named after Moroni’s father, Mormon. Mormons view the BOM as sacred. No one is able to study the original plates because Joseph Smith claimed the angel took them back on May 2, 1838 (History of the Church 1:60).
Smith had a scribe named Cowdery. Smith did not actually translate directly from any plates. Rather, in his writings, he said he placed a "seer stone" in a hat and covered any light from entering it as he placed his face in the hat. According to Martin Harris, “By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet . . . , and when finished he would say, ‘Written,’ and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected,” Smith said, “By the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics".
Despite such methods of translation, there have been at least 3,913 changes made in the BOM from the time it was first published. Joseph Smith stated, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” Smith also claimed that John the Baptist appeared to him on May 15, 1829 while he was translating the BOM, and instructed him to restore the church by preaching the only true gospel.
Mormons regard the BOM as sacred writings, and view it in higher standing than that of the Holy Bible. Mormon Missionaries will ask you to pray that it is true. (See our page Pray to Know)