Tag: christianity

Follow up Q & A on Justin Martyr

Rev. Dr. Christiaan Kappes

            Questions have come to me about alleged difficulties still left unanswered after my article on St. Justin Martyr proving a difference between “another God” (heteros theos) – meaning a personal difference in the same essence – and “other god” (allos theos) – meaning another essence numerically distinct and separate from God’s.

            Question 1: Isn’t’ Philo, and by extension Justin Martyr, just “Middle Platonists” and therefore what is produced by “God” the Father is somehow inferior to him?

Answer: Yes, If Philo and Justin were relying on merely Middle Platonism (and Stoic) sources, we would need to suspect subordinationism. However, as the specialist Dr. Winston points out:[1]

  • The Logos is identified with God’s Word Genesis 1:1-3 (dibbur; p. 16).
  • The Word is a personal entity (p. 17)
  • The Logos is a principiate from a principle (water from its source)
  • Philo considers the Word to be analogous to God’s “son” (p. 20)
  • Philo uses also Pythagoras and Stoicism, but with a Jewish twist so that the Word is a “power” of God in a special sense, viz., he is YHWH (Jehovah; pp 18-19).
  • The mind (Father) and thinker (logos) are simultaneous (p. 18)

These initial theological principles mean that neither Philo (as a main source for Justin Martyr) nor Justin should be reduced to mere Middle Platonism, but rather their syncretism of Angelomorphic theology in the Old Testament with Pythagorean, Platonist, and Stoic elements must be weighed and evaluated with excruciating detail, particularly given Philo’s commitment to there being strictly one God, as far as his essence and existence are concerned. Thus, for Philo there is “another God” (heteros theos) but not an “other God” (allos theos) as I demonstrate in my article above in the hyperlink. Here, another divine identity (hypostasized wisdom) versus some other essence is a fair way to take the distinction. The conclusion of Dr. Winston is that Philo tries to check Platonist degradation of emanating beings by reliance on Scripture for understanding the identity of God’s word.[2] His success in weaving both together into a Jewish monotheism is limited by a lack of scholarly consensus about his success. Still, for Philo, philosophy is a handmaiden to theology, not vice versa. This provides a safe interpretative key to understand Philo as an intellectual Jew not a Hellenistic intellectual with a merely Jewish educational background.

            Question 2: Can’t we assert that Justin’s use of Philo unimportant and merely incidental and therefore is not a good starting point to understand Justin’s use of “another God”?

Answer: Wrong! the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae or TLG provides scholars with a standard ability to isolate authors and works by a search engine that excludes ancients unaware of technical terminology and includes authors who uniquely use rare or even standard terms. In this case, “another God” (heteros theos) is used in Jewish literature from the 3rd century BC – 1st century AD in Greek by LXX Exodus 34:14: “For ye shall not worship another god,[3] for the Lord God, a jealous name, is a jealous God.”[4] It is then used next by Philo of Alexandria. Among Christians writing in Greek it is used afterwards by Justin and Origen and Pseudo-Clement in the midst of their quoting Jewish Scripture. In these Christian cases its use is not tied to LXX Exodus 34:14 but rather to discussions exactly like that of Philo, namely, on God, his word, and the word as the logical power of the Father. In this, even the latest critical edition of Justin agrees by noting that there is connection between Philo’s and Justin’s heteros theos or another God:[5]

Drs. Minns and Parvis support my first article on the following points: “allos theos” is heretical in Philo/Justin but “heteros theos” is not; (2.) The notion of someone divine “under” the vault of heaven accounts for the “hypo/under” that is traditionally read as subordinationist (“subject to”) but not thus in the CUA (below) translation of Trypho in English. (3.) Philo is at the root of this theology.

            What would be new for Drs. Minns and Parvis is my philological work of tracing the usage of allos theos and heteros theos in Jewish and Christian literature. Undoubtedly this finding would require them to consider updating any claims that scholars today make about subordinationism in two ways: (i.) showing that even if subordination can still be argued, then it must newly be argued with different premises since there is a clear distinction between the two; (ii.) They might possibly be more hesitant to carry on the pre-critical or pre-scientific commentary tradition of Justin-interpretation as subordinationist, since the Greek sources for these terms and their meaning (especially Philo) are much better understood today than in the 20th century (with the exception of its last decade since the publishing of critical editions in Greek).

            Question 3: Don’t Dr. Falls’ and Dr. Winston’s footnotes and the introduction to Justin’s work by Drs Minns and Parvis show that scholars agree that Justin is a subordinationist?

Answer: Quite the opposite, there are statements made by modern scholars showing how confusing Justin is to them. For example, Dr. Walls quoted vociferously by unitarians writes: “St. Justin elsewhere refers to Christ as the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, it would seem that in this passage he applies it to God the Father.”[6] So, Jesus is the God of Abraham and so is the Father! In the same translation the translator is confused that Justin “seems” to imply Jesus is an “another angel” (allos angelos),[7] unaware of Angel-Christ theology or angelomorphic themes that can solve this problem.[8] That Christ is an Angel (sent) as others are angels (sent-ones) but that Jesus is Scripturally head of the angelic armies in the Old Testament, as Justin clearly attests, is lost on Dr. Falls. Finally, Dr. Falls says about Justin referring to God the Father who begot Jesus as one whom “We know no ruler more kingly or just than he except God who begot him.” To this the translator writes “This seems to imply the error of subordinationism which teach that the Father is greater than the Son; cf. also ch. 2 Apol. 13; Dial. 56 (Cf. Rauschen […] and Altaner, Patrologia).[9]

            Point #1: Dr. Falls originally translated in 1948 (prior to Danielou’s groundbreaking work on Angelomorphic Christology and cataloguing ancient and recent work on the Angel-Christ). Thus, it’s not surprising that the opinions are dated.

            Point #2: Dr. Falls confusion about the Angel-Christ as a creature and in the same breath his confusion about the God of Abraham as both Christ and God the Father are due to the lack of systematic study available on the Angel-Christ theology at this time (it was known in Scholastic manuals but only treated in passing).

            Point #3: The capital point is that Dr. Falls is wise enough to keep writing: “it seems” that is not “it is the case” or not “clearly Justin believes…” because Dr. Falls is confused. The Patrologia that he cites is from 1956! Danielou’s pioneering work (1952) on the basics of Angel-Christ talk became available in English in 1957. Angelmorphic Christology is now standard scholarship but was only gradually absorbed in other disciplines such that even liberal and agnostic scholars, like Bart Ehrmann, admit in recent publications that his old exegesis was wrong since St. Paul believed in the preexistence of the Angel-Christ.

            Conclusion:  Scholars rightly and wisely tend not to overcommit themselves to positions on topics that are for them unclear and obscure. Dr. Falls is not to be faulted for using “seems” since this allows him to understate his case based upon the state of scholarship in the 1950s and in more recent times. Drs Minns and Parvis admit many controversial and conjectural readings on issues like question of the world being made “by the Logos” or merely instrumental “through” the Logos. Scholars are wisely cautious, unlike debaters and partisans of a viewpoint. My own position is that the lack of an index of subjects like “subordinationism” in the new addition of their Apology in English or even other works shows the gradual lack of interest and evidence to robustly press this topic. The fact is that very detailed work remains to be done on how combining Old Testament oneness of the godhead with Hellenistic philosophy creates new horizons for metaphysics (the study of the status and rank of non-material being in the Logos). One of the horizons is approaching the contribution by Christians of personhood to replace timeless mental-products or forms of the Platonic past. The dignity of persons and hypostatization of Wisdom and of the Spirit naturally lead to different metaphysics than Middle and Neo-Platonism. It is up to the specialists to tease out what this means. My own contribution on Justin Martyr above in the hyperlink (invited to be published by a peer-reviewed journal since my informal publication) importantly notes that one must understand how “another God” and “other god” are used in Justin before one can speculate on his subordinationism. The failure to do so, for example, led to Dr. Falls confusing and almost self-contradictory footnotes, were it not for the salvific use of “seems!”

[1] David Wintston, Logos Mystical Theology in Philo of Alexandria (Hoboken NJ, 1985).

[2] Wintston, Logos,18-25.

[3] Brenton’s LXX seems to have a variant that reads plural “strange gods.” The scientific

[4] J. Wevers (Ed.), Exodus (Göttingen, 1991), 2, Ch. 31, v. 14: “οὐ γὰρ μὴ προσκυνήσητε θεῷ ἑτέρῳ· ὁ γὰρ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ζηλωτὸν ὄνομα, θεὸς ζηλωτής ἐστιν.”

[5]  Denis Minns and Paul Parvis, Justin, Philosoperh and Martyr: Apologies (Oxford, 2014), 62.

[6] Thomas Falls (ed.), Saint Justin Martyr…, The Fathers of the Church 6 (Washington DC, 1948, 1965, 1977, 2008 ), 201.

[7] Here, a ready solution might be that “heteros angelos” (another angel) would be an angel of the same set or species, while “allos angelos” (= Christ) refers to something like “allos theos” or another kind of essence different from the one of comparison. So, Christ as “allos angelos” is essentially different from the other ranks of angels.

[8] Thomas Falls (ed.), Saint Justin Martyr…, 39, note 2.

[9] Thomas Falls (ed.), Saint Justin Martyr…, 44, note 3.

JESUS THE OMNISCIENT LORD

The following chart will enable the readers to see that Jesus Christ possesses the exact same omniscience that God alone possesses, because the inspired NT writings describe Jesus as the human Incarnation of YHWH God Almighty. At the same time, these sacred writings personally distinguish Christ from both the Father and the Holy Spirit.

  GOD    JESUS CHRIST

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?” Romans 11:33-34  

“then listen in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men,” 1 Kings 8:39  

“Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.” Psalm 44:21  

“And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;” Acts 15:8  

“in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” 1 John 3:20  

“And that to You, O Lord, belongs lovingkindness, For You repay a man according to his work.” Psalm 62:12  

“If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ Does not He who weighs the hearts understand? And does not He who guards your soul know? And will not He render to man according to his work?” Proverbs 24:12  

“Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.” chapter Isaiah 40:10  

“Behold, Yahweh has announced to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.’” Isaiah 62:11

“I, Yahweh, search the heart; I test the inmost being, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10  

“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, to Me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:9-12          
“so that their hearts may be encouraged, having been held together in love, even unto all the wealth of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge… For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily,” Colossians 2:2-3, 9  

“And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’ But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?’ Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, ‘Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?’” Mark 2:5-8    

“And knowing their thoughts He said to them, ‘Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.’” Matthew 12:25  

“until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen… So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’… ‘Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us… And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen,’” Acts 1:2, 6, 21, 24  

“on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” Romans 2:16  

“For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted. But the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s praise will come to him from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:4-5  

“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said about him, ‘Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘From where do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.’” John 1:45-49

“His disciples said, ‘Behold, now You are speaking openly and are not using a figure of speech. Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe?’” John 16:29-31  

“He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’” John 21:17  

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay each one according to his deeds.” Matthew 16:27  

“Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. So then, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we have been made manifest to God; and I hope that we have been made manifest also in your consciences.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-11  

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: This is what the Son of God, the One who has eyes like a flame of fire and His feet are like burnished bronze, says… ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” Revelation 2:18, 23

“‘Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’… He who bears witness to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:12-13, 20
 

All scriptural citations taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).

FURTHER READING

The Incomprehensible and Omniscient Son of God

TRINITY CHART

BINITARIAN CHART

JOHN’S EGO EIMI SAYINGS REVISITED

CHRIST’S DEITY IN HEBREWS

CHRIST THE GOD-MAN

JESUS: YHWH GOD INCARNATE

APOCRYPHA & CHRIST’S DEITY

The book of 3 Maccabees ascribes specific titles and functions that belong uniquely to God:

“Lord, Lord (Kyrie, Kyrie), king of the heavens and sovereign of all creation (despota pases ktiseos), holy among the holy ones, the only ruler (monarche), almighty, give attention to us who are suffering grievously from an impious and profane man, puffed up in his audacity and power. For you, the creator of all things (ta panta) and the governor of all, are a just ruler (dynastes dikaios), and you judge those who have done anything in insolence and arrogance.” 3 Maccabees 2:2-3 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

The aforementioned traits are some of the very essential and definitional aspects of God’s Being, which distinguish him from all of created reality.

Remarkably, these very unique qualities and roles of God are attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ!

For example, Jesus identifies himself that very “Lord, Lord”:  

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord (Kyrie, Kyrie),’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’” Matthew 7:21-23 NRSVUE  

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord (Kyrie, Kyrie),’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.” Luke 6:46-49 NRSVUE   

Christ is also described as the sovereign King and Creator of all creation, employing terminology that is virtually identical to the Greek of 3 Maccabees:

“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (pases ktiseos), for IN HIM all things (ta panta) in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things (ta panta) have been created THROUGH HIM and FOR HIM. He himself IS before all things (ta panta), and IN HIM all things (ta panta) hold together.” Colossians 1:13-17 NRSVUE

“to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which HE will bring about at the right time—HE WHO is the blessed and ONLY Sovereign (monos dynastes), the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is HE ALONE (monos) who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:14-16 NRSVUE

In fact, the risen Lord is even said to be the only Despot and Lord of the believers who, in his prehuman existence, was that very glorious divine Being who led Israel out from Egypt, and subsequently punished the rebellious among them in the wilderness:

“For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into debauchery and deny our ONLY Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (ton monon Despoten kai Kyrion hemon ‘Iesoun Christon). Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, once and for all, that JESUS, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” Jude 1:4-5 NRSVUE

This means that, according to the inspired NT documents, Jesus is the human manifestation of the one true sovereign God of all creation, being the very human incarnation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And yet these inspired Scriptures are clear that Christ is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, but is one with them in essence, power, glory and worship.

FURTHER READING

THE CHRISTIAN SHEMA

JESUS: THE ONE AND ONLY ADONAY YHWH

The Christian Shema: Confessing Jesus as Yahweh God the Son

The Inter-Testamental Jewish Literature and the Deity of the Lord Jesus, [Part 2], [Part 3]

REV. 3:14 REVISITED… ONE MORE TIME!

The following is taken from the monumental work titled The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense, authored by Robert M. Bowman Jr. & J. Ed Komoszewski, published by Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2024, Part 2: Like Father, Like Son: Jesus’ Divine Attributes, Chapter 13. Was Christ the First Creature?, pp. 263-267.

In my estimation this is THE best and most comprehensive exposition and defense of the biblical basis for the Deity of Christ. Every serious Trinitarian Christian student of the Holy Bible, apologist, and/or theologian must have this book in the library.

HEAD OF THE CREATION (REVELATION 3:14)

In John’s seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor, he says that the angel of the church in Laodicea told him to write the following (translation ours): Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the archē of the creation of God. (Rev. 3:14)

We have left the Greek word archē untranslated because English versions render it in what may seem like surprisingly different ways:

• “beginning” (ESV, KJV, NKJV, NLT)

• “source” (CEV, NABRE)

• “origin” (GNT, NASB, NRSV)

• “originator” (CSB, LEB, NET)

• “principle” (NJB) • “head” (BBE)

• “ruler” (CEB, NIV)

All of these renderings are linguistically plausible and at least contextually possible. Moreover, none of them means or implies that Christ was the first creature God made. The only wording that might seem to carry that implication is “the beginning of the creation of God,” but even this wording falls short of making the idea of Christ as the first creature clear. The text almost certainly does not have that meaning in Greek. Even the Arians in the fourth century, who ransacked the Bible looking for proof texts supporting their belief that the Son was a created being, did not appeal to Revelation 3:14 as one of their proof texts.46 Scholars propose two main interpretations of Revelation 3:14. The first is that it means that Christ is the origin, originator, or source of creation.47 The second view is that the text means that Christ is the ruler or head of the creation.48 Some commentators suggest that both ideas are present.49 The view that Revelation 3:14 describes Christ as the first creature God made does not seem to be even seriously entertained.

Three considerations make it virtually certain that John did not mean that Christ was the chronologically first being that God created. These points also make it most likely that “ruler” is the dominant or primary idea.

First, archē, when used of a person or persons, everywhere in the New Testament outside Revelation means something like “ruler” (Luke 12:11; Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; 2:2; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:16; 2:10, 15; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 3:22), including one other reference to Christ: “who is the archē” (Col. 1:18). Since Paul had just used the plural archai to refer to cosmic or worldly rulers (Col. 1:16), archē here as a term for Christ most likely means “ruler.” A connection between Revelation 3:14 and Colossians 1:18 is made even more likely by the fact that Revelation 3:14 is part of John’s letter to the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14a, cf. 1:11), which Paul mentioned in his letter to the Colossians because they were in neighboring cities and could exchange letters from him (Col. 2:1; 4:13–16).50

Second, the meaning of “ruler” nicely fits the context of the book of Revelation. In the immediate context, Christ promises a place on his throne to those who conquer through their faith in him (Rev. 3:21). The titles of Revelation 3:14 noticeably overlap the titles of Christ in the opening of the book: “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler [archōn] of the kings of the earth” (1:5); “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler [archē] of the creation of God” (3:14). Since archōn definitely means “ruler,” and archē regularly has this meaning in the New Testament, the parallels between these two texts (both of which contain three titles for Christ) give strong support for interpreting archē as meaning something like “ruler.”51

Third, the word archē in the book of Revelation is used only two other times, and in both cases it refers to God (the speaker):

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 21:6)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 22:13)

It cannot be mere coincidence that Christ is also called “the first and the last” (Rev. 1:17; 2:8).

The three expressions found in Revelation 22:13 are synonymous (alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and omega is the last letter). Indeed, Christ is speaking in Revelation 22:13, as we will show later (see pp. 525–26). Obviously, though, these synonymous titles as applied to God in Revelation 21:6 do not mean that God was created or had a beginning in time. Nor should Revelation 3:14 be interpreted with that meaning. The title “the beginning and the end” likely means that God is the sovereign ruler of history from beginning to end.

These three considerations are the basis for the translation “ruler” in the NIV and several other versions, as well as the similar rendering “head.”

Although Revelation 3:14 does not mean that Christ was the first creature God made, it might be referring to Christ as having become part of creation in order to redeem creation. Specifically, it may be designating Christ as the “head” or ruling member of creation by virtue of his redemptive work. In New Testament teaching, Christ is the divine Son who humbled himself to become a man, thereby joining himself permanently with his own creation (John 1:9–14; Phil. 2:5–11; Heb. 2:14–18). As the resurrected and glorified Son exalted in heaven, Christ is still a man (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 15:47; 1 Tim. 2:5; see also Luke 24:36–43; Acts 2:24–32).52 This is why in the Christian doctrine of the incarnation, the Lord Jesus is regarded as permanently both divine or fully God (John 1:1; 20:28; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1) and human or fully man. As such, Christ is not the first creature made but the preeminent member of the new creation. He “belongs to the sphere of creation,”53 as Chandler puts it, but only because he graciously chose to enter that sphere in order to bring about the restoration of creation. There are several reasons for thinking this interpretation is the best explanation of Revelation 3:14.

• The context of similar titles in Revelation 1:5–6 focuses on Christ’s redemptive work (“the firstborn of the dead . . . has freed us from our sins by his blood”).

• In the letter to the Laodicean church, Christ states that he sat on the throne with his Father after he “conquered” by his death and resurrection (Rev. 3:21).

• In Colossians 1:18, the parallel use of archē refers to Christ’s headship in the new creation, especially because it is immediately followed by the title “the firstborn from the dead” (a clear parallel to Rev. 1:5).

• The primary background to the three titles in Revelation 3:14 is most likely Isaiah 65:16, which twice refers to the Lord in Hebrew as “the God of ʾāmēn” (usually translated “the God of truth”). The Greek word amēn in Revelation 3:14 is a direct transliteration of the Hebrew word in Isaiah 65:16, and that Hebrew word can mean both “faithful” and “true”—the two descriptions in the second title in Revelation 3:14. The “blessing” that this faithful or true God promises is that he will “create new heavens and a new earth” (Isa. 65:17). This expression referring to the new creation also is used in that sense in Revelation (Rev. 21:1, 2). It is also anticipated in the context immediately preceding Revelation 3:14, where Christ speaks of “the new Jerusalem” that will come down from God (Rev. 3:12). Thus, the reference to “the creation of God” in Revelation 3:14 in context likely is focused on the new creation that God is making.54

Let us summarize the key points of this explanation of Revelation 3:14. “The creation of God” refers to the creation as God is renewing it to become “the new heavens and the new earth.” Christ is its “beginning” (archē) in the sense that he is the head, the ruling member of the new creation, by virtue of his death and resurrection to immortal, glorious life and exaltation to the very throne of God. The text is not saying that Christ was created at or as the beginning of the original creation of the universe.

46. Michael J. Svigel, “Christ as Archē in Revelation 3:14,” BSac 161 (2004): 215–31.

47. E.g., Bratcher and Hatton, Revelation, 78–79.

48. E.g., Craig S. Keener, Revelation, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 158; Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC 38A (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 336.

 49. E.g., Osborne, Revelation, 204–5.

50. Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 108. Other commentators have made the same observation.

51. Note the lack of any engagement with these two points in Stafford, Jehovah’s Witnesses Defended, 3rd ed., 418–24. Stafford’s main parallel to Revelation 3:14 is the superficially similar statement about Behemoth in Job 40:19 (archē followed by a genitive expression about creation), which is certainly not thematically related in any way.

52. Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that Jesus Christ ceased to be a man when he was put to death and that he was resurrected as an angel. For a detailed critique of the Watchtower’s arguments for this false doctrine, see Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, 38–49.

53. Chandler, The God of Jesus, 466 n. 1404.

54. For this interpretation, see further Beale, Book of Revelation, 297–301.

FURTHER READING

Revelation 3:14 Revisited: Jesus as the Arche of God’s Creation

Revelation 3:14: Jesus the Arche of Creation

Does Revelation 3:14 Teach That Jesus is God’s First Creation? Pt. 1, Pt. 2

FIRSTBORN OF CREATION REVISITED… AGAIN!

A HYMN TO THE DIVINE CHRIST

HOW MANY THEOIS IN THE NT?

GOD GAVE JESUS LIFE?