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What Can We Learn About The Antichrist?
What Can We Learn About the Antichrist?
By Author Eli Kittim
Daniel 8.23 (NRSV) reads:
At the end of their rule,
when the transgressions
have reached their full
measure, a king of bold
countenance shall arise,
skilled in intrigue.
The Westminster Leningrad Codex says that there shall arise a “king” [melek] (מֶ֥לֶךְ) of “fierce” [‘āz] (עַז־) “countenance” [panim] (פָנִים) who is “skilled” [ū·mê·ḇîn] (וּמֵבִ֥ין) in “intrigue” [ḥî·ḏō·wṯ] (חִידֽוֹת׃).
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The verse suggests a headstrong political leader with fierce features (cf. Dan. 7.11). Concerning his business skills, he’ll be well-versed in solving riddles and breaking codes. The only people who are professionally skilled in this line of work——deciphering veiled messages with double meanings——are spies. Much like James Bond, spies are involved in sinister plots, clandestine operations, and secret intrigues! Daniel 8.25 goes on to say:
By his cunning he shall
make deceit prosper . . .
Thus, according to Dan. 8.23, it seems highly probable that the Antichrist is a well-trained *high-level spy* who commits political espionage!
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More Posts from Eli-kittim
What is the Super-Sign of the Coming Antichrist in Revelation 13? And Is the COVID-19 Vaccine the Mark of the Beast?
By Author Eli Kittim
The First Beast of Revelation 13: The Antichrist
Given that Revelation 13 mainly features the political leader whom we call the Antichrist, and his prophesied final empire, this article will only deal with the first beast (the political figure), not the second (the religious figure). The latter subject has been treated elsewhere on my blog.
Russia is the Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns
The key words of the prologue are: θηρίον ἀναβαῖνον, ἔχον κέρατα δέκα, καὶ κεφαλὰς ἑπτά (Rev. 13.1). That’s the notorious beast with 7 heads and 10 horns. Most Biblical studies indicate that this is Russia. Based on Daniel 7.19-22 and Revelation 17.9-13 no other country except Russia can claim to be the 7th successive world-empire after Babylon, which comprised 10 rulers of the Soviet Union.
(For further details on why Russia is the 7th empire with 10 kings see my article “Nostradamus and the Bible Seemingly Predict the Coming of Putin”: https://eli-kittim.tumblr.com/post/623534877070016512/nostradamus-and-the-bible-seemingly-predict-the).
The Super-Sign: Russian Ruler Will Come Back from the Dead
As we continue with Revelation 13’s account, it notes that the first beast had the feet of a bear (ἄρκου v. 2), which is the modern symbol of Russia. In verse 3 we are told in no uncertain terms that the dragon (Satan) gave the political leader of this nation (“him”; αὐτοῦ v. 1-2) his power and his throne, as well as great authority (ἐξουσίαν μεγάλην)! So, even though it speaks of an empire, Revelation 13 repeatedly talks of its leader as a person (αὐτοῦ), using the personal pronoun αὐτός, meaning “he.” Based on my extensive eschatological studies, this person will be the leader of Russia, during the Great Tribulation, who will rule a one-world government (v. 7) for 42 months (v. 5) or three and a half years!
Next, verse 3 tells us that he will die. In fact, he will be killed (ἐσφαγμένην v.3) by a sword (τὴν πληγὴν τῆς μαχαίρης v. 14). But he will also be miraculously resurrected, and the world will marvel at that event (ἡ πληγὴ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ ἐθεραπεύθη, καὶ ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ v.3). This will be the turning point or the super-sign of his rise to fame. The result is that every one on the planet will worship Satan, who gave his authority to the beast, but they will also worship the beast as well for his tremendous powers (v. 4, 12). They’ll worship him as a god, asking a rhetorical question: “Who is as great as the beast?” … “Who is able to fight against him?” (Rev. 13.4 NLT).
The Worship of Antichrist and the Tightening of his Grip on Power
He will speak of great things but will also blaspheme God, his name, his temple, as well as the heavenly host (v. 6). Then he will be successful in a sort of ethnic cleansing campaign in which he will exterminate the sacred or holy people and their religion, and will subsequently rule over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation (v. 7). In fact, all the inhabitants of the earth will worship him, at least all those who are not regenerated in Christ (v. 8). This is the same time period when imprisonments, executions, and divided loyalties (even among family members)——which Matthew 24.8-13 predicts——will occur (v. 10).
This is precisely why Matthew 24 repeatedly warns of deception, namely, of messianic figures who will claim to be the Christ, producing “great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Mt 24.4-5, 11, 23-26 NRSV). Let’s face it, who could resist admiring, if not worshiping, someone who just came back from the dead?
The Mark of the Beast
Revelation chapter 13 verse 16 makes clear that the beast is able to rule the whole world, and control commerce and trade, through a mandatory mark that all must receive in order to buy, or sell, or hold a job (v. 17). This mark (χάραγμα) is like an identification-marker or a “brand-mark” of a person. The word χάραγμα itself suggests something similar to a branding iron that is pressed against livestock in order to leave an identifying mark. It’s something akin to a fingerprint or a tattoo. Something along those lines was recently developed by MIT, embedding a person’s vaccination history directly into the skin, using a dye that’s invisible to the naked eye but visible with a special cell-phone filter. Similarly, a needle puncture is also said to be a “mark” made by a pointed instrument.
Government Surveillance Within YourSelf
Due to our current pandemic crisis——the worldwide lockdowns, quarantines, the emergence of new COVID-19 variants that have appeared as a result of mass vaccination, according to French virologist Luc Montagnier (Nobel Prize in medicine), and the increasing government policies to vaccinate every single individual on the planet——the so-called “mark” can certainly take the form of a needle injection. Given that the COVID passports will eventually become unique individual profiles (replacing fingerprints), the vaccinations themselves will require data entries and updates, close monitoring, nanotechnology, follow-ups, and the like. In short, they will become our profiles that, hooked up to computers, will tell a government employee or a doctor all they need to know about us. Not to mention that they will have tracking devices to know exactly where you are at any given moment.
We already have nanotechnology, like scanning probe microscopes that comprise imaging, measuring, and generally manipulating matter at the smallest possible scale. For example, Lipid nanoparticles are an important component of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. They’re liposomes which employ nanotechnology and are used for the efficient delivery of various therapeutics. This technology is already available and in use! This is scary because it implies potential government surveillance not from without but rather from within your own body.
It is, first and foremost, a violation of the right to privacy, namely, that an individual’s private information must not be made public without their consent. With the emergence of technology, however, our personal information has already ended up in the databases of third parties, sold to the highest bidder, not to mention the possibility of being hacked. This nanotechnology also violates our constitutional rights. In fact, a mandatory vaccine with surveillance capability would constitute a violation of the right to a person’s privacy. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution explicitly states:
[t]he right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated …
Social Conformity Imposed By Unethical Vaccinations
Not to mention that these vaccines are essentially unethical because they do not measure up to the medical guidelines for patient safety, which are best achieved by high standards and safety protocols. Rather, they were hastily distributed on the basis of “emergency use authorizations and approvals.” Typically, it takes at least 2 years for a vaccine to go through clinical trials in order to test its efficacy and adverse reactions. In the case of the current vaccines, it was several months. Moreover, if a potential vaccine kills 25 to 50 people, at most, it is discarded as unsafe. However, the current vaccines have killed over 4,000 people already and yet people continue to propagate fake news about its successes. Despite the adverse reactions——deaths, blood-clots, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, facial swelling & paralysis, myocarditis, severe anaphylaxis, and other medical concerns and complications that have put a halt to some vaccines, at least for a time——nevertheless they are relentlessly promoted as if they are wonder drugs and super-safe. And instead of years of testing and academic peer-review, they have been authorized for use on very short notice. That’s why if you decide to get vaccinated you’ll be asked to sign a consent form (i.e. a Waiver of Liability Agreement) so that they have “in writing” your consensual participation in an experimental drug, indicating that you fully understand the risks of the vaccine, which is authorized under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
Meanwhile, other cures like hydroxychloroquine (whose side effects are very mild by comparison) have been banned in the US. The stakeholders have conveniently banned this significantly safer treatment in order that you succumb to the vaccinations that are being aggressively imposed on you. And even when credible doctors, like Dr. Peter McCullough (Doctor of Internal Medicine & Board certified Cardiologist), voice their genuine concerns, they are usually censored and ostracised by the fake news media.
Vaccine Passports As a Form of Allegiance: the Initial Phase of Globalist Control
I’m not, by any means, suggesting that the COVID-19 vaccines are, in and of themselves, the mark of the beast. But I am warning that these soon-to-be-mandatory vaccines, and their associated passports, will be *used* by the Antichrist to control world commerce and trade in the near future. In other words, it’s not just social conformity and the subjugation of the masses by means of scare tactics with regard to a pandemic that is at stake, here, but, more importantly, the implantation of a digital vaccine ID that will eventually become a form of *technological allegiance* (i.e. surrendering your mind and body) to the Antichrist’s one-world government, which will ultimately seal people’s fates. The regenerated Christians, however, will be divergent! In the globalist agenda, the vaccine passports are simply the first phase of government conformity and allegiance!
Conclusion
The super-sign of the Antichrist will be the miraculous *resurrection* of a prominent figure, most probably a Russian leader! That will be the ultimate sign that will give away the identity of the Antichrist. That’s the deception that the Bible warned us about in Mt 24 and 2 Thess. 2.4, 9-12. The person that will be resurrected from the dead is not the Christ. The difference is this: whereas the Antichrist’s resurrection will propel him to world domination, Christ’s resurrection will trigger the rapture.
Moreover, if by “the mark of the beast” we mean some type of technological allegiance to the one-world government of the Antichrist, without which you can neither buy or sell (Rev. 13.17), then a vaccine passport would certainly qualify as “the mark of the beast.” And I haven’t even discussed the House of Representatives bill 6666 that would authorize COVID-19 “contact tracing [surveillance technology?], through mobile health units and, as necessary, at individuals' residences, and for other purposes.” (see congress.gov: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6666/all-info).
Thus, the introduction of internal surveillance technology (i.e. wireless biomedical data transmission and real-time monitoring), as well as the reprogramming of our DNA via such gene-modification technology, could certainly herald the Biblical end-times! And the Antichrist will most certainly use the dramatic advances in the “Human Vaccines Project” to his advantage in order to facilitate his primary plan for world domination!
How to Deal with Loneliness, Fears, Phobias, Depression, and Anxiety
By Eli Kittim (Psychologist & Biblical Researcher)
Loneliness, fears, phobias, depression, and anxiety are not so much reactions to real life situations as they are negative maladaptive thinking patterns. The cure or *remedy* lies in exposing the *falsehoods* or *false premises* that create them in the first place, thereby being able to change the negative maladaptive thinking patterns and their associated feelings and emotions. The way to apply this technique is through a process that the Buddhists call “mindfulness.” Christian mystics call it “guarding the heart.”
By constantly paying attention to your mind (i.e. being alert), you grant access to certain thoughts while refusing entry to others. Sometimes you’ll need to question the reliability and authenticity behind the premise of a thought before deciding to accept it as true or discard it as false. With practice, however, you will become successful in removing all forms of anxiety from your life by focusing on the false assumptions behind the negative thinking patterns as well as on the positive things that God has in store for you. 2 Corinthians 10.5 (NIV) explains this technique as follows:
We demolish arguments and every
pretension [or falsehood] that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God [or truth], and
we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ.
Dave Jenkins, the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine, and the Host of the Equipping You in Grace Podcast, put thusly the concept of the guarding of the heart:
For Christians to ‘guard their hearts and
minds’ in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7)
means for them to be alert, through Christ's
power and protection, to what enters and
dwells in their hearts, because the Bible
teaches that what we say and do, and who
we become is the result of the state of our
hearts.
To this end, Philippians 4.7 promises God’s protection:
And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.
In order to stay positive and hopeful——in counteracting loneliness, fear, depression, or any other negativity we might have——Paul insists that we should train our minds to entertain only thoughts that are true and beautiful (Philippians 4.8):
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable--if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy--think about such
things.
Science & God’s Existence
By Author Eli Kittim
Can We Reject Paul’s Vision Based On the Fact that No One Saw It?
Given that none of Paul’s companions saw or heard the content of his visionary experience (Acts 9), on the road to Damascus, some critics have argued that it must be rejected as unreliable and inauthentic. Let’s test that hypothesis. Thoughts are common to all human beings. Are they not? However, no one can “prove” that they have thoughts. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have any. Just because others can’t see or hear your thoughts doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Obviously, a vision, by definition, is called a “vision” precisely because it is neither seen nor observed by others. So, this preoccupation with “evidence” and “scientism” has gone too far. We demand proof for things that are real but cannot be proven. According to philosopher William Lane Craig, the irony is that science can’t even prove the existence of the external world, even though it presupposes it.
No one has ever seen an electron, or the substance we call “dark matter,” yet physicists presuppose them. Up until recently we could not see, under any circumstances, ultraviolet rays, X – rays, or gamma rays. Does that mean they didn’t exist before their detection? Of course not. Recently, with the advent of better instruments and technology we are able to detect what was once invisible to the human eye. Gamma rays were first observed in 1900. Ultraviolet rays were discovered in 1801. X-rays were discovered in 1895. So, PRIOR to the 19th century, no one could see these types of electromagnetic radiation with either the naked eye or by using microscopes, telescopes, or any other available instruments. Prior to the 19th century, these phenomena could not be established. Today, however, they are established as facts. What made the difference? Technology (new instruments)!
If you could go back in time to Ancient Greece and tell people that in the future they could sit at home and have face-to-face conversations with people who are actually thousands of miles away, would they have believed you? According to the empirical model of that day, this would have been utterly impossible! It would have been considered science fiction. My point is that what we cannot see today with the naked eye might be seen or detected tomorrow by means of newer, more sophisticated technologies!
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Can We Use The Scientific Model to Address Metaphysical Questions?
Using empirical methods of “observation” to determine what is true and what is false is a very *simplistic* way of understanding reality in all its complexity. For example, we don’t experience 10 dimensions of reality. We only experience a 3-dimensional world, with time functioning as a 4th dimension. Yet Quantum physics tells us there are, at least, 10 dimensions to reality: https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2014-12-universe-dimensions.amp
Prior to the discoveries of primitive microscopes, in the 17th century, you couldn’t see germs, bacteria, viruses, or microorganisms with the naked eye! For all intents and purposes, these microorganisms DID NOT EXIST! It would therefore be quite wrong to assume that, because a large number of people (i.e. a consensus) cannot see it, an unobservable phenomenon must be ipso facto nonexistent.
Similarly, prophetic experiences (e.g. visions) cannot be tested by any instruments of modern technology, nor investigated by the methods of science. Because prophetic experiences are of a different kind, the assumption that they do not have objective reality is a hermeneutical mistake that leads to a false conclusion. Physical phenomena are perceived by the senses, whereas metaphysical phenomena are not perceived by the senses but rather by pure consciousness. Therefore, if we use the same criteria for metaphysical perceptions that we use for physical ones (which are derived exclusively from the senses), that would be mixing apples and oranges. The hermeneutical mistake is to use empirical observation (that only tests physical phenomena) as “a standard” for testing the truth value of metaphysical phenomena. In other words, the criteria used to measure physical phenomena are quite inappropriate and wholly inapplicable to their metaphysical counterparts.
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Are the “Facts” of Science the Only Truth, While All Else is Illusion?
Whoever said that scientific “facts” are *necessarily* true? On the contrary, according to Bertrand Russell and Immanuel Kant, only a priori statements are *necessarily* true (i.e. logical & mathematical propositions), which are not derived from the senses! The senses can be deceptive. That’s why every 100 years or so new “facts” are discovered that replace old ones. So what happened to the old facts? Well, they were not necessarily true in the epistemological sense. And this process keeps repeating seemingly ad infinitum. If that is the case, how then can we trust the empirical model, devote ourselves to its shrines of truth, and worship at its temples (universities)? Read the “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn, a classic book on the history of science and how scientific paradigms change over time.
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Cosmology, Modern Astronomy, & Philosophy Seem to Point to the Existence of God
If you studied cosmology and modern astronomy, you would be astounded by the amazing beauty, order, structure, and precision of the various movements of the planets and stars. The Big Bang Theory is the current cosmological model which asserts that the universe had a beginning. Astoundingly, the very first line of the Bible (the opening sentence, i.e. Gen. 1.1) makes the exact same assertion. The fine tuning argument demonstrates how the slightest change to any of the fundamental physical constants would have changed the course of history so that the evolution of the universe would not have proceeded in the way that it did, and life itself would not have existed. What is more, the cosmological argument demonstrates the existence of a “first cause,” which can be inferred via the concept of causation. This is not unlike Leibniz’ “principle of sufficient reason” nor unlike Parmenides’ “nothing comes from nothing” (Gk. οὐδὲν ἐξ οὐδενός; Lat. ex nihilo nihil fit)! All these arguments demonstrate that there must be a cosmic intelligence (i.e. a necessary being) that designed and sustained the universe.
We live in an incredibly complex and mysterious universe that we sometimes take for granted. Let me explain. The Earth is constantly traveling at 67,000 miles per hour and doesn’t collide with anything. Think about how fast that is. The speed of an average bullet is approximately 1,700 mph. And the Earth’s speed is 67,000 mph! That’s mind-boggling! Moreover, the Earth rotates roughly 1,000 miles per hour, yet you don’t fall off the grid, nor do you feel this gyration because of gravity. And I’m not even discussing the ontological implications of the enormous information-processing capacity of the human brain, its ability to invent concepts, its tremendous intelligence in the fields of philosophy, mathematics, and the sciences, and its modern technological innovations.
It is therefore disingenuous to reduce this incredibly complex and extraordinarily deep existence to simplistic formulas and pseudoscientific oversimplifications. As I said earlier, science cannot even “prove” the existence of the external world, much less the presence of a transcendent one. The logical positivist Ludwig Wittgenstein said that metaphysical questions are unanswerable by science. Yet atheist critics are incessantly comparing Paul’s and Jesus’ “experiences” to the scientific model, and even classifying them as deliberate literary falsehoods made to pass as facts because they don’t meet scholarly and academic parameters. The present paper has tried to show that this is a bogus argument! It does not simply question the “epistemological adequacy” of atheistic philosophies, but rather the methodological (and therefore epistemic) legitimacy of the atheist program per se.
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Polytheism Versus Monotheism
By Biblical Researcher and Award-Winning Author, Eli Kittim
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The First Cause
Some Bible critics have argued that there maybe other gods in the universe. However, the Bible itself claims that there’s only one God. Now, you may see that as circular reasoning but there are also valid philosophical arguments which demonstrate that there can only be one cause to the universe, to wit, a “first cause.” Philosophy does not posit a multiplicity of first causes but rather the existence of a single, first cause, just as other theosophical and spiritual traditions have also posited a single incorporeal first cause. Let’s not forget that we’re not talking about a genus, a multiplicity of “contingent” beings, but about the source of everything, a “necessary” being that is beyond time and space and beyond being. If there were two such beings, then neither of them would be god. There can only be one maximally great being that can exist in every possible world.
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The Cosmological Argument
Plato (c. 427–347 BCE), in the Timaeus dialogue, posited a "demiurge" of absolute intelligence as the creator of the universe. Plotinus, a 3rd century Neoplatonist philosopher from Alexandria, claimed that the “One” transcendent absolute caused the cosmos to come into being as a result of its existence (creatio ex deo). Proclus (412–485 CE), his disciple, later clarified that “The One is God.”
Similarly, according to Aristotle, the “unmoved mover” (Gk. ὃ οὐ κινούμενον κινεῖ, lit. “that which moves without being moved”) or “prime mover” is the main cause (or first uncaused cause) of all the motion in the cosmos but is not itself moved or caused by any previous action or causation. Notice that the so-called “first cause” arguments do not entail multiplicity or diversity but rather unity and oneness.
In other words, nothing can come into being from nothing. Think about everything you see around you: your house, your car, your phone, your computer, your clothes, your food, your furniture, your TV, your parents, your friends, even yourself. Everything comes from something else. And the further back you go in time, in trying to unravel what caused what, the more you realize that everything came from something else. Someone or something either designed it, produced it, formed it, or gave it birth. If there were 2 gods, we would have to ask who came first? Who brought the second god into being?
However, the cosmological argument necessarily presupposes a single cause, which itself was never caused, namely, a timeless being, capable of creating everything (i.e. all contingent beings). Otherwise, if there was no first “unmoved mover,” there would be an infinite regress of causal dependency ad infinitum. This “first cause” can therefore be inferred via the concept of causation. This is not unlike Leibniz’ “principle of sufficient reason” nor unlike Parmenides’ “nothing comes from nothing” (Gk. οὐδὲν ἐξ οὐδενός; Lat. ex nihilo nihil fit)! All these arguments demonstrate not only that there must be a “necessary” being that designed and sustained the universe, but also that there can only be “one” such being!
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The One God of the Old Testament
Epistemology is a philosophical branch that questions the conditions required for a belief to constitute knowledge. The possible sources of knowledge that could justify a belief are based on perception, memory, reason, and testimony. Thus, divine revelation, which was subsequently transcribed or inscripturated, would certainly qualify as “testimony.”
There are multiple passages in both Testaments of the Bible where God declares to be without a counterpart: without an equal. Similar to the “Absolute Being” of philosophy which is logically inferred as a single, first cause, the Old Testament clearly affirms the existence of only one God. So, the uniqueness of a single God can also be attested by Divine Revelation. Scripture is therefore a witness to the reality of God’s existence as being unparalleled and unique. For example, in Isaiah 44.6-7 (NRSV), God declares that there are no other gods in the universe except him. He exclaims:
I am the first and I am the last; besides me
there is no god. Who is like me? Let them
proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth
before me.
In Isaiah 42.8, God states that he doesn’t share his glory with anyone. He alone is God without equal or rival:
I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I
give to no other, nor my praise to idols.
Moreover, in Isaiah 43.10-11, God declares categorically and unequivocally that there were no gods formed before him, nor will there be any gods formed after him:
Before me no god was formed, nor shall
there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and
besides me there is no savior.
This truth is reiterated several times in Isaiah 45.18, 21:
For thus says the Lord, who created the
heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth
and made it (he established it; he did not
create it a chaos, he formed it to be
inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no
other.
There is no other god besides me, a
righteous God and a Savior; there is no one
besides me.
This assertion, of course, implies that there are not multiple gods that receive many different forms of religious worship but rather a single Godhead sans equal.
In Isaiah 46.9-10, God sets a unique standard against which all other theories are measured, namely, the fulfillment of prophecy. That is to say, no one else can predict the future except God himself:
I am God, and there is no other; I am God,
and there is no one like me, declaring the
end from the beginning and from ancient
times things not yet done.
Similarly, 2 Sam. 7.22 seems to attest to the truth of God’s oneness by way of divine revelation (cf. 2 Pet 1.18):
You are great, O Lord God; for there is no
one like you, and there is no God besides
you, according to all that we have heard
with our ears.
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The One God of the New Testament
When we turn to the Christian scriptures, we find the exact same theme concerning one God who reigns supreme above humanity and the heavenly host. At no point in Scripture is there any hint that there are other gods that exist beside the God of the Old and New Testaments. John 17.3, for instance, brings to bear the authority of Scripture on the matter by calling the source of all creation “the only true God.” Critics of the Trinity (who view it as polytheistic) should be rebuffed because in the Johannine gospel Jesus clearly establishes that there’s *one essence* between himself and God. He proclaims, “The Father and I are one” (10.30).
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds that God is one God, but three coeternal, consubstantial persons or hypostases—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—as "one God in three Divine Persons". The three Persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature" (homoousios). Paul the apostle also knows through direct revelations that “God is one” (Rom. 3.30). Paul understands that the Triune God is not equivalent to multiple gods but is rather a *monotheistic supreme deity* (1 Cor. 8.6 emphasis added):
there is ONE GOD, the Father, from whom
are all things and for whom we exist, and
one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are
all things and through whom we exist.
Colossians 1.15-16 explains that no other god or gods created the universe except God the Father (the source) through his Son (who is his image or reflection):
He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation; for in him all
things in heaven and on earth were created,
things visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or powers—all things
have been created through him and for him.
1 Tim. 2.5 basically reiterates the exact same concept of the ONE GOD, not as 2 or 3 separate beings, but as ONE BEING (in multiple persons):
For there is one God; there is also one
mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human.
Similarly, Hebrews 1.2-3 reveals the exact same *truth* regarding a single God and his Son, “through whom he also created the worlds”:
in these last days he [God] has spoken to
us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, through whom he also created the
worlds. He [Christ] is the reflection of God's
glory and the exact imprint of God's very
being, and he sustains all things by his
powerful word.
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God is Truth & Does Not Lie
The Bible repeatedly reminds us that God is truth, holiness, and veritable love itself, and therefore he does not lie. The Old Testament verifies his truthfulness by instructing us to imitate his holiness. Exodus 20.16 says,
You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor.
Proverbs 12.22 reads:
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
What is more, there are many Bible passages that demonstrate unlimited confidence in God’s honesty, transparency, and accountability. Titus 1.1-2 (emphasis added) is such a passage:
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of
Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of
God's elect and the knowledge of the truth
that is in accordance with godliness, in the
hope of eternal life that God, WHO NEVER
LIES, promised before the ages began—
In John 17.17 (ESV), Jesus himself says to God the Father:
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is
truth.
This is reminiscent of Isaiah 65.16 (ESV) which calls the creator, “the God of truth.” He is similarly acknowledged in Deuteronomy 32.4 (NKJV) as “A God of truth and without injustice.”
In Numbers 23.19 (NRSV), God is further attested as a higher-being whose good character precludes deception and lies:
God is not a human being, that he should
lie, or a mortal, that he should change his
mind. Has he promised, and will he not do
it?
Moreover, the doctrine of the Immutability of God describes an attribute of God which prevents him from changing his will or character. It implies that He will make good on all of his promises. Hebrews 6:18 (ICB) puts it thusly:
These two things cannot change. God
cannot lie when he makes a promise, and
he cannot lie when he makes an oath.
These things encourage us who came to
God for safety. They give us strength to
hold on to the hope we have been given.
Conclusion
This life has no guarantees. So, from an interdisciplinary perspective, when there are multiple lines of evidence concerning one God——coupled with cases abounding in the “religious-experience literature” down through the ages——the *testimony* becomes rather robust and trustworthy! In other words, the religious testimony is ipso facto a possible source of knowledge. And this global testimony——which goes far beyond the Judeo-Christian Bible and includes other world religions——indicates that only one God exists. If we add the philosophical arguments that also assert a first cause regarding everything that has been created in the cosmos, then we can safely say that there can only be one God that is responsible for creating and sustaining the universe!
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How Did God Inspire the Biblical Authors?
By Goodreads Author Eli Kittim
Our Teacher Should Be the Holy Spirit
Before I venture out to expound on how Biblical “inspiration” occurs, it’s important to first say a few words about who determines the “meaning” of a text. In other words, where should we get our “hermeneutic” from? Should we draw it from our personal responses? Or should we conform to what the scholars say? But isn’t that still speculation and conjecture either way? Yes, it is! And it could be totally wrong, even if it’s a long-held consensus held by leading scholars! So what determines the meaning of a text? Is it Bible-study tools? No because they only give us a partial understanding. The short answer is: the Holy Spirit! Just as the Holy Spirit is responsible for “inspiring” the Biblical authors, so it is also responsible for communicating the “meaning” to its “recipients.” However, its recipients are not just anyone. They are neither those who openly profess to be “reborn” Christians nor those who post Facebook memes, “Repent or Go to Hell.” Rather, they’re the true, authentic Christians who don’t show off and hardly ever talk about their status as saved believers. Unbeknownst to the Cessationists, they hear from God “directly.” And they can interpret the Bible not based on current theological trends or methods of exegesis but on the word of the Spirit! So, they are “in the know.” Ideally, this is where the meaning of Scripture should come from! Bible-study tools won’t reveal these meanings no matter how sophisticated they might be. Now, let’s get back to the concept of Biblical “inspiration.”
Can the Bible Limit What God Can and Cannot Do?
There are many modern Biblical interpreters who hold to a form of “Pelagianism.” In ancient times, the Pelagian heresy comprised the Christian theological position that the human will alone is capable of choosing the good without the assistance of grace or any divine aid. Even Jesus’ salvific atonement becomes ultimately irrelevant in this view. These people, and I have met quite a few of them, don’t believe that the Spirit plays any significant role in our salvation. According to them, all we need to do is to follow the external dictates of the Bible. In this view, the Bible replaces God and thus becomes God-like, so to speak. Besides contradicting large portions of the New Testament, this position is also heretical in another way because it presents a counterfeit Christianity; that is to say, it presents the exact opposite of what authentic salvation truly consists of. It rejects inward spiritual experiences that lead to true “union” with God and promotes only an external form of obedience to rules and regulations. Jesus himself explains that such people don’t know God; they have neither heard from him nor do they know his “word”:
“You have never heard his voice or seen his
form, and you do not have his word abiding
in you, because you do not believe him
whom he has sent” (Jn 5.27-38).
Jesus nails it. Their erroneous doctrine is based on disbelief. In essence, they don’t even believe in Jesus. He goes on to say:
“You search the Scriptures because you
think that in them you have eternal life; it is
these that testify about Me” (Jn 5.39).
So, for them, the Bible has supplanted the Godhead and has become their “god.” It’s no longer God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit who holds sway but rather the Bible per se and nothing but the Bible. That’s a form of idol-worship where “a means to an end” has suddenly become an end in itself! The King-James Only cult is a case in point!
The Dictation Theory
What is more, as far as Biblical inspiration is concerned, most modern scholars typically say that the Holy Spirit did not give the New Testament authors each and every word by dictation. To which I say, why not? They try desperately to fit in with the modern-secular, liberal culture that does not believe in supernatural phenomena and mocks all forms of divine communications. And yet, according to the Bible, these communications do exist (see 2 Tim. 3:16–17)!
The Bible stands or falls on the presence or absence of these divine communications. What ever happened to the Old Testament declaration: “Thus says the LORD”? Why water it down? Why dilute it to make it more palatable to the masses? Either God communicates with the human family or he doesn’t. In other words, either the Bible is the word of God or it isn’t. It’s that simple. By comparison, you’re either pregnant or you’re not. There’s no in between. Either God directly spoke to Isaiah and to Jeremiah or he didn’t. If he did, the Bible is transcribing divine communications. If he didn’t, then the Bible is the word of man. But if God indeed spoke to Isaiah, why couldn’t he equally speak to the Biblical authors, giving them the precise words audibly? After all, the authors themselves claimed to have heard God speak, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3.17). Besides, Jesus himself openly declares:
“For I did not speak on my own, but the
Father who sent me commanded me to say
all that I have spoken” (Jn 12.49).
If God has spoken directly in Isaiah 6.7, Jeremiah 26.2, Ezek. 28.2, John 2.1, 8, and also through Jesus (Jn 12.49), why wouldn’t he speak directly to the Biblical authors as well? It’s akin to when “Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him” (Jer. 36.4).
The Dictation Theory Has Been Greatly Misunderstood
The reason most scholars don’t accept the dictation theory is because it seems to suggest that the Holy Spirit inscribed the words of Scripture through the agency of human authors who were somehow under God’s full control, in a state of passivity (perhaps in a trance), in which God dictated each and every word with perfect accuracy. In other words, scholars totally mischaracterize this communication process, as if they’re talking about zombies, automatons, people half-asleep, on sodium pentothal, under hypnosis, somnambulism, or the walking dead. In other words, the dictation theory has often been mistaken for the mechanical view of inspiration, such as automatic writing, and the like.
This mischaracterization and distortion stems from the fact that these scholars don’t yet fully understand what salvation really is, that is to say, what the relationship of the regenerated person to God consists of. Actually, by default, a regenerated person is already under the control of God, so that they don’t have to pass out or become an automaton in order to hear God’s voice. In other words, God communicates with them naturally, without restriction or interference, via a form of interpersonal communication while they are physically and cognitively stable, completely aware, and fully conscious! Therefore, the authentic, born-again Christians are already under God’s control and don’t need altered states of consciousness in order to hear God’s voice. Given that they are already sons of God (Jn 1.12-13), “born of the Spirit” of God (Jn 3.5-6), they hear God all the time (Jn 10.14, 27, 28)!
Stylistic Differences May Reflect the Source Rather Than the Authors
As for the argument pertaining to the stylistic differences between the New Testament authors, which suggests a variety of different personalities at work——consequently ruling out the possibility of verbatim-dictation from a single source——my reply is, why couldn’t the “stylistic differences” reflect the source rather than the authors? In other words, perhaps the texts reflect the Spirit itself——setting the context and content in various ways within the different compositions——rather than the individual personalities of the authors. After all, Heb. 1.1 says that “God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets.” That’s why we can find verbal agreements between disparate texts. For example, we read in the Old Testament narrative of Exodus 34.29 that Moses’ “face shone” (Hb. qaran; meaning “shine”) and then, lo and behold, we find the exact same equivalent words used in the Greek New Testament (Matthew 17.2) to say that Jesus’ “face shone” (Gk. ἔλαμψεν; meaning “shine”). Two completely different authors with completely different writing styles and languages, writing from two completely different time periods and locations, with over 1,000 years separating the two texts, and yet we find verbal agreements! Why? Same source; same Spirit dictating the exact same words through different languages and styles. Such verbal agreements and parallels abound in Scripture. Otherwise, if it was left up to each and every individual author to write whatever they wanted, then it would obviously be the word of man and should not be accepted as the word of God.
Biblical Interpretation Should Be Based Entirely on Biblical Inspiration
Furthermore, Biblical interpretation should be based entirely on the Spirit, not on guess-work. Being partly-right doesn’t cut it because it implies that we may also be partly-wrong. Either we know what’s going on or we don’t:
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide
you into all the truth; for he will not speak on
his own, but will speak whatever he hears,
and he will declare to you the things that
are to come [ἐρχόμενα]” (Jn 16.13).
In other words, those who are indwelt by the Spirit walk by the Spirit and are constantly informed by the Spirit who guides them “into all the truth.”
Conclusion
Therefore, based on the aforementioned reasons, it seems indisputable that the Spirit of God inspired the Biblical authors by giving them each and every word by dictation. For God speaks to us directly, but only those who belong to him can actually hear his voice. The following quote demonstrates that Scripture (which is almost entirely prophetic) was not left to the discretion of the individual authors but that the authors were “carried along by the Holy Spirit” when they “spoke from God”:
“for no prophecy was ever produced by the
will of man, but men carried along by the
Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1.21).
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