So, I got my first Muslim spammer/spambot/troll message on YouTube today. I won't bore you with the details of their message (given that it is your standard Islamic apologetics/polemics,) but this is my response to them. I thought I would post it here because: a) it seemed a good thing to blog about and b) it is long enough to fill up a proper blog post and saves me from coming up with something else. Either way, enjoy!
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The Holy Trinity is revealed both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Trinity is revealed in subtle ways; in the New Testament, the Trinity is revealed fully and plainly, beginning at the Baptism of our Lord.
The Holy Trinity is one God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These persons are distinct but not separate, and are not three gods. They are one God because They are one in essence or nature. The Father is the unbegotten Fountainhead of Deity. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father (John 1:18; 3:16; 16:28.) The Holy Spirit is the Helper (John 14:16) and Spirit of Truth (John 14:17; 16:13,) who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26.)
Genesis 1:1 - God the Father created the heavens and the earth. The Creed says: "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and the earth."
Genesis 1:2 - The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit. He hovered over creation in creative power and equality with the Father. He co-created with the Father.
Genesis 1:-3 - As the Word of God, the Son made the light (John 1:1-3.) With creative power and equality with the Father, He also co-created with the Father and the Spirit.
Genesis 1:26 - The pronouns "Us" and "Our" reveal a plurality of divine Persons. These Persons are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit operating in complete unity of the one divine Nature.
The Church fathers teach that the Father made heaven and earth through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Trinity made heaven and earth, and the Church sings, "We glorify the Father, we exalt the Son, and we worship the Holy Spirit - the indivisible Trinity who exists as One - the Light and Lights, the Life and Lives, who grants light and life to the ends of the world."
Genesis 1:26-30 - The Trinity also made man. God the Father is speaking to God the Son, and He uses the personal pronouns Us and Our. These pronouns indicate three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as noted in 1:1-3. The word image is in the singular, and shows the three distinct Persons of the Holy Trinity are one in nature and undivided. For it does not say, "Our images." Therefore, the Holy Trinity is one undivided nature in three distinct Persons. Man is not one in nature with the Holy Trinity. But He was made in the image and likeness of the Holy Trinity; and he was made male and female. Therefore, the dignity of each man and each woman is this image and likeness.
Genesis 2:7 - God formed Adam's body out of dust from the ground. The breath of life is the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life (the Creed.) God breathed the breath of life into man's body, and he became a living soul. Therefore, Adam was a living soul because he possessed a body, a soul, and the grace of the Holy Spirit. After He rose from the dead, Jesus breathed on His disciples, and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22.) For man failed to keep the grace of the Spirit, but through His Resurrection Jesus supplies His disciples abundantly with the life-giving grace of the Spirit. A disciple's responsibility is to live by this grace.
Genesis 2:8-17 - God gave man a place and a law. The place was Paradise, and the laws was the commandment given in 2:16-17. Man was to obey this commandment through the grace of God the Word. If he was obedient, he would enjoy the blessings of Paradise. But if he were to disobey the commandment, eh would die and his body would decay in the grace ("die by death.")
Genesis 2:18-25 - God, not man, established the law of marriage; therefore, marriage is holy. In the marriage union, the husband and the wife become one flesh (Genesis 2:24,) which St. Paul calls "a great mystery" (Ephesians 5:32.) This mystery is so great and wonderful that a man will leave his father and mother with the blessing and be joined to a woman in marriage. This joining, he will be devoted to her with sacrificial love and devotion, and she to him. This great mystery points to the greater mystery: the marriage of Christ to His Bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33.) For He left His Father and became Man to seek a Bride. He loved His bride and gave His life for here. And in his divine vision of the new heaven and earth, the apostle John saw this Bride, the "New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:1, 2.)
Genesis 3:1-7 - The serpent is the devil (2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9,) and he tempted Eve. He contradicted God's commandment (Genesis 2:16, 17) by denying death and decay in the grace as the penalty for disobedience (you shall not die by death.) He also tempted Eve with the promise of deification (you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.) But becoming like God comes through obedience to God, not through disobedience. Nevertheless, Eve was deceived, and thus disobeyed God. She, in turn, gave the fruit to her husband and he ate. In his disobedience, he willed contrary to the will of God, and thus ate. His free will was the first thing to suffer in the Fall, and thus is the first thing that needs healing in man.
Christ, by His death and Resurrection, conquered the devil and death, freeing mankind from the dear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15) an making possible a more complete communion between God and man than was ever possible before. This communion allows people to become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4,) to transcend death and, ultimately, the consequences of the Fall.
Genesis 3:8 - Adam and Eve now had a fallen will and tried to hide from God. Fallen man now has a fallen will, thus he has a tendency to run away from God. But the grace of Christ heals the will of those who return to Him through repentance, so they might freely pursue God and do His will.
Genesis 3:15 - The woman's seed is first Christ, and second His Church (Galatians 3:16, 26.) The serpent's seed as those who reject Christ and follow the devil (1 John 3:8-10.) Christ destroyed the devil through the cross (bruise your head.)
Genesis 3:24 - Because of Adam, man is born outside of Paradise. The tree of life prefigures Christ, though whom man regains Paradise.
Genesis 9:8-16 - Noah's seed is Christ (Luke 3:23, 36,) and the everlasting covenant (Genesis 9:16) is the new covenant God established in Him. God's rainbow in the clouds is His sign of the covenant.
Genesis 9:26 - Not only did the Lord God bless Noah Genesis 9:1,) but Noah blessed Him. Many Scriptures speak to this. For example, the Psalmist said, "For my foot stands in uprightness;/ In the Churches I will bless You, O Lord" (Psalms 25:12, Vesting Service.) Noah blessed God because of Shem, through whom Christ would come to save the world (Luke 3:36.)
Genesis 11:6 - Mankind was united as one race and one language. But this unity existed without the Holy Trinity, for man's true unity is union and communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Church is "the race of Christians" (Kairon Service,) "a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9,) and glorifies God "with... one mouth" (Romans 15:6.) In the Great Litany, the Church prays "for the union of all men," a holy union based on the Holy Trinity.
Genesis 11:8 - The Lord divided this false unity for the sake of man's salvation, that man might seeks and find Him (Acts 17:26-28.) For they sought to build their unity by making a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4.) They cared nothing for the Lord God, by which man is saved.
Genesis 12:1-7 - "The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets" (Creed.) He spoke through the prophet Moses, who wrote this Scripture. Thus, St. Paul said, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by their faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, 'In you all the nations shall be blessed" (Galatians 3:8.) Thus the Holy Spirit preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. The Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write in Genesis 12:1 that the Lord said to Abram this scripture. Who is this Lord? He is God the Father, as St. Paul indicated in Galatians 3:8: "God would justify the Gentiles by faith." Thus, the Father preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. In Genesis 12:7, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write that the Lord appeared to Abraham and spoke to him. Who is this Lord who appeared? The Holy Spirit identified Him in Genesis 15:1 as the Word of the Lord whom Abraham saw in a vision, and He identified Him as the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 16:7, 9, 10, 11, and 13. This Word is the Son of God and the Angel is also the Son of God, for He was no created angel. "He is called Angel because He alone reveals the Father (St. Athanasius.) Thus, the Son also preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, for the Father always speaks through His Word. Therefore, when one person of the Trinity is present and working, the other two Persons are also present in one and the same working for the salvation of man. The Father works through the Son and in the Spirit.
Genesis 12:8 - Abraham is the father of all the faithful (Romans 4:11.) Since he built an altar of worship, therefore an altar is part of his faith. Bethel means "house of God," which foreshadows the Church as the house of God. The altar is central to worship. At the altar, the Church calls on the name of the Lord, as did Abraham.
Genesis 15:1-3 - The Word of the Lord is the Word of the Father. He is also the Son of God. Abraham saw God the Word in a vision. Thus, he saw Him before He became incarnate, as did the other Old Testament prophets.
Genesis 15:4 - The Voice of the Lord is also the Word of the father. He reassures Abraham that his heir will come from Abraham's own body. This refers to the birth of Isaac, based on God's promise. For man is saved by this promise through faith in Christ (Romans 4:17-25; 9:7, 8.)
Genesis 15:6 - Abraham believed in the promise in Genesis 12:1, and continued to believe it in Genesis 15:5. For Abraham's faith was living and growing - something dynamic. He was made righteous by this faith. So are both Jews and Gentiles. Righteousness is the gift of God through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17.)
Genesis 15:7 - God the Word said to Abraham, "I am the God who brought you out Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." Thus, He identifies Himself as God. The Creed calls Him "True God of True God." For He is the Only-begotten of the Father, through whom the Father speaks and reveals Himself.
Genesis 15:8 - Abraham calls the Word his own Master and Lord, and thus recognises His divinity. The Church does the same thing.
Genesis 16:7 - The Lord is the Father, and the Angel is His Son. And the prophet Isaiah calls Him "the Angel of Great Counsel" (Isaiah 9:5.) "The Son is called Angel because He alone reveals the Father" (St. Athanasius.)
Genesis 16:9 - Since He is God, the Angel command Hagar. She obeyed (Genesis 16:15.) This Angel is the Word of God. "I will surely multiply your seed exceedingly, that it may not be counted because of its multitude." No created angel can do this. The Angel is God the Son.
Genesis 16:13 - Hagar called the Angel who appeared to her both Lord and God. The Church knows Him as the Only-begotten of the Father (John 1.) As the Father's Only-begotten, He is "true God of true God" (Creed.) One meaning of the name God is, You are the God who sees me. The Only-begotten sees everything. So do God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 17:1 - Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael (Genesis 16:16,) the Lord appeared to Abram again and identified Himself as God, for He said to him, "I am your God." This appearance is another of the personal appearances of the Son of God to Abraham.
Genesis 17:2-4 - The covenant that is established "in Christ" (Galatians 3:17.) God established it before the Mosaic covenant. Therefore, the Law of Moses, which came later, could not cancel it. Abraham's faith is multiplied exceedingly in the Church. For he is the father of many nations (see also Romans 4:16, 17.)
Genesis 17:7 - The God of the everlasting covenant is the Holy Trinity, for the Son is God of God, the Only-begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit is also God of God, for He "proceeds from the Father" (Creed.)
Genesis 18:1-3 - The Holy Spirit says through the prophet Moses that God appeared to Abraham. This is another personal appearance of the Son of God to him. He saw thee men standing before him, but he worshipped only one of them as Lord, for He is Lord and God. The other two are called "angels" (Genesis 19:1.) The Son of God is Lord of all the angels.
Genesis 19:1 - The Holy Spirit through the prophet Moses calls two of the three men angels. When they arrived in Sodom, they met Lot at the gate.
Genesis 19:2 - Lot paid the angels due respect by calling them lords, but he did not worship them, for they were created beings.
Genesis 19:13 - The third man was the Lord, the Son of God, and he sent the other two to Sodom to destroy it.
Genesis 19:18 - Lot spoke to all three men, but prayed to the Lord in particular.
Genesis 19:24 - The Lord rained brimstone and fire... from the Lord out of heaven, that is, the Son rained brimstone and fire from the Father (St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Ambrose, St. Hilary of Poitiers.) Both have the name "Lord" because of Their equality and oneness of Lordship. For in Their essence, the Two are One and undivided (Creed.) The Holy Spirit, who spoke this scripture through the prophet Moses, is also one in Lordship with the Father and the Son, for as the Creed says, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord... who proceeds from the Father." The destruction of Sodom and the adjoining city of Gomorrah is a warning to the ungodly concerning the Day of Judgement (2 Peter 2:6, 9; Jude 7.)
Genesis 20:2 - The city of Gerar was not Abraham's true city, for it was given to idolatry. The Gerarites worshipped the god Dagon (3 Kingdoms 5:2) and the goddess Ashtaroth (3 Kingdoms 31:10.) But when the Son of God became incarnate, and the word of the gospel went out to Gerar, idolatry in that place was destroyed. A church and a monastery were established there. One of its bishops, Marcian, attended the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. Truly, the city embraced the faith of Abraham.
Genesis 21:1 - The Son of God visited Sarah and fulfilled the promise He had given in Genesis 18:10 (St. Hilary of Poitiers.) Abraham and Sarah would have a son in their old age.
Genesis 21:17 - The Angel of God is the Son of God. He told Hagar that God, that is God the Father, had heard Ishmael's crying. "The Son is called Angel for He alone reveals the Father" (St. Athanasius.)
Genesis 21:18 - The Angel told Hagar He Himself (I will make) would make a great nation of Ishmael. Therefore, this Angel is God (see also, Genesis:19, 20,) for God alone can do such a thing. This Angel is not a created angel, but the Son of God Himself. And why would He make a great nation of Ishmael? Because after His Incarnation, Ishmael's descendants would embrace Abraham's faith based on the word of promise.
Genesis 24:7 - The Lord's Angel is the Son of God. The word angel also means messenger. In this meaning it is also akin to the term word. The Son of God is called both Angel and Word, for "He alone reveals the Father" (St. Athanasius.) Both names emphasise that the Son is the Will of God the Father. Thus, God spoke to Abraham through His will, and told him to leave his father's house for the lad of promise. The words He will send His angel before were prophesied by Abraham to his servant. He spoke these words by the Holy Spirit, as the Creed says: "I believe in the Holy Spirit... who spoke by the prophets."
Genesis 31:13 - In verse 11, the name "God" refers to the Father. But in this verse, the Angel is called the God who appeared. Thus, the Son is "true God of true God" (Creed.)
Isaiah 63:16 - The Father is our Redeemer. He not only created the world but redeems it as well.
Psalm 2:7, 8 - The Father's decree reveals the Son as inheriting the world. This inheritance is the people saved by the Son.
Isaiah 6:1-3: The words "Holy, Holy, Holy," declare the three Persons who save us. The name "Lord" declares the one essence of the Three.
Isaiah 44:3 - The Father pours out His Spirit on people like water on dry ground. The Holy Spirit quenches the thirst of the person who thirst for salvation.
Isaiah 48:16, 17 - The Son declares that the Father and the Spirit sent Him to redeem the world. Although the Son alone became a Man, all three Persons save mankind.
John 1:1-3 - The Word is the Son of God, who was present with the Father at the beginning of creation. He was Co-worker with the Father in creating the world.
John 8:58 - Jesus identifies Himself as having existed before Abraham. Before His coming in the flesh as Man, Jesus existed as the eternal Son of the Father, for He is begotten from the Father before all time and ages. He appeared to Moses in the burning bush and proclaimed Himself "I Am" (Exodus 3.)
Acts 2:17 - The Holy Spirit's descent at Pentecost affirms His presence in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32.)
Hebrews 1:8-10 - This Scripture affirms the Father is speaking to the Son in Psalms 44:7 and 101:26-28, in which the Father acknowledges the Son as God and Creator of the world. For the Son was the Father's Co-worker in creation.
Luke 1:35 - At the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit, the "power" if God the Father ("the Highest,") overshadowed the Virgin Mary; and she gave birth to So of God in His flesh.
Matthew 3:16-17 - When the Son of God was baptised in the Jordan by John, the Father's voice was heard from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove. As the main hymn for the Feast of Theophany says, "When You, O Lord, were baptised in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest."
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty of heaven and earth, and of all thing visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-Begotten, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven an was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made Man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the profits. And I believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
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