randal says:
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 1:22pm
Jesus had all sorts of false beliefs in the kenosis of the incarnation. Why couldn’t this be one of them?
RD RAUSER SAID:
David, you're right. The passage Steve quoted is fully consistent with a Chalcedonian christology. I said nothing there about kenoticism.
Luke 2 explicitly affirms that Jesus gained in wisdom and knowledge.
Steve seems to have so much antagonism toward me that he's inventing things to disagree about.
i) Rauser’s second comment direct contradicts his first comment. Far from inventing things, I quoted him verbatim.
He said “nothing there about kenoticism”? To the contrary, he said “Jesus had all sorts of false beliefs in the kenosis of the incarnation.”
ii) It isn’t clear why he cites Lk 2 to prooftext his own position. After all, Rauser assures us that Scripture is chock-full of error. So maybe this is one of Luke’s many mistaken claims.
iii) The passage about Jesus’ maturation is also irrelevant to the case at hand. The question at issue is the public teaching of Christ. Here’s a more pertinent passage:
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure (Jn 3:34).
a) In context, this statement has reference to the Father anointing Jesus with the Spirit of God (cf. Jn 1:32-33).
b) What distinguishes a true prophet from a false prophet is that a true prophet speaks the very words of God. And a true prophet is enabled to speak God’s words because God endows him with the Spirit.
However, prophetic inspiration is intermittent. A prophet speaks the word of God whenever the Spirit of God comes upon him. Whenever God has a message for the prophet to deliver.
By contrast, the Father gives Jesus the Spirit “without measure.” Jesus continuously speaks the word of God because Jesus is continuously endowed by the Spirit of God.
Therefore, Jesus is infallible–unless you think God is fallible.
Reading Albert Mohler's article on the Dutch church (titled A Laboratory for Christianity's Destruction) I couldn't help but think of Randal Rauser.
ReplyDeleteMohler cites a Dutch pastor who no longer believes that God is a person and another who believes Jesus wasn't God, just a good person tapping into the spirit of God within himself.
Of course, Rauser would vehemently deny this sort of thing I'm sure. But what made me think of Rauser is what Mohler went on to observe:
"The Dutch ministers featured in this report dismiss the doctrines of biblical Christianity as 'outside of people' and 'rigid things you can’t touch any more.' Like the liberal theologians of the last two centuries, they insist that the 'real meaning' of Christianity can survive, even if its central truth claims are denied."
Honestly, aren't these Dutch pastors just a little further down the same road Rauser is traveling? Rauser himself may never reach their point in the journey, but those who follow his legacy will get there sooner or later.
Why appeal to Lukan testimony? After all, everyone knows Luke had all sorts of false beliefs about the "Jesus" of the incarnation. Why couldn’t this be one of them?
ReplyDeleteJettison one part, jettison it all, Randy!
In Him,
CD