By Bro. Nathan
Ang Members Of The Church Of God International ay isang restorationist church sa Pilipinas. they are best known sa kanilang TV program na Ang Dating Daan at sa kanilang founder na si Eli Fernando Soriano (April 4 1947-February 11, 2021). somewhere else sa page natin ay nagpost ako ng isang review sa kanilang several doctrines like sa kanilang mainstream theology, sa kanilang Christology, sa kanilang Ecclesiology, etc. now recently ay i learned some doctrines nila na nagdedeal patungkol kay Heavenly Father at kay Jesus Christ na nahanapan ko sa ilang websites at shows nila. lets start sa kanilang Christology.
Is Jesus Fully Human?
Sa Latter Day Saint theology as we know ay si Jesus Christ Si Jehovah, ang God ng Old Testament, at na Si Jesus Christ ay fully Divine at inempty ang Kanyang Sarili and became Human and lived fully Human (Jn. 1:1-18; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:7-9). this is not to be confused sa Hypostatic union since it teaches that Christ' Glory is merely veiled. INC (Iglesia Ni Cristo) teaches na si Jesus Christ ay may human nature lang and we have on the MCGI na sinasabing Jesus is God but not fully human. it reads :
These verses clearly state that our Lord Jesus only assumed the form of man. And nobody can contest that! Therefore, to teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is a man is a big mistake. He is not a man by nature; He only assumed the form of a man. Don’t you have a common sense to comprehend that? (Eliseo Soriano, “How the ‘Iglesia ni Cristo’ made our Lord Jesus Christ a Man,” Ang Dating Daan Bible Exposition Online, 11 July 2004, available from http://www.angdatingdaan.org/segments/seg_incm_1_pf.htm; Internet; accessed 6 August 2005.)
This is a deliberate eisegesis ng Phil. 2:5-11 na sinasabing sa v. 7 that Jesus "......made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men..." (Phil. 2:7 NKJV). ang phrase dito na "form of a servant" (μορφὴν δούλου - morphhen doulou) at "likeness of a servant" (εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος - euretheis os anthropos) ay hindi sinasabi na "parang tao" lang, kundi it means that He is truly human. this can shown in comparison sa v. 6 na μορφῇ θεοῦ (morphhe Theou) which means na "form of God" which shows na hindi Siya isang Diyos na hindi naman truly na Diyos but shows that He truly is. ang greek word na μορφῇ (morphhe) ay tumutukoy sa intristic values. it means Jesus is truly God and truly Human! (cf. Col. 1:15-17; 2:9). Charles J. Ellicott commented ;
(6) Being in the form of God.—(1) The word “being” is here the more emphatic of the two words so translated, which lays stress on the reality of existence (as in Acts 16:20; Acts 17:28; 1Corinthians 11:7; Galatians 2:14). Hence it calls attention to the essential being of Christ, corresponding to the idea embodied in the name Jehovah, and thus implying what is more fully expressed in John 1:1. (2) The word “form” (which, except for a casual use in Mark 16:12, is found only in this passage of the New Testament) is to be carefully distinguished from “fashion.” There can be no doubt that in classical Greek it describes the actual specific character, which (like the structure of a material substance) makes each being what it is; and this same idea is always conveyed in the New Testament by the compound words in which the root “form” is found (Romans 8:29; Romans 12:2; 2Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 4:19). (3) On the other hand, the word “fashion,” as in 1Corinthians 7:31 (“the fashion of this world passeth away”), denotes the mere outward appearance (which we frequently designate as “form”), as will be seen also in its compounds (2Corinthians 11:13-14; 1Peter 1:14). The two words are seen in juxtaposition in Romans 12:2; Philippians 3:21 (where see Notes). Hence, in this passage the “being in the form of God,” describes our Lord’s essential, and therefore eternal, being in the true nature of God; while the “taking on Him the form of a servant” similarly refers to His voluntary assumption of the true nature of man.
It should be noticed that, whereas in St. Paul’s earlier Epistles, in which he cared not “to know anything save Jesus Christ,” and “Him as crucified,” the main idea is always of our Lord as the mediator between man and God, yet in the later Epistles (as here, and in Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:15-19; Colossians 2:9-11; to which we may add Hebrews 1:2-4) stress is laid, sometimes (as in Ephesians 1:10), on His gathering all things in heaven and earth unto Himself; sometimes, even more explicitly, on His partaking of the divine nature, and (as in Colossians 1:17) of His possessing the divine attribute of creation. All this naturally leads up to the great declaration of His true and perfect Godhead in John 1:1-13. (
Charles J. Ellicott : Ellicott's Commentary For English Readers)
In response sa INC Unitarian Christology, MCGI failed to defend Christ' deity by denying yung pagkahuman Niya itself. they commented sa favorite proof-text ng INC against sa deity of Christ (Jn. 8:40), they said :
Why did John 8:40 said [sic] that our Lord Jesus was a man? It is because, that incident happened at the time our Lord Jesus was assuming the form of a human being. The Bible said, He was made in the likeness of men. In other words, He lived like a man. (ibid.)
Again, they misunderstood the word na form (μορφὴν). and also, Jesus did not lived like a man but as a man! this can be seen in many ways kagaya ng naaantok Siya (Mt. 8:24), nauuhaw (Jn. 19:28), napapagod (Jn. 4:6), etc. sa incarnation/condescension Ni Jesus Christ ay Kanyang inempty ang Kanyang sarili to come down to this earth. we call this even Kenosis (Phil. 2:5-11). sa Heb. 2 ay nirereport ni Paul na si Jesus Christ ".....was made lower than angels..." (Heb. 2:7-9). this is all for the purpose na mamediate Ni Jesus Christ ang humanity sa Diyos (Jn. 1:1, 14, 18). Jesus is the agent ni Heavenly Father and He is the mediator, and He cannot be one kung hindi Siya member ng parehong parties (Ps. 49:7; Isa. 53; Jn. 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 9:15). to deny ang humanity ni Jesus Christ is blasphemy at malaking mockery sa Kanyang pagka-Divine at sa Kanyang Messianship — 1 Cor. 15:21; 1 Jn. 4:2; 2 Jn. 1:7
That ends ang ating review sa Christology ng MCGI about sa humanity ni Jesus Christ.
