Got to do some grocery shopping soon, so haven't much time, but here are two: You and I would agree that it is correct to call God "Father", yet in what real sense is he actually a father? If one believes in a god like the Greeks and Romans, then one has a crazy pantheon of gods who scramble around having sex with humans, as well as attractive goddesses like Aphrodite and even Athena: they literally are fathers in the real earthly sense. But God/Elohim/Yahweh is not that kind of God. C.S. Lewis expounds clearly and eloquently on this in one of his books, and points out that the family-like relationship between the persons of the godhead is as close to human understanding as we can get, but that, like the Apostle Paul said after seeing something of what heaven itself was like, there simply are no words to describe it. In the end, when it comes to describing God, words simply fail.
Here's another: Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Is that all there is to it? There are two big divine armchairs sitting somewhere in the heavens, and God is sitting in one, and Jesus is sitting in the other? To insist that that is actually the case, you would be in disagreement with every interpreter, commentator and scholar of scripture, whether Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox or any other stripe for the past 2,000 years. The meaning, like so many of the profound teachings of scripture, has more than one thrust. First, remember that there were no chairs either in the tabernacle or the Holy of Holies. That's important: it's because the work of the priests was never done. Day after day, year after year, the priests offered up sacrifices to cover the sins of the people. But when Christ came, and completed the dreadful, redeeming work of the New Covenant, which according to Paul is a better covenant than the old one, there was finally no more work to be done. Thus, we are reminded in a number of places that Christ is now "seated in that heavenlies". He is seated, because the work of redemption is complete. No one needs to stand and slit the throat of another sheep and put the blood on the ark of the covenant. Not ever again. It doesn't mean that he has been literally seated for the last 2,000 years, developing phlebitis and other problems, until he finally groans and gets up to come to earth in his final, triumphant ushering in of the kingdom.
Second, being seated at the right hand of God is the greatest honor; it tells us something of what God himself says about the place of his Son in the kingdom.
Finally, are you completely adamant about the parables of Jesus all being literally true stories? Because that is likely a totally new interpretation not ever offered by any theologian. I am very wary of totally novel interpretations that no one has ever thought of before. Much trouble has come to the church when we ignore the collective wisdom of thousands of Christian teachers, particularly when all those teachers are in agreement across all the lines of various Faiths for two millenia. Although I haven't read every theologian who ever commented on the parables, I think it's safe to say that none of them believe that those stories are literally true.
Got to go for now.
Theo
1.
Your argument is not with me but with the Scriptures themselves my dear brother.
Phillipians 1:2
"Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ".
Romans 1:7
"To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ".
Concerning the Father Jesus taught:
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God isSpirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).
Do not labor for the food which pererishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." (John 6:27).
God the Father is the first Author of our salvation; God the Son, the Word made flesh, brought the message of peace from heaven, and reconciled us to God.
All biblical writers and all theologians I am aware of, believe that the Father was and is God.
2.
To say as you state.................
"Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Is that all there is to it? There are two big divine armchairs sitting somewhere in the heavens, and God is sitting in one, and Jesus is sitting in the other".
You are making the classic error of forcing what you want to believe into what is actually said my friend.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us...........
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
You seem to be preoccupied by what others say or do not say so allow me to post what Dr. John Gill has to say about "The right hand of God".
"And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God";
Which is in heaven; and is expressive of the majesty and glory of God; and of the honour done to Christ in human nature, which is not granted to any of the angels: here Christ sits as God's fellow, as equal to him, as God, and as having done his work as man, and Mediator; and this may assure us, that when we have run out our race, we shall sit down too, with Christ upon his throne, and be at rest.
This is NOT about an arm chair or any other such thoughts. It is about "Positional Sanctification".
Rev. Ray Stedham says of Hebrews 12:2.......
"You can find strength to begin in Jesus, you can venture out and start this life of faith today in him. You also discover strength to continue. He is not "up there" somewhere. As this book has made clear, he is within us, by faith. If we have received Jesus Christ, he dwells within. He has entered into the sanctuary, into the inner man, into the place where we need strength, and is available every moment for me. Therefore, in Christ, I have all that it takes to meet life."
3.
As for the parabels of Jesus being true explinations of real events.
Your comment was..........
"Although I haven't read every theologian who ever commented on the parables, I think it's safe to say that none of them believe that those stories are literally true."
Have you read Augustines explination of the Good Samaritine? He states that.............
The travelling man = Adam
Jerusalem = the heavenly city of peace from which Adam fell
Jericho = the moon, representing Adam’s mortality
Thieves = the devil and his angels
Stripped him = robbed him of his immortality
Beat him = by persuading him to sin
Left him half-dead = half-dead because he is alive physically but dead spiritually
Priest and Levite = the priesthood and ministry of the Old Testament
Samaritan = Christ (he says the word means “Guardian”)
Bound his wounds = binding the restraint of sin
Oil = comfort of good hope
Wine = exhortation to work with a fervent spirit
Beast = the body of Christ’s incarnation
Inn = the church
Tomorrow = after the Resurrection
Two-pence = promise of this life and the life to come
Innkeeper = Paul
Two-pence = promise of this life and the life to come.
(copied from....
www.searchingthescriptures.net/.../a_study_guide_of-parables.htm)
Some have explained the word parable as a story by which something real in life is used as a means of presenting a moral teaching. Some have said that a parable puts the known next to the unknown so that we can learn from it. I like both of those. I am not distressed that you have never heard of parables being explained as real events, but it seems to me that they are stories taken from everyday human experiences and at times from nature as well. I have read from Dr. Oliver B. Green, Dr. Edward Hinson and Dr. Harold Wilmington and their thinking is that perhaps the most simple definition of all is that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
It is a blessing to talk with you.
