Subordinationism (Part 2) Christ’s Omni-Attributes

Jesus did exercise omniscience (Matthew 9:4; John 2: 24-25; John 16:30). Jesus also showed supernatural wisdom in that He confounded the religious leaders at the age of twelve (Luke 2:46-47). Paul Smith emphasized this saying, “If you believe Jesus is not omniscient, then you do not believe in the Jesus described in the Bible.”¹⁾Paul Smith, New Evangelicalism: the New World Order, Calvary Publishing, 2011, p. 169 Had our Lord not been omniscient, His authority would only be in speaking by inspiration of the Spirit as the prophet of old (2 Peter 1:21). Yet the prophet Nathan spoke presumptuously (2 Samuel 7:2-17) as did Peter at times (Matthew 16:22-23; Galatians 2:11-14). If Jesus’ authority relied on being inspired, could He have spoken without inspiration or erred in His teachings? Dr. Morris states that Moses and Elias spoke to Jesus at the transfiguration in Luke 9:31 “so the conversation was to inform Jesus (in His human understanding) of the details of the great work that He and His Father were soon to accomplish in Jerusalem.”²⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1520 Prior to the transfiguration Christ informed His disciples (Luke 9:22), so He obviously did not need to be “informed” Himself. Note that identifying “in His human understanding” is a distortion of the hypostatic union indicating Jesus humanity was somehow separated from His divine nature and would then have been relying on inspiration from the Spirit which He apparently was not receiving at this moment. Mary Baker Eddy also implied the Christ spirit was infallible but the man Jesus, a mere human, was not. “The spiritual Christ was infallible; Jesus, as material manhood, was not Christ.”³⁾Mary Eddy Baker, Miscellaneous Writings, The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1896, p. 84 Dr. Morris conjures other illusions to separating Jesus and Christ in this baffling statement: “Believers are often said to be ‘in Christ,’ but never ‘in Jesus.’ Our ‘sleep’ is made only that through the real death of the human Jesus, but our souls go to be ‘with Christ’ (Ph 1:23), the resurrected Lord in heaven.”⁴⁾Dr. Henry Morris, The New Defenders Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1846
Another Christian apologist Douglas Groothuis errs in this along with Dr. Martin and Morris, stating, “He [Jesus] asked questions revealing his ignorance of some things (Mark 6:38; 8:29; 9:21; 10:18).”⁵⁾Douglas Groothuis, Jesus In An Age of Controversy, Harvest House Publishers, 1996 p. 238 Comparing Mark 6:38 with John 6:6 shows Jesus was not ignorant while the rest of these verses are obviously rhetorical. Dr. Henry Morris flung himself in full-fledged heresy revolving around Christ omniscience when explaining why Jesus asked a question. “This seems to be a rhetorical question, rather than one of uncertainty, for surely by this time the Lord’s omniscience concerning the future had been restored.”⁶⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1543 What does he mean by “restored?” He seems to believe that Jesus was slowly becoming conscious of His identity as the second person of the triune God on earth and had to learn how to tap into His divine attributes. He wrote: “by this time if not before, He had a fully restored consciousness of His communion with the Father from before His human incarnation.”⁷⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1533 When was this communion broken? Jesus was always consciously aware of who He was and in communion with the Father while yet a child, telling Mary and Joseph, “wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49).
Jesus surely was omnipotent (John 17:2). His many miracles showed omnipotence over nature (Mark 4:39) and by forgiving sins (Matthew 9:6; Luke 5:24; 7:47). Men and women were healed by the virtue (literally “power”) that went out from Him (Mark 5:30; Luke 6:19). Even demons recognized Him as the Christ and knew He had the power to destroy them (Luke 4:24). Henry Morris wrote “Jesus Christ was omnipotent Creator in the beginning (Jo 1:1-3), but He laid aside His deity to become man and die for the sin of the world (Ph 2:5-8).”⁸⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1456 Was His deity laid aside during the incarnation? Dr. Martin contradicted himself stating in the topical index of his Cult Reference Bible: “Omnipotence… Of Christ, expressed by His power over:” citing “Disease, Demons, Devil, Death, Destiny”⁹⁾Walter Martin Ph.D., Walter Martin’s Cult Reference Bible (KJV), Vision House Publishers, 1981, Topical Index, “omnipotence”
But the question remains if it was all done through the Spirit as indicated by Walter Martin‘s doctrine yoking him with Kenneth Copeland‘s doctrine? He had the power to raise Himself from the dead (John 2:19; 10:17-18) and Jesus said “the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (John 5:36). However, the Scripture is clear that Jesus did do miracles Himself, He also did them through the Father (Acts 2:22) and the Sprit as is commonly acknowledged (Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:18). “Thus we have clear statements that certain of His miracles were done in the power of the Spirit and certain in His own power. Therefore, a correct statement of this matter would be as follows: Christ did not always have to perform miracles in the power of the Spirit, but He did so on certain occasions, although in some instances He clearly used His own power.”¹⁰⁾Charles C. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, Revised and Expanded, Moody Press, 1997, p. 62-63
Jesus being omnipresent is denied by Walter Martin as well as Word Faith proponents as seen in Joyce Meyer’s writings. “Jesus was confined to a body just as we are and could be only at one place at one time. But the Holy Spirit can be in every single one of us everywhere we go, all the time, individually leading and guiding each one of us.”¹¹⁾Joyce Meyer, How to Hear From God: Learn to Know His Voice and Make Right Decisions, Warner Faith, 2003, p.8 She is obviously neglecting the multitude of verses that emphatically assure us Jesus Christ indwells us (Matthew 18:20; 28:20; Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27, etc.).We pray for Christ to enter our hearts (Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:17). Referring to the Old Testament prophets, Peter wrote about “the Spirit of Christ which was in them…” (1 Peter 1:11). Being the last of the Old Testament prophets, and a contemporary with Jesus, this Spirit of Christ also indwelt John the Baptist while Jesus walked next to him (Matthew 11:13; Luke 1:76). Jesus Himself said He was present in heaven while He was on earth. Speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (John 3:13) Notice Jesus statement was in the present tense “the Son of man which is in heaven,” yet He was physically in the presence of Nicodemus, indicating He was in two places at once. Apparently, being confined to a body did not limit the incarnate Son of God.

The revised Greek text of Westcott and Hort (1881) has corrupted this verse by adapting the Semi-Arianism of Eusebius, and this is the basis for the overwhelming majority of modern English Bible versions. Dr. Martin was oblivious to the fact that this flawed manuscript is the source of his errors as he considers the “Alexandrain Manuscripts” to be the “best and most authoritative,”¹²⁾Walter Martin The Kingdom of the Cults, Revised, Updated and Expanded Edition, Bethany House Publishers 2003, p. 115 but later recognizes “Eusebius of Caeserea, a follower of Arius”¹³⁾Walter Martin The Kingdom of the Cults, Revised, Updated and Expanded Edition, Bethany House Publishers 2003, p. 138 who produced the corrupted text. However, Dr. Morris had no such excuse since he rejected the influence from the corrupted text in his Defender’s Bible.¹⁴⁾See “A Creationist’s Defense of the King James Bible,” Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, Appendix 21
Henry Morris falls into self-contradictions repeatedly in his Bible commentary over the issue of Christ’s omnipresence. Commenting on Philippians 2:7, Morris touched the kenosis doctrine accurately and acknowledged Jesus being omnipresent. “He not only ‘came down from heaven,’ He was still ‘in heaven’ (Jo 3:13). He was not sent down from heaven in sinful flesh, but only in ‘the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Ro 8:3). He was ‘made in the likeness of men’ with a miraculously created human body that inherited nothing whatever of Adam’s sinful nature. Even though He exchanged the outward form of God for that of a human slave, He never stopped being ‘very God of very God,’ as the old creed expressed it.”¹⁵⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1823 Yet the comment for John 14:16 contradicts this, saying, “Having taken a human body, the Son cannot be omnipresent, but the Spirit is omnipresent, and thus Christ can continue to be with each believer through His Holy Spirit.”¹⁶⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1604 This idea is parallel to Joyce Meyer’s, and yet is refuted within the context surrounding the verse. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18); “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Yet Morris seems to believe only the Spirit indwells believers. “In His Spirit, however, He could be with all His disciples in all ages throughout the whole world, for the Spirit is invisible and omnipresent.”¹⁷⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1608 “He is Creator and Redeemer of the entire universe, being omnipresent in the Spirit, even though residing at the right hand of the Father in His glorified human body.”¹⁸⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1813 “The Father and the Spirit are still omnipresent and therefore invisible, but the Son has finally become Son of man as well as Son of God, and will forever be in His glorified human body.”¹⁹⁾Dr. Henry M. Morris Ph.D, LL.D., Litt.D., The New Defender’s Study Bible (KJV), World Publishing, Inc., 1995, 2006, p. 1863 Christ’s omnipresence is still denied in His post-resurrection glorified body even though Jesus spoke of Himself being omnipresent (Matthew 28:28). Lewis Sperry Chaffer identifies the fault of those who believe taking a body decreased Christ deity. “He remains what He is, namely, not God mutilated by the flesh, but God manifest in the flesh.”²⁰⁾Lewis Sperry Chaffer, D.D., Litt.D., Th.D., Systematic Theology, Vol. V, Dallas Seminary Press, 1948, 1974, p. 22 (Italics in original)
The fact that God is triune led Hank Hanegraaff to write: “To say that Jesus surrendered even one attribute of deity is to assert that Jesus is less than God and is therefore not God at all. While Christ voluntarily veiled His divine glory (Philippians 2:5-11), Scripture insists that He did not surrender His divine attributes.”²¹⁾Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity In Crisis, 21st Century, Thomas Nelson, 2009, p. 163; also cited by Robert M. Bowman Jr. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel, Baker Books, 2001, p. 152 who quoted Hanegraaff’s 1993 edition from p. 140 (italics in original) Robert Bowman humorously noted “What Hanegraaff may not have realized is that the view he is criticizing here was held by his predecessor, Walter Martin.”²²⁾Robert M. Bowman Jr. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel, Baker Books, 2001, p. 152 Remember Walter Martin referred to Jesus as “inferior,”²³⁾ Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Revised, Updated, and Expanded Edition, Bethany House Publishers, 2003, p. 169 which in conjunction with his view that Christ was diminished of His omni-attributes during His ministry on earth, gives us reason to infer that he perceived the Son of God as mutable. Yet Martin contradicted himself, saying, “It is evident that the Lord Jesus Christ was never inferior – speaking of His nature – to His Father during His sojourn on earth.”²⁴⁾Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Revised, Updated, and Expanded Edition, Bethany House Publishers, 2003, p. 83 Without omni-attributes, how could Christ be considered as co-equal in nature with the Father?
The mistake being made by these Christian leaders is how they perceive the Trinity, not just drawing a distinction between the three Persons of the Godhead, but separating them completely. This is breaking the unity of the Triune God. “No doubt, there is a distinct consciousness which identifies each Person, yet there is a united possession of attributes and of nature.”²⁵⁾Lewis Sperry Chaffer, D.D., Litt.D., Th.D., Systematic Theology, Vol. I, Dallas Seminary Press, 1948, 1974, p. 273 The willingness to separate the Triune God stems from their understanding of the passion which will be seen to be comparable to the Gnostic Cerinthus.