oneness
Cal (Calvin@ClarityConnect.com)
Mon, 20 Oct 1997 21:54:38 +0000
Donald L. Evans wrote: that someone wrote:
> > This is called, technically -- in theological jargon, a "theophany".
> > A theophany is a physical manifestation of the spiritual God. Why is
> > it called a theophany? Well, "theo" means "God", and if Moses saw his
> > hinder parts, he saw his fanny, so it was a theo-fanny. :-)
> >
>
> My Response:
>
> When God responded to Moses' request to "see His glory," by stating that He would
> allow him to "see my hinder parts," this WAS NOT referring to a visible
> manifestation of God [a "theophany"], OR any part of Him.
> Lest we forget, when Moses conducted this conversation with God, there was NO
> written record of God's Word. Therefore, when God granted Moses' request, He
> allowed Moses to possess knowledge of all that He had done prior to that moment in
> time, and as a consequence Moses was empowered to write the "book of beginnings"
> [Genesis].
> The assertion that God allowed Moses to "see" with his physical eye a "theophany"
> of Himself which revealed only His "fanny," is an age-old erroneous trinitarian
> explanation of the following passages of scripture [see Exodus 33:18-23]:
>
> 18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
> 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim
> the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
> and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
> 20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and
> live.
> 21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a
> rock:
> 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in
> a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
> 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face
> shall not be seen.
>
> Thus we see that what God allowed Moses to "see" was His "glory," and not some
> visible manifestation of Himself.
>
> At least this is the manner in which I have interpreted these passages, and offer
> them here for consideration and comment.
>
Excellent! And may I add that when Stephen looked up to heaven in Acts
he did not see God, but he saw the *glory* of God and Jesus standing on
the right hand of God (not as though God has a "theophany with a right
hand", but the right hand denotes power and authority.
When 2 Corinthians 4:6 says "For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." We can then
understand that Stephen saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
and saw Him standing in the place of power and authority! Praise Him
all ye heavenly host!!!