Rman- You've forgotten I didn't just fall off of the turnip truck here. I was raised with much your skewed theology. It wasn't just an overnight decision on my part to leave it. It took me many years and much research and prayer. I did not take my decision lightly. So, if you think that anything you say to me has not already been delved into very deeply you would be very mistaken. I tire easily with this topic simply due to the fact that I have been steeped in this stuff since my childhood. I have lost my entire family due to shunning over my beliefs vs theirs (jw) for over 30 years now. Don't take that lightly. So, for you to insinuate that that am assuming anything without understanding your point is sort of hitting a nerve. So if you don't mind please refrain from empty assumptions.
I am of course fully aware that homage was given to the secular. However, you just dismiss what I am saying to you. You ignore questions that I ask you, and just plow ahead with the same rhetoric. It's always the same with all of you. -- This is really very simple to me, but you have the need to complicate it for the sake of your agenda. you put words in my mouth. Please don't do that. Before I go to your verses below- one of which I have already addressed- please reply to my very simple questions-
Ok understood. Good to know where you're coming from.
In the NT,
1. Do angels accept proskuneo?
2. Do godly men accept proskuneo?
3. Who do the angels say we are to give proskuneo only to?
4. Does The Lord Jesus accept proskuneo?
I am actually trying to understand what you mean by "accept" proskuneo. So I am looking it over. If by
accept you mean that people in the Bible (excluding angels) received proskuneo whether or not they affirmed in the positive that it's right, even Jesus didn't do that. There aren't any examples of anyone explicitly consenting to it that I have found or can remember off the top of my head. Do you mean that because they were never stopped that it infers acceptance? Jesus isn't the only one who never commented on someone bowing to him.
So let me answer your questions directly and if you feel like replying you can.
In the NT,
1. Do angels accept proskuneo? No
2. Do godly men accept proskuneo? No
3. Who do the angels say we are to give proskuneo only to? God
4. Does The Lord Jesus accept proskuneo? No
I know you're being very specific in your wording and questions, but maybe if you can narrow down a bit more how you define acceptance of something we can get to the root of it. To be honest, correct me if I am wrong, I get the vibe that if someone isn't stopped then you're deriving acceptance from that. If so, didn't Jesus know that Judas was regularly stealing from the money bag for X amount of time yet never said anything? We don't say Jesus accepts stealing though. There's really a lot of different things Jesus didn't stop.
I already addressed this in my last reply. I do not take that as literal- do you really suppose that JESUS will line up the "Jews" and line the church members and make them literally bow to them? I don't think that for a minute. C'mon now. He is saying that they will indeed be humbled and forced to admit that the church is His.- It is the fulfillment of
Isaiah 60:14 “The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.--
The church is being called, the city of God- The ZION of the Holy One of Israel.
To these who call themselves Jews and are not- to call the church they persecuted, the city of God/ZION is insanely humbling. They will be forced to admit TRUTH.
It was said specifically to the church of Philadelphia. The messages to the seven churches didn't apply equally to all of the different congregations. It could be a literal lining up and bowing kind of situation, a kind of public humiliation for the bad guys and a public honor for the good guys.
You've forgotten Daniel 2:6- it's even more so! It's obvious that the customs then were different- we do not bow to kings now. Worship is homage and homage is worship. They are synonyms. Here ya go-https://thesaurus.plus/related/homage/worship
Get that straight first. It was akin to what the Japanese do when bowing to each other. I recall Obama bowing to the Saudis. I would not bow to anyone myself, as I see it as a form of worship. Did the apostles agree with me? Yes. Peter certainly did not accept proskuneo. But I suppose you would? You would be wrong according to the angel in revelation who distinctly aid- DO NOT DO THAT- to John- Proskuneo only GOD.
So my point is really very simple- you can toss at me 9000 instances of proskueno given to the secular. I will just keep repeating that we are clearly now commanded NOT TO DO THAT and to ONLY GIVE IT TO GOD. Angels refuse it- Jesus accepted it. Give it only to God. It's really not that difficult. Unless you need it to be.
Let's look at it. I don't necessarily agree that bowing equates to what constitutes real worship. So if I were to bow, or if someone bowed to me, I can speak for myself that I wouldn't be bowing to someone because I thought they were God. I would bow if it was appropriate for the situation, in line with cultural norms, etc.
That being said, is literal bowing the way Jesus defined worship? Jesus said "the true worshippers" will worship the Father and "spirit and truth." So bowing isn't spirit and truth worship. The kind of bowing that Jesus and others received throughout the Bible would not fall in line with the way Jesus defined true worship. The only commandment on who to give "true worship in spirit and truth" to in the Bible is the Father (John 4:23,24) and there are no instances of this ever being applied to Jesus.
I agree with what you said that bowing can be a form of worship, there is evidence of that, but it isn't always definitively worship. You shouldn't do that if you feel it's wrong.
Commenting on Revelation 22, there are speaker changes without so much as an introduction as to who is speaking. In Rev 22:6, it says "Behold the angel said to me..." then v. 7 says "Behold I am coming soon..." so already this sounds like Jesus talking. Then John falls down to worship. After that, the speaker says "Do not do that... worship God." So this could just as easily be understood as the resurrected, ascended, glorified, exalted Jesus giving an instruction to not worship him. It's not decisive, but there is more than one way to look at this passage.
Baloney. The depths you guys will go to.. sigh. Food for thought-
1. "EVERY CREATURE in HEAVEN, EARTH ETC"- verse 13. -Rev 5
If "every creature in heaven" is speaking --- to Him who sites on the throne and to the Lamb..
Why is the Lamb not speaking there if He is a creature? It says "every" creature -- even those in heaven..
Here's some food for thought. Why is he called the Lamb if he is not a creature? Are lambs creatures?
2. Rev 22:3 --And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
Not only do we have ONE throne with God and the Lamb on it- but here we also see His servants (duoloi) giving sacred service aka latreuo.
Proskuneo and latreuo are only to be given to God alone - according to JESUS--- Yet He Himself accepted it. ut oh.
Let's take a look at this too.
Throne is singular and there are two referents, God and the Lamb, then there are multiples servants serving one referent. Notice John didn't say "their servants" will server "them." The idea being conveyed here is that God and the Lamb aren't on the same throne. You can get an idea of this based on the context you quoted which immediately contradicts the idea of a shared throne.
There is throne distinction for God and the Lamb throughout Revelation. Revelation 7:10 says "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." The Lamb isn't the throne sitter in Revelation Rev. 7:10, nor the throne sitter in Rev. 5:6-7.
Revelation 22:3 is about shared rulership, not shared identity, hence when it says "His servants shall server Him" it is referring to God (singular person) and not "them."
Now I need to wrap this comment up because I have things to do, but I will come back to the rest of what you said later. Let me leave you with something to think about.
Revelation 22:3 says "His servants shall serve Him." Now, is God the Father ever called a servant even once in the Bible? No. But is the Lamb repeatedly called a servant of God? Yes (Isaiah 42:1, Matthew 12:8, Mark 10:45, Luke 22:27, Acts 3:13, 3:26, etc.)
The Lamb is also a servant who serves the throne sitter. Just something to think about. Be back when I have time.