The Finger of God

[Pierac]

When reading in Exodus awhile back, I came upon the phrase "the finger of God." I was aware that the same phrase was used in the book of Luke regarding the method Jesus uses to cast out demons. I decided to do a phrase study using e-Sword. The following information is from my research.

Exo 8:19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
Exo 31:18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Luk 11:14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven…
Luk 11:20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

I had also come upon Scriptures that says Jesus cast out demons by the Spirit of God. This would strongly lead to the conclusion that the finger of God is the Spirit of God our Father.

Mat 12:22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons."
Mat 12:28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

When you connect Luke 11:20 with Matthew 12:28 then you get the understanding of what the finger of God is.
Luk 11:20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Mat 12:28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Now the same is true with the Holy Spirit. We also have in the Bible two parallel teachings of the same subject one Matthew and one in Luke.

Luk 12:11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

Mat 10:19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Likewise, when you connect to Matthew 10:20 with Luke 12:12 you get an understanding of what the Holy Spirit is. It is the Spirit of the Father. There is no separate being called the Holy Spirit. Again that's why the Holy Spirit is never worshiped, prayed to, or has a seat on a throne.

Paul

 

[Lambano]

Luke 11:20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

I kinda like the mental image of Jesus giving a demon the Finger of God. Flick!

 

[Pierac]

Part 1
Many Christians are not aware that The Holy Spirit was missing from the Trinty doctrine for many many years before it's final development! Yep, totally ignored God's finger Jesus used so well !!!

325 AD - Constantine convenes the Council of Nicaea in order to develop a statement of faith that can unify the church. The Nicene Creed is written, declaring that "the Father and the Son are of the same substance" (homoousios). Emperor Constantine who was also the high priest of the pagan religion of the Unconquered Sun presided over this council. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

"Constantine himself presided, actively guiding the discussions and personally proposed the crucial formula expressing the relationship of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council. "of one substance with the Father."

The American Academic Encyclopedia states:

"Although this was not Constantine’s first attempt to reconcile factions in Christianity, it was the first time he had used the imperial office to IMPOSE a settlement."

At the end of this council, Constantine sided with Athanasius over Arius and exiled Arius to Illyria.

328 AD - Athanasius becomes bishop of Alexandria.

328 AD - Constantine recalls Arius from Illyria.

335 AD - Constantine now sides with Arius and exiles Athanasius to Trier.

337 AD - A new emperor, Contantius, orders the return of Athanasius to Alexandria.

339 AD - Athanasius flees Alexandria in anticipation of being expelled.

341 AD - Two councils are held in Antioch this year. During this council, the First, Second, and Third Arian Confessions are written, thereby beginning the attempt to produce a formal doctrine of faith to oppose the Nicene Creed.

343 AD - At the Council of Sardica, Eastern Bishops demand the removal of Athanasius.

346 AD - Athanasius is restored to Alexandria.

351 AD - A second anti - Nicene council is held in Sirmium.

353 AD - A council is held at Aries during Autumn that is directed against Athanasius.

355 AD - A council is held in Milan. Athanasius is again condemned.

356 AD - Athanasius is deposed on February 8th, beginning his third exile.

357 AD - Third Council of Sirmium is convened. Both homoousios and homoiousios are avoided as unbiblical, and it is agreed that the Father is greater than His subordinate Son.

359 AD - The Synod of Seleucia is held which affirms that Christ is "like the Father," It does not however, specify how the Son is like the Father.

361 AD - A council is held in Antioch to affirm Arius’ positions.

380 AD - Emperor Theodosius the Great declares Christianity the official state religion of the empire.

381 AD - The First Council of Constantinople is held to review the controversy since Nicaea. Emperor Theodosius the Great establishes the creed of Nicaea as the standard for his realm. The Nicene Creed is re-evaluated and accepted with the addition of clauses on the Holy Spirit and other matters.

How could they forget that the trinity included the Holy Spirit? Because it was a developing idea, and at this point in time (Nicaea), all the church was willing to concede to was a binity. It would have to wait until the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD to include the Holy Spirit in their formula and thus complete the trinity.

If you believe that Nicaea just formalized the prevalent teaching of the church, then there really should not have been any more conflicts. Why should there be? If it were the established teaching of the church, then you would expect people to either accept it, or not be Christians. It would be like me being a member of the Communist Party. I would join it knowing that they do not believe in the ownership of private property, no conflict. But now, say after I have been a member of the party for a few years, someone decides to introduce a proposal that we allow the ownership of private property, not everyone in the party is going to agree, the result is conflict. This is similar to what happened in the church. It was not the established teaching, and when some faction of the church tried to make it official, the result was a major conflict.

It was mainly a theological power grab by certain factions of the church. The major complication throughout all this was that the emperors were involved. At Nicaea it was Constantine that decided the outcome. Then as you can see, we have the flip-flopping of opinion with the result that Athanasius is exiled and recalled depending on which emperor is in power. We even have in 357 AD the declaration that homoousios and homoiousios are unbiblical, and that the Father is greater than His subordinate Son. This is 180 degrees from Nicaea. It is definitely not the Trinitarian formula.

In 380 AD Emperor Thedosius declared Christianity to be the state religion. One can come to the conclusion that whichever way Theodosius favors, is the way in which it is going to end. This is exactly what happened next. In 381 AD the struggle was finally ended by the current emperor, Theodosius the Great, who favored the Nicene position. Just like at Nicaea, the EMPEROR again decided it. What is plainly obvious is that the emperors were dictating the theology of the church. The big difference now being was that there was not going to be any more changing of sides. It was now the state religion. You cannot make Christianity the state religion and then change its beliefs every few years, it would undermine its credibility as the true faith. The Trinity was now the orthodox position, and the state was willing to back it up. Conflicts and debates continued for centuries.

In 529 AD Emperor Justinian revamped the Roman Civil Law and heresy was big on his list of crimes. The two heresies that were now punishable by death were not accepting the Nicene Creed and rebaptism.

Only the doctrine of Satan would ask a fellow Christian to kill another Christian over nonbelief!

Luk 9:54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But He turned and rebuked them, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went on to another village.

Paul

 

[Pierac]

Here is a brief post that lists the actual law with the penalties for breaking the law. It is quite interesting. part 2 ...


THE JUSTINIAN CODE


The Council of Nicaea is best remembered for its introduction of the first version of the Nicaean Creed, which was written in an attempt to resolve the Arian controversy. However, it was also the source of another less known, but amazing development in the history of the Church! For the first three centuries of its existence, the Church had endured regular outbreaks of fierce persecution for its faith. At Nicaea it gained a measure of political influence, (and a seared conscience!) which allowed it to employ "legal" persecution as a measure to protect the "faith" -- such as it had become. Down through the centuries countless thousands have been persecuted and martyred, for their refusal to pay dishonest lip service to the Creeds of the Mainstream Church.

Despite vigorous attempts to eliminate them, Arian beliefs survived, mainly in the northern regions of the Empire, for several centuries afterwards.
They were still a force to be reckoned with, when the Emperor Justinian came to the throne in the sixth century AD.

It is not surprising therefore, that when Justinian commissioned a review of Roman Law, harsh measures against anti-trinitarianism came to be written into the Civil Laws of the Empire.

In the interest of accuracy, it should be recognized that the Code of Justinian was NOT primarily written for this reason. Its major purpose was
a massive overhaul of the Roman Civil Law, which at that time it was in a very disorganized condition. It was so costly to reproduce the entire mass
of laws promulgated over previous centuries, that even public libraries did not contain complete collections.

Justinian appointed a Commission of 16 eminent lawyers to undertake the task of compiling, clarifying and simplifying. The results were published
in 533AD in 50 books. Over the following years, until his death in 565AD, Justinian issued a great number of new ordinances, some of which seriously altered previous laws. All of this work is collectively known as the "Corpus Juris Civilus". (Source Encyclopedia Britannica 1999, CD-ROM
Standard Version.)

Although enforcing Christianity as the State Religion was not the only concern, "heresy" did appear high on the list of "crimes" which incurred
severe penalties, and Church authorities were not slow to invoke them. These same attitudes were also adopted into the laws of other countries. In
England, the last public execution for anti-trinitarianism took place in Edinburgh, in 1697.
__________________________________________________________________________
**************************************************************************
"The Imperial law code from Justinian's time (A.D. 529) on,
made rebaptism one of the two heresies penalized by death,
the other being Anti-Trinitarianism."
Quoted from - Anabaptists: Excerpts from the Mennonite Encyclopedia
(From the Mennonite Encyclopedia)
__________________________________________________________________________
**************************************************************************

The following extracts are taken from Book 1 of the Justinian Code. They reveal the hearts of men who thought Religious Conviction could be imposed by force! But, how very far they are from the heart of the Jesus revealed in the Gospels, whose teaching made obedience conditional on LOVE! (John 14:15)

They can be found on-line at - The Justinian Code and the Catholic Faith.

QUOTE_____________________________________________________________________

"We desire that all peoples subject to Our benign Empire shall live under
the same religion that the Divine Peter, the Apostle, gave to the Romans,
and which the said religion declares was introduced by himself, and which
it is well known that the Pontiff Damascus, and Peter, Bishop of
Alexandria, a man of apostolic sanctity, embraced; that is to say, in
accordance with the rules of apostolic discipline and the evangelical
doctrine, we should believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
constitute a single Deity, endowed with equal majesty, and united in the
Holy Trinity."

"We order all those who follow this law to assume the name of Catholic
Christians, and considering others as demented and insane, We order that
they shall bear the infamy of heresy; and when the Divine vengeance which
they merit has been appeased, they shall afterwards be punished in
accordance with Our resentment, which we have acquired from the judgment of
Heaven."

"Let no place be afforded to heretics for the conduct of their ceremonies,
and let no occasion be offered for them to display the insanity of their
obstinate minds. Let all persons know that if any privilege has been
fraudulently obtained by means of any rescript whatsoever, by persons of
this kind, it will not be valid. Let all bodies of heretics be prevented
from holding unlawful assemblies, and let the name of the only and the
greatest God be celebrated everywhere, and let the observance of the Nicene
Creed, recently transmitted to Our ancestors, and firmly established by the
testimony and practice of Divine Religion, always remain secure."

"Moreover, he who is an adherent of the Nicene Faith, and a true believer
in the Catholic religion, should be understood to be one who believes that
Almighty God and Christ, the son of God, are one person, God of God, Light
of Light; and let no one, by rejection, dishonor the Holy Spirit, whom we
expect, and have received from the Supreme Parent of all things, in whom
the sentiment of a pure and undefiled faith flourishes, as well as the
belief in the undivided substance of a Holy Trinity, which true believers
indicate by the Greek word amounsios. These things, indeed do not require
further proof, and should be respected."

"Let those who do not accept those doctrines cease to apply the name of
true religion to their fraudulent belief; and let them be branded with
their open crimes, and, having been removed from the threshold of all
churches, be utterly excluded from them, as We forbid all heretics to hold
unlawful assemblies within cities. If, however, any seditious outbreak
should be attempted, We order them to be driven outside the walls of the
City, with relentless violence, and We direct that all Catholic Churches,
throughout the entire world, shall be placed under the control of the
orthodox bishops who have embraced the Nicene Creed."

"Source: Corpus Juris Civilis (The Civil Law, the Code of Justinian), by
S.P. Scott, A.M., published by the Central Trust Company, Cincinnati,
copyright 1932, Volume 12 [of 17], pages 9-12, 125."

Gotta love the Joy spread by past Trinitarians... Follow my beliefs or Die...

Paul