Thinking to Believe

One of the more unfortunate aspects of blogging is that good posts quickly get buried, and eventually “lost” over time.  Most people do not have the time or patience to search through 100s or 1000s of past posts to find the gems.  To solve for this problem I have created a “best of TR” page featuring links to the most-viewed, most-talked about, and most intellectually stimulating posts on Theosophical Ruminations. The page link is located in the upper right corner of the home page.  Check it out when you get a chance!

Oneness Pentecostals believe God is one in both essence and person, and that Jesus is the incarnation of this single divine person.  On this view, the deity of Jesus is numerically and personally identical to the deity of the Father.  The Father and Son differ, not in their person, but in their mode of existence.

A common Trinitarian objection to Oneness theology is that it entails the idea that the Father suffered, and even died on the cross.  The ancients called this view “Patripassianism” (Latin for “the Father suffers”) and deemed it heretical.  But why?

It is to be expected that Trinitarians would object to the claim that the Father suffered in Christ since they believe God is three persons, of whom only the second (God the Son) became incarnate.  The Trinitarian objection to Patripassianism, however, was not limited to the identity of the one who experienced the suffering, but extended to the very metaphysical possibility of the Father experiencing suffering.  On their view, it was more than just a factual/historical error to think God the Father was the divine person who experienced suffering in Christ; it was metaphysically impossible for Him to do so.  Only God the Son was capable of such.

(more…)