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Are Christians considered amateur gods?: Difference between revisions
Are Christians considered amateur gods? (view source)
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William Branham taught his followers that they are junior gods. Is this scripturally correct? | |||
=What William Branham taught= | =What William Branham taught= | ||
William Branham taught that | William Branham taught that his followers were amateur gods, little gods or messiahettes... little messiahs. This is '''similar to other "Word-Faith" leaders''' like Paul Crouch, who said on a Trinity Broadcasting Network program, “''We are gods. I am a little god. I have his name. I am one with him''.” ...or Casey Treat, the pastor of Seattle’s Christian Faith Center, who said, “''When God looks in the mirror, he sees me! When I look in the mirror, I see God!''” | ||
Kenneth Hagin, another faith healer, said, | Kenneth Hagin, another faith healer, said, “''You are as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was.''” Morris Cerullo said, “''You’re not looking at Morris Cerullo — you’re looking at God. You’re looking at Jesus.''”<ref>James Montgomery Boice, Romans: The New Humanity, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991–)</ref> | ||
=What the Bible says= | =What the Bible says= | ||
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These judges were “gods” in the sense that they stood in God’s place, judging even life and death matters. They were not called “gods” because they were divine beings. Indeed, the text Jesus cites (Ps. 82) goes on to say that they were “mere men” and would “die” (v. 7). It also affirms that they were “the sons of the Most High,” but not because they were of the essence of God himself. | These judges were “gods” in the sense that they stood in God’s place, judging even life and death matters. They were not called “gods” because they were divine beings. Indeed, the text Jesus cites (Ps. 82) goes on to say that they were “mere men” and would “die” (v. 7). It also affirms that they were “the sons of the Most High,” but not because they were of the essence of God himself. | ||
It is possible, as many scholars believe, that when the psalmist Asaph said to the unjust judges, “You are gods,” he was speaking in irony. He was saying, “I have called you ‘gods,’ but in fact you will die like the men that you really are.” If this is so, then when Jesus alluded to this psalm in John 10, he was saying that what the Israelite judges were called in irony and in judgment, he is in reality. Jesus was giving a defense for his own deity, not for the deification of man.<ref>Norman L. Geisler and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: a Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), 21–22.</ref> | It is possible, as many scholars believe, that when the psalmist Asaph said to the unjust judges, “You are gods,” he was speaking in irony. He was saying, “I have called you ‘gods,’ but in fact you will die like the men that you really are.” If this is so, then when Jesus alluded to this psalm in John 10, he was saying that what the Israelite judges were called in irony and in judgment, he is in reality. Jesus was giving a defense for his own deity, not an argument for the deification of man.<ref>Norman L. Geisler and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: a Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), 21–22.</ref> | ||
In John 20:17, Jesus asks Mary Magdalene to go and tell the disciples that "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Jn 20:17.</ref> | |||
Notice that in the Gospels, Jesus does not say, “Our Father,” except in the Lord’s Prayer when he’s telling us how to pray? | |||
Jesus doesn’t say, “Our Father.” He says, “My Father and your Father, my God and your God,” to try to show you something you must be careful of. We’re adopted into the family of God, but that doesn’t mean we actually come into the godhead. It doesn’t mean we actually get absorbed and become God.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref> | |||
=Quotes of William Branham= | =Quotes of William Branham= | ||
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Now, that is true. God called Messiahs... God called us, and we become kings and priests unto God. Like Jesus was God's High Priest, we become a lesser priest. Jesus was... God in Fullness dwelt in Him to shine forth the expression of God to the world, for God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And as God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, God comes into His church and anoints Him some '''Messiahettes'''. Oh, my. Do you see it? | ''Now, that is true. God called Messiahs... God called us, and we become kings and priests unto God. Like Jesus was God's High Priest, we become a lesser priest. Jesus was... God in Fullness dwelt in Him to shine forth the expression of God to the world, for God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And as God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, God comes into His church and anoints Him some '''Messiahettes'''. Oh, my. Do you see it? | ||
The same things He did is in His church. The same power He had is in His church. And His church becomes His dominion, and He's King over this dominion, and we are kings and priests, offering spiritual sacrifices to God, the fruits of our lips giving praise to His Name. Amen. Oh, my. There you are: '''Messiahettes, Messiahettes, little messiahs, little anointed ones'''. Anointed off of what? The main One, anointed off of the great One. | ''The same things He did is in His church. The same power He had is in His church. And His church becomes His dominion, and He's King over this dominion, and we are kings and priests, offering spiritual sacrifices to God, the fruits of our lips giving praise to His Name. Amen. Oh, my. There you are: '''Messiahettes, Messiahettes, little messiahs, little anointed ones'''. Anointed off of what? The main One, anointed off of the great One. | ||
''...So it showed that we could drink the same cup of persecution, be called Beelzebub or whatever it might be, and still be baptized with the same Spirit He's baptized with. So if He was called Messiah, which He was, because He was anointed with that Holy Spirit... '''And any church that's anointed with the same Holy Spirit is a Messiahette, a littler, smaller, god.''' And someday when this body is resurrected, I hope beforehand that God can get a hold of a bunch of people that'll manifest His power in every dimension that it's supposed to be in. | ''...So it showed that we could drink the same cup of persecution, be called Beelzebub or whatever it might be, and still be baptized with the same Spirit He's baptized with. So if He was called Messiah, which He was, because He was anointed with that Holy Spirit... '''And any church that's anointed with the same Holy Spirit is a Messiahette, a littler, smaller, god.''' And someday when this body is resurrected, I hope beforehand that God can get a hold of a bunch of people that'll manifest His power in every dimension that it's supposed to be in. | ||
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