Q. I'm studying different writings on the Godhead-Trinity Vs Oneness and on your site is the following: "Consider another problem. If Jesus is the Father and also the Son, how come "Jesus the Father" knows when Jesus the Son is returning to earth but not Jesus the Son?? "No-one knows about that day [the second coming], not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mt.24:36, NIV). The UPC [United Pentecostal Church] doctrine is nonsense in this light. Why not simply accept that the Father and Son are two Persons but one God, as the Bible teaches?" The response I hear to the above is that it was the human side of Jesus that didn't know His return. How would you respond to this?

A. The context is of heavenly Beings (cp. Mk.13:32) - first the angels are mentioned, then the Son, and finally the Father. The context is celestial, not earthly. If Christ had wished it to be known that it was His human nature that did not know, He would have used the usual designation for that, which was the "Son of Man" (e.g. Mk.13:26). It is very clear that "only the Father" knows in this list of celestial Beings.

It is most significant that throughout His ministry that Christ only ever referred to Himself as the "Son of Man", Others called Him the Son of God, Son of David, etc., but in only TWO places does Christ actually refer to Himself as "the Son". The first is in this passage (and parallels in other Gospels) and in the Baptismal commission to baptise in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt.28:19). The usage by Christ of "the Son" is always within the context of His Godhood, since He never directly bore witness with His own mouth that He was the "Son OF GOD".

It is clear, therefore, that He is talking about His Godhood not knowing His return, and not His manhood. This, if it is true, has serious repercussions both for UPC modalistic Godhead doctrine as well as for Trinitarianism because is clear established that the Son is in a position of inferiority to the Father both in His manhood as well as in His Godhood.

This page was created on 1 July 2001 Last updated on 1 July 2001

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