Response to Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg has been an influential defender and promoter of the Trinity Doctrine. Below is a response to one of his often-viewed sermons on the Trinity.”
Response to Alistair Begg Sermon “Jesus, the God-Man,” delivered June 29, 2003, accessed at:
“God-Man” a Pagan Concept
Begg claims the idea of Jesus being the God-man is what makes Christianity unique; it “is the kind of thought we find nowhere else in world religion.”
This statement is patently false, and Begg accidentally admits as much a little later when he says, “Hinduism says that God has been incarnate lots of times.” The “God-man” idea is present in many primitive religions. It is a pagan concept. In South American religions, the priest was considered to be a god. Alexander the Great was worshiped by some as an incarnation of Zeus (and he himself seemed to believe that). And the Bible offers an example in Acts 14, where it tells how men of Lystra declared Barnabas to be Zeus and Paul to be Hermes, and tried to offer sacrifices to them. The natives cried out, “The gods have come down to us in the form of men!” If Christianity were about a “God-man,” that would not make Christianity unique at all.
One God, Period
What is unique about Christianity is the worship of one God, who is the only God, and who had an only Son who came to earth and dwelt among us in the flesh, who then was crucified and resurrected. That is the Christian belief, and there is nothing in that belief about a “God-man.” Jesus was never a “God-man”; he was the Son of God incarnate.
Trinitarian Word Salads
Defenders of the Trinity Doctrine tend to get tangled in their own words, and then attempt to weasel out of the tangle by simply declaring that the confusion is not really confusing, it just appears confusing. Begg’s sermon is no exception. The sections below will offer some examples.
Just Declare That Confusion Is Not Confusing
Begg quotes the Council of Chalcedon as saying Jesus Christ is “acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly.” Because it is highly confusing to say that anyone has two natures (unless the person is schizophrenic), the creed writers pretend to remove the confusion by adding the word “inconfusedly.” Yep, that resolves everything! Just declare that your own confusing statement is not confusing!
The Wrong “Mystery”
Begg quotes Paul as saying to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3, “Great is the mystery”; and then Begg applies Paul’s word “mystery” to his Trinity Doctrine. But Paul was not talking about the Trinity. Paul was talking about the mystery of the Old Testament’s messianic promise, how its exact fulfillment was unknown for so many centuries, and how that mystery is now revealed in Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:26, Paul calls it “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints.” Then he explains that part of the “mystery” which is now revealed—something not previously known—is that God’s salvation is now extended to Gentiles; and the other part of the mystery now revealed “is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The mystery Paul is talking about is not the Trinity Doctrine; that doctrine is unknown to Paul!
Revelation Mis-Defined
Begg says, “If Jesus is less than God, he can’t reveal God.” But what about Moses and the prophets? They all revealed God. Even Balaam the treacherous prophet revealed God; and Nebuchadnezzar the pagan king of Babylon revealed God (see Daniel chapter 4). Begg says, “That which is not God cannot reveal God.” That doesn’t even make sense. A scientist can reveal how a chemical reaction works without being the chemical reaction. What corner of his brain is Begg pulling these ideas from?
What Jesus Said About Himself
Begg says, “If Jesus is less than the person he claims to be, we have no revelation.” Again, Begg is begging the question, because never, ever—not once, not ever—did Jesus claim to be God. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. And God himself never claimed that Jesus was God. God spoke audibly, so people could hear his voice at Jesus’ baptism and at the Transfiguration, and he said, “This is my beloved Son.” What could be clearer???
And by the way, what would Begg make of the incident (Luke 18:18-19) where a ruler addresses Jesus as “Good Teacher,” and Jesus responds: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”? Does that sound like Jesus is claiming to be God?
Begg’s False Dilemma
Toward the end of his sermon, Begg poses a false dilemma. He first makes the point that we can’t “unscramble” scripture “if Christ is a created being.” (I’ll skip over the notion that scripture is scrambled and requires people like Begg to unscramble it.) Begg is correct in saying Christ is not a created being, because all things were created through Christ, and he can’t have been created through himself. But then Begg immediately assumes the only alternative is for Christ to “be God.” That seems to be the choice Begg offers us: either Christ is a created being, or he is God. The Bible, however, repeatedly gives us a third alternative: Christ is the Son of God. Why does Begg, and the whole Trinitarian establishment, refuse to read what is there in black and white?
Jesus’ Authority
Recently the minister at my local Baptist church made a similar mistake. He displayed the major points of his sermon on visuals, with each visual pointing out some area in which Jesus had authority. One visual might say Jesus had authority over diseases, another might say authority over demons, and so forth. Then, at the end, he declared that Jesus had all this authority because he “was God”! The implication was that the only way Jesus could have this kind of authority was if he was God. That’s it; no other alternatives. What about the alternative that Jesus had all this authority because it was given to him by God? What about Jesus’ statement at Matthew 28:18, “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me”? If we read the Bible in its entirety, we should be familiar with the idea that God gives authority to whom he pleases—evil men as well as good. Pontius Pilate had authority because it was given to him by God. All authority comes from God. So, why should we be surprised when God gives supreme authority to his beloved Son?
Only One True God
In John 17:3, Jesus says, “… that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” In other words, the Father is the only God—there are not two others secretly hiding in the wings. And Jesus has firmly distinguished himself from God; Jesus is the one sent by God. What could be clearer? Do we really need Begg to “unscramble” this for us?