I have been puzzled for some time with the view of some fundies – in particular the young-earthers – who call Jesus the Creator. Among most trinitarians, creation is seen as the domain of the father, not the son (even though the son was always there with the father.)
So I consulted with a theologian colleague of mine, and here’s what he responded:
My best guess is that what you’re seeing is a remnant (or maybe a revival) of an old-fashioned Evangelical theology, one that more traditional theologians called “Christomonism” in the middle of the 20th century. As you can guess, it’s a kind of unitarianism, but with Jesus becoming the sole member of the Trinity rather than the more usual unitarian focus on the traditional Father as the sole represention of God. Its roots historically were with a kind of frontier piety, but with little sense of the “Old Testament.”
After writing the paragraph above, I tried finding the term on the web, and got:
Actually, in the New Testament most of the time Jesus is referred to as the Creator. Sometimes the same writers will refer to God as the Creator. It seems that since Jesus is God (or part of the God-head) the two names are used interchangably in this matter. I feel that some of the difficulty is that there is only a perceivable distinction when Jesus is in a human body, therefore not in heaven. So it is impossible to properly disctinguish between what the Father does as opposed to the Son. I wish I could understand/explain it better, but the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite.
Not sure if you’re thinking of different verses, but all NT references to Jesus as Creator are very indirect, at least so far as I am aware. In John (where almost all of these occur) primarily but also elsewhere, it appears to be through the identification of Jesus with `Word’.
The other example I found is Ephesians 9, but only in some versions (especially the KJVs): “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: …”
Even here, the context (and the consequently varying interpretations) appears to be the same issue of identifying Jesus with Logos/Word.
So for this: “It seems that since Jesus is God (or part of the God-head) the two names are used interchangably in this matter. I feel that some of the difficulty is that there is only a perceivable distinction when Jesus is in a human body, therefore not in heaven. So it is impossible to properly disctinguish between what the Father does as opposed to the Son. I wish I could understand/explain it better, but the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite.”
The distinction appears to be primarily between Jesus and Word, where Word is minimally an instance or elucidation of God/God’s will, not necessarily an equivalence. John draws this equivalence explicitly (1.1), but this is an addition, if not a complete departure, of John to the synoptic gospels.
I would say that identifying Jesus as “Creator” is tenable as an interpretation of NT (putting aside the more general troubles with Trinitarianism), but it is a deviance.
On a side note, I really hope that you do not sincerely subscribe to “the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite,” particularly if you are supposed to believe in the “infinite.”
Dan Fincke has his PhD in philosophy from Fordham University and is an adjunct philosophy professor at five universities this semester (Fordham, Fairfield, Hofstra, William Paterson, and Hunter College). Hear him overview his ideas about the blog's main topics (ethics, religion, atheism, and the atheist movement) in this definitive half hour interview (given to the podcast "Whatever Whatever Amen"). You can also watch him introduce some of Nietzsche's ideas in a ten minute video. Dan was a devout evangelical Christian until he grappled with The Portable Nietzsche while enrolled at one of America's most conservative Christian undergraduate institutions (Grove City College). He went on to write his dissertation on Nietzsche. Learn more about his deconversion and his views on how (and why) to have civil dialogue with religious people in his hour long interview with the Angry Atheist podcast. Also read his article Apostasy As A Religious Act (Or "Why A Camel Hammers The Idols Of Faith"), which explains why those who want to respect religious people and their experiences should stop trying to silence former believers for speaking out against their former religions. (This article also contains the key to understanding why this blog is named "Camels With Hammers".)
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I have been puzzled for some time with the view of some fundies – in particular the young-earthers – who call Jesus the Creator. Among most trinitarians, creation is seen as the domain of the father, not the son (even though the son was always there with the father.)
So I consulted with a theologian colleague of mine, and here’s what he responded:
My best guess is that what you’re seeing is a remnant (or maybe a revival) of an old-fashioned Evangelical theology, one that more traditional theologians called “Christomonism” in the middle of the 20th century. As you can guess, it’s a kind of unitarianism, but with Jesus becoming the sole member of the Trinity rather than the more usual unitarian focus on the traditional Father as the sole represention of God. Its roots historically were with a kind of frontier piety, but with little sense of the “Old Testament.”
After writing the paragraph above, I tried finding the term on the web, and got:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=christomonism&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC
Actually, in the New Testament most of the time Jesus is referred to as the Creator. Sometimes the same writers will refer to God as the Creator. It seems that since Jesus is God (or part of the God-head) the two names are used interchangably in this matter. I feel that some of the difficulty is that there is only a perceivable distinction when Jesus is in a human body, therefore not in heaven. So it is impossible to properly disctinguish between what the Father does as opposed to the Son. I wish I could understand/explain it better, but the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite.
‘the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite’
You are joking, right?
No, if I was joking I would say “a horse walked into a bar . . . “
Matt,
Not sure if you’re thinking of different verses, but all NT references to Jesus as Creator are very indirect, at least so far as I am aware. In John (where almost all of these occur) primarily but also elsewhere, it appears to be through the identification of Jesus with `Word’.
The other example I found is Ephesians 9, but only in some versions (especially the KJVs): “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: …”
Even here, the context (and the consequently varying interpretations) appears to be the same issue of identifying Jesus with Logos/Word.
So for this: “It seems that since Jesus is God (or part of the God-head) the two names are used interchangably in this matter. I feel that some of the difficulty is that there is only a perceivable distinction when Jesus is in a human body, therefore not in heaven. So it is impossible to properly disctinguish between what the Father does as opposed to the Son. I wish I could understand/explain it better, but the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite.”
The distinction appears to be primarily between Jesus and Word, where Word is minimally an instance or elucidation of God/God’s will, not necessarily an equivalence. John draws this equivalence explicitly (1.1), but this is an addition, if not a complete departure, of John to the synoptic gospels.
I would say that identifying Jesus as “Creator” is tenable as an interpretation of NT (putting aside the more general troubles with Trinitarianism), but it is a deviance.
On a side note, I really hope that you do not sincerely subscribe to “the finite will never fully comprehend the infinite,” particularly if you are supposed to believe in the “infinite.”
(ugh abuse of mathy terms).