God In Human Form

As I stated in my 2008 Oxford debate on the incarnation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, “Can Jews believe Jesus is God?

If by the question you mean could God, who is complex in His unity, sit enthroned in heaven, filling the universe with His presence, infinite and uncontainable in His majesty, and yet at and one and same time manifest His glory among us in the tent of a human body for thirty-three years, then the answer is categorically yes, and there is nothing idolatrous about this belief at all.

In fact, it is harmony with the Hebrew Scriptures, even explaining some of the mysteries of our own Bible, and on some level it has parallels with rabbinic concepts. In fact, in the midrash to Psalm 91 it is written, “At [the moment that Moses finished building the Tabernacle], a great question arose: How could a Tabernacle with walls and curtains contain the Presence of the Almighty? The Master of the Universe Himself explained, ‘The entire world cannot contain My glory, yet when I wish, I can concentrate My entire essence into one small spot. Indeed, I am Most High, yet I sit in a [limited, constricted] refuge – in the shadow of the Tabernacle.’

-Dr. Michael Brown at the Borough Park Symposium

4 comments:

  1. This is from the Borrough Park Symposium?

    I think my favorites are Joseph Shulam's, Mitch Glaser's, and Michael Brown's. Not the same opinion, but I liked their honest and candid approach.

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  2. I added the relevant links in the comments section of my "deity" blog post, including a direct link to the paper quoted here on this blog.

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  3. I went to the Burrough Park Symposium site and thought the very first post, entitled "Reminder on Respectful Theological Discussion" was a relevant read. (I don't know how to post a link in the comments here)


    ;)

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  4. Trinity,
    Deity of Messiah,
    I believe this is a mystery for a reason.
    I believe the Lord reveals to whom he chooses.
    I believe Luke ch10 as Yeshua thanks his/our Father for revealing to little children and hiding from the wise shows us that the answer to this mystery may not lie in the hands of great learned men.

    Go around to big, mega churches and ask 16-18 year old kids this question:
    Who is Jesus?

    The answer I got as a child, in church was:
    Messiah, Son of the Living God.
    (Matt 16:16)

    Today, the answer from the teenagers:
    God.

    I hope people see the deceptive direction this doctrine has taken the church, but I believe that is for a reason also.

    Peace......BTW, why isn't the "Lord's Memra" in the Bible anymore?

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