Jehovah's Witnesses: Or Are They?

This article proves from the NWT (the translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses) that Jesus Christ is God.

The 'Jehovah's Witnesses' are a false cult, who deny the deity of Christ.
The New World Translation, the official translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses, proves that Jesus is Jehovah. The following bible verses are quotations from this translation.
[By the way, we do not endorse the New World (NWT) Translation, but we use it to prove our point] 

THE CREATOR 

Isaiah 44:24 This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser and the Former of you from the belly: ''I, Jehovah, am doing everything, stretching out the heavens by myself, laying out the earth. Who was with me?'' 
Job 9:8 Stretching out the heavens by himself, and treading upon the high waves of the sea 
Rev 4:11 You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created 
John 1:3 All things came into existence through him (Jesus), and apart from him (Jesus) not even one thing came into existence. 
Colossians 1:16 because by means of him (Jesus) all things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him 
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who long ago spoke on many occasions and in many ways to our forefathers by means of the prophets, has at the end of these days spoken to us by means of a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the systems of things 
Hebrews 3:4 Of course, every house is constructed by someone, but he that constructed all things is God 

THE MIGHTY GOD 

Isaiah 9:6 For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 
Isaiah 10:20-21 they will certainly support themselves upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in trueness, a mere remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God 
Jeremiah 32:17-18 Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah! Here you yourself have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. The whole matter is not too wonderful for you yourself, 18 the One exercising loving-kindness toward thousands, and repaying the error of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them, the [true] God, the great One, the mighty One, Jehovah of armies being his name. 
Nehemiah 9:32 And now, O our God, the God great, mighty and fear-inspiring, keeping the covenant and loving-kindness, do not let all the hardship that has found us, our kings, our princes and our priests and our prophets and our forefathers and all your people from the days of the kings of As•syr´i•a down to this day, seem little before you. 

LORD of LORDS 

Psalm 136:3 Give thanks to the Lord of the lords, for his loving-kindness is to time indefinite 
Deut 10:17 For Jehovah YOUR God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the God great, mighty and fear-inspiring, who treats none with partiality nor accepts a bribe 
Rev 17:14 These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him [will do so]. 

FIRST and LAST 

Isaiah 44:6 This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the Repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, ''I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.'' 
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him (Jesus), I fell as dead at his feet, and he laid his right hand upon me and said: “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last' 

ALPHA and OMEGA 

Rev 1:8 I am the Al´pha and the O•me´ga,” says Jehovah God, “the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty 
Rev 22:17-18 'Look! I (Jesus) am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. I am the Al´pha and the O•me´ga, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (see 1:17 above) 
Rev 21:5-6 And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also, he says: “Write, because these words are faithful and true'' And he said to me: “They have come to pass! I am the Al´pha and the O•me´ga, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free 

THE NAME 

Isaiah 44:22-23 Turn to me and be saved, all YOU [at the] ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no one else. By my own self I have sworn—out of my own mouth in righteousness the word has gone forth, so that it will not return—that to me every knee will bend down, every tongue will swear' 
Philippians 2:9-11 For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every [other] name, 10 so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground, 11 and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father 

THE JUDGE 

John 5:22 For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 
Rev 16:7 And I heard the altar say: “Yes, Jehovah God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judicial decisions'' 
Romans 14:10-12 For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written: “‘As I live,’ says Jehovah, ‘to me every knee will bend down, and every tongue will make open acknowledgment to God.’ So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God 

THE SAVIOUR 

Isaiah 43:10-11 YOU are my witnesses,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “even my servant whom I have chosen, in order that YOU may know and have faith in me, and that YOU may understand that I am the same One. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there continued to be none. 11 I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.” 
John 4:24 and they began to say to the woman: “We do not believe any longer on account of your talk; for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man (Jesus) is for a certainty the savior of the world 
Acts 4:12 Furthermore, there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” 
Titus 1:3-4 whereas in his own due times he made his word manifest in the preaching with which I was entrusted, under command of our Savior, God [...] may there be undeserved kindness and peace from God [the] Father and Christ Jesus our Savior 
Titus 2:13 while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of [the] Savior of us, Christ Jesus 

FROM TIME INDEFINITE 

Micah 5:2 And you, O Beth´le•hem Eph´ra•thah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite 
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains themselves were born, or you proceeded to bring forth as with labor pains the earth and the productive land, Even from time indefinite to time indefinite you are God 
Habakkuk 1:12 Are you not from long ago (same Hebrew phrase) O Jehovah? O my God, my Holy One, you do not die. O Jehovah, for a judgment you have set it; and, O Rock, for a reproving you have founded it. 

UNCHANGING 

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, for it comes down from the Father of the [celestial] lights, and with him there is not a variation of the turning of the shadow 
Malachi 3:6 For I am Jehovah; I have not changed. 
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever 

PREPARING FOR WHOM? 

Isaiah 40:3 Listen! Someone is calling out in the wilderness: “Clear up the way of Jehovah, YOU people! MAKE the highway for our God through the desert plain straight 
Mark1:1-3 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “(Look! I am sending forth my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way;) listen! someone is crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of Jehovah, YOU people, make his roads straight) 

THE SHEPHERD 

Psalm 23:1 Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall lack nothing. 
Psalm 80:1 O Shepherd of Israel, do give ear. 
Isaiah 40:10-11 Look! The Sovereign Lord Jehovah [...] Like a shepherd he will shepherd his own drove. With his arm he will collect together the lambs 
John 10:11 I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep 
Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus 
1 Peter 2:25 For YOU were like sheep, going astray; but now YOU have returned to the shepherd and overseer of YOUR souls. 
1 Peter 5:4 And when the chief shepherd has been made manifest, YOU will receive the unfadable crown of glory 

WHOSE GLORY DID ISAIAH SEE? 

Isaiah 6:1 and 10 In the year that King Uz•zi´ah died I, however, got to see Jehovah [...] make the heart of this people unreceptive, and make their very ears unresponsive, and paste their very eyes together, that they may not see with their eyes and with their ears they may not hear, and that their own heart may not understand and that they may not actually turn back and get healing for themselves 
John 12:37-41 But although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him (Jesus), so that the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled [...] He has blinded their eyes and he has made their hearts hard, that they should not see with their eyes and get the thought with their hearts and turn around and I should heal them.”. Isaiah said these things because he saw his (Jesus') glory, and he spoke about him (Jesus') 

FORGIVER OF SINS 

Isaiah 43:25I—I (Jehovah) am the One that is wiping out your transgressions for my own sake, and your sins I shall not remember 
Mark 2:7-10 Who can forgive sins except one, God?” [...] But in order for YOU men to know that the Son of man has authority to forgive sins upon the earth [...] 

OMNISCIENCE 

1 Kings 8:39 you know his heart (for you yourself alone well know the heart of all the sons of mankind) 
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it? I, Jehovah, am searching the heart, examining the kidneys, even to give to each one according to his ways, according to the fruitage of his dealings 
Rev 2:23 [...] all the congregations will know that I (Jesus) am he who searches the kidneys and hearts, and I will give to YOU individually according to YOUR deeds. 
John 2:24-25 But Jesus himself was not entrusting himself to them because of his knowing them all, and because he was in no need to have anyone bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. 
John 21:17 Lord, you know all things; you are aware that I have affection for you 

WORSHIP 

Rev 5:12-14 The Lamb that was slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” And every creature that is in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth and on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying: “To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.” And the four living creatures went saying: “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. 

GIVER OF LIFE 

Deut 32:39 SEE now that I—I am he, and there are no gods together with me. I put to death, and I make alive. I have severely wounded, and I—I will heal, And there is no one snatching out of my hand 
John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead up and makes them alive, so the Son also makes those alive whom he wants to 

VOICE 

Ezekiel 43:2 And, look! the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the direction of the east, and his voice was like the voice of vast waters; and the earth itself shone because of his glory 
Revelation 1:15 and his (Jesus') feet were like fine copper when glowing in a furnace; and his (Jesus') voice was as the sound of many waters 

LIGHT 

Isaiah 60:20 No more will your sun set, nor will your moon go on the wane; for Jehovah himself will become for you an indefinitely lasting light 
Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lighted it up, and its lamp was the Lamb 
John 8:12 Therefore Jesus spoke again to them, saying: “I am the light of the world. He that follows me will by no means walk in darkness 

THE HOLY ONE 

Hosea 11:9 I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you; and I shall not come in excitement 
Acts 3:14-15 Yes, YOU disowned that holy and righteous one, and YOU asked for a man, a murderer, to be freely granted to YOU, whereas YOU killed the Chief Agent of life. But God raised him up from the dead, of which fact we are witnesses 

WHO RAISED JESUS? 

Acts 2:32 This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses 
John 2:19 In answer Jesus said to them: “Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” [...] But he was talking about the temple of his body 

CALMS THE SEA 

Psalm 107:29 He (Jehovah) causes the windstorm to stand at a calm, so that the waves of the sea keep quiet 
Psalm 89:9 You (Jehovah) are ruling over the swelling of the sea; when it raises up its waves you yourself calm them 
Mark 4:39 With that he (Jesus) roused himself and rebuked the wind and said to the sea: “Hush! Be quiet!” And the wind abated, and a great calm set in 

THE HOLY SPIRIT (is a person)

Acts 13:2 As they were publicly ministering to Jehovah and fasting, the holy spirit said: “Of all persons set Bar´na•bas and Saul apart for me for the work to which I have called them'' 
Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said: “An•a•ni´as, why has Satan emboldened you to play false (Gk. to lie) to the holy spirit [...] You have played false (Gk. lied), not to men, but to God 
Eph 4:30 Also, do not be grieving God’s holy spirit, with which YOU have been sealed for a day of releasing by ransom. 

THE ROCK of OFFENCE and STONE of STUMBLING 

Isaiah 8:13-14 Jehovah of armies—he is the One whom YOU should treat as holy, and he should be the object of YOUR fear, and he should be the One causing YOU to tremble.” And he must become as a sacred place; but as a stone to strike against and as a rock over which to stumble to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and as a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
1 Peter 2:7-8 It is to YOU, therefore, that he (Jesus) is precious, because YOU are believers; but to those not believing, “the identical stone that the builders rejected has become [the] head of [the] corner,” and ''a stone of stumbling and a rock-mass of offense'' 

CONCLUSION

Since Scripture applies the names, works, attributes and worship of God to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit we conclude that there is ONE God in THREE persons, which we call the Trinity. 

ONE FINAL POINT

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the meek shall inherit the earth, but did you know that meekness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23)? 
Only those who are born again have the Spirit; none other are meek and therefore they will never inherit the earth, nor enter the kingdom of heaven.
 Romans 8:5-9 teaches that a person is either fleshly (carnal) or spiritual. On who is not born again does not have the Spirit and is ‘none of His’ (v. 9). He is of the flesh and cannot please God (v. 8) but is carnally minded which is death (v. 6). 
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).


Rev. Martyn McGeown 
Source: http://limerickreformed.com/component/k2/item/102-jehovahs-witnesses-or-are-they?
Please visit http://limerickreformed.com/ for more.

The Early Church and its Foundational Dogmas

 

(Slightly modified from articles first published in the British Reformed Journal)

In the previous article, I wrote of the importance of the doctrine of the covenant and the idea of the development of doctrine. I also presented three lines of support for the position that the covenant is a bond of friendship between the Triune God and His elect people in Jesus Christ. First, the covenant formula, "They will be my people and I will be their God," speaks of the covenant in terms of a personal relationship. Second, Genesis 3:15—the first covenant promise—presents salvation as enmity with Satan and, hence, friendship with the Triune God. Third, the earthly symbols and figures of the covenant include marriage, the father-son relationship and the tabernacle/temple. Together the first two (marriage and the father-son relationship) picture the covenant as a strong, intimate bond of love. The third figure (the tabernacle/temple) speaks of God dwelling with His people. This was realized in the Incarnation when God "dwelt" (literally "tabernacled") with man (John 1:14).
Presbyterian and Reformed churches rightly confess the covenant as central to biblical revelation and hence to theology. God is the covenant God in Himself enjoying the communion of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (theology). (Elect) man is the covenant creature with whom God graciously enters into communion (anthropology). Jesus is the covenant Christ who mediates God’s presence as Immanuel ("God with us;" Christology). The Holy Spirit applies to us the covenant blessings purchased for us by Christ thus enabling us to fellowship with the Triune God (soteriology). The church is the covenant community consisting of those who are God’s friends (ecclesiology). Finally, the future is the future of the people of God, for the development and culmination of world history serves the consummation of God’s covenant when the tabernacle of God will be with man (eschatology).
The early church, however, unlike Reformed theology, did not make the covenant central.¹ In fact, the early church did very little with the doctrine of the covenant. First, none of the fathers wrought a book on the covenant—that would await Heinrich Bullinger’s Of the One and Eternal Covenant of God (1534). Second, the covenant was not treated as an element in the more systematic expositions of the faith, such as Origen’s (c.185-c.254) famous work On First Principles. Third, the covenant is rarely developed in other works of the fathers. Thus we find that standard works on the theology of the early church do not have an entry in the index entitled "covenant."²
This benign neglect of the doctrine of the covenant in the writings of the fathers is partly to be accounted for in its not being mentioned in the Apostles’ Creed. Thus Rufinus (c.350-c.410) could write his commentary on the Apostles’ Creed and Cyril of Jerusalem (c.310-386) could expound the Apostles’ Creed in his Catechetical Lectures for baptismal candidates without dealing with the covenant. Similarly, the covenant is not mentioned in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (325, 381) or in the Chalcedonian Creed (451). The reason for this is obvious: these creeds were statements on controverted subjects (the Trinity and the Person and natures of Christ) upon which protracted and deep study was made. At that time the covenant was not an issue in the church and so it did not warrant treatment in the creeds.
But why in the purpose of God should the Trinity and the Person and natures of Christ be the first subjects over which intense controversy should rage in the churches necessitating a creedal statement? The answer lies in the foundational nature of these doctrines. Satan recognized these doctrines as basic to the truth of all of God’s revelation and attacked them first. Should these doctrines be lost in the church, he realized, there could be no salvation.³ Christianity then would only be a Unitarian religion of moralism.
However, God’s purpose in bringing these doctrines to the fore first is paramount. God desired that He be the first subject dealt with thoroughly in the history of doctrine. Moreover, logically God is first in the field of theology since He is all in all, the One who is before all things and of whom, through whom and unto whom are all things. Having established that salvation comes from the Triune God, the church next had to set forth the doctrine of the Person of Christ. In this way, salvation was seen to be not only from the true God alone but also through the true Christ alone.
Salvation is indeed the key here. This was the issue for Athanasius (c.296-373) when he opposed the Arians, who denied the Deity of Christ, and this was the issue for the orthodox in their battles with the Docetists, the Apollinarians, the Nestorians and the Eutychians, who held heretical views of the Person and natures of Christ.⁴ Thus the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed speaks of the Trinity and the Person and work of Christ as being "for us men and for our salvation" and the Chalcedonian Creed speaks of Christ as one divine Person in two natures "for us and for our salvation."
Unless the Father and the Son and the Spirit are God, our salvation depends on God and two creatures, and thus we cannot be saved. Athanasius also argued in his On the Incarnation of the Word that only One who was truly God could reveal the Father to us. Furthermore, unless Christ has a true human nature (against the Docetists) that is complete (against the Apollinarians) and distinct from His divine nature (against the Eutychians), He could not save the whole of man by His substitutionary atonement. Also Christ’s human nature has to be inseparably connected to His divine nature in order to render His salvation effective.
But how is this related to the covenant? The doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of the Person of Christ are foundational to all of Christian theology and hence also to the doctrine of the covenant. This may easily be proved. All of the glorious attributes of God—about which the fathers wrote a great deal—are necessary for us to have a deep, rich relationship with Him.⁵ But so also is the fact that He is the Triune God, the personal God who has life in Himself and is life. Only if God is a living, communicating, personal God in Himself as Father, Word and Spirit can He fellowship with us and bring us into His own covenant life.⁶ Indeed it is only a personal God who can create other persons! Similarly, only a mediator who is truly God can give us the knowledge of God (cf. Matt. 11:27), something necessary for covenant friendship. Moreover only one who is truly and fully man can know our struggles and sympathize with us, something essential for real friendship. Thus the early church’s doctrines of the Trinity and the Person of Christ are basic to the doctrine of the covenant.
Perhaps an analogy would be helpful. I Peter 1:23 speaks of regeneration as the planting of a divine "seed." In our regeneration we are given a new nature that is completely righteous and holy. We already possess all of our sanctification in this seed form. The continued operation of God will lead to the development of this new life over time. Similarly, all the doctrines of the Christian faith are organically related. Thus they are all implied in each other, though in various ways, with some being more directly implied than others. The mature plant of true doctrine, which grows out of the seed, is thus seen to be contained in the seed all along. This serves not only as an indication of the vitality of the church’s traditional doctrines but also as a sort of verification of the truth both of the older and of the newer doctrinal development.
Clearly then the most important contribution of the early church to the doctrine of the covenant is its formulating the doctrines of the Trinity and the Person and natures of Christ. Upon this foundation, later theologians would build their covenant views.
However, not only may all of the topics of theology be considered covenantally but several specific teachings of Presbyterian and Reformed churches are developed in the light of the doctrine of the covenant. We may identify the following: (1) the fellowship between the Three Persons in the Holy Trinity; (2) Adam’s relationship with God in the state of innocence; (3) Adam’s covenant headship of the human race and original sin; (4) Christ’s covenant headship over the elect human race; (5) the doctrine of the Christian life as one of fellowship and thankfulness; (6) the place of children in the church including paedobaptism, catechetics and Christian education; (7) the unity of the church from the beginning to the end of the world; and (8) the unity of the two testaments and progressive revelation.⁷
The early church did not explicitly develop the first six topics of the above list in the light of the covenant. However, she clearly understood the covenant as a means for establishing the unity of the church and the unity of the Old and New Testaments, the seventh and eighth doctrines listed above.
First, let us consider the early church’s use of the covenant as a basis for the unity of the Bible. Irenaeus (flourished c.175-195) writes,

But one and the same householder produced both covenants, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who spake with both Abraham and Moses, and who has restored us anew to liberty, and has multiplied to us that grace which is from Himself.⁸

Irenaeus explains how the new covenant is greater than the old (IV:ix:2), before discussing God’s progressive revelation whereby Christ’s people "make progress through believing in Him, and by means of the [successive] covenants ... gradually attain to perfect salvation" (IV:ix:3).
John Chrysostom (c.349-407) expresses the truth that the author of the old and new covenants is the same in more explicitly Trinitarian terms:

As the old covenant was given not by the Father only, but also by the Son, so the covenant of grace proceeds from the Father as well as the Son, and their every act is common: "All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine" (John 15:16).⁹

Second, the early church also used the covenant to establish the unity of the church of all ages. Justin Martyr (c.100-165), after quoting Jeremiah 31:31-32, the classic text on the new covenant, writes,

Jesus Christ ... is the new law, and the new covenant, and the expectation of those who out of every people wait for the good things of God. For the true spiritual Israel, and the descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of and blessed by God on account of his faith, and called the father of many nations), are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ.¹⁰

The unknown author of the Epistle of Barnabus (c.100) writes pointedly, "But let us see if this people [the church] is the heir, or the former [the Jews], and if the covenant belongs to us or to them."¹¹ His answer is clear: the Jews were once the people of God, but since they have rejected the Son of God now the covenant belongs to the church. Justin Martyr puts it succinctly. He tells Trypho, a Jew, that the "Scriptures" are "not yours, but ours."¹²
So far we have seen, first, that the early church’s work on the Trinity and the Person of Christ is foundational to the development of the doctrine of the covenant and, second, that the early church clearly used the covenant as a basis for establishing both the unity of the Old and New Testaments and the unity of the church of all ages. Now we shall see, third, that the early church’s conception of salvation is not inconsistent with covenant fellowship.
The church fathers did not define the covenant as a bond of friendship between God and His people in Jesus Christ. Did they, however, approach the conception of salvation as fellowship with God? On this point we have to acknowledge that the fathers are not always very detailed, nor are they always correct, in their treatment of the content of salvation.¹³ For example, they did not fully grasp many of the implications of salvation by grace alone, for most of them taught that man still has free will in some sense and often they lapsed into moralistic strains. This is evident from an earlier quotation from Justin Martyr that "Jesus Christ ... is the new law, and the new covenant."¹⁴ To their credit, they would say that salvation is necessary, that it is the work of God through Christ and by the Spirit, and that it includes the forgiveness of sins, a godly life, membership in the holy, catholic church, a part in the resurrection of the just and the joy of heaven, but it was not fleshed out by them as fully and as accurately as it would later be in Reformed theology.
However, in the church fathers’ various presentations of salvation or man’s chief blessedness or the Christian life they do speak of fellowship and a living relationship with God and we do see suggestions of friendship with the Triune God as the chief good. The fathers as a whole, especially in their apologetic writings, often speak of Christ as providing the knowledge of the true God. Immortality, sharing in the deathless life of God, is often spoken of as a major benefit of salvation.¹⁵ Moreover, divine felicity and love are frequently presented as man’s chief good in life.
Clement of Rome (flourished c.90-100) refers to the covenant in more than one place in his letter I Clement but only in quotations from the Bible and without any development (xv, xxxv). He speaks of love as a bond but makes no reference to the covenant in this connection (xlix).¹⁶ However, when he first mentions Abraham he immediately describes him as the "friend of God" (x). Later, he again gives him this same honorific title (xvii). Clement clearly liked this idea of friendship with God. He did not call it covenant friendship, nor did he go on to develop the idea of being a friend of God but he found this conception attractive.
In the anonymous Epistle to Diognetus (c.130), we read that

God ... formed [man] after His own image, to whom He sent His only begotten Son, to whom He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved Him. And when you have attained this knowledge, with what joy do you think you will be filled? Or how will you love Him who has first loved you? And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness.¹⁷

A life of loving God and rejoicing in Him and imitating His kindness is clearly one of communion with our blessed Creator and Redeemer.
Robert Schnucker points out that Origen (c.185-c.254) argues in his book On Prayer that "prayer is not a petition, but a participation in God’s life."¹⁸ Surely, "participation in God’s life" involves fellowship with the living God.
In a passage in which he compares the two covenants, Chrysostom states that, "There [in the old covenant], it was slave with master, here [in the new covenant], it is friend with friend." He goes on to speak of the covenant blessings as "life everlasting," "the Holy Spirit," "heaven" and being "born" as "sons of God" so that "we are all one from the side of Christ."¹⁹ This is a highly significant quotation, for here Chrysostom says that life in the new covenant is friendship with God in the enjoyment of all the blessings of salvation. To say the least, however, this insight into the covenant is rare.
To summarize, the fathers did not see covenant friendship as the apex of our salvation and hence did not subordinate the various covenantal blessings to the idea of fellowship. With a little thought, however, all or most of their perspectives on salvation could be related to covenant friendship with God.


Rev. Angus Stewart
http://www.cprf.co.uk/articles/covenant2.htm

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Endnotes

¹ In this article, the early church is used to refer to the post-apostolic church up to and including the Council of Chalcedon (451), with the exclusion of Augustine (354-430) whom we shall consider next.

² Cf. Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Eerdmans, 1960); Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, vol. 1 (University of Chicago Press, 1971); J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (HarperSanFrancisco, rev. 1978).

³ Cf. the Athanasian Creed: "Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith: Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ... Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ ... This is the Catholic Faith: which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved" (1-3, 29, 44).

⁴ The Arians, named after Arius, a presbyter of Alexander, taught that Christ is not God but is created by the will of the Father.
The Docetists taught that Christ only seems to be a man.
The Apollinarians, named after Apollinarius, Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, taught that while Christ has a body and a soul, the eternal Son took the place of His spirit.
The Nestorians, named after Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, taught that Christ is two persons.
The Eutychians, named after Eutyches, a presbyter and the head of a monastery in Constantinople, taught that Christ possesses only one nature.

⁵ Cf. Herman Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, trans. William Hendriksen (Banner, repr. 1991).

⁶ Cf. Thomas C. Oden: "The very idea of person comes from early Christian theology" (The Living God [Prince Press, 1998], p. 218).

⁷ Cf. Peter Y. De Jong, The Covenant Idea in New England Theology 1620-1847 (Eerdmans, 1945), p. 50.

⁸ Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV:ix:1, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 1 (Eerdmans, repr. 1987), p. 472.

⁹ Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle to the Galatians and Ephesians, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff, vol. 13 (Eerdmans, repr. 1983), p. 6.

¹⁰ Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho xi, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 1 (Eerdmans, repr. 1987), p. 200.

¹¹ Epistle of Barnabusxiii, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 1 (Eerdmans, repr. 1987), p. 145.

¹² Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho xxix, p. 209.

¹³ Cf. J. N. D. Kelly: " The student who seeks to understand the soteriology of the fourth and early fifth centuries [and, of course, the previous few centuries] will be sharply disappointed if he expects to find anything corresponding to the elaborately worked out syntheses which the contemporary theology of the Trinity and the Incarnation presents" (Early Christian Doctrines [HarperSanFrancisco, rev. 1978], p. 375).

¹⁴ Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho xi, p. 200; italics mine. See also Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV:xii:1-5, pp. 475-476.

¹⁵ Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, vol. 1 (University of Chicago Press, 1971), pp. 153-154.

¹⁶ David Engelsma points out that the fathers had a conception of an unbreakable bond in their view of marriage (Marriage: The Mystery of Christ and the Church [Reformed Free Publishing Association, rev. 1998], pp. 181ff.). But they did not consider whether the covenant was an unbreakable bond.

¹⁷ Epistle to Diognetus x, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 1 (Eerdmans, repr. 1987), p. 29.

¹⁸ Robert Schnucker, "Origen," in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, gen. ed. J. D. Douglas (Zondervan, 1974), p. 733.

¹⁹ Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff, vol. 13 (Eerdmans, repr. 1983), p. 287.