God the Father - who is he?
People knew about the existence of one God the Father long before the Nativity of Christ; an example of this is the Indian “Upanishads”, which were created one and a half thousand years BC. e. It says that in the beginning there was nothing but the Great Brahman. The peoples of Africa mention Olorun, who transformed the watery Chaos into heaven and earth, and on the 5th day created people. In many ancient cultures there is the image of “the highest mind is God the Father,” but in Christianity there is a main difference - God is triune. To put this concept into the minds of those who worshiped pagan deities, the trinity appeared: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
God the Father in Christianity is the first hypostasis of the Holy Trinity; He is revered as the Creator of the world and man. The theologians of Greece called God the Father the basis of the integrity of the Trinity, who is known through His Son. Much later, philosophers called Him the original definition of the highest idea, God the Father Absolute - the fundamental principle of the world and the beginning of existence. Among the names of God the Father:
- Hosts - Lord of Hosts, mentioned in the Old Testament and in the psalms.
- Yahweh. Described in the story of Moses.
What does God the Father look like?
What does God, the Father of Jesus, look like? There is still no answer to this question. The Bible mentions that God spoke to people in the form of a burning bush and a pillar of fire, but no one can ever see Him with their own eyes. He sends angels in his place, because man cannot see Him and survive. Philosophers and theologians are sure: God the Father exists outside of time, therefore he cannot change.
Since God the Father never showed himself to people, the Council of the Hundred Heads in 1551 imposed a ban on His images. The only acceptable canon was the image of Andrei Rublev “Trinity”. But today there is also a “God the Father” icon, created much later, where the Lord is depicted as a gray-haired Elder. It can be seen in many churches: at the very top of the iconostasis and on the domes.
Jesus Christ brought grace and truth
The word “grace” speaks of an undeserved gift, but not only that. This is a situation where you deserve punishment, but instead you receive something as a gift. The Bible says that all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. This is what “grace” is! When you deserve death and receive eternal life. In most cases in the Bible, the word "grace" is equated with eternal life because it has the same meaning. Eternal life can only be offered by God the Father, and Jesus Christ came to bring this grace and truth, as the Bible says:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we saw His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father...And from His fullness we all received, grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed. (Gospel of John 1:14,16-18)
How did God the Father appear?
Another question that also has no clear answer: “Where did God the Father come from?” There was only one option: God always existed as the Creator of the Universe. Therefore, theologians and philosophers give two explanations for this position:
- God could not appear because the concept of time did not exist then. He created it, along with space.
- To understand where God came from, you need to think beyond the Universe, beyond time and space. Man is not yet capable of this.
Who was the father of Jesus Christ?
Was Joseph the Betrothed the biological father of Jesus? What does the Bible say about this and why is God a very dubious candidate for fatherhood?
Mary, Jesus, Joseph, Holy Spirit. We know from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that Jesus did not have a biological father. From the point of view of ancient people, this is quite understandable.
They knew that it takes a man and a woman to conceive, but they did not know exactly how the process of conception took place, so divine intervention could be a sufficient reason for a new life.
For example, according to Aristotle, the emergence of a child is associated with the conjugation of the male active essence and the female passive essence. They mix in the womb of a woman and a child is formed from her. The male essence gives the child intelligence, the female essence gives life and an enlivening spirit.
Roman bust of Aristotle. Therefore, for the ancients there was no problem that Jesus became a full-fledged man without the participation of a biological father, because one mother is enough to form the flesh. An active rational principle could well be provided by God himself.
But today we know that the conception of a person, especially a man, cannot occur without the participation of the father. Jesus, as a real person, must have had XY chromosomes. The Y chromosome is from the father, and the X chromosome is from the mother, Mary. Who gave him the Y chromosome? God or Joseph?
Joseph the Betrothed thinks about his fidelity to Mary. Icon of the Nativity of Christ.
Joseph as the real father of Jesus
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke say that Joseph is the father and parent of Jesus Christ:
...when the parents brought the Child Jesus to do to Him that which had been established by the Law... ( Luke 2:27)
Father and mother were amazed at what was said about Him. ( Luke 2:33)
Even the genealogy of Jesus in both gospels is based on Joseph. Joseph is a descendant of King David, and this is important in the context of Christ's messianic prophecy. Why do the gospel writers use Joseph's genealogy as an example if they did not consider him to be the biological father?
Strange. Perhaps Christians believed that being an adoptive father rather than a biological father was enough. But let's turn to parallel stories about divine children. The Roman writer and philosopher Plutarch, who lived in the 1st century during the time of the first Christians, describes the origins of ancient Greek and Roman heroes.
Theseus, Romulus, Alexander the Great come from him both naturally and supernaturally. For example, Theseus has one father who is a man - King Aegeus, and the other who is a god - Poseidon.
Theseus defeats the Minotaur. Macedonsky has a similar story. His father was King Philip II, but shortly before the death of the great conqueror, a myth appeared that Alexander was born from Zeus himself. Most likely, a similar story happened to Jesus Christ. In ancient times, people wanted to elevate their idols, heroes and kings to gods.
By calling Jesus the son of God, Christians decided to change the story of his origin, as the Greeks and Romans did with Theseus, Macedonian and other legendary figures. To deify the hero, it was necessary to make the conception supernatural. This strengthened the cult and faith.
Source
God the Father in Orthodoxy
In the Old Testament there is no reference to God from people “Father,” and not because they have not heard about the Holy Trinity. It’s just that the situation in relation to the Lord was different; after Adam’s sin, people were expelled from paradise, and they went over to the camp of God’s enemies. God the Father in the Old Testament is described as a formidable force, punishing people for disobedience. In the New Testament, He is already the Father of all who believe in Him. The unity of the two texts is that in both, the same God speaks and acts for the salvation of humanity.
God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ
With the advent of the New Testament, God the Father in Christianity is already mentioned in reconciliation with people through His Son Jesus Christ. This Testament says that the Son of God was the forerunner of the adoption of people by the Lord. And now believers receive a blessing not from the first hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity, but from God the Father, since Christ atoned for the sins of humanity on the cross. It is written in the sacred books that God is the Father of Jesus Christ, who, during the baptism of Jesus in the waters of the Jordan, appeared in the form of the Holy Spirit and commanded people to obey His Son.
Trying to explain the essence of faith in the Holy Trinity, theologians set out the following postulates:
- All three Persons of God have the same Divine dignity, on equal terms. Since God in His being is one, then the properties of God are inherent in all three hypostases.
- The only difference is that God the Father does not come from anyone, but the Son of the Lord was born from God the Father eternally, the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father.
In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily
Most people don't even know what events are hidden behind the Christmas holiday. Many who know are trying to lift up the person of the Lord Jesus to the helpless babe in the manger from Bethlehem. They do not know that then, in this manger, the Son of God was incarnated into man, so that he could live in him on this earth, in the flesh, in all the fullness of God. Therefore, the Apostle Paul spoke to the believers from the city of Colosse words that have the same force and are relevant for all Christians, at all times:
Take heed, brethren, lest anyone lead you away with philosophy and empty deception, according to human tradition, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ; for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:8-10)
And finally, another very important reason why Jesus Christ is called “the only begotten Son of God” is that His conception was completely different from the conception of any other person. When the angel told Mary that she would conceive and give birth to a son...
Mary said to the Angel: How will this be when I don’t know my husband? The angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (Gospel of Luke 1:34-35)
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God? Have you become a child of God, born of God through faith in the only begotten Son of God?
Translation: Moses Natalya
Controversies
It was the contradictions that served as the first impetus for studying this issue. After all, any Christian, regardless of confession or denomination, is virtually sure that Jesus is a Jew. Having asked the Jews about Jesus’ belonging to their nationality, they will deny it in every possible way. All this fueled the interest of historians in solving this problem.
Read about Christ:
- Suffering on the Cross of Jesus Christ
- Death of Jesus Christ
- Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Icon “The Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands”
Disputes on this issue have been going on for quite a long time. All Russians are guided by the Orthodox tradition in such topics. Metropolitan Dimitri of Rostov, in his writings in the 18th and 19th centuries, mentioned: “Christ, in human terms, was of the Jewish tribe.” Some time later in the early 20s, this postulate was questioned in Christian society. Ernest Renan stated that all disputes are pointless.
However, many 20th century theologians, particularly Protestants, again accepted the conclusion that Jesus was a Jew. It follows that He did not agree with some of the teachings of Moses, while Christ did not deny the entire system of Judaism.
The differences can be explained quite simply. Considering that most Orthodox Christians were poorly informed about the history of Palestine and the time when Jesus lived, they believed that anyone born in Palestine was a Jew.
Hebraic scholars in our time do not agree with this. During the life of Jesus, Palestine was divided into 3 independent entities:
- Judea, where believers lived who were obedient to the law of Moses;
- Galilee, here everyone was “faithful” to the Old Testament;
- Samaria, in this country people have moved far from Judaism. They had their own religion. Mostly descendants of the Babylonians lived here. The Samaritans were the worst enemies of the others above. There were prohibitions on any close contact with these people.
It follows that no one could find out the truth as such. Since neither one nor the other could even come close to correctly justifying their position.
Who benefits from this myth?
This myth - it can be called the "myth of birth from the Holy Spirit" - is found not only in popular articles, but also among serious scientists. And this is understandable: the Immaculate Conception is a miracle, a supernatural intervention of God, and if a person adheres to a worldview in which there is no place for God or any of His actions in the world, he will inevitably reject any evidence of such supernatural intervention. He will simply be forced to look for any explanation of the available evidence, except for the most direct one - a miracle.
Liberal Protestantism played a large role in the development of the myth: faced with an increasingly skeptical, materialistic cultural environment in the 19th and 20th centuries, some theologians decided that it would be a good idea to begin to adapt and somehow sweep under the rug those biblical miracles that - like and in ancient times - they caused special ridicule from non-believers.
How to briefly tell children the story of the Nativity of Christ?
A short history of the Nativity of Christ for children tells about the following events. Saint Joseph became the betrothed of the Virgin Mary. Having gone to the census, they could not find a place to stay for the night in the town of Bethlehem. They had to spend the night in a cave.
The Savior of the world was born there. After His birth, three wise men came to the Holy Family and brought gifts to the King of Kings.
