The Incredulous Duality
The manifestation of God in flesh is one of the pillars which props the Christian faith. This claim of a God who reduces himself to the lows of man is quite incomprehensible at best, and insulting and blasphemous at worst. The proponents of this line of thinking are apt to cite their Bibles for proof, with the book titled The Gospel According to John being their favourite source of support particularly John 1:1 in which it is stated that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
The word, by virtue of being "God," acquires the aura of divinity and is subsequently conferred the capitalized form as a sign of reverence. In John 1: 14, the author of the Book of John takes another stride towards the defamation of God by declaring that "... the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us ...... full of grace and truth." Thus, by corollary, God was transformed into flesh, roaming the breaths and widths of this planet as a man. Jesus, so claims the Christians, was the manifestation of that God in human form, an Incarnate God.
It is the habit, an annoying and unscholarly habit, if truth be said, of most Christians to point out these two verses to bulwark this repugnant notion of a God that reduces himself to a mere mortal. Foremost amongst the proponents of an Incarnate God are the leaders of the Church. These are individuals who are so well-versed in the edicts of the Bible, at least judged by the enthusiasm they exude when preaching on Sundays, and one would think that preaching such sheer nonsense should strike "the fear of the Lord" into their hearts for they ought to know that the very declarant of the Word being God and "transformed into flesh" has very little credibility.
Yes, a very casual reading of the same chapter in which the reader is told God became flesh is yet another incredulous declaration: "No man has seen God at any time" other than "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father...," so declares John 1:18. This claim is impeachable and many a preacher has ranted and raved about this verse to the point where it has become an acceptable truth.
In an inauspicious incident involving a very excitable preacher of the born-again brotherhood, and sisterhood, for the sake of political correctness, I boldly pointed out that under any circumstances where common sense is allowed to take its due course, the entire Book of John would be expunged from the "Holy" Book with little fanfare. Why, the preacher dropped his jaw in amazement. Before he could recover his lost breath, I declared that the Book of John was rendering some very fundamental books of the Bible irrelevant because of John 1:18. That verse was, in its entirety, a lie and its author, be it the Apostle John or whoever the anonymous writer was, could be branded a bearer of false witness as per the Biblical declaration, Exodus 20:16.
He, the preacher, as was the case with his brethren of the cross, including the anonymous author who we shall call "John" out posterity, were culpable of preaching heresy. One has to question where these preachers and the author of the Book of John get the temerity to claim that no one has seen God. One has to wonder why men who profess to be saviours of lost souls ignore Genesis 32: 30 in which the patriarch Jacob says "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Not only does this chapter tell us that Jacob saw God "face to face" but God and Jacob and God had a no-winner wrestling contest that lasted an entire night. It is hard to believe that people who have studied the Bible could miss such a spectacular encounter between God and Jacob. This nocturnal no-holds-barred wrestling showcase is enough to cloud the veracity of the claims made by the author of the Book of John.
If this incident was the only one where a man had seen God "face to face and lived" to talk about it, it would be imperative to give "John" the benefit of the doubt. However, this task becomes quite hard if one goes on to read Exodus 24:9-11 in which seventy four men, Moses, Aaron, Na�dab, Abi�hu and other seventy of the elders of Israel saw the God of Israel. So, at this juncture seventy four men have seen God. In the first instance, it would have been easy to dismiss Jacob�s claims as sheer fantasies but how one could dismiss the case of seventy four other individuals is beyond belief. Nevertheless, "John" did and most preachers do.
Perhaps, just perhaps, these elders lost their minds in that one moment and we could brush aside Exodus 24:9-11. This is a very difficult thing to do especially when one of the seventy four men, Moses, is reported to have had the "Lord spake unto "him" face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend:" Exodus 33:11. Probably Moses made up this story as there was nobody to witness him talking to God "face to face" after all, young Joshua, who could not bear the sight of God, bolted out of the tabernacle. This becomes a common case of Moses�s word being pitched against the word of an author who prefers to hide his identity behind the name of another man, John. Moses wins this one flat out!
Just in case there are lingering doubts about the encounter between God and the seventy elders, Moses, we are told in Deuteronomy 5:4, reminded the children of Israel that "the Lord talked to you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire." Thus the meeting of God and the elders was not a chance encounter and neither was "the face to face" meeting of Moses because of the collaboratory statement in Deuteronomy 34:10, not to mention Exodus 33:23 where God promised "... thou shalt see my back parts (buttocks): but my face shall not be seen."
It really hard to fathom that "John" and all the Bible scholars could ignore a man, Manoah, and his wife who are reported to "have seen God" in Judges 13:22
To anyone who has an open mind, the declaration made in John 1:18 is the diametric opposite of eight Biblical verses. On the weight and sheer strength of evidentiary numbers alone, this verse can be declared a blatant lie. What is more intriguing, as a result of this bold misstatement, is the authenticity of all the other declarations made in the Book of John. To paraphrase a quote by a famous forensic scientist, Dr Lee, if you were to go to a restaurant and order a plate of spaghetti and you find a coachroach, not only are the owners of the restaurant obligated to throw away your potion of spaghetti but the entire pot whence this potion came. Thus, given "John�s" propensity to make cheap lies which can be defrocked with so much ease, whatever he says cannot be trusted and, accordingly, the blasephamous claims of God becoming flesh can only be characterized for what they really are, lies, a pack of heresy.
To those who insist on preaching this heresy, one would surely want to know why they show little fear of "taking God�s name in vain" despite the clear message to any transgressor for whom "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vein:" Exodus 20:7.
Author�s advise: If you know of any preacher who believes in "John�s" heresies while ignoring something as spectacular as God grappling with Jacob, and making a mess out of a contest he should have won, I have very little hope for him. All I can say is he might have to go back to the seminary and read more scriptures. To anyone who believes in the follies of the logos; when your time of reckoning comes, my advice to you is simple: Duck, you sucker.
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