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Contra Stavrinides
by Frank Nelte
PART XVII: "ANTHROPOMORPHIC" LANGUAGE IN THE BIBLE
Another major way in which Dr. Stavrinides attempts to do away with scriptures that contradict his ideas about the nature of God, is by calling any references to God's appearance ...
"ANTHROPOMORPHIC PICTURES"!
By this he means that God does not really have any shape, but that, in His dealings with human beings, He appears in a human-like form purely for our benefit. Talking in terms of "arms", "feet", etc. is purely so that we can relate to God ... but in reality, claims Dr. Stavrinides, God does not have arms and feet, etc..
THE WHOLE HANDOUT IS A WASTE OF TIME!
It is totally disorganized and virtually impossible to follow. It seems like one person sat down and made a list of scriptures that would look impressive ... and someone else then gave the lectures after having taken no more than a cursory glance at the list. For example, in his first lecture, on tape #2, he covered the following scriptures in this sequence:
ICor 2:1-2; Deut 6:4; Mark 12:29,32; Rom 3:13; Gal 3:20; 1Tim 2:5; James 2:19; Matt 28:18-19; Gen 3:5-6; Deut 6:4; Eph 3:15; Acts 3:25; John 17:3,17.
In Handout #2, under heading "I" it lists the following:
Gen 1:26; Deut 4:35,39; Deut 6:4; Deut 14:1; Matt 4:4; Matt 28:19; John 17:3,17; Gal 3:15; 2Tim 3:16; Rev 2:2.
How anybody is expected to make anything out of this Handout #2 is a mystery. It's main function seems to be to look impressive. However, it is anything but helpful or useful or logical!
I mention this at this point in time because I attempted to locate certain scriptures in my notes by using Handout #2 to help me in my search through my 134 pages of notes. The Handout was useless!
HE DOES NOT PRESENT ONE SHRED OF PROOF FOR THIS CLAIM!!!
And God said, Let us make man IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26)
So God created man IN HIS [OWN] IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)
And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
The scriptures are VERY CLEAR that God created man in His own image ... to LOOK LIKE God, but composed of matter!
Dr. Stavrinides doesn't like that because, according to human reason and "logic", spirit can't have a form or shape ... thus it can't look like anything at all; it is supposed to be shapeless and formless.
GENESIS CHAPTER 1 GIVES US BASIC INFORMATION THAT MAN SIMPLY WOULD NOT FIGURE OUT ON HIS OWN!
And it is BASIC information that God created us to LOOK LIKE He does in form and shape, with the potential to later be changed into spirit, still in the form and shape of God!
"Eikôn" and "Charakter".
"Eikôn" refers to the appearance of an image. It is used for "the image on a coin" in ...
And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this IMAGE and superscription? (Matthew 22:20)
And they brought [it]. And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this IMAGE and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. (Mark 12:16)
"Charakter" refers to what has been stamped on, engraved onto or etched on something. That's what "character" is, right? ... the qualities and attributes that have been engraved into our being.
There are several words for "likeness". The main one used is: "Homoioma".
"Homoioma" refers to that which is made like something; a resemblance. It is used for "likeness" or "similitude" in ...
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the LIKENESS of men: (Philippians 2:7)
For if we have been planted together in the LIKENESS of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: (Romans 6:5)
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the SIMILITUDE of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (Romans 5:14)
Now let's look at Romans 1:23, which is very revealing. Here is the Greek text:
*** ******* *** ***** *** ******** **** ** ********* ******* ******* ******** *** ******** *** ********** *** ******* (Romans 1:23 [Editor's note: Sorry, we cannot reproduce the Greek in HTML.])
"kai êllaxan tên doxan tou aphthartou theou en HOMOIOMATI EIKONOS phthartou anthrôpou kai peteinôn kai tetrapodôn kai herpetôn."
The KJV reads:
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into AN IMAGE MADE LIKE to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (Romans 1:23)
The English expression "an image made like" is translated from the two Greek NOUNS "homoiômati eikonos". Notice that "homoioma" is used BEFORE "eikon". The English translators first switched these two words around and then translated the noun "homoioma" into the English VERB "made like".
THIS OBSCURES THE MEANING PAUL INTENDED SOMEWHAT!
An accurate translation of the Greek text is:
"And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God INTO A LIKENESS ("homoioma") OF AN IMAGE ("eikon") of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.
Notice very carefully ... we'll study this scripture in a very "disciplined way" by noting what Paul actually said.
There is absolutely NO WAY that you can draw the conclusion from Romans 1:23 that: this verse proves that God does not have a form or shape, as Dr. Stavrinides wants to do! NO WAY!
For a man indeed ought not to cover [his] head, forasmuch as he is THE IMAGE ("eikon") and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. (ICorinthians 11:7)
"The image and glory of God" ("eikôn kai doxa theou") uses the word "eikon" with its normal meaning. The verse tells us that God has a certain appearance and that man was designed and fashioned after that appearance.
Who is the IMAGE ("eikon") of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15)
This verse tells us that Jesus Christ is "the EIKON of the invisible God". This verse says that you CAN have an "eikon" of something that is invisible to human eyes ... and Christ is "it"!
THIS VERSE MEANS THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD THE FATHER NOT TO HAVE A FORM AND SHAPE! THE REASON IS THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE AN "EIKON" OF SOMETHING THAT IS FORMLESS AND SHAPELESS!
Now notice the following verse:
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to THE IMAGE ("eikon") OF HIS SON, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)
Notice carefully: the word here is "EIKON" and NOT "CHARAKTER". If Paul had intended this to refer to Christ's character- attributes, then he would have used the Greek word "charakter", as he did in Hebrews 1:3 ...
Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and THE EXPRESS IMAGE ("charakter") of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)
Thus, Heb. 1:3 tells us that Christ is "the express 'CHARAKTER' of God the Father"; and Rom. 8:29 tells us that we are to become conformed to the "'EIKON' of Jesus Christ". Clearly these two Greek words have different meanings.
In addition to Col. 1:15, IICor. 4:4 also shows that Christ is the "eikon" of God the Father.
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is THE IMAGE ("eikon") of God, should shine unto them. (IICorinthians 4:4)
To claim that all of these verses --- and many, many more like them throughout the Bible --- are doing nothing more than using "anthropomorphic" language is totally false!