The Trinity
Trinity
Personality
of the Spirit
Christ
Preliminary
Strategy
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 3:22
Isaiah 9:6
Matthew 1:23
Matthew 28:19
John 1:1-3
John 3:13
John 5:23
John 6:33,38,51
John 6:62
John 8:23
John 8:58
John 10:17,18
John 10:30
John 14:9
John 17:5
John 20:28
Romans 9:5
Philippians 2:6
Col. 1:15,16
Eph. 4:8-10
Hebrews 1:2
Hebrews 1:8
Hebrews 1:10-12
Hebrews 7:3
Hebrews 10:5
1 John 4:3
1 John 5:20
Revelation 3:14
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
"Saved"
Baptism
Resurrection
Antichrist
Unique
Catholic
Mormon
SDA
JW
British Israel
Church
of Christ
Pentecostal
Islam
Science
Miracles
Evolution
Creation
Carbon Dating
Inspiration
Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies
- Hebrews 7:3
- "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually."
- Problem:
- This passage is cited to prove the "deity of Christ", since the writer says he was "without beginning of days, nor end of life".
- Solution:
- This passage provides a comparison of the priesthood of Melchisedek and the priesthood of Christ to show that the latter is superior to the Aaronic priesthood. It does not have reference to the nature of the origin of Christ. This can be shown from the following:
- Jesus did have a mother (Mary) and a father (God)1. (Luke 1:35). His family line is the subject of the early chapters of both Matthew's and Luke's gospels. (Matthew 1; Luke 3).
- Jesus had an end of life when he died. After his resurrection he declared: "I am he that liveth, and was dead." (Rev. 1:18). He is now alive "for evermore" since his Father raised him from the dead. (Acts 13:29, 30).
- Jesus did have a mother (Mary) and a father (God)1. (Luke 1:35). His family line is the subject of the early chapters of both Matthew's and Luke's gospels. (Matthew 1; Luke 3).
- The superiority of the priesthood of Christ is established in the Epistle to the Hebrews by the following arguments:
- The Levitical priesthood depended upon descent (e.g. Ezra 2:61, 62), but Scripture is silent about the family tree of Melchisedek. He appears in the Genesis narrative without antecedents and nothing is said about his subsequent life. He is, therefore, a type of the priesthood of Christ. The writer to the Hebrews states that Christ "has become a priest not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life." (vs. 16, R.S.V.). Hence the superiority of Christ's priesthood - he "abideth a priest continually" (vs. 3); his priesthood is not dependent upon inherited qualifications.
- The Levitical priests received tithes according to the Law. (vs. 5). But their inferior status is implied, since in a figure they paid tithes to Melchisedek while in the loins of Abraham, their father. (vs. 5, 9, 10).
- The Levitical priesthood depended upon descent (e.g. Ezra 2:61, 62), but Scripture is silent about the family tree of Melchisedek. He appears in the Genesis narrative without antecedents and nothing is said about his subsequent life. He is, therefore, a type of the priesthood of Christ. The writer to the Hebrews states that Christ "has become a priest not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life." (vs. 16, R.S.V.). Hence the superiority of Christ's priesthood - he "abideth a priest continually" (vs. 3); his priesthood is not dependent upon inherited qualifications.
Footnotes:
- It is said of Esther that she had "neither father nor mother." (Esther 2:7). Likewise, this did not mean that she had no natural parents, (but rather that they were dead). Return