Interesting Questions-30
"Your throne, O God"
(Hebrews 1:8)
Letter to the Editor:
GOD'S MESSAGE, November 2007, p.4-5
AS A LAYPERSON who is trying his best to be
objective by comparing the doctrines of different Christian
denominations, I personally believe that the most compelling reason
to believe that Christ is God is, if it's true, that He is called
God by the Bible. To affirm this, one author even asserts that no
less than the Father Himself called Jesus "God" and submits Hebrews
1:8 as the proof. I consulted different versions of the Bible
but was confused for they are not united in their rendition of the
verse as to whether the one referred to as God is Jesus Christ or
someone else. So I want to hear from the Church of Christ (Iglesia
ni Cristo), did the Father really call the Son
"God" in Hebrews 1:8?
Ken Yamazaki
Hokkaido, Japan
Editor's reply:
As you have correctly observed,
various Bible versions indeed differ in their renditions of Hebrews
1:8. For our readers to notice the difference, let us quote
the verse from two different versions of the Bible:
"But of the Son He says
'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever', ..."
(New American Standard Bible)
"But of the Son he
says, 'God is your throne
forever and ever!' ..." (Goodspeed Translation")
The New American Standard
Bible's rendition exemplifies those translations of Hebrews
1:8 in which it appears as though the Son
were addressed "O God" by the Father, whereas that of the Goodspeed
Translation typifies those Bible versions where it has no indication
that the Father called the Son
as God, but states instead that the throne of the
Son is God. One Bible version even combines the two differing
translations and renders Hebrews 1:8 this way:
"But of the Son he says, 'Your
throne, O God, is {Or [God is your
throne]} forever and ever' ..."
(New Revised Standard version)
One thing that explains the disparity in various
Bible translations is the fact that the Bible has been translated
into several languages, that in the process, some
alterations have been made
resulting from, among others, the
idiosyncrasy of languages, differences in
shades of meaning, and dissimilarity in
interpretation by different translators as well as
their theo- logical bias. It cannot be
denied that many Bible versions are done by people or groups
of people with their own beliefs that subjectively influenced their
versions, thereby producing translations with tainted, if not
twisted, meaning.
So how, then,
are we to know which particular translation of the
Bible to use, for example, in a particular verse? Apostle Paul
states the guiding principle we should employ thus:
"These things we
also speak, not in
words which man's wisdom
teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with
spiritual." (I Cor. 2:13, New King James
Version)
Because spiritual
things should be compared
with spiritual truths, there must be no contradiction among
verses of the Bible. As a rule therefore in determining which
rendition of a particular verse expresses the truth, a
verse should not be in opposition to any other verse of
the Bible because God, in whose will and guidance the Bible was
written, is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).
It is for this
reason that the Church of Christ believes that any translation
of Hebrews 1:8 that puts it in such a way that Christ
is being acknowledged as God by the Father is
unquestionably erroneous because such rendition
categorically contradicts the following statements
of the Father Himself:
"Acknowledge that I alone am God and that there
is no one else like me" (Isa. 46:9, Today's
English Version)
"... And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any."
(Isa. 44:8, Revised Standard Version)
"... I am the only God,
Besides me there is no other god: there
never was and never will be" (Isa.
43:10, TEV)
Lest people suppose that there is one
God in heave but there is another on earth, the Bible
further adds:
'Therefore know this day. and consider it
in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above
and on the earth beneath; there
is no other." (Deut. 4:39, NKjV)
But what does it mean that "God is
[the Son's] throne"? The answer is found in Psalms 45:6,
the very verse in the Old
Testament that is quoted in Hebrews 1:8:
"Your throne is from God, for ever and ever, the
scepter of your kingship a
scepter justice." (New Jerusalem
Bible)
Clearly then, that
God is the throne of the Son denotes that the Son's throne is from
God. Is it also taught in the New Testament that the
throne or authority that
the Son holds comes
from no other than the Almighty God
who is the Father? Yes, it is. In fact, Christ
Himself taught this when He declared:
".... 'All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth'." (Matt 28:18, NK/V)
"Ail things have been delivered to Me by
My Father, ...." (Matt. 11:27, Ibid.)
Contrary therefore to the belief
of some authors, nowhere in the Bible, not even in
Hebrews 1:8, does the Father acknowledge the Son as "God".
What the Holy Scriptures openly teach regarding the issue is
that the Son Jesus Christ, who is
mistaken by some to be God, is introduced in the
same epistle to Hebrews as "man"
(Heb. 7:24, King James Version),
24But
this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. (Hebrews 7:24, King James Version)
and that He (Jesus) unmistakably acknowledged the
Father, not Himself, as the "only true God":
"Father, the time has come for you to bring glory
to your Son, in order that he
may bring glory to you ... Eternal life is to know you,
the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the
one you sent." (John 17;1, 3, Contemporary
English Version)
___________________
Bible Study
Suggestion: If you have further questions, please feel free
to visit the
Iglesia ni Cristo congregation nearest you. A minister or
an evangelical worker would be happy to answer any biblical question
you have in mind.