was God dead???

Bram van der Beek is widely regarded as one of the leading Dutch theologians. Last Saturday, in the Dutch Newspaper (het Nederlands Dagblad), he wrote a column about “silent Saturday”. He wrote the following about this day:

… It is the day during which the Creator was under the earth, dead and buried. He is not longer even above earth. Even that is over. That is not said of Jesus as man, but of Jesus as God. The Creator is under the earth.

What van der Beek says here is an ironclad consequence of the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus is God; Jesus was dead; So: God was dead. In logic, such an inescapable conclusion is called a syllogism. A condition for its validity is that the premise must be correct, namely, that Jesus is God. Metaphorically, this is right (for the Son is the Image of God; Col.1:15)), but in the literally sense, of course, not. No Bible writer would have assumed such an idea, because it is a blatant undermining of the foundation of foundations: monotheism (“the only God”; 1 Timothy 1.1:17). “There is one God, the Father,” writes Paul (1 Cor.8:6). And elsewhere: “for there is one God and one Mediator of God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus” (1Timothy 2:5). Besides, Jesus Himself, speaking to His Father, called Him “the one true God” (John 17:3). In the above quotation from van der Beek, the folly of orthodox doctrine comes very clearly to light. When Jesus was dead, God was, according to Professor van der Beek, in the grave. This is no less than theological blasphemy! Imagine: the imperishable, living GOD… was dead?!? Who did, during those three days, uphold and maintain the creation, you would think? And who, then, raised Jesus from the grave? And here, too, is the orthodox answer again, as wrong as it is illogical. Jesus would have resurrected Himself… “He rose from the grave by His own strength, for He is God, clothed with power”, says a song, but it is nonsense. If He had raised Himself, then He was not really dead, either. The biblical teaching, on the other hand, is unanimously logical and clear in her testimony: it was GOD Who raised Jesus, His Son, from the dead. Would GOD not have done this, then Jesus would still be dead.

Whom GOD raises… Acts 2:24

…Whom GOD rouses from among the dead, of which we are witnesses. Acts 3:15

To you first, GOD, raising His Boy… Acts 3:26

This One GOD rouses the third day… Acts 10:40

Yet GOD rouses Him from among the dead: Acts 13:30

… the Man Whom He (=GOD) specifies, tendering faith to all, raising Him from among the dead — Acts 17:31

… who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus, our Lord, from among the dead. Rom.4:24

… even as Christ was roused from among the dead through the glory of the Father… Rom.6:4

… to be waiting for His Son out of the heavens, Whom He rouses from among the dead, Jesus… 1Thes.1:10

Etcetera, etcetera

If Jesus Himself were God, how can we sincerely believe that GOD has raised His Son from the dead? After all, the Son, then, would not need the Father, at all. Do you see what the orthodox teaching actually calls into question?!

… if ever you (…) should be believing in your heart that GOD rouses Him from among the dead, you shall be saved. Romans 10:9

—————————— See also: Nevertheless, risen in His own power?

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