could not, although they could all say “Christ” and also “God the
Father.” [The participants] were amazed at this and wanted to know why.
The reason, they discovered, was that those people had prayed to God
the Father for the sake of the Son, but had not prayed to Jesus as their
Savior, and “Jesus” means Savior.
[ 4 ] Then they were told to think about the Lord’s human nature and
say “divine-human.” No Protestant clergy person who was there could do
it, but some Protestant lay people could. At that point they gave the dis-
cussion some structure.
- The following passages from the Gospels were read out loud to
[the Protestant clergy]: “The Father has given all things into the hand of
the Son” (John 3 : 35 ). The Father has given the Son power over all flesh
(John 17 : 2 ). “All things have been handed to me by the Father”
(Matthew 11 : 27 ). “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to
me” (Matthew 28 : 18 ). They were told, “On the basis of these passages,
hold it in your mind that Christ in both his divine nature and his human
nature is the God of heaven and earth. Then say ‘divine-human.’” They
still could not say it. They reported that on the basis of those passages
they were able to hold some thoughts in their minds about it, but they
could not hold any acknowledgment, so they were unable to say it.
[ 5 ] 2. Then Luke 1 verses 32 , 34 , and 35 were read to them, showing
that the Lord’s human manifestation was the Son of Jehovah God. It was
pointed out that in those passages he is called “the Son of the Highest”
and everywhere else he is called “the Son of God,” and also “the only
begotten One.” The participants asked [the Protestant clergy] to hold
this in their thoughts and also to consider that an only begotten Son of
God born in the world could not possibly be anything other than God,
just as the Father is God, and then say “divine-human.”
“We can’t,” they said. “Our spiritual thinking, which goes on very
deep inside us, does not allow incompatible ideas access to the thought
processes located near speech.”
They said they were realizing that they could not now divide their
thinking the way they had been able to in the physical world.
[ 6 ] 3. Then the Lord’s words to Philip were read to them: “Philip
said, ‘Lord, show us the Father.’ And the Lord said, ‘Those who see me
see the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father
is in me?’” (John 14 : 8 – 11 ). Other passages that say that the Father and the
Son are one were also read, such as John 10 : 30. [The Protestant clergy]
were told to hold this in their thinking and say “divine-human.” Since