Hebrews 1:3 calls Jesus the “exact representation” of the being of the Father. The term translated here is carakth,r. Its background can be traced to the concept of the impression made by a signet ring, creating an exact impression of the original. Surely, no such term could be used of a mere creature, for the being of the Father is infinite in every way: to be the exact representation of the truly divine, the truly infinite, is to be divine and infinite as well. In a recent debate with Greg Stafford, it was insisted that this passage actually makes Jesus a “copy” of God, with the insinuation being an inferior copy, and that the very term carries with it a temporality that means that Jesus was, at some point, created at a copy. The problem with this is that not only does it read a concept into the term that it does not carry in and of itself, but it likewise assumes what it seeks to prove. That is, if the relationship of the Father and the Son is eternal, it follows that Son’s being the carakth,r of the Father cannot admit of temporality, but is, like their union, eternal. The Son has eternally been the exact representation of the Father’s being, just as He shared with the Father the essential glory of the godhead before time itself began (John 17:5).
Just noticed that an article I wrote last year for Modern Reformation is currently featured on their website: http://www.alliancenet.org/
I saw another pot-shot aimed my direction this morning by a fellow who decided both to rip on my church (Phoenix Reformed Baptist) and me as well. These folks don’t mind going after me…as long as I’m not around. He made reference to a hit-piece written a few years ago by one of the oddest, most unhappy, and unlikable folks I’ve ever met, a fellow who has managed to even offend his “friends” repeatedly over the years. This person calls Columbia Evangelical Seminary, where I did my graduate work in apologetics, a “degree mill.” I was thinking after reading his words yet again, “You’d think such a charge would be so easily proven, if true: just stinking buy this alleged degree! Of course, they can’t do it, because that is not how it works. In fact, there are very few CES graduates simply because you actually have to know how to speak and write the English language, engage in self-disciplined learning, and do a tremendous amount of first-hand research and writing. The more I see of “what’s out there,” the more thankful I become that I made the right choice, put ministry and church above politics, and undertook my graduate studies in the way I did.
