According to Trinitarians who believe Philippians 2:6 says Jesus is God, why did Paul add the word 'form' ('morphe')?
1
vote
3
answers
864
views
Philippians 2:6 is
"Ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ"
"Hos en morphe theou hyparchon ouch harpagmon hegesato to einai isa theo"
In his talk Philippians 2: Jesus is not God , Dr. Tom Gaston says (~3 min. mark)
> "Had Paul meant to say that Jesus was God, or was a god, he would have
> had a very simple way of doing so. That's not a difficult thing to say
> in Greek. So the fact that he doesn't use those words makes it very
> unlikely that that's what he means."
If St. Paul had wanted to say Jesus was God at Philippians 2:6 straightforwardly, he could have said so. Instead, he adds the word 'form', as in 'form of God'.
Similarly, as Gaston continues
> "Also, had Paul meant to be talking about Jesus' *nature* - saying
> that Jesus had the nature of God - again, he would have used other
> words. Look at this passage from Galatians 4:8, where Paul talks about
> the nature of gods. [...] He uses the Greek word 'phusis' for
> 'nature', and again, when you look at that verse for 2 Peter 1:4, it
> talks about participating in the divine nature, and again the Greek
> word used is 'phusis'. **So had Paul wanted to say Jesus had divine
> nature, there are other words he could have used to say that. Instead,
> what Paul says is that Jesus was in the form of God. The word he uses
> is 'morphe', which is most commonly used in reference to *outward*
> appearance, rather than essence or being** [as is done at Mark 16:12]."
Why, according to Trinitarians who believe Philippians 2:6 is saying Jesus was God, did Paul add the word 'form' ('morphe')?
Asked by Only True God
(6934 rep)
Dec 15, 2022, 05:06 AM
Last activity: Jan 9, 2023, 05:28 PM
Last activity: Jan 9, 2023, 05:28 PM