The First Act of God

God, Christ, & The Holy Spirit
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Paidion
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The First Act of God

Post by Paidion » Sun Sep 05, 2021 8:11 pm

The earliest Christians taught that the first act of God was the begetting of the Son.

Ignatius, born around A.D. 30 wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, Chapter XI these words concerning Christ:

..Christ, who was begotten by the Father before all ages, but was afterwards born of the virgin, Mary...


Justin Martyr, born around A.D. 110

...being begotten in a peculiar manner Word and Power by Him, and having afterwards become man through the Virgin, as we have learned from the memoirs. Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho Ch. 105

Justin also compared the begetting of the Son to a small fire that has been started from a large fire. The small fire is of the same essence as the large fire, but yet is a different fire.
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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dwight92070
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by dwight92070 » Mon Sep 06, 2021 12:27 am

Interesting opinions, but no scripture to back it up.

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Homer
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by Homer » Mon Sep 06, 2021 11:47 am

Hi Paidion,

The earliest Christians taught that the first act of God was the begetting of the Son.
If God is eternal and the begetting of the Son was His first act, then prior to that act He had been doing absolutely nothing in eternity past. Unless God had a beginning, that is.

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Paidion
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by Paidion » Mon Sep 06, 2021 8:13 pm

Dwight wrote:Interesting opinions, but no scripture to back it up.
Scripture? What is "scripture" other than "that which has been scripted?
The writings I quoted had been scripted and very early in the Christian era, too.
But more recently, "scripture" has been redefined as being ONLY those writings
that are contained in what we call "The Old Testament" and "The New Testament"
What is the basis for so defining scriptures (writings) which were scripted by the earliest Christians?
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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Paidion
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by Paidion » Mon Sep 06, 2021 8:35 pm

Homer wrote:If God is eternal and the begetting of the Son was His first act, then prior to that act He had been doing absolutely nothing in eternity past. Unless God had a beginning, that is.
"Prior" to that act, there were no beings and no matter. So what COULD He be doing? Say a trillion years before? (if there was any time before) Thinking? Planning the creation? Did it take a trillion years or even an "eternity past" to do that?

I think the answer is simple. That was no "before" God's first act, simply because there was no "before".

God begat His Son. That was His first act, and THEN, He created all things.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

The begetting of the Son defined "the Beginning". At that very beginning He created the heaven and the earth.
There was no time before that because there was no "before".
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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Homer
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by Homer » Mon Sep 06, 2021 10:19 pm

Hi Paidion,

So neither time nor God existed?

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Paidion
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by Paidion » Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:44 am

All I can say is that God's first act, the begetting of His Son, marked the beginning of time.
Since that was the beginning of time, it makes no sense to speak of anything before the beginning of time, either in terms of acts or existence.
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

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dwight92070
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by dwight92070 » Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:57 am

Paidion wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:44 am
All I can say is that God's first act, the begetting of His Son, marked the beginning of time.
Since that was the beginning of time, it makes no sense to speak of anything before the beginning of time, either in terms of acts or existence.
Again, no scripture back up for any of your speculations.

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Paidion
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by Paidion » Wed Sep 08, 2021 10:29 am

My words which you quoted are not speculation. They are logic.
Paidion

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dwight92070
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Re: The First Act of God

Post by dwight92070 » Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:36 pm

Paidion wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:44 am
All I can say is that God's first act, the begetting of His Son, marked the beginning of time.
Since that was the beginning of time, it makes no sense to speak of anything before the beginning of time, either in terms of acts or existence.
Dwight - If there was no "before", then God cannot be eternal. If God is eternal, then there was an infinity before, which we cannot comprehend.
Once again, there's no scripture that says God begot Jesus as His first act. Nor is there scripture that adds to that, that that first act marked the beginning of time. Time, as we know it, began when Adam was created, at least that's the beginning of our calendars. If we go by when the sun was created, then it was just a few days before Adam was created.

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