Tues., Apr. 8, 2014
Deacon Robert Banet
My next door neighbor is a Jehovah Witness.
I know, Charlie, you told me about him before. What’s new with him? The Jehovahs are real missionaries. They put Catholics to shame.
Yes, in a way. Well, you know they have the Bible and they have their own way of interpreting it. Joe (the neighbor) always wants to talk to me about their way of thinking. He claims that Jesus is not God.
Ah, yes. That’s an old heresy. From way back.
He says that Jesus is the Son of God but that does not make him God.
Well, that’s an interesting position. You know, you yourself are the son of Carl. That’s your dad’s name, right? But that does not make you Carl. You are just Charlie, the son of Carl.
That’s what my neighbor says. And he points to a passage from the Gospel of John where Jesus says that the Father is greater than He.
He’s right there. The Gospel does say that.
And he says that in the beginning of the Gospel it says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was “a god.”
“A” god? Not God?
That’s what he claims. And he says that’s what the original Greek says. A god, not God.
It’s true that Greek does not have a word for “a” as we do in English. But the Church has always understood that that passage should be translated, “the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
Wasn’t there a heresy way back that claimed that Jesus was not God?
Yes. A priest named Arius was able to persuade a good many Catholics, bishops included, that Jesus was the Son of God, but was a creature, not God. The Arians were a thorn in the side of the Church for many years. Centuries, in fact.
I’m glad that we have the Church to show us the way to interpret the Bible. It sure does need an interpreter. It’s so easy to go astray.
You’re right there, Charlie. Thank God that He pointed us in the right direction.
Amen to that.