The Lord Jesus Christ –
The Preeminent Son of God and Firstborn over the joint heirs
Muslim polemicist Sami Zaatari has come out with another article against the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ (*). This time he tries to show Christians that just because Jesus is said to be God’s Son and Heir in Mark 12:1-8 this doesn’t make him Divine since there are other sons of God who are also heirs with both God and Christ (cf. Rom. 8:13-17).
Zaatari doesn’t bother addressing the fact that the NT teaches that Jesus’ inheritance is his by Divine right, by being the Divine Son through and for whom all things were created and exist. However, the inheritance that the believers receive is by virtue of the grace of adoption. Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus by the grace of God s/he becomes a child of God and shares the inheritance that belongs to God and Christ.
“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation; for IN HIM all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities -- all things were created THROUGH HIM and FOR HIM. He IS before all things, and IN HIM all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:11-20
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the Heir of all things, through whom also he created the ages/universe. He is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… And again, when he brings the Firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God's angels worship him.’ … And, ‘You, Lord [the Son], did found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all grow old like a garment, like a mantle you wilt roll them up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.’ But to what angel has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet’? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:1-3, 6, 10-14
In the above passages the title Firstborn denotes that Christ is the Heir who holds preeminence and has supremacy over the entire creation since he is the One for whom all things exists. And:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us IN CHRIST with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us IN THE BELOVED. IN HIM we have redemption THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth IN CHRIST as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things IN HIM [Christ] things in heaven and things on earth. IN HIM [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope IN CHRIST might be to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:3-12
Note the repeated emphasis on Christ. Christians receive adoption as children, are granted every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, experience redemption and the forgiveness of their sins because of and in relation to the Lord Jesus. In other words, it is solely because of what Christ has done for all believers and their union with him that Christians can even receive this eternal inheritance from God.
Thus, the inheritance of believers is something that they receive because of the favor, love, and mercy of God since they do not deserve it. It is not a right that God owes them; it is a work of grace which God bestows on them because of what the Lord Jesus did on their behalf.
With the foregoing in perspective we now turn our attention to the specific passage that Zaatari quoted out of context to prove his assertion.
Zaatari cited Romans 8:13-17 concerning the believers sharing in the inheritance that belongs to God and Christ to support his position that Jesus is not Divine. We will therefore quote the immediate context in order to show how this actually backfires against Zaatari since it refutes his entire argument:
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit… But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells IN YOU. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is IN YOU, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells IN YOU, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him… For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the Firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?” Romans 8:3-4, 9-17, 29-34
Before we comment on this specific passage there is another citation from the blessed and inspired Apostle that we would like to quote since it essentially makes the same point:
“But when the time had fully come, God sent forth (exapesteilen) his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth (exapesteilen) the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.” Galatians 4:4-7
There are several vitally important points to note here, all of which Zaatari ignores.
First, God sent forth his own Son to be born of a woman so as to take on the likeness of sinful flesh in order to pay the penalty for sin, language which clearly presupposes the prehuman existence of the Lord Jesus.
After all, for God to have sent his own Son to become flesh by being born of a woman clearly implies that Jesus existed before he became a human being. This is also supported by the fact that the same language is used for the sending of both the Son and the Spirit. Hence, just like the Spirit personally existed before he was sent the Son must have also existed with the Father prior to being sent from him. As the following Evangelical NT scholars explain:
“The most natural way of understanding these statements is that God’s Son existed before becoming a human being. This is especially clear in Galatians 4:4-6, where four elements converge to express this idea: (1) the statement that ‘God sent forth his Son’; (2) the description of this Son as ‘born of a woman’; (3) the contrast between Jesus as God’s (apparently natural) ‘Son’ and believers as those who have received ‘adoptions as sons’; (4) the parallel statement that ‘God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son.’ [Liberal NT scholar James G.] Dunn’s approach to this passage is to argue that neither of the first two elements on its own proves preexistence. This argument, however, does, not take adequate stock of how the two elements work together: ‘God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.’ The third element – the contrast between Jesus as God’s Son and believers as God’s adopted sons – combined with these other elements further suggests a heavenly origin for Jesus.
“What really clinches the conclusion that the Son is being spoken of as a preexistent person is the fourth element – the parallel statement in verse 6 that ‘God sent forth the Spirit of His Son.’ The implication is clear: first God sent forth his Son from heaven to redeem people, and then he sent the Spirit of his Son from heaven to dwell within them. This is practically the theology of the Gospel of John in a nutshell, and it appears in one of Paul’s earlier epistles! …’” (Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ [Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 2007], Part 2: Like Father, Like Son: Jesus Shares the Attributes of God, Chapter 7. Jesus Existed Before He Was Born!, p. 89; comments within brackets ours)
And:
“The same pattern emerges in Romans 8:3, where we have (1) the statement of ‘God … sending his own Son,’ (2) the qualification that the ‘sending’ was ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh,’ and (3) the contrast between the Son who comes in our likeness and the mass of (mere) human beings whom he saves by doing so (see v. 4).
“The first element includes the seemingly redundant ‘own’ indicating that this was not a member of a larger class of ‘sons of God’ but someone to whom the designation applied uniquely. As commentator John Murray noted, ‘In the language of Paul this corresponds to the title “only begotten” as it appears in John (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9),’ and, we may add, to the description ‘beloved’ found in the Synoptic Gospels.
“The second element, ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh,’ involves a cumbersome locution if Jesus was no more than a human being…
“The third element, the contrast between God’s Son and his other ‘sons,’ is immediately apparent from the second element and receives extensive elaboration in the rest of Romans 8, including a discussion of the status of believers as adopted sons of God. It is true that Paul is not articulating or defending a doctrine of the preexistence of the Son. Rather, he presupposes the Son’s preexistence as he articulates his message of what this divine Son has done for us by becoming a man and suffering death on our account.” (Ibid., pp. 89-90)
Another theologian says in regards to Galatians 4:4-6 that:
“… The same verb is used for the Son and the Spirit being sent by the Father; this parallel language suggests that both the Son and the Spirit preexisted with the Father, from whom they were sent on two related missions.” (Gerald O’ Collins, The Tripersonal God – Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity [Paulist Press, New York/Mahwah N.J. 1999], The Scriptural Roots, 3. The Trinity According to St. Paul, p. 67)
Second, God’s Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of the Son. The Apostle Paul isn’t the only inspired writer to identify the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ:
“The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” 1 Peter 1:10-12
This is an astonishing claim to make since the OT depicts the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Yahweh.
“And he will come to Zion as Redeemer, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the LORD. And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the LORD: MY Spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your children, or out of the mouth of your children's children, says the LORD, from this time forth and for evermore.” Isaiah 59:20-21
“But they rebelled and grieved HIS Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is he who brought up out of the sea the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them HIS Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious Arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.” Isaiah 63:10-14
“I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put MY Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:25-27
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out MY Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out MY Spirit.” Joel 2:28-29
Hence, for Yahweh’s Spirit to be Jesus’ Spirit the latter must be Yahweh God (and yet he is not the Father).
Third, Christ lives in/indwells all true believers, a point which the NT makes repeatedly:
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Corinthians 13:5
“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:19-23
“But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) Ephesians 4:7-10; cf. 3:17
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27
“Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:19-21
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5
“that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you hast sent me. The glory which you hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me… I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:21-23, 26
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20
The only way that Christ can be able to indwell all true believers and have fellowship with all of them at the same time is if he is omnipresent and omniscient. Yet to have either of these attributes Jesus must be fully God in essence since these are characteristics which belong only to God.
Fourth, believers are adopted into God’s family by having the Spirit of the Son indwell them. The implication is that since Jesus is essentially God’s Son, and not a Son by adoption, he is able to make believers children of God.
The following liberal Catholic theologian demonstrates how it is Jesus’ unique and essential relationship with the Father that forms the very basis for our adoption into God’s family:
“In the last chapter, we saw Jesus, when calling others to open themselves to God’s kingdom, was apparently conscious of a qualitative distinction between his sonship and their sonship, which was derived from and dependent upon him. His way of being Son was different from theirs. In his own way, Paul (and later on John) maintained this distinction. The apostle expressed our new relationship with God as taking place through an ‘adoption’ (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5), which makes us ‘children (tekna) of God’ (Rom 8:16-17) or, alternatively, ‘sons of God’ (Rom 8:14; Gal 4:6-7). John would distinguish between the only Son of God (Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18) and all those who through faith can become ‘children (tekna) of God’ (Jn 1:12; 11:52; 1 Jn 3:1-2. 10; 5:2). Paul (and subsequently John) likewise maintained and developed the correlative of all this, Jesus’ stress on the fatherhood of God…
“Paul writes of God ‘sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful nature and to deal with sin’ (Rom 8:3). In a similar (but not identical) passage, the apostle says, ‘when the fulness of time came God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law (Gal 4:4).’ This language of sending obviously raises the central questions about the relationship between the Sender (the Father) and the Sent (the Son). Does Paul think here of an eternally preexistent Son coming into the world from his Father to set us free from sin and death (Rom 8:3, 32) and make us God’s adopted children (Gal 4:4-7)? Our answer will, in the first place, partly depend upon the way we interpret other Pauline passages that do not use the title Son of God (2 Cor 8:9; Phil 2:6-11). These latter passages present a preexistent Jesus taking the initiative through his ‘generosity’ in ‘becoming poor’ for us and ‘assuming the form of a slave.’ …
“Third, it should be observed that the language of ‘sending’ (or even, for that matter, ‘coming’ with the suggestion of personal purpose and initiative) simply by itself does not necessarily imply personal preexistence. Otherwise we would have to ascribe such preexistence to John the Baptist, ‘a man sent from God,’ the great prophet who ‘came to bear witness to the light’ (Jn 1:6-8; see Mt 11:10,18; par. in Lk 7:27,33). In the OT, angelic and human messengers, especially prophets, were ‘sent’ by God, but one should recall at once what we observed in the last chapter: No prophets sent by God (and we can add here, not even John the Baptist) were ever called God’s sons. Here, being ‘sent’ by God means more than merely receiving a divine commission and seems to include coming from a heavenly preexistence and enjoying a divine origin.
“Fourth, in their contexts, the three Son-of-God passages we are looking at (Rom. 8:3, 32; Gal 4:4) certainly do not focus on the Son’s preexistence but on his being sent or given up to free us from sin and death, to make us God’s adopted children, and to let us live (and pray) with the power of the indwelling Spirit. Nevertheless, the apostle’s soteriology (or doctrine of salvation) presupposes here a Christology that includes divine preexistence. It is precisely because Christ is the preexistent Son who comes from the Father that he can make us God’s adopted sons and daughters.” (O’ Collins, The Tripersonal God, pp. 60-62; underline emphasis ours)(1)
Fifth, believers are conformed to the image of God’s Son in order to highlight his status and supremacy as the Firstborn. In saying this Paul shows that Jesus is foremost in God’s family and has preeminence over all the rest of God’s children.
Sixth, Jesus Christ was put to death for our sins and raised back to life again, all of which Islam denies.
Seventh, Jesus is at God’s right hand, a direct allusion to Psalm 110:1-2,
“A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.’ The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes!
Thus, as the one at God’s right hand he is the sovereign Lord of all creation,
“because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, ‘every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Romans 10:9-13
“If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” Romans 14:8-9
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:” 1 Corinthians 1:2
In light of all of these factors it is obvious that Zaatari has once again misunderstood and misrepresented what the Holy Bible teaches concerning the inheritance that belongs to Christ and the inheritance which believers receive. Christ is Heir by virtue of being the Divine, preexistent Son of God through and for whom all things were created. Believers, however, are heirs by virtue of Divine grace and adoption. The inheritance that Christians receive is because of what the Lord Jesus has done on their behalf, e.g. coming to save them from their sins and to turn aside God’s wrath in order to procure all of the spiritual blessings which God graciously and freely bestows on them through and because of his beloved Son.
This concludes our rebuttal. Lord Jesus willing, there will be more responses to Zaatari’s assertions which should appear soon.
Related Articles
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/christ_heir.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/sonship.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/q_jesus_sonship.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/allah_as_heir.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_allah_inherits.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zaatari_heir.htm
Endnotes
(1) O’ Collins further writes concerning the prophets that were sent that:
“Without insisting on the authenticity of every ‘sending’ and ‘coming’ logion, we can say that they are numerous and various enough to encourage the conclusion that the earthly Jesus conceived of his mission both as one who came and as one who had been sent by the Father. Here it is well to recall that the OT prophets shared a radical sense of being sent by God, but never purported to come in their own name. Furthermore, they never presented themselves as ‘sons of God,’ nor were they ever called that.” (Ibid., 2. The History of Jesus and Its Trinitarian Face, p. 48; underline emphasis ours)
O’ Collins statement that no prophet is ever called God’s son is significant since it shows that just because Jesus is sent by God this doesn’t mean that he is merely a prophet like the others, contrary to Zaatari’s assertions.
And here are some OT texts which support O’ Collin’s comments lest Zaatari accuse him of being mistaken:
“I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land which I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.” Jeremiah 35:15– cf. 7:25; 26:5 29:19; 44:4
“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, ‘Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.’” Joshua 1:1-2
“And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it; and afterwards I brought you out. Joshua 24:5 – cf. 1 Samuel 12:6, 8; Micah 6:4
Now contrast this with what the NT teaches concerning Jesus coming or being sent:
“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17
“do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” John 10:36
“She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.’” John 11:27
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins… And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.” 1 John 4:9-10, 14
Unlike the prophets who were servants that God sent, Jesus is God’s beloved Son and the Lord of God’s household. In the inspired words of the writer to the Hebrews:
“Therefore, holy brethren, who share in a heavenly call, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in God's house. Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses AS the builder of a house has more honor than the house. (For every house is built by some one, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house AS A SERVANT, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful OVER God's house AS A SON. And we are his house if we hold fast our confidence and pride in our hope.” Hebrews 3:1-6
Jesus is God’s Son, whereas Moses is God’s servant, and is worthy of greater honor than Moses since he (along with his Father) is the Builder of the house:
“IN MANY separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets, [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]. He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.” Hebrews 1:1-3 Amplified Bible
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build MY church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.’” Matthew 16:15-18
“I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:14-15
So much for Zaatari’s arguments.