The reconsideration of Hebrews 1:8, 10-12 and THE APOSTLES' CREED

 

The reconsideration of Hebrews 1:8, 10-12

 

A textual critic wrote that in Acts 16:7 there is four textual variations:

 

For example, in Acts 16:7 there is four textual variations:

1. πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ Spirit of Jesus: Papyrus p74, p72, Codex Sinaiticus (א), Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Alexandrinus (A), corrected Ephraemi Rescriptus (C), Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (D), Cyrill of Alexandria, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions

 

2. The Spirit of the Lord: Bohairic Coptic and original Ephraemi Rescriptus)

 

3. the Holy Spirit

 

4. πνεῦμα Spirit: (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Lectionary, Efrem the Syriac, Chrisostom).

 

Why so many textual variations and for what reason? Isn’t it really strange? According to the context of the Bible, the right version is "the spirit" as in Acts 5:9, Acts 8:39, means an angel of God guides them as in Acts 8:29, Acts 10:19, Acts 11:12, Acts 16: 9. The spirit of Jesus is unique in all the Bible, we meet this only in Acts 16:7, and this is not the genuine version.

 

Some are now trying to minimize this fact and even attempt to reduce the number of variants. When we read again some of the same sources, some of this uncomfortable information has disappeared from what was once documented as fact.  This is how some people try to protect some of the doctrines from antiquity until today.

 

The most interesting thing is in the Vatican Codex. In a marginal note, some scribe wrote on page 1512, next to Hebrews 1: 3, an interesting thing "Fool and knave, leave the old reading and don't change it!" - "ἀμαθέστατε καὶκακέ, ἄφες τὸν παλαιόν, μὴ μεταποίει" which may suggest that unauthorized correcting was a recognized problem in scriptoriums. Would anyone have gotten so upset if it was just a word change?  I would have to say no.  This might have been more serious.

 

Therefore, we must be careful because Hebrews 1:8 is quoting Psalm 45:6.

 

So let's see how the text sounds there:

JPS Tanakh 1917

Thy throne given of God is for ever and ever; A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

 

This verse is even clearer when we see the following context in verse 7:

JPS Tanakh 1917

 

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness; Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

 

What then is the explanation for the inconsistency with the text of Hebrews 1:8? Wasn't this text edited by the Gnostic trinitarian copyists who later copied the manuscripts? This is very possible. 

 

So it is very possible that in the original of Hebrews 1:8 written in the first century there was also this ancient form, the original one:

"But of the Son He says, Thy throne given of God is for ever and ever'"  

 

Even so, it remains open as to why Jesus is the Creator:

10 and, 'Thou didst found the earth at the beginning, O Lord, and the heavens are the work at thy hands; 11 they will perish, but thou remainest, they will all be worn out like a garment, 12 thou wilt roll them up like a mantle and they win be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years will never fail.'

 

Open yes, but not sure. Why? Because if we read the original of the Psalm 102:25-27 in the context, we learn that this text is addressed to the Father, not to the Son:

JPS Tanakh 1917 Psalm 102

1A Prayer of the afflicted, when he fainteth, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.

2O LORD, hear my prayer,

And let my cry come unto Thee.

3Hide not Thy face from me in the day of my distress;

Incline Thine ear unto me;

In the day when I call answer me speedily.

4For my days are consumed like smoke,

And my bones are burned as a hearth.

5My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;

For I forget to eat my bread.

6By reason of the voice of my sighing

My bones cleave to my flesh.

7I am like a pelican of the wilderness;

I am become as an owl of the waste places.

8I watch, and am become

Like a sparrow that is alone upon the housetop.

9Mine enemies taunt me all the day;

They that are mad against me do curse by me.

10For I have eaten ashes like bread,

And mingled my drink with weeping,

11Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath;

For Thou hast taken me up, and cast me away.

12My days are like a lengthening shadow;

And I am withered like grass.

13But Thou, O LORD, sittest enthroned for ever;

And Thy name is unto all generations.

14Thou wilt arise, and have compassion upon Zion;

For it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come.

15For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones,

And love her dust.

16So the nations will fear the name of the LORD,

And all the kings of the earth Thy glory;

17When the LORD hath built up Zion,

When He hath appeared in His glory;

18When He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute,

And hath not despised their prayer.

19This shall be written for the generation to come;

And a people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

20For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary;

From heaven did the LORD behold the earth;

21To hear the groaning of the prisoner;

To loose those that are appointed to death;

22That men may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion,

And His praise in Jerusalem;

23When the peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

24He weakened my strength in the way;

He shortened my days.

25I say: ‘O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days,

Thou whose years endure throughout all generations.

26Of old Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth;

And the heavens are the work of Thy hands.

27They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure;

Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment;

As a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall pass away;

28But Thou art the selfsame,

And Thy years shall have no end.

29The children of Thy servants shall dwell securely,

And their seed shall be established before Thee.’

 

If the trinitarians do not agree that this is addressed to the Father, please tell us by what method they distinguish the difference, when a text is addressed to the Father and when it is addressed to the Messianic Son. The Jewish rabbis never believed that the Messiah would be the Creator of the Heaven and Earth.

 

Therefore, based on the firm testimonies of the Old Testament and the warnings of Christian writers from the 1st to the 4th centuries, as well as confirmations from the resources of historical researchers, we can try the following reconstruction of the original text of the Hebrews chapter 1 from the first century, eliminating the inconsistency that many didn't notice.

 

The Gnostic proto-trinitarians would have eliminated a connecting phrase, possible this "from God” to „O God” to give this understanding „But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” But originally, the text in Hebrews 1:8 did not exist in this way, but similar to „But of the Son He says, Thy throne given of God is for ever and ever.”

 

After this the Gnostic proto-trinitarians added a text that does not exist in the original Hebrews chapter 1:

"'Thou didst found the earth at the beginning, O Lord, and the heavens are the work at thy hands; 11 they will perish, but thou remainest, they will all be worn out like a garment, 12 thou wilt roll them up like a mantle and they win be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years will never fail.'

 

So the answer to the question "Why is Jesus called "God" in Hebrews 1: 8 and Creator in Hebrews 1:10?" is: "We were fooled!" There were no such ideas in the original Epistle to the Hebrews! It all comes down to the zeal of some to impose their ideas, shamelessly falsifying the Holy Scriptures.

 

These problems have troubled a great many, and some lost their faith, rejecting Jesus and returning to Judaism. They noticed that someone really wanted to rewrite the scripture.  The argument that the Son is the one invoked here in Psalm 102:25-27, even if the context makes no such difference, could not be accepted.

 

They are right. We are witnessing a crude and fanciful attempt to manipulate the text of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in order to identify the Son with God, the Creator himself.

 

In the following we will present some texts on which the uncertainty of the correct rendering or of a correct understanding hovers.

 

THE APOSTLES' CREED - Reconstruction according to the oldest known versions

 

The so called APOSTLES' CREED was written in the Greek language (later translated in Latin), around 135 AD, possibly in Rome, as a synthesis of what the apostles believed, to oppose the virulent pseudo-christian Gnostic sects.

 

The Apostles’ Creed is the earliest known biblical Christian creed. The idea of God as a trinity, Jesus as God himself, Christ’s descending in hell, the immediate after-death judgement and the endless torment of the sinners is not hinted. In Italy and Gaul, in the fifth century, the phrase “he descended into hell” came into the creed. 

 

In Latin

Credo in Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem 

(pantokratora - Hippolytus and Marcellus),

creatórem cæli et terræ.

Et in Iesum Christum,

Fílium eius únicum,

Dóminum nostrum,

qui concéptus est de Spíritu Sancto,

natus ex María Vírgine,

passus sub Póntio Piláto,

crucifíxus, mórtuus et sepúltus,

(descéndit ad ínferos, - from Rufinus (Aquileia) 404, Hippolytus c. 215 and Marcellus 340 don't mention it)

tértia die resurréxit a mórtuis,

ascéndit ad cælos,

sedet ad déxteram Dei Patris omnipoténtis,

inde ventúrus est iudicáre vivos et mórtuos.

Credo in Spíritum Sanctum,

sanctam Ecclésiam (cathólicam - Rufinus, Hippolytus and Marcellus don't mention it),

sanctórum communiónem,

remissiónem peccatórum,

carnis (sarkos - Hippolytus and Marcellus) resurrectiónem,

[et] vitam ætérnam. Amen.

 

 Reconstruction according to the oldest versions:

 

“I believe in God, the Father All-powerful; and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried in the grave, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the God Father All-powerful; whence he will come, to judge the living and the dead: and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the flesh.”

 

As we can see, the early Christians did not know that Jesus was God Himself or the Creator Himself. This fact was attributed to the Almighty Father only. This shows that the early Christians did not have the text of the Epistle to the Hebrews as we do today.

 

To whom do the first or classic Christians pray?

A comparison

 

Today it is fashionable to worship what you want. What is the right model, if you are a Christian?

 

First, second and third century prayers. To whom do you pray today?

 

An example from today. “I have a sports friend I talked to about Christ, and at the end he asked me if it was right that he was praying to his father. He told me that his father died without seeing his performance, and now he came to him every time he enters the field and says, "Dad, please be with me!" Then he dedicates any victory to him. Although he had to shatter an illusion that seemed to do him good, although I brought him a state of thought that initially saddened him, yet I brought him to the truth. That the dead, whoever they are, can no longer help us. We cannot ask who we want, whom we loved most on earth, and who went to the eternal ones.” Tony

 

Prayers in the first century, only to the Father

 

The early Christians (or classic Christians) did not pray to the dead, not even to the most famous. Saint Mary is one of the many dead. She is not alive, so she could not help us. She is not in Heaven, nobody is in Heaven till the resurrection and the rapture of the Companions’ Church in Heaven occurs (John 3:13). This is precisely why our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ , the Son of God Almighty, does not allow us to ask anyone else but the Father alone, in His name.

 

Consider Matthew 6:9-13

 

9 “Pray then in this way:

 

Our Father in heaven,

   hallowed be your name.

10

   Your kingdom come.

   Your will be done,

       on earth as it is in heaven.

11

   Give us this day our daily bread.

12

   And forgive us our debts,

       as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13

   And don’t leave us in the time of temptation,

       but rescue us from the evil one.

 

Prayers in the second century, only to the Father

A famous example

 

Here is Bishop Polycarp’s last prayer (II century, Smyrna), without allusion to the "trinity", with subordinationist view about the celestial Son, named as “servant” and with the concept of the mortal soul “unto resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and of body”. It is very close to the apostolic creed, without any trace of pagan religious philosophy.

 

“O Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy beloved and blessed servant* Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of thee, the God of angels and of powers and of the whole creation and of the entire race of the righteous who live in thy presence, I bless thee that thou hast deemed me worthy of this day and hour, that I might receive a portion in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of the anointed, unto resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and of body, in the immortality of the holy spirit.

Among these may I be received before thee this day, in a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as thou, the faithful and true God, hast beforehand prepared and revealed, and hast fulfilled.

Wherefore I praise thee also for everything; I bless thee, I glorify thee, through the eternal, high priest, Jesus Christ (means „the anointed”), thy beloved Son**, through whom, with him, in the holy spirit, be glory unto thee, both now and for the ages to come, Amen.”

From Eusebius “Historia Ecclesia”

* παιδός “servant” in the Greek text

** υiοs “son” in the Greek text

Bishop Polycarp’s last prayer

 

Prayers in the third century, only to the Father

An example, from a third century Christian theologian

 

This is a sermon part from the third century:

"If you have understood what is meant by "prayer", let us not pray to any creature, nor to Christ, only to the only God and Father of the universe, to whom our Savior also prayed, as we explained, what he taught us. In fact, when they asked him to "Teach us to pray" (Luke 11:11), he showed them a prayer not to himself, but to the Father: "Our Father in heaven ... " and so on. (Matthew 6.9). Because, as I have shown elsewhere, in the person and subject the Son is not the Father, and so we should pray either to the Son and not to the Father, or to both, or only to the Father. It would seem impossible or even meaningless to pray to the Son and not to the Father, which would obviously be contrary to all views. If we pray to both, we should do it in the plural (...) From here it is seen that they are inadequate, because it cannot be proven from the Scriptures that they have prayed in this way. So it only remains to pray to God, the Father of all, but not without the High Priest who was sworn in by the Father, in the sense of these words: "He has sworn and he will not be sorry, you are an eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek "(Psalm 110: 4; Hebrews 2:17, etc.)." Note: The high priest of the Hebrews prayed for the people of God, thus mediating and praying to the One to whom the people were praying, but no believer worshiped him, nor prayed to him, only the Creator, the Father. This is the best example. „And I will do whatever you ask (the Father) in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13

(Origen, About prayer and martyrdom)

 

So, to whom do you pray, today?