Worship is properly due unto God alone. This will be addressed shortly in the following points below.
Lord willing in the future I will address many passages in the Bible in which the Lord Jesus is the proper recipient of worship which proves He is God. For the sake of brevity I will attempt to cite no more than a maximum of 4 sources for my assertions. Some may have more while others may have less.
This 'worship' that I mentioned at the very beginning is no to be diluted in the sense of respect or simply honor (although of course it will include these) but supreme worship which is properly due only unto God.
A major component of worship is prayer.
1. A. E. Burn: It has been well said that for...the early Christian brotherhood the whole of life was a continuous worship, and the one great feature of that worship was prayer (Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, Worship).
http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ ... cgi?n=2948
A. Scholarly sources
1. James Dunn: at the time of Jesus...prayers of adoration, of penitence and confession, of petition and intercession, all indicating the dependence of the inferior (creature) upon the all-powerful Creator, Saviour and Lord. (Did the First Christians Worship Jesus?, page 30).
2. H. Schonweiss: In prayer we are never to forget whom we are addressing: the living God, the almighty one with whom nothing is impossible, and from whom therefore all things may be expected (NIDNTT 2:857, Prayer).
3. P. A. Verhoef: To pray is an act of faith in the almighty and gracious God who responds to the prayers of his people (NIDOTTE 4:1062, Prayer).
4. Samuel E. Balentine: In sum, both the OT and the NT portray prayer as a principal means by which Creator and creature are bound together in an ongoing, vital, and mutually important partnership (Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Prayer, page 1079).
B. The Heart-knower of all (kardiognst"s) = Omniscience
Because only God fully knows the hearts of all He alone is the proper recipient of prayer. Every prayer is heard by God based on the fact that He fully knows the hearts of all people at all times.
1 Kings 8:38-39
whatever prayer...is made...then hear in heaven...for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men. (NASB)
The proper recipient of prayer (Romans 8:26) is to "He who searches the hearts" (Romans 8:27).
Romans 8:26-27
(26) In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
(27) and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (NASB)
That God is the "Heart-Knower" of all is the same thing as saying He is omniscient.
1. T. Sorg: The fact that God sees, tests and searches the hidden depths of the human heart is commonly stated in both the OT and the NT (1 Sam. 16:7; Jer. 11:20; 17:9f.; Lk. 16:15; Rom. 8:27; 1 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 2:23). This belief in the omniscience of God is expressed succinctly by the adj. kardiognst"s (NIDNTT 2:183, Heart).
2. J. Behm: The designation of God as ho kardiognst"s, "the One who knows the heart," expresses in a single term (Ac. 1:24; 15:8) something which is familiar to both the NT and OT piety...namely that the omniscient God knows the innermost being of every man where the decision is made either for Him or against Him (TDNT 3:613, kardiognst"s).
3. Other groups agree with the above:
Roman Catholicism
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops affirms that "Ben Sira contemplates Gods...omniscience (42:18-20)" in that He fully knows the hearts of all (v. 20).
http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/42
18 He sees into the oceans and into the human heart, and he knows the secrets of both.
The Most High knows everything that can be known and understands the signs of the ages.
19 He knows all that has ever been and all that ever will be; he uncovers the deepest of mysteries.
20 He takes notice of our every thought and hears our every word.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?s ... ersion=GNT
The Mormons
Under "God, Omniscience of" the Mormons cite the following:
I the Lord search the heart: Jer. 17:10. (Rev. 2:23.)
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg/god-o ... f?lang=eng
The Jehovah's Witnesses
viewtopic.php?t=32458
4. It is important to understand that although the Bible records that certain individuals had more insight than others (cf. 1 Kings 14:5; 2 Kings 6:12; 8:11-12; Acts 5:3-5) they were never said to be able to know the totality of the hearts of all people let alone the totality of just one of them (2 Kings 4:27). Only God has this knowledge (omniscience).
C. "The Hearer of prayer" is an appellation which belongs only to God.
Psalm 65:2
O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. (KJV)
1. Daniel Whedon: Thou that hearest prayer"A recognition of deity which gratitude dictates and experience attests.
http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ ... ms-65.html
2. Allen Ross: the verse begins by addressing God as one who hears prayer, meaning one who answers prayer (s.v. Ps. 45:10). The use of the participle stresses that this is a characteristic of God - he is a prayer-answering God (A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 2, page 413).
3. In His omniscience the Hearer of Prayer already fully understands the heart from which the words ascend even before one prays (Psalm 139:4; cf. Genesis 24:45).
D. God alone is supremely holy so God alone is to be supremely worshiped (Revelation 15:3-4).
All Scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
Revelation 15:3-4
(3) And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
(4) Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.
Revelation 15:4 teaches that God alone is holy. The same Greek word for holy () is also used in Titus 1:8 as a noble quality of what people (overseers) are to aspire to so what Revelation 15:4 is teaching (based on the very next clause) is that because God alone is absolutely holy He alone is to be supremely worshiped. His absolute holiness forms the basis for this worship that is to be ascribed unto Him. Rendering supreme worship to anyone/anything other than God is to ascribe the holiness that He alone possesses to a creature.
1. Adam Clarke: Who shall not fear thee - That is, All should fear and worship this true God, because he is just and true and holy; and his saints should love and obey him, because he is their King; and they and all men should acknowledge his judgments, because they are made manifest.
http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?bk=65&ch=15
2. Otto Procksch: When God's deity is revealed to man in the majesty of worship (cf. Is. 6:3), then God is sanctified to him. The cultic element is here absorbed in the adoration in which God's deity is felt in contrast to all creatureliness (TDNT: 1:111, hagiaz).
3. William Mounce: God is the only entity in his class; he has no peers (cf. Jn. 5:44; 17:3; Rom. 16:27; 1 Tim. 6:15; Jude 4; Rev. 15:4) (Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Only, page 487).
4. Notice the parallels in Revelation 15 with Nehemiah 9, Psalm 86 and Jeremiah 10 concerning the fact that worship is due only unto God.
You alone are holy (Revelation 15:4).
You are the LORD, you alone (Nehemiah 9:6).
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord (Psalm 86:8).
There is none like you, O LORD (Jeremiah 10:6).
King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord...For you alone are holy (Revelation 15:3-4).
You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them (Nehemiah 9:6).
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God...unite my heart to fear your name (Psalm 86:10-11).
Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?...there is none like you (Jeremiah 10:7).
King of the nations!...All nations will come and worship you (Revelation 15:3-4).
the host of heaven worships you (Nehemiah 9:6).
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord (Psalm 86:9).
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King...the nations cannot endure his indignation (Jeremiah 10:10).
E. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901)
1. Prayers should not be considered as a set task, but as petitions to Omnipotence for mercy (Abot 2:18) (Prayer, see "Prayer Substituted for Sacrifice").
http://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias ... rayer.html
2. "God is not less omniscient because we are taught to pray to Him..." (Leeser, "Discourses," 10:30). (See "Significance of Prayer").
http://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias ... rayer.html
3. To pray is the same thing as offering latreu. Also under "Prayer" it reads:
"Ye shall serve the Lord your God" (Exodus 23:25) is understood as "Ye shall worship God in prayer" (see "In Rabbinical Literature").
http://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias ... rayer.html
The Greek word in the above passage for "serve" is latreu in the LXX. In agreement with point #3 the following are noted:
a. Richard N. Longenecker: There is no commandment in the Jewish Scriptures that says simply "Thou shalt pray!" Rather, what one finds is a verse like Deut 11:13, which calls on Israel "to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." The rabbis of the Talmud asked about this verse: "What kind of service is it that takes place in the heart"? And they answered their own question: "It is prayer!" (b. Ta' anith 2a) (Studies in Paul, Exegetical and Theological, page 33).
b. Moiss Silva: The meaning of worship has been perpetuated in the synagogue. But it is used also of the inner worship of the heart. So it is said that to serve God means prayer (with ref. to Deut 11:13 and Dan 6:11, 16; cf. Str-B 3:26) (NIDNTTE 3:95, latreu).
F. Worshiping anyone and/or anything else besides God alone is forbidden because:
1. "Prayer" as properly defined in the scholarly sources cited clearly teaches it is absolute worship due only unto God (see "A").
2. Doing so attributes omniscience unto the creature which impugns the Omniscient God (see "B").
3. Doing so robs God of His holy appellation as the "Hearer of Prayer" (see "C").
4. Doing so attributes absolute holiness unto the creature which denigrates the absolute holiness of the Creator (see "D").
5. "Prayer" as properly defined in "The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901)" associates it with God's omnipotence and omniscience (see "E").
Worship God alone
Moderator: Moderators
Post #41
I didn't ask why you cited the Jewish Encyclopedia, I asked whether the Jewish Encyclopedia has absolute authority on matters of the God of the Bible. I'm proud of you for trying, Faber, but I need you to focus. Read my question carefully and try your best to answer it.Faber wrote: I cited the Jewish Encyclopedia to prove that it is not only Christian lexicons that refute you.
Are the authors of this encyclopedia absolute authorities on the matter of the God of the Bible?
Here's a tip to make things a little easier for you: the answer is either "Yes" or "No"
Last edited by Justin108 on Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Post #42
So am I.
People can and do offer prayers for someone to help them. They are petitions. If people accept that outside of human existence there are angels and other wonderful beings, it would not be impossible to ask one of these supernatural things to help or to put a kind word in to God. This is prayer and not worship. Christ said he was a conduit for prayers to God, so it is acceptable to ask him for assistance. This is not worship. The nice thief asked Jesus to put in a kind word for him and Christ seems to have obliged. It was not an act of worship but a petition.
But your replies are entirely ad hominem or at least ad Marcum. I see nothing more to be gained by further explanation since it elicits no argument.
Post #43
Prayer is worship.
Marvin E. Tate: The consciousness of holy presence brings forth a response from those who perceived it. The response is worship and may take many forms. The response may be private and intensely personal, in the form of prayers, confessions, silence, and meditative experiences of various sorts. (Holman Bible Dictionary, Worship)
http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ ... cgi?n=6481
Marvin E. Tate: The consciousness of holy presence brings forth a response from those who perceived it. The response is worship and may take many forms. The response may be private and intensely personal, in the form of prayers, confessions, silence, and meditative experiences of various sorts. (Holman Bible Dictionary, Worship)
http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ ... cgi?n=6481
Post #44
If prayer is worship, does that mean that confession is worship? Silence is worship? Meditative experiences is worship?Faber wrote: Prayer is worship.
Worship: The consciousness of holy presence brings forth a response from those who perceived it. The response is worship and may take many forms. The response may be private and intensely personal, in the form of prayers, confessions, silence, and meditative experiences of various sorts. (Holman Bible Dictionary, Marvin E. Tate)
http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ ... cgi?n=6481
Post #45
Prayer to God is worshiping God.Justin108 wrote:If prayers is worship, does that mean that confessions are worship? Silence is worship? Meditative experiences are worship?Faber wrote: Prayer is worship.
Worship: The consciousness of holy presence brings forth a response from those who perceived it. The response is worship and may take many forms. The response may be private and intensely personal, in the form of prayers, confessions, silence, and meditative experiences of various sorts. (Holman Bible Dictionary, Marvin E. Tate)
http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ ... cgi?n=6481
Confessing to God is worshiping God.
Silence to God is worshiping God.
Meditative experiences to God is worshiping God.
Clear?
Post #46
Correction: nobody is discarding proper definitions. I have possibly said this a dozen times now.Faber wrote: By refusing to accept the proper definitions for words (which you have done) is holding to definitions that are fairy tales.
Your proposition that it is correct to worship Christ does NOT arise from any definition. It is an extrapolation (and a wrong extrapolation) from a definition.
Let us agree to end the matter there. Your definitions are fine; your understanding of them isn't.
Post #47
Correction. You are discarding the proper definitions. You can say it a thousand times but it still doesn't refute that is exactly what you are doing.marco wrote:Correction: nobody is discarding proper definitions. I have possibly said this a dozen times now.Faber wrote: By refusing to accept the proper definitions for words (which you have done) is holding to definitions that are fairy tales.
Your proposition that it is correct to worship Christ does NOT arise from any definition. It is an extrapolation (and a wrong extrapolation) from a definition.
Let us agree to end the matter there. Your definitions are fine; your understanding of them isn't.
Multiple dictionaries affirm that Christ is the proper object of worship but then you come bumbling along saying "It ain't so"!
Your opinion against the many authors of these fine works and you insist that you are correct and that they didn't really give the definition but their opinion.
How ludicrous.
Post #48
Ok so praying to someone other than God is not worship, then?Faber wrote:Prayer to God is worshiping God.Justin108 wrote:If prayers is worship, does that mean that confessions are worship? Silence is worship? Meditative experiences are worship?Faber wrote: Prayer is worship.
Worship: The consciousness of holy presence brings forth a response from those who perceived it. The response is worship and may take many forms. The response may be private and intensely personal, in the form of prayers, confessions, silence, and meditative experiences of various sorts. (Holman Bible Dictionary, Marvin E. Tate)
http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/ ... cgi?n=6481
Very. But I have a slight suspicion you're about to change your argument.Faber wrote: Clear?
Last edited by Justin108 on Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
