Which Christians believe in a Binitarian G-d?

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meltzerboy

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From what I’ve read about binitarianism, it is the belief that G-d the Father and Jesus the Son are the two Persons of G-d, while the Holy Spirit is not. The history of binitarianism has encompassed so-called Semi-Arianism and perhaps Albigensians, both heresies. The belief in a Binitarian G-d has also resurfaced as a branch of Seventh-Day Adventists, in which Jesus is thought to have divested Himself of His divinity while on Earth, only to return to being divine after His human death and resurrection. IOW, at least some Seventh-Day Adventists do not believe Jesus to have been fully human and fully divine at the same time. Perhaps an SDA can correct me if I’m mistaken.

My question is: are there any other Christians today who are Binitarians rather than Trinitarians or Oneness Pentecostals? Also, what would be the scriptural or other justification for this belief?
 
I’ve never heard the term.

I would think though that it would mean they’d have a similar conception of God and Jesus as trinitarians, only they would exclude the Holy Spirit from it all.

The Albigensians were dualists (Believed in two distinct Gods), and I’m pretty sure Seventh-Day Adventists are trinitarian, though I could be wrong.
 
meltzerboy said:
From what I’ve read about binitarianism, it is the belief that G-d the Father and Jesus the Son are the two Persons of G-d, while the Holy Spirit is not. The history of binitarianism has encompassed so-called Semi-Arianism and perhaps Albigensians, both heresies. The belief in a Binitarian G-d has also resurfaced as a branch of Seventh-Day Adventists, in which Jesus is thought to have divested Himself of His divinity while on Earth, only to return to being divine after His human death and resurrection. IOW, at least some Seventh-Day Adventists do not believe Jesus to have been fully human and fully divine at the same time. Perhaps an SDA can correct me if I’m mistaken.

My question is: are there any other Christians today who are Binitarians rather than Trinitarians or Oneness Pentecostals? Also, what would be the scriptural or other justification for this belief?
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Good question. I’m interested in the response here as well, because I’m not sure of any. Some of the early teachings of the Mormons tended towards Binitarianism in the 1830s, but those were later purged (for example, Lecture 5 of “Lectures on Faith,” once part of the canonical-to-Mormons Doctrines & Covenants).

As for the theological justification, I think it’s largely an argument from (relative) silence: specifically, that Scripture is less clear that the Holy Spirit is a Person than that Jesus is a Person distinct from the Father, yet forming a single God.
 
I’ve spoken with a guy from a so-called “Church of God” before. They seem to be very similar to the Judaizers in belief, and reject much of Christian traditions (refusing to celebrate Christmas, celebrating Easter on the day of Passover, refuse to celebrate Pentecost in lieu of the Feast of Tabernacles, claim mainstream Christianity was infiltrated by Mithraism, etc.
 
Nine_Two said:
I’ve never heard the term.

I would think though that it would mean they’d have a similar conception of God and Jesus as trinitarians, only they would exclude the Holy Spirit from it all.

The Albigensians were dualists (Believed in two distinct Gods), and I’m pretty sure Seventh-Day Adventists are trinitarian, though I could be wrong.
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So says their opponents but not the few existing primary sources.
 
Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in trinitarianism. So they definately aren’t binatarians but they believe in something similar. They believe in two divine beings, Jehovah and Jesus, believing the Holy Spirit to be an invisible energy force. Whether they are “bitheistic” (not sure if that’s the right word), is a puzzling mystery. Their beliefs are that Jesus was an angel created by Jehovah. Though, even though they don’t believe Jesus is “God” (as in Jehovah Himself) they believe He’s “a god”.

Though their concept of “a god” is very obscure. It practically means to them “a divine entity” as opposed to “a being that is worshipped” because they only worship Jehovah.

If I’m giving misleading info, anyone please correct me at any time.
 
followingtheway said:
Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in trinitarianism. So they definately aren’t binatarians but they believe in something similar. They believe in two divine beings, Jehovah and Jesus, believing the Holy Spirit to be an invisible energy force. Whether they are “bitheistic” (not sure if that’s the right word), is a puzzling mystery. Their beliefs are that Jesus was an angel created by Jehovah. Though, even though they don’t believe Jesus is “God” (as in Jehovah Himself) they believe He’s “a god”.

Though their concept of “a god” is very obscure. It practically means to them “a divine entity” as opposed to “a being that is worshipped” because they only worship Jehovah.

If I’m giving misleading info, anyone please correct me at any time.
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That’s exactly as my JW acquaintences have explained it to me. They call the Holy Ghost “God’s toolbox”.

It is interesting that Both the Mormons and JWs (who sprang from the same 19th century restorationist movement) originally had a binitarian view of God and an exagerated view of Michael the archangel.

Paul (formerly LDS, now gratefully Catholic)
 
Don’t get binitarian confused with bitheistic. Binitarian would mean “two in one”, bitheistic just means a belief in two gods.
 
followingtheway said:
Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in trinitarianism. So they definately aren’t binatarians but they believe in something similar. They believe in two divine beings, Jehovah and Jesus, believing the Holy Spirit to be an invisible energy force. Whether they are “bitheistic” (not sure if that’s the right word), is a puzzling mystery. Their beliefs are that Jesus was an angel created by Jehovah. Though, even though they don’t believe Jesus is “God” (as in Jehovah Himself) they believe He’s “a god”.

Though their concept of “a god” is very obscure. It practically means to them “a divine entity” as opposed to “a being that is worshipped” because they only worship Jehovah.

If I’m giving misleading info, anyone please correct me at any time.
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I had the same impression of JWs as well.
 
Meltzerboy:
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The belief in a Binitarian G-d has also resurfaced as a branch of Seventh-Day Adventists, in which Jesus is thought to have divested Himself of His divinity while on Earth, only to return to being divine after His human death and resurrection.
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That’s an interesting thought - didn’t someone have the same opinion about angels? How angels would interact with man’s feel will - or from a spiritual world, one with God and another on earth? There’s more to this…but I can’t remember all the information on it.
 
Vocabulary quibble, but the Trinity is one of the defining doctrines of christianity. Doctrinal systems that reject the Trinity shouldn’t be described as “christian denominations.”

Mind you, this is different than saying that those holding such beliefs aren’t christians. Confused yet? Christianity is not a religion that believes in salvation by the holding of correct doctrine. That’s actually a hallmark of gnosticism. Probably MOST christians hold at least one erroneous doctrinal belief (but aren’t aware of it). What defines a christian is their faith in Christ and trust in the Grace of God to make up for our own sinfulness.

This means that, for example, the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day saints (Mormonism) isn’t a christian denomination, but it may actually contain a large number of christians.

Weird stuff, huh?
 
manualman said:
Vocabulary quibble, but the Trinity is one of the defining doctrines of christianity. Doctrinal systems that reject the Trinity shouldn’t be described as “christian denominations.”

Mind you, this is different than saying that those holding such beliefs aren’t christians. Confused yet? Christianity is not a religion that believes in salvation by the holding of correct doctrine. That’s actually a hallmark of gnosticism. Probably MOST christians hold at least one erroneous doctrinal belief (but aren’t aware of it). What defines a christian is their faith in Christ and trust in the Grace of God to make up for our own sinfulness.

This means that, for example, the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day saints (Mormonism) isn’t a christian denomination, but it may actually contain a large number of christians.

Weird stuff, huh?
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Not really so weird to me since I can relate. In Torah (Orthodox) Judaism, many believe that Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism aren’t denominations of Judaism; on the contrary, they aren’t Judaism at all! At the same time, however, Orthodox Jews maintain that Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist followers are still Jews.
 
MorningSong51 said:
That’s an interesting thought - didn’t someone have the same opinion about angels? How angels would interact with man’s feel will - or from a spiritual world, one with God and another on earth? There’s more to this…but I can’t remember all the information on it.
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Thanks, MorningSong, for your enlightening PM’s regarding angels. Allow me a little time to digest this since I’m still working on grading final exams through tomorrow. Torah Jews are a little wary about angels even though they are referred to in the Hebrew Bible. This avoidance involves the sensitive issue of intercession between Man and G-d. In Judaism, there is always a direct, personal relationship between Man and G-d, and, at the same time, a majestic awe of G-d’s unique power (hence the topic of demons is also sensitive) and separateness from His creation. In the blessings before and after mealtime, one can see this dual relationship in the shift from the personal use of the Hebrew pronoun “You,” addressing G-d, immediately followed by its formal use. But I’m digressing from my own thread!
 
meltzerboy said:
From what I’ve read about binitarianism, it is the belief that G-d the Father and Jesus the Son are the two Persons of G-d, while the Holy Spirit is not. The history of binitarianism has encompassed so-called Semi-Arianism and perhaps Albigensians, both heresies. The belief in a Binitarian G-d has also resurfaced as a branch of Seventh-Day Adventists, in which Jesus is thought to have divested Himself of His divinity while on Earth, only to return to being divine after His human death and resurrection. IOW, at least some Seventh-Day Adventists do not believe Jesus to have been fully human and fully divine at the same time. Perhaps an SDA can correct me if I’m mistaken.

My question is: are there any other Christians today who are Binitarians rather than Trinitarians or Oneness Pentecostals? Also, what would be the scriptural or other justification for this belief?
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You might be interested in Daniel Boyarin’s take on Jewish Binitarianism:

“The gospel of the Memra: Jewish binitarianism and the prologue to John”
Harvard Theological Review (Jul 2001)
 
JL: The think the Philadelphia Church of God, and United Church of God, believes the Son and Father are God, but not the Holy Spirit. They are two of the many splits from Hubert W. Armstrongs World Wide Church of God. After Armstrong died the World Wide Church of God leaders rejected some of Armstrongs teachings one of those changes was accepting the Trinity
 
meltzerboy said:
Not really so weird to me since I can relate. In Torah (Orthodox) Judaism, many believe that Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism aren’t denominations of Judaism; on the contrary, they aren’t Judaism at all! At the same time, however, Orthodox Jews maintain that Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist followers are still Jews.
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Oh good. Weird just runs in the family then. 😃
 
Dave_Noonan said:
You might be interested in Daniel Boyarin’s take on Jewish Binitarianism:

“The gospel of the Memra: Jewish binitarianism and the prologue to John”
Harvard Theological Review (Jul 2001)
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Thanks so much for the link, which I just read and find fascinating though not so surprising. Judaism, like Christianity, struggled in its early years (actually centuries) to define itself, and is still evolving. Probably there has never been a period in Jewish history in which Jews, even within the same branch of Judaism, had identical beliefs, including on major issues of dogma and doctrine. That seems to be the nature of many religions, especially those which do not have a central authority figure as does Catholicism (not that Catholic writers have been in complete accord with one another either). Boyarin contends that Logos/Sophia theology (i.e. Memra) was inherent in Judaism–at least in Alexandria–before the advent of Christianity due to Hellenistic influences. This can be seen particularly in the writings of Philo and others. I think Boyarin has a good point here. However, one must also remember that different sects of Judaism were vying at the time and that the Sadducees were the ones who most fully embraced Hellenistic thought, including free will and non-belief in angels and an afterlife, while the Pharisees were opposed to the latter two beliefs, as were the Essenes for the most part. Thus for Boyarin to suggest that Rabbinical Judaism changed everything with respect to Logos theology in an effort to more fully separate itself from Christianity is, I believe, not entirely correct. Boyarin, an avowed Orthodox Jew and innovative biblical scholar, is also a controversial writer and thinker in Jewish circles due in large part to his anti-Zionist views.
 
meltzerboy said:
Thanks, MorningSong, for your enlightening PM’s regarding angels. Allow me a little time to digest this since I’m still working on grading final exams through tomorrow. Torah Jews are a little wary about angels even though they are referred to in the Hebrew Bible. This avoidance involves the sensitive issue of intercession between Man and G-d. In Judaism, there is always a direct, personal relationship between Man and G-d, and, at the same time, a majestic awe of G-d’s unique power (hence the topic of demons is also sensitive) and separateness from His creation. In the blessings before and after mealtime, one can see this dual relationship in the shift from the personal use of the Hebrew pronoun “You,” addressing G-d, immediately followed by its formal use. But I’m digressing from my own thread!
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My apologies for the lengthy letter - you can even toss it, and I didn’t want to interrupt the topic to this thread but I had recalled some information. The thought behind the post was the fact, that angels carried both human and divine qualities - that is, that they could appear to be both human (in the flesh - Genesis 18) and yet, have the ability to be divine, Jacob ladder, Jacob wrestling with an Angel, Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses - the angel in the burning bush,…etc. Qualities to be aspects of God in the form of divine beings or under the guidance - (seal), yet - whether some act independently or have a free will as humans - as in Tobit, '12:15 I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One." Raphael - presenting prayers that were brought to the throne…I’m heading with this thought, also - in Jewish thought…as there are some that do not actually except this thought, some do.

The question being, since we’re in the discussion of Binitarian - is that the angels are (after all) created, or are a source coming from God. Isn’t this the same thought?

Even though, with Binitarian - (from what I understood) claim that God has a unity, with the Son (…and yet with binitarianism there is a “twoness” in God.) - but that the Spirit, was not a distinct person from Jesus but rather another name for Him or that it was assumed by some that the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ are the same person – Jesus. As if there was a duality within Christ - to be both the Advocate that came to the Apostles, after the resurrection and the human form (man) while with the Apostles - if (again) I understood this correctly.

and, what are you grading - what exams? Just curious George here?
 
My understanding is that some of the churches which can trace their theological roots to an American named William Sowders have a view of God which could be called Binitarian. Churches which stem from the preaching and teaching of William Sowders sometimes have names such as Gospel Assembly, Gospel Temple, or Latter Rain. My understanding is that at least some of these churches believe that Jesus is divine, but lesser than God the Father, while the Holy Spirit is not a person but rather something like the spirit or soul of God the Father. Some of them refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” rather than “he” (or “He”).
 
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