“For he was not sent in virtue of some disparity of power or substance or anything in him that was not equal to the Father”

But what Augustine wrote was in Latin, of course,

“non secundum imparem potestatem uel substantiam uel aliquid quod in eo patri”

This is best translated as

“not unequal in authority or substance, or any other thing which was in him, to the father.”

So, once again, it would be impossible for anyone who believes that the Son is not equal in authority to the Father to claim continuity with traditional Christianity. In traditional Christianity Christ is equal to God in power and authority, because they were both the same word, in Latin, and German and French.

It is curious that up until 1973 and the NIV, a Dynamic Equivalent translation, εξουσια, in John 17:2 was translated as “power” in English, “pouvoir” in French, “Macht” in German, and “potestas” in Latin – essentially “power.”

Complementarians will have a busy time in heaven convincing Augustine, Luther and Calvin among others, that “power” and “authority” are two different things altogether.

I have done 2 segments in our new DVD defending the full Deity of Jesus and against the teaching that Jesus’ authority is less than the father. The 2 DVD set is called “The Trinity Eternity Past to Eternity Future Explaining Truth Exposing Error”. An 8 minute set of preview clips can be found on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLe-qF2nptA

Can Jesus be prayed to? The teaching in the DVD shows not only why Jesus can be prayed to but why it is necessary to come to Jesus in prayer. Those who want to devalue Jesus’ authority have not a leg to stand on in the Old Testament. Instead they use the incarnation and Jesus’ humility in coming to earth as the foundation for forcing an eternal submission of the Word of God. However a careful study of the work and actions of the preincarnate Son from the OT gives a very different view.

In my DVD set, part 2 focuses in on the authority of Jesus in eternity past from the OT and part 3 focuses in on his present authority and eternity future. My own pastor after reading the script said that it really opened his eyes to who Jesus is throughout the entire scriptures not just the New Testament.

The bottom line is that if we do not honor the Son in his equality with the Father in authority, we are giving dishonor to the Father. Is this what we are called to do as Christians? I find it so sad that the hard work that I did to bring the gospel to JW’s and prove to them that Jesus is Almighty God equal in all things with the Father, is now having to be used with Christians to prove that Jesus is not eternally under the authority of a full authority God.

“For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” Luke 4:36

“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.” 1 Corinthians 15:24

“far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” Eph. 1:21

My sense is that “power” and “authority” were generally treated as synonyms in the NT by the KJV and the RSV. So, I wonder if those who formulated the ETS doctrinal statement would be comfortable with the notion that Christ is unequal to God in authority? It seems like a drift away from the original intent of the statement.

As this verse demonstrates, the plan of salvation was crafted and commanded by the Father. If that is the case, is not the Father acting out an authority that the Son cannot imitate? And verse four gives us the time frame of this authoritative decrees by the Father, “before the foundation of the world.” So salvation was decreed by the Father and accomplished by the Son. The Father predestined those for salvation and the Son submitted to the Father’s decrees by incarnating Himself in this world and spilling His own blood so that wicked rebels could be redeemed.

The main thread of your response seems to be that Christ has the same power as God but differs in authority.

How is this demonstrated by the scripture?

Very good question. I will have to muse over this for quiet a while but let me give some initial thoughts.

1. God the Son can have the same power that God the Father have yet cannot God the Son use that power differently?

2. Power is not the ability to do whatever the sole member of the Trinity desires to do. They have absolute power yet work in perfect unity. Just because the Son’s function is to do nothing of His own accord does not mean that he is less powerful in strength. He never does anything of His own accord. The Son is not a singular entity that goes off and does what He pleases and then the Father and the Holy Spirit just have to conform to His actions. That is not how the different members of the Trinity work. They always have to work in unity.

So my initial thoughts are these Suzanne: Christ’s power is not manifested in the fact that He can do whatever He wants to do (an impossibility for the fact of the Trinity). Christ is as still powerful as Father. Yet He uses and manifests the power differently.

The Father, then, as supreme authority over even his own Son and the Spirit, is the one to whom we gladly, but humbly, address our prayers.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit page 152