Blog » The Decisive Pronoun

  • Mar 10th, 2016 at 11:35 AM (CST)
  • By PD
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Some little words you can get away with changing, such as substituting "people" for "men" when translating certain passages of the Bible which refer not to a group of men, but to all humans. Other pronouns you had best leave lone, such as, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time (I Timothy 2:5)."

What's the difference? When it comes to discussing Jesus, the difference is one's eternal salvation!

Case in point, President Obama this week hosted the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House, during which me made the following statement regarding Easter, "It's an opportunity for us to reflect on the triumph of the resurrection, and to give thanks for the all-important gift of grace." (So far, he's right on target.) He continued, "And for me, and I'm sure for some of you, it's also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured - not just as a Son of God, but as a human being." (Now the President stepped into deep doodoo.)

What was wrong with his statement? One little determiner or article, "a". The word "a" is called the indefinite article, and it refers to something indefinite, such as "a cow," or "a car," suggesting there are others, or even many. The word "the" is called the definite article, meaning referece to a specific one, such as, "the Sun," or "the true God." When the Scriptures teach Jesus is "the" atoning sacrifice for our sins, it explicitly denies all others. It's either Jesus carrying your sins to the cross, or you are still in your sin and guilty before God. It is obvious the President intended to suggest there are other "Sons of God", as he differentiated between that phrase and Jesus being a human.

It was like a bomb going off or a bright light shining in my eyes to see President Obama use the phrase, "...a Son of God," in reference to Jesus. This is no mistake. The President has a bastardized form of Christianity which is melded with Isalm. He continuously downgrades Christ and Christiantiy and elevates Isalm. Anyone who claims to be a Christian for as long as the President knows you do NOT refer to Jesus as "a" Son of God - THERE IS ONLY ONE SON OF GOD, JESUS. Christians also know that we often refer to ourselves collectively as "children of God" or "sons of God through faith." A Christian who has been one as long as the President indicates does not refer to the phrase "Son of God," using the indefinite article. To do so intentionally is heresy, and to do so mistakenly is gross ignorance. I do not believe that the President messed up; I think he intended to suggest Jesus is one of God's prophets, and not the universal Savior.

If so, then the President of the United States is either fundamentally screwed up when it comes to religion, or he purposely misleads regardling his faith. Neither one is good. I have serious misgivings about the purported Christian faith of the President, and this incident does nothing to assuage my concerns.