Woke Religion with Tim Keller, Fulgentius of Ruspe on the Hypostatic Union

Greetings and welcome to the dividing line. My name is James. Wife got a lot to get to today. I Remember when the The tsunami hit Japan a number of years ago the big earthquake and then the tsunami hit that was the first time I heard about a world event faster on Twitter than I heard about on television and And today we have this massive explosion in Beirut and now everybody and their third cousin is Posting stuff on Social media and What's interesting is there was the initial explosion and so everybody starts videotaping and so The huge what seems to me to be multi kiloton Explosion That happened afterwards and evidently has broken every pane of glass for 50 miles.

I saw one taken inside a car and The windshield side windows everything shattered instantly by this thing's huge. The numbers of deaths I've seen have been relatively small. I have a feeling that's gonna change a lot unfortunately over the course of time but anyway That that was that was astonishing and The pictures coming out of the of the the port area now Wow that Just it looks like nuclear weapon really really did so pray for believers in that area pray that the Lord would Would help and guide even the small churches that are in places like that and give them grace and strength at this particular point in time.

An amazing amazing thing that's taking place today. This morning a friend of mine sent me some quotations I had seen the article pop up on my feed and Hadn't had the time to get to it. A lot of people are going to be getting to it.

I'm afraid Over the next couple of days and I'm not sure why I said I'm afraid I mean it's it's appropriate and properly so but if you Many people struggle With the idea that men from whom you have learned much in the past men From whose ministry you have benefited are today Speaking in a way where we now can really sense That there has been a no longer subtle Transformation of their vocabulary and their emphasis.

Those who have become woke Who have embraced the categories of critical theory power dynamics and are now Speaking into the same channels of teaching that they used 15 years ago to speak of the gospel and Biblical teachings and Christian doctrine are now using those same avenues To connect Biblical teaching in the gospel to things they never did only a few years before if your favorite Bible teacher and And and don't don't go on emotion and feeling check the actual emphasis check the Check what they're really really saying.

If your favorite Bible teacher today is saying very different things than they did 10 to 15 years ago There might be a reason for it. There might be a reason for it and And what's happening is you're you're getting a completely different lens placed over The Bible so the Bible is being read differently.

We're being told that Everyone has an irremovable lens Provided by their culture and see the problem is there's there's always an element of truth in every lie. There's an element of truth. There is no question No question at all That you can provide Hours and hours of examples of where Americans read The text of Scripture as if it is speaking to us in our day only we do it in eschatology.

We've done it in eschatology for a long long time. American Christians will assume that everything that the Bible says is about us. Americans assume pretty much everything is about us. I didn't really notice that until I started traveling overseas and then I was embarrassed by How much that is the case?

But it is the very essence of The clips that are posted by the IFB preacher Twitter feed that You can provide hours of examples of people reading the Bible as if It were written last year primarily directed to Americans in the early 21st part in the early part of the 21st century.

There's no question about that. But obviously if you did serious exegesis, that would immediately Challenge so much of that if you were if you were first and foremost Concerned about the meaning that the author intended in Writing to the audience that he was writing to in the language.

He was writing to in the day that he was writing to if you do the hard work of Consistently asking the tough questions of the text you can filter a lot of that out but even in application you're going to be dealing with That particular issue as well.

You're all we do have lenses. There's no question about that. But you see that's something completely different than saying there is no objective meaning of Scripture. There's no way of knowing the objective meaning of Scripture.

We've got to give up on that. We have to listen to all these different voices and if you listen to the voices over here Then that's gonna make you better that if you listen to the voices over there and and so on and so forth that that's that's A completely different thing and that's where the confusion is coming in.

And so as you listen to people who you once found clear and compelling and Obviously if you're gonna come to the conclusion someone's changed you always have to raise the question have they changed or have I changed and If you can honestly Analyze yourself and go.

No, I've I've resisted the cultural trends to Go the direction the culture is going and I really think this person. I just this person wasn't talking about power structures and and The the categories that he's using today.

So once you you conclude yes, this person has indeed changed. How have they changed and how is that impacting Their current definition of the gospel. These are things that unfortunately we're all having to deal with.

The Critical theory is always designed to divide and to deconstruct. That's what that's it's that's its essence and So it can do that directly. For example, there was an excellent thread on Twitter today.

It was talking about people who are saying 2 plus 2 equals 5 and It was pointing out. They're not saying that 2 plus 2 always equals 5. They're saying that 2 plus 2 Can equal 4 it may almost always equal 4, but it doesn't always have to equal 4.

Sometimes in some context it can equal 5 and it's appropriate to say so. This is called deconstruction. It is meant to diminish your certainty as to the truthfulness of foundational issues now. You all if you're even semi as geeky as I am You have been fascinated by the SpaceX stuff recently fascinated They they splashed down I think was that yesterday recently a splashdown from the space station and the mission went flawlessly and You know they landed exactly where they were supposed to land and The thing that just blows me away is they're reusing their booster rockets and These these babies turn around and come back and land on a ship in the ocean.

That is so cool. I mean that is just Awesome, but let me guarantee you something. The engineers that designed that incredible system they may not live they may not personally live Consistently here. But the engineers that build that system that can make those booster rockets land right back where they're supposed to land.

Know that 2 plus 2 equals 4 and if they even once Put into their calculations at 2 plus 2 equals 5 The rocket will probably blow up. It could or it's not gonna land. It's gonna crash or whatever because Especially doing stuff like that when you have to you know, we just launched Another Explorer to Mars.

That's so cool. This one's supposed to have all sorts of cool neat equipment on it, and I hope it works. I think that is great stuff but the fact is They assumed all the way through in their calculations of getting that thing built Launched and to land on that little spinning object hundreds of millions of miles away.

That 2 plus 2 equals 4 and if they put 2 plus 2 equals 5 and even once it'll miss Mars completely total failure. That's not colonization. That's not white fragility. That's not white privilege. That's called mathematics and God made it that way 2 plus 2 can equals 5 and by the way, if 2 plus 2 can equal 5 Fractals couldn't exist.

Well, the beautiful signs of God God's beautiful fingerprints in mathematics of 2 plus 2 equals 5 they're gone doesn't work anymore. Nothing works anymore. And So this is what deconstruction is. You're deconstructing people's confidence that Fundamental objective foundational truths are just that truth.

And you're getting them to accept the idea of it. Well, okay, I suppose, you know I heard some scholars say that in certain circumstances 2 plus 2 might equal 5 well. Then you're you're you're no longer talking about addition.

In the context in which we're speaking which is the addition of 2 plus 2 it always equals 4 now if you want to come up with imaginary numbers if you want to Put it at the event horizon of a black hole or something like that.

You're no longer talking about the same thing. You're playing with language and That's exactly what people that's exactly what critical theory does as well is it plays with language it it well look at what was it Rutgers that identified proper grammar as racist and So there's not gonna be an emphasis upon matching verbs and things like that.

You you do realize this is just Destroying The very mechanisms by which we communicate truth and that's its intention. Spiritually, this is rebellion. This is rebellion against God. It's rebellion against the God who made the universe to function in a particular fashion who made us communicative beings.

Who made us to communicate in such a way that he could communicate his will to us in the scripture? All of this it is it is rebellion and Destruction of these very things and so this whole Area of Critical theory and the creation of lenses is What we're seeing and so this article that I was taught telling you about it's by Tim Keller.

It's filled with the language of critical theory critical thought of Wokeness because this is this is the context in which Brother Keller finds himself in the New York Washington East Coast black hole of Marxist infiltration basically and So I was explaining to a friend who said, you know, I've I've really benefited from from Keller in the past.

But recently I'm just seeing this more and more and I I didn't mention it about I've mentioned on this program. I Remember, I think it was 2014 Hearing yeah, I think it was 2014. Maybe been earlier than that.

Now. I think about it. Um, I Remember hearing Tim Keller on a Radio program he was talking about a book he had done on suffering and as I listened to him speaking about the issue of God's sovereignty and suffering.

The only thought that the words that came out of my mouth I remember I was driving a rental car as I recall the words that came out of my mouth was that's not a Westminster man. That's not a man who is who is bound by a confession any longer that's not what Westminster says about the sovereignty of God and the simpleness of man and the decree of God and and You're you're not.

That's just that's just not what he's saying to this audience and I wondered at the time why that was. But I told my friend I likened it to these glasses that I have these are. These are riding glasses of mine and you'll notice they're primarily clear and So you might say well those why would you have clear glasses?

Well, obviously when you ride there's stuff flying around and but they're the ones that I wear when I ride at night and I am more confident. There isn't a whole lot of stuff flying around at night. But you know once in a while.

But I feel more confident confident with my my eyes protected when you're going fast you want stuff there dust and things like that. But you might recognize that they're not perfectly clear. They're photochromatic and so as the Sun comes up and as ultraviolet radiation hits that lens It changes and it begins to darken and eventually it'd be a fairly fairly dark pair of sunglasses which is what you need when you're riding home in your early sunlight and I likened to the situation with people like Tim Keller and others to a lens and once you allow an Interpretive lens Into your teaching and preaching of the Word of God and and you may have you may have the greatest Positive intentions in Adopting that lens you really might you might go, you know to reach our city.

There's just there's just so much post-modernism in our city. There's got to be a better way To communicate to these people and to and to get more of them to listen to our message and so you met you may have the greatest Intentions in the world and the initial lens might be very thin and it might only have a small impact Upon the amount of light getting through or upon the focus because that's what a lens a corrective lens.

This is not a corrective lens. I have here. But that's what a corrective lens does. It's slightly, you know. A very weak lens just changes slightly the area of focus in what you're looking at. The problem is once you start Generally you have to keep increasing the strength of the lens and I hear that or if you want to use the photochromatic example as the light gets stronger and stronger.

There's there's more and more resultant darkening that takes place within the photochromatic lens. I Think that's the explanation. For why we have seen so many who 10 15 20 years ago We were all saying the same thing.

They weren't talking like this. They weren't looking at scripture like this. They were not using these categories they didn't define racism the way they define it today. I mean there there there are literally churches entire churches.

Ed Stetzer this morning they're gonna do a study through D 'Angelo's white fragility and and I just I Just look at anyone Who can be taken in by D 'Angelo? I mean the money she has made off of that book off of presenting pure incoherence utter destruction of logic and rationality.

Argumentation that should not pass a first year level. Logic class really shouldn't and yet she's made a mint off of it and I am Stunned. I understand why corporations are doing it because corporations it's the bottom line and if To their woke leadership.

This is the best way to keep the bottom line intact. Then that's what they're gonna do. But churches and denominations they would promote a book that basically says That honestly honestly you boil it all down if you breathe and You're white you're a racist it doesn't matter what you do.

It doesn't matter how you respond to the discussion of quote-unquote racism any response you give Will prove you're a racist if you respond to quickly white fragility to respond to slowly white fragility.

If you respond with anger white fragility if you respond agreeing white fragility, it doesn't matter what you do. If you blink if you breathe, it's your mere existence. You're convicted and That kind of argumentation is vacuous vapid childish and simply stupid.

It is. It could be used to prove absolutely positively anything it cannot be disproven because it actually does not make any meaningful truth claim and yet We have entire churches and denominations. They're going we need to have a conversation about this.

The only conversation you have about that is how such a stupid book is selling. So well, that's the only conversation needs to be had. I'm Absolutely shocked. I truly am that anyone cannot see through The foolishness of this kind of argumentation, but it's out there Ed Stetzer is promoting it.

And so my friend noted a couple of points I was just gonna Look at them a couple of points in Tim Keller's article. This is a biblical critique of secular justice and critical theory. It's interesting.

It's a biblical critique of secular justice and critical theory. What you would think it's like, oh good he's gonna push back. Not really. Not when you've already adopted the categories of the system you're then critiquing so.

Under section 2 called equity. Everyone must be treated equally and with dignity. Have a quotation Leviticus 24 22 you're to have the same law for the foreigner as for the native-born. The Hebrew term Masra 'im means equity and Isaiah 33 15 says those who speak with Masra 'im Keep their hands from accepting bribes.

Then he says this bribery is unjust because in commerce law and government it does not treat the poor the same as it does the wealthy. Any system of justice or government in which decisions or outcomes are determined by how much money parties have is a stench before God now.

It is very true That bribery has been used to undercut justice but Everyone has used bribes. Women with no money have used bribes of sexual favors. To undercut the justice system wealthy people use bribes against with other people.

Bribery to say bribery isn't just because in commerce law and government it does not treat the poor as the same as wealthy. That's not why it's wrong. That's nothing to do with poor and wealthy. That's not even its category its category is the Transfer of wealth for the purpose of evading the specifics of God's law.

Where does this where does this even come from? Don't know in an article where you're pushing a supposed to be pushing back. There's not pushing back. There's acceptance. It's strange. Then later on there's there's a lot to be talked about.

But I'm just looking at the sections that that my friends specifically sent to me and said am I missing something here? He says under the section comparing biblical justice to the alternatives. Section C.

Finally the storyline of the whole Bible is God's repeated that Identification with The wretched powerless and marginalized. The central story of the Old Testament is liberation of slaves from captivity over and over in the Bible God's Deliverers are usually racial and social outsiders.

People seem to be weak and rejected the eyes the power leads the world. That has nothing to do with the Bible. Oh, I Read that and I go this is supposed to be a pushback. This isn't pushback. This is a Trojan horse insertion of The very thing that the title makes us think it's a pushback against.

I mean, let's look at this again. The storyline of the whole Bible. What is the storyline of the whole Bible? The storyline of the whole Bible is the glorification of the triune God. So the redemption of a people from every tribe tongue people and nation.

Not based upon anything in them not based upon their social status their money their power structures or anything else. But solely to the praise of his glorious grace in and through Jesus Christ and him alone.

That's the story of the Bible Old and New Testament. How does that? By someone who claims to follow the Westminster standards. How does that become the storyline the whole Bible is God's repeated? Identification with the wretched powerless and marginalized like David Solomon.

Was he identifying with the powerful there he made them Kings right? He gave them all their power, right? Does. Is there a biblical teaching that God Demands justice for the widow and the orphan who would be those who are wretched powerless.

Marginalized is there? Is there justice in Scripture? For Individuals who are poor so you're not to glean all the way of the corners of your field and so you're to provide that was sort of in an agricultural setting the Provision of assistance for those who are marginalized.

Okay, that's definitely there. Is that the storyline? That's the primary thing. Wow, there's a lot of excess words in there if that's the primary thing because It's certainly the fact that the people of Israel Ignored it the people the fact the fact the people of Israel did Rebellion against it.

Sure. But that's not the storyline. It's God's dealing with a hard-hearted and rebellious people despite his constant blessings. The central story the Old Testament is liberation of slaves from captivity.

Really. Again, everybody knows. Well, there were slaves who were Liberated from captivity in the Old Testament. See there's an element of truth to it. I Guess you forgot God was the one who sent them into that slavery initially and Then sent them into slavery again and again and again.

We forgot that part. Just I'm just left going the lens has become really thick. When you can start saying this over and over the Bible God's deliverers are usually racial and social outsiders really. So Isaiah was a racial and social outsider, or are we not talking about the prophet?

What is this even talking about? People seem to be weak and rejected in the eyes the power elites the world the power elites the world. Was he talking like this 15 years ago? He may have been one of the first ones.

He may have been one of the first ones but this is not what we were hearing and now. Even when pushing back the collapse is right there. The compromise is right there. It's just it's just part of the language it is Truly amazing.

Now it becomes really troubling really troubling. When it starts impacting your doctrine of Jesus remember a few years ago when Keller tweeted That basically the incarnation was God wanting to get close to you.

All I could hear was the carpenters close to you. What? What and my my pushback my response to him was. No, the incarnation was about the triune God by the Son Holy Spirit choosing to redeem a particular people.

Powerfully by grace through the incarnation the Son of God and his self-offering upon the cross of Calvary all of the praise and glory of himself. It has nothing to do with getting close to you. That was where I really started getting the idea that there was some pretty major problems.

Going on in in brother Keller's departure from where he had once been in time past. So we get this and it's toward the end of the article when God came to earth in Jesus Christ. He came as a poor man.

To a family at the bottom of the social order. No Carpenters would be what we would call middle-class actually. Sorry. It's just true. They were skilled laborers and There was a real demand for their their skill so as Much as you want to say well, he must have been poor because they had to go to the manger.

That's because they were traveling. And they were traveling someplace where you wouldn't have family. So no. Sorry. But you notice poor man. Bottom of the social order. So we've got to make everything about man power structures economics.

That's what woke religion does. He experienced torture and death at the hands of religious and government elites using their power unjustly to oppress. Yes, according to Acts chapter 4 verses 27 to 28 those individuals did exactly what God's hand predestined to occur.

Got to have that part in there doesn't really fit with the woke stuff, but. But I don't remember the. I mean we have principalities and powers in the New Testament. That's definitely referred to but we understand what government elites.

And so on and so forth. So in Jesus We see God laying aside his privilege and power. M' his quote glory and quote M' so now these the glory of the Preincarnate Son is being placed in the categories of critical theory.

Privilege and power. I thought privilege is always bad. Isn't privilege always bad? Privilege and power. God lays aside his privilege and power because see that's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to lay aside our quote privilege and our power in the service for others.

Well Philippians chapter 2 actually gives us the proper context and that's the text is gonna go to that's that's what caught my attention because he says in order to Identify with the weak and helpless Philippians 2 5 through 8.

Excuse me. Excuse me. You will not find weak and helpless. Anywhere in Philippians 2 5 through 8 what you will find is the Sun taking on human nature and by the way God in his grace has saved powerful men.

Rich men believe it or not. God has even saved a few ever says that that decision is based upon Ethnicity or race. Men from every tribe tongue people and nation. But may I remind you if you're gonna take the Bible seriously, there were many centuries that pass or God's blessings were given to one people and Not given to others.

Was that wrong? Consistently be consistent in your argumentation. Was it wrong for centuries to pass as God sent prophets to deal with a small nation on the Mediterranean? Nowhere in the Carmen Christian Philippians 2 5 through 11 are we told that he laid aside his glory in order to identify With the weak and helpless.

He took on a perfect human nature so that he might die upon the cross and when you replace Dying upon the cross of Calvary with some kind of social justice theory. You are this close to walking right out of the faith.

Right out of the faith. Somebody needs to get Tim Keller's ear. He's not gonna listen to me. I'm not one of the big Eva schmoozers. But somebody needs to get his ear and say brother you've missed it. You have missed it and yet through the endurance of violence and human injustice.

See the categories Enduring violence and human injustice rather than what Philippians actually says that he Emptied himself he made himself no reputation and he humbled himself. Becoming obedient the point of death and that was not obedience to categories of violence and human injustice.

God used violence and human injustice but to make them the primary category is to miss the whole point of the Submission of the Son to the Father in the perfect provision of salvation itself through the endurance of violence and human injustice.

He paid the rightful penalty of humanity's sin to divine justice Isaiah 53 5. That's right that's the only kind of justice there really is and there is a huge difference a huge difference between the divine justice of Isaiah 53 and the man-centered justice of Equity equaling equality and everything else.

That is now being presented in our society. Then he was raised even greater honor and also to authority to rule. Well, wow, how why would that why not equity? This doesn't sound very woke. There should be equity but he gets something other than that he gets privilege back.

Jesus takes authority, but only after losing it in service to the weak and helpless. No after laying aside the equality he had with the father so that he might redeem God's elect. Are they weak and helpless.

You better believe they are all mankind is weak and helpless by grace, he chooses a particular people and Brings about their salvation. For what purpose? To the glory of the triune God. It's all to the glory of the triune God and I'm sorry.

But the idea of the glorification of the triune God is not a woke concept. That's not gonna fit that ain't gonna fly at a BLM protest. That's not gonna fly so how do you get to stuff like this? Well, it's a slow process well slow.

I'm not sure we would necessarily call it slow, but It's not slow anymore. Okay now. Next I would like to Switch over get myself a little little drink here. Ah. And that's good stuff. Apple cider vinegar.

Whoo. Oh No, it's cut. I'm not we can't dead straight. Are you kidding? But in Arizona where we've been setting and breaking records we tied record yesterday at 114. July was the hottest record hottest month on record in Phoenix and they They calculated that not on the basis of the high temperatures like that, but the average of the high and the low and Three times in the past we had had a July.

I think two July's in one August. Where the average temperature so the average between the high and low? Was ninety eight point three degrees. By the way, that's that's how warm your pool water will be.

By August is the average of the high and the low. So it's like taking a bath. That's why I don't have a pool anymore but Haven't had for quite some time three times. We had had ninety eight point three.

You know what? The average temperature was in July and Phoenix just passed ninety-nine 7 tenths of a degree blew the record away. Average temperature between morning and night for 31 days 99 degrees.

That was toasty and it's staying that way so I would like to Do some story time With uncle Jimmy. Yes story time with uncle Jimmy. I want to read Some material to you. Don't tune out on me, please. I I'm hoping this will be useful to you.

I want you to think back if you were with us on the last program. I Quoted from a great bishop who lived at the end of the 5th century Deeply influenced by Augustine by a name of Fulgentius Fulgentia Fulgentius of Rusp and And You can get you know, we don't have a lot of his works but thankfully we have enough that you can get a really good sense of where he's coming from and He wrote some correspondence on Christology and grace to the Scythian monks now Let's remember our church history.

Always important to remember our church history. You don't want to pop quiz and not remember your church history. Council of Chalcedon is right in the middle of the 5th century so Fulgentius is living within the lived memory of Those who were at Chalcedon and what what do you have a Chalcedon?

You have the definition of What we would call today The the conclusion of the Christological controversies the definition of the hypostatic Union and specifically that Jesus is One person with two natures.

This was over against Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Apollinarianism all of which in some way shape or form Obliterated the clarity of the humanity deity and Obscure the relationship between the two in the person of Jesus and so you get the Chalcedonian definition.

And there are still people in the east who do not accept the Chalcedonian definition. But that is the big subject of the day it there's there's nobody who's woke. There's nobody who's talking Dispensational premillennialism hasn't developed yet won't develop for another 1 ,300 years in that form.

There's the there's no left behind series. None of that stuff. If you're if you're talking theology you're talking about the person of Christ and so what's interesting is the real discussions that would be going on in The marketplace would be about subjects that to be honest with you.

Most evangelical Christians today would not be able to engage the subject whatsoever Hypostatic Union. Honestly, what percentage of professing Christians the United States today would be able to pass a Basic level quiz in defining the hypostatic Union correctly.

I Will let you sadly reflect upon the reality of that but In Writing to these monks full gentius Well just comes up with some incredible Material and I quoted from him In the last program I want to give more of the context because I Just find full gentius to be a I think as I said then a breath of fresh air in Reading in the early in the early church so Looking at his first letter to the Scythian monks section 3 Just enjoy there's really not gonna be much to be looking at here.

I'm not displaying it. It's to my logos and so it's just text. But Hopefully you'll find this to be useful. I realized that some people I'd I'm sorry listening, but the early church father said he's not really early church either.

This is getting very close to the medieval period late late early church period early medieval period depending on where you draw that particular line. Therefore if anyone refuses or hesitates to believe and preach either there are two natures or There is one person in our Lord Jesus Christ or if anyone refuses to confess that the same one that is the Word Incarnate Was truly born of the Virgin Mary for our salvation is God in man the Catholic faith Recognizes and shows such a one to be as much a stranger as he is an ingrate who opposes the mystery of human redemption.

For this is that great mystery of godliness. Recommended to all the faithful by the mouth of the Apostle the mystery that was made manifest in the flesh was justified in the spirit. Appeared to angels of proclaimed among nations was believed on this world was taken up in glory.

This is of course the Word who is in the beginning and was with God and was God. That is the only begotten Son of God and the power and wisdom of God. Through whom and in whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made.

This same is the only begotten God, although he existed in the form of God. I stopped for just a moment. Do you notice? This same is the only begotten God. That's the What we would in older language called the Alexandrian reading of John 1 18 the textual variant of John 1 18 monogamous they asked only gotten God unique God versus monogamous we asked.

You know the gotten son he is familiar with and utilizes the critical text reading of John 1 18. I continue that is he was equal in all things the one who begat him. He possessed a unity of natural essence with him and he was in that nature.

Which he being eternal has from the father that which the father naturally is. The same one was true God most high and immutable. He was not a different God from the father, but instead although the personal disorder nor of a different power nor of another essence.

I Stopped just to comment. That's basically an expanded definition of homoousius from the Council of Nicaea. This same one, although he exists in the form of God nevertheless He did not regard being equal with God as something to be forcibly kept.

I Stop again. That's my interpretation of Our Pogmon in the Karma Christi Philippians chapter 2. Great to see someone 1 ,400 years ago 1 ,500 years ago reading it in the same way understanding the same way.

It's one of the wonderful things about reading Athanasius or Fulgentius or some of these individuals. With God's as something to be forcibly kept but he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave. I Stop again by taking that's exactly if you read my article and I had not run into Fulgentius when I wrote my article with CRI the CRI journal 15 years ago 17 years ago.

I'm not sure how long ago it was now. I'm not even sure if this may have been late 90s. I think about it. So maybe over 20 years. I don't know but By taking a foreign that's exactly I think the key element of that text.

The same one was made in the likeness of men the same one was found to be in the human condition and him There could be no thought of forcibly keeping because the begotten fullness of natural equality remains in him.

Since he is from the father's substance by an ineffable and eternal birth. Therefore he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave thus indeed God willed to be man naturally and So the Lord of all things took on a servile nature without loss of his own sovereignty.

Again, exactly true. Just say amen. Correspondingly having emptied himself He compassionately accepted the form of a slave the Holy Apostle of the New Covenant After being made a fit minister by God just as he himself bears witness.

Also himself testifies about this formless any one of us who hears about the emptied son of God should by evil thought imagine that the form in the only begotten God has lost or diminished its equality with the father's form and Lest such a person by following the crooked circuitous ways the serpents deception should not hold the path of right faith to prevent this from happening.

Paul clarified that emptying by removing the unclear elements when he added subsequently by Taking the form of a slave. This is Sorry, but If you again if you've read my article on this this was this was one of the biggest Elements that I was emphasizing and it was before I ran into Fulgentius.

So it is always thrilling. Because I was simply exegeting the text I was Seeking to be consistent with what it's saying and communicating within the parameters of the sermon illustration that it is and the primitive hymn in the early church and So here you have Fulgentius saying the exact same thing.

Long before long before I did that's for sure. Therefore the only begotten God's emptying was his taking the form of a slave since there was no loss or diminishment of his divinity. The divine nature to be sure cannot be diminished or increased in any way.

Because it is immutable and remains always what it is. For if that true and most high God who for our sakes became poor although he was rich so that he might become rich We might become rich through his poverty.

Had been emptied in the sense of losing his fullness. Even saying this is wicked or had undergone some change when he accepted the form of a slave then blessed John the Evangelist Would not have said about the incarnate word and we have seen his glory.