Showing posts with label mormon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mormon. Show all posts

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

The Hypostasis of God



The Substance of the Father

The foundation of divine reality is not immaterial, but corporeal and substantial. The Deity—the Father—is not formless spirit, but the source of all form and substance. The Greek Scriptures affirm this directly: “Who being the brightness of [His] glory and the impress of His subsistence [hypostasis], bearing up also all things by the saying of His might—through Himself having made a cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the greatness in the highest” (Hebrews 1:3, YLT). The term hypostasis (ὑπόστασις) here translated as "subsistence" or "person" is key. It means that which stands under—a substance or essence.

Hypostasis and Substantia: Corporeality of the Father

The Greek word hypostasis, and its Latin equivalent substantia, both carry the idea of a real, existing foundation—that which “stands under” a visible image or character. Strong’s #5287 defines hypostasis as “substantial nature,” the underlying reality of a being. Over time, ecclesiastical theology redefined “hypostasis” to mean “person,” obscuring its original sense of substance, essence, or tangible foundation. But Scripture preserves the truth: the Son is the exact impress—Greek charaktēr—of the Father’s substance (hypostasis), not merely His role or personality.

In Zechariah 3:9, the prophetic word says, “Upon one stone there shall be seven eyes; behold, I will engrave the engraving thereof, saith the Yahweh of hosts.” The engraved image (charaktēr) is impressed upon a tangible hypostasis, just as the Son is the visible representation of the invisible Deity. Paul confirms this in Colossians 1:15, “Who is the image [eikon] of the invisible Theos.” But no image can exist without form; thus, the Father-Spirit must be substantial, with body and form, the source and archetype of all bodily existence.

The Divine Nature is Not Incorporeal

Peter writes that we are called to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The word for nature is physis (φύσις), meaning the inherent constitution or substance of a being. This “divine nature” is not an ethereal abstraction—it is something to be shared, embodied, and put on. Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 15:42–54 as a bodily transformation:

  • Sown in corruption — raised in incorruption

  • Sown in dishonor — raised in glory

  • Sown in weakness — raised in power

  • Sown a natural body — raised a spiritual body

  • Sown an earthly body — raised a heavenly body

  • Sown in mortality — raised in immortality

This spiritual body is not immaterial, but a new, incorruptible corporeality—like that of the angels (Luke 20:36), who are “made spirits” (Heb. 1:7). Spirit, in biblical languages—Hebrew ruach, Greek pneuma, Latin spiritus—means breath or exhalation, not a bodiless entity. It is a motion outward from substance, and always implies a source.

Theodotus on the Corporeality of the Father and Son

The second-century teacher Theodotus affirmed the corporeality of divine beings. He writes:

“Not even the world of spirit and intellect, nor the archangels and the First-Created, nor even he himself [the Only-Begotten], is shapeless and formless and without figure and incorporeal; but he also has his own shape and body corresponding to his preeminence... In general, that which has come into being is not unsubstantial, but they have form and body...” (Extracts from Theodotus, Fr. 10)

If even the First-Created and the Only-Begotten have form and body, how much more must the Father, their source, be substantial and corporeal? As Theodotus adds, “shape is perceived by shape, and face by face, and recognition is made effectual by shapes and substances.”

This corporeality is also affirmed in Genesis 1:26–27 and 5:3, where Adam is made in the image of Elohim, and Seth in the image of Adam. The “image” presupposes a bodily form. Jesus, too, is said to be the image of the invisible Theos (Col. 1:15), but only because the Father-Spirit has form, and the Son bears His visible impress.

The Spirit as Substance

Some argue that “spirit” means immaterial. Yet etymologically, spirit is not a synonym for non-physicality. It means breath, wind, motion outward. The Hebrew ruach, Greek pneuma, and Latin spiritus all mean a radiated or exhaled force—but do not define what the substance of that force is. As with breath or electricity, spirit refers to a type of corporeal substance in motion.

Thus, when the Scriptures say “Theos is spirit” (John 4:24), they do not mean “Theos is immaterial,” but that He is a radiant, corporeal power. He is Spirit in substance, not in metaphor. As Hebrews 1:2–3 states, the Son is the charaktēr of this hypostasis—the visible form of the Father’s substance.

The Father, the Logos, and the Divine Substance

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with Theos, and the Logos was Theos.” But the Logos is not a person beside the Father—it is reason, speech, intelligence expressed outwardly. Without Theos, there is no Logos, just as without a brain, there is no thought or speech. Theos is the substance, the Spirit-source, and Logos is the expression. As brain-flesh is the hypostasis of thought, so Theos is the hypostasis of Logos.

Conclusion: Theos Is the Substantial Source of All

The Father is not a formless abstraction. He is the substantial, corporeal source of all being—the hypostasis underlying all character, image, and form. All things are “out of Him” (Romans 11:36), for He is the self-existent Power (El) who says, “I shall be” (Yahweh). As Moses and the prophets affirmed, this One Spirit Power formed beings after His own hypostasis, and thus we may become sharers in divine nature—not as metaphysical shadows, but as incorruptible spirit-bodies like unto the angels, bearing the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49).




Certainly. Here is an 800-word document titled **"The Substance of the Father"**, written from your perspective and incorporating the scriptural and theological points you provided.


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## **The Substance of the Father**


The Scriptures teach that the Deity—who is self-existent, immortal, and the origin of all power—is not formless or immaterial, but substantial. The Father is **hypostasis**—the foundational substance or underlying essence of all that exists. The Son is the exact impress (**charaktēr**) of this hypostasis, not in metaphor or abstraction, but in **form**, **substance**, and **nature**.


Hebrews 1:3 declares that the Son is:


> **“The brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person (hypostasis), and upholding all things by the word of His power.”**

> (Hebrews 1:3, KJV)


The Greek word translated “person” here is **ὑποστάσεως (hypostaseōs)**—Strong’s #5287. It refers to **substance**, from **hypó** (“under”) + **stásis** (“a standing”). It is the direct linguistic cognate of the Latin **substantia**, from **sub** (“under”) + **stans** (“standing”). Thus, **hypostasis means that which stands under—substantial being, not immaterial abstraction.**


In later theological misuse, *hypostasis* was redefined to mean “person” instead of “substance,” obscuring the original apostolic understanding. But in Hebrews, the **Son is not said to be the hypostasis**, but rather the **charaktēr**—the impress—of the Father's hypostasis. The Father is the hypostasis, the substantial Spirit.


This substantial nature is confirmed by Peter:


> **“Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature (φύσεως), having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”**

> (2 Peter 1:4)


The Greek word **φύσις (physis)** means “nature” or “constitution”—not disembodied essence, but actual *natural production* or substance. The **divine nature** here refers to the **immortality and spiritual body** promised in the resurrection, as outlined by Paul:


> * **Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption**

> * **Sown in dishonor, raised in glory**

> * **Sown in weakness, raised in power**

> * **Sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body**

> * **Sown earthly, raised heavenly**

> * **Sown mortal, raised immortal**

> (1 Corinthians 15:42–54)


This "spiritual body" is still a **body**, not immaterial. It is **corporeal, tangible**, and **substantial**—fit to participate in the divine nature. The resurrection does not transform humanity into vapor or force, but into enduring substance modeled after the image of the Father.


The doctrine of image affirms the corporeal nature of the Deity. In Genesis:


> **“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”** (Gen. 1:26)

> **“Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth”** (Gen. 5:3)


Jesus, the second Adam, is the express image (charaktēr) of the Father. This relationship of image requires a **foundation**, a **hypostasis**, for an image can only be made where form and body exist. Where no body or form exists, **no image is possible**. Thus, the Father-Spirit is not shapeless. As Theodotus affirms:


> *“Not even the world of spirit and intellect, nor the archangels and the First-Created, no, nor even He Himself is shapeless and formless and without figure, and incorporeal; but He also has His own shape and body corresponding to His preeminence over all spiritual beings.”*

> (*Extracts from the Works of Theodotus*, 10)


The Father-Spirit, when unveiled, is **a bodily form**—a radiant focal center from which all being emanates. He is the source from which the Logos proceeds and by which all things are created. As Paul writes:


> **“There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things.”** (1 Corinthians 8:6)


The Logos is the thought, word, and power emanating from the Father—just as speech is the expression of intelligence proceeding from the brain. **The brain is substance (hypostasis); the speech is character (charaktēr).** So also, the Logos is the character of Theos. Without the hypostasis (Father), the Logos (Son) would have no basis.


The face of the Father is seen in the Son, as Theodotus affirms:


> *“They always behold the face of the Father, and the face of the Father is the Son, through whom the Father is known. Yet that which sees and is seen cannot be formless or incorporeal.”*

> (*Theodotus*, 10)


Paul also affirms:


> **“And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”** (1 Corinthians 15:49)


Image, by definition, entails shape, form, and substance. As Theodotus adds:


> *“Shape is perceived by shape, and face by face, and recognition is made effectual by shapes and substances.”*


Even the Spirit-Elohim, though uncreated in essence, are **formed beings**—emanations of the Deity:


> *“When formed after the model, archetype, or pattern, presented in His own hypostasis, they become Spirit-Elohim, or Sons of God; and are Spirit, because born of the Spirit—emanations of the formative Spirit being ex autou, out of Him.”*


This truth reflects the original order: Theos is Spirit and Substance, and what proceeds from Him—whether Logos, angels, or glorified humanity—partakes of that substance. As John wrote:


> **“The Logos was with Theos, and the Logos was Theos.”** (John 1:1)


The Logos was not separate from Theos in being, but the **expressive manifestation** of His hypostasis. As no brain means no thought, so no Theos means no Logos. The Spirit is not a ghost, nor an abstraction, but breath, radiation—substance moving outward. The Hebrew **ruach**, Greek **pneuma**, and Latin **spiritus** all imply **something exhaled or radiated**, not something immaterial.


Thus, when we speak of the Father-Spirit, we are speaking of a **substantial**, **corporeal**, **self-existent being**, who is both the source and pattern of all spiritual form. He is the hypostasis from whom the Logos shines forth, the image from whom all divine forms derive.


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Let me know if you'd like this formatted as a PDF or adapted into a teaching outline.


Tuesday, 8 June 2021

The Holy Spirit is God's Wife

The Holy Spirit is God's Wife



For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which serve before him -the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth, (He created) the abysses and the darkness, eventide <and night>, and the light, dawn and day, which He hath prepared in the knowledge of his heart.

We know that The holy spirit is a force, the invisible power and energy of the Father by which God is everywhere present that is effluent from His person and presence, filling universal space. The Spirit is not a 'separate' or 'other' person. Ac 7:55, 56; Re 7:10 It is God's own radiant power, ever out flowing from Him, by which His 'everywhereness' is achieved. Ps 104:30; 1 Cor 12:4-11.

The Spirit is personal in that it is of God Himself: it is not personal in the sense of being some other person within the Godhead" The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

However there is another meaning to the Holy Spirit a deeper meaning

1. The Holy Spirit is the group of all the angels who are married to God.

2. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual Mother.

3. The whole congregation is regarded as being one body, one wife.

4. God has a family of which he is the father, the Holy Spirit is the mother, God's wife, and Jesus is now the firstborn son.

The holy spirit is described by John as the helper:

Jn 14:26 But the helper, the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you .

But Adam's wife was described in the same way:

Gen 2:18 And Yahweh Elohim went on to say: It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.

Just as Eve was a complement and helper to Adam so the holy spirit is God's helper, and a complement to him. It is his wife. It is Jesus' mum and ours. The four are a family. The holy spirit although was not mentioned much in the old testament, here are all the explicit references to it as 'the holy spirit'...Ps 51:11 Isaiah 63:10, 11

But it was referred to more in other ways...Deut 34:9 Jn 14:17 Ex 35:31

Since the holy spirit imparts wisdom it must be an intelligent being or beings. Likewise we can deduce that the holy spirit is a living intelligent thing because it can plead for us:

So since it is a living spirit, so it must consist either of an angel or of a group of them. We know that there is more than one angel...

Ps 104:4 Making his angels [his messengers] spirits, his ministers a devouring fire.

Heb 1:13 But with reference to which one of the angels has he ever said: Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth on behalf of those who are going to inherit salvation?.

The holy spirit does God's ministering and contains ministers, who are holy spirits plural. So the holy spirit is a group of angels. So it must be the group of all the angels who are married to God, all the angels who are in a covenant with God who are partakers of the divine nature

Hence Paul said: Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

The Jerusalem above is God's heavenly administration which is all of the loyal angels, which is all of the holy spirits. Paul explicitly states that these angels are our Mother, for they give birth to all the new angels. Now mother's plead with father's not to be too hard on errant sons. And that is precisely the meaning of Romans 8:26, the holy spirit interceding with God for the sanctified ones, is the mother interceding with the father for her sons.

God does refer to a whole nation of people as one person...

Ex 4:22 And you must say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh has said: Israel is my son, my firstborn.

He also refers to the entire church as Jesus' wife, one person in the singular...

Ephesians 5:22 Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord,

23 because a husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a saviour of [that] body.

24 In fact, as the congregation is in subjection to the Christ, so let wives also be to their husbands in everything.




So the whole congregation is regarded as being one body, one wife. Here is a table of greater or lesser husbands and wives...

                                              Husbands Wives

                                                 Joseph             Mary

                                                President First Lady 

                                                        King Queen

                                                  Jesus            Christian church

                                                     Priest Congregation

                                  Managing Director    Board of directors

                            President of corporation    All the vice presidents as a group

                                  Manager of sports team        Sports Team

                                                   Field Marshal His Army

                                                    Prime Minister Cabinet

                                                          God           Holy Spirit, all the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification




The very word 'corporation', or 'incorporated' means a lot of people regards as one body.

Now the Holy Spirit is the Mother of everyone living spiritually whereas Adam called his wife Eve because:

Gen 3:20 After this Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living.

So God does have a family, and in this family he is the father, the holy spirit is the mother, God's wife, and Jesus is now the firstborn son. So there it is. There is nothing mystical or indecipherable about it, we are just talking about your regular family (well OK they are a rather powerful example!). This is why you cannot blaspheme against God or against his wife, who wears his name but you could blaspheme against Jesus, before he was resurrected...

Mat 12:31 On this account I say to you: Every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven.

32 For example, whoever speaks a word [in blasphemy] against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks [in blasphemy] against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come.

So the holy spirit has the same status as God, being his wife, so it cannot just be one angel, for if it was, then that angel would also be a God to be worshipped with the same status as Yahweh.

Incidentally the holy spirit, or helper or comforter, the spirit of the truth, the spirit of wisdom, sent by God, is always referred to in the neuter in scripture. However, the spirit of truth, sent by Jesus, which is also called a helper is referred to in the masculine...

Jn 15:26 When the helper arrives that I will send you from the Father, the spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father, that one will bear witness about me.

Jn 16:7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit I am going away. For if I do not go away, the helper will by no means come to you, but if I do go my way, I will send him to you.

Jn 16:13 However, when that one arrives, the spirit of the truth, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own impulse, but what things he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things coming.

This 'spirit of the truth', the one sent by Jesus, as opposed to the one sent by Yahweh, is the angel of Revelation that presented Revelation in signs to John...

Rev 1:1 A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent forth his angel and presented [it] in signs through him to his slave John.

So all of the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification together, as the holy spirit, are feminine. But each individual angel is masculine.

Heb 1:13 But with reference to which one of the angels has he ever said: Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth [as the holy spirit] on behalf of those who are going to inherit salvation?.

The holy spirit itself is the helper, the ministering spirit for all of us, and so are these angels. So the one is the sum of the others.