If my friend will consult the Greek Testament, he will find five words used, in different places, to. express the ideas we attach to the English word worship. These are, 1, proskuneo; 2, liturgeo; 3, latreuo; 4, sebomai; 5, proseuchomai.
The first of these, "proskuneo," is used to express that respect which one man may show another man as his superior, his king, his ruler, or one on whom he is dependent for some great favor, which he hopes to receive. In the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, and in the Greek original of the New Testament, this word, "proskuneo," is used in the following passages:
Gen. 23:7, 12, where Abraham is said to have bowed down himself to the people of the land, the children of Heth, from whom he wished to obtain a place to bury Sarah.
The same word is used 1st Chron. 29:20, where we read that "all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and worshipped the Lord and the king."
The same word again is found in Daniel 2:46, thus: "Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him."
In turning to the New Testament my friend will find that it is this word "proskuneo," that is used wherever there is anything said of the worship paid to Jesus. Matt. 8:2, "And behold there came a leper and worshipped him.
And in Heb. 1:6, where we read, "let all the angels of God worship him," i. e. the first-begotten.
Now that the word "proskuneo" is not used in the New Testament in any higher sense than in the Old, we learn from the following passages in Luke 14:10, Jesus had been instructing his disciples how they should conduct themselves when bidden to a feast, and he adds, "then shalt thou have worship in the presence of those who sit at meat with thee."
Matt. 18:26, where the servant in the parable, who owed his Lord ten thousand talents, "fell down and worshipped him."
So in Acts 10:25, "as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and worshipped him."
In Rev. iii. 9, an assurance is given to the angel, or minister of the Church of Philadelphia, that the disobedient members of the Church shall "worship before thy feet and know that I have loved thee."
Now, let my opponent, or any ether advocate of the worship of Jesus, show, if he can, in what single instance either of those other words used to express the honor due to God alone, is applied to Christ, and then he will have at least some shadow of evidence for his doctrine. but at present he has none.
In all the cases I have adduced, the word proskuneo" is used. Even after Christ's resurrection from the dead, (Matt. 28:9th v.) when "his disciples came and held him by the feet and worshipped him," and also in the 17th verse, the word that is used is "proskuneo."
Upon this passage Dr. Adam Clarke, (whom I love to quote, because I suppose what he says will have much weight with my brother,) remarks as follows:
"This kind of reverence is in daily use among the Hindus; when a disciple meets a public guide in the streets, he prostrates himself before him, and, taking the dust from his teacher's feet, rubs it on his forehead, breast," &c.
And So, too, Dr. John Pye Smith, a very orthodox gentleman, says:
"The prostrate position, which denoted the highest reverence and respect, is manifestly described, but the expression does not necessarily import more than the most exalted civil homage."
He has adduced those ascriptions of honor and power to Jesus, which occur in the book of Revelations; but they do not prove the Deity of our Saviour, nor authorise the worship of him as God. For, to say nothing of the doubt that is thrown over the authorship and authority of this book of Revelations, by Dr. Adam Clarke, Dr. Lardner, Michaelis, and others, and the difficulties that beset the interpretation of this exceedingly enigmatical book, there is enough in the book itself to sustain me in my position against the worship of Christ. In this very book of Revelations, whether authentic or not, we find Jesus represented as rejecting and disavowing all such worship as many would have us pay him. I need only refer you to chapters 19 and 20. Michaelis, a Trinitarian commentator of great distinction, says, "The tone and eternal Godhead of Christ is certainly not taught in the Apocalypse so clearly as in St. John's gospel, though the author speaks in enthusiastic language of the greatness of Christ's ministry, and the glory communicated to his human nature. At the very beginning of the book, Christ is placed after the seven spirits, who stand near the throne of God; nor is he ever called God, or the Creator of the world, throughout the whole work."—Introduction to New Testament, Vol. IV., page 538.
My brother has referred us to the conduct of the leper, one of the nine who were suddenly healed of that horrible disease, and alone returned with a heart overflowing with gratitude to God, the author, and Jesus as the instrument, by whom his restoration to health had been effected. Read the whole passage for yourself and you will see that the construction by no means requires, that we should understand that Jesus is there identified with God. Surely, if the congregation of Israel (1 Chron. 29:20,) might without idolatry "bow down their heads and worship the Lord and king David" at the same time—much more might this poor Samaritan, whose joy at his deliverance from the leprosy was unspeakable, fall down at the feet of Jesus, and bless him as the agent, while he was giving thanks to God as the author of his marvellous cure.
As it respects worship, in its highest religions sense, and the being to whom alone that is due, we have the command of Jesus himself; Matt. iv. 10. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Here the word translated " serve," is "latreuo," which, whenever it occurs, means religions worship, AND IS IN NO CASE APPLIED TO JESUS.
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