#787 God’s Divided Will?
June 12, 2022Hi,
Dr Craig's answer to this question left me puzzled about two issues:
1. Dr Craig says, 'there is but one will in Christ' and, with respect to the Trinity, 'Though there are three distinct acts of will, they all will the same thing.'
My observation on this is that Jesus said that he came not to do his own will, but the will of Him who sent him (John 6:38). Also, in Gethsemane Jesus appeared to have a will that differed from the Father's - 'not my will but yours be done'. If the will of Jesus and the will of the Father were identical, why would it be necessary for Jesus to differentiate between them on these occasions? Is it not the case that the Father and Jesus do not always 'will the same thing', but that nevertheless Jesus denies his own will and subjects himself to his Father's will?
2. Dr Craig says, 'God is thus an immaterial tri-personal being' and 'God is an individual, an immaterial, tri-personal substance.'
My observation on this is that Jesus' post-resurrection appearances strongly suggest that he had a material (i.e. physical) body and that he ascended in this body, and the disciples were assured that he would return in the same manner. If Jesus is 'immaterial', how could Paul legitimately describe him as 'the man' who now mediates between God and men (1Tim 2:5)?
I have very much valued Dr Craig's teachings over the years and continue to follow them and benefit from them.
Kind regards,
Peter
Scotland
Dr. craig’s response
A
Great to receive a question from someone in the land of my ancestors, Peter! I take it that you’re referring to QoW# 784 on Monotheletism and the Trinity.
1. With respect to your first question, I’d say that John 6.38 doesn’t indicate any conflict between Christ’s will and the Father’s will. It indicates only that Christ’s will follows the Father’s will. During his so-called state of humiliation, during his earthly life, the second person of the Trinity followed the directives of the first. Far from expressing a conflict, Christ’s perfect obedience shows that his will was in perfect accord with the Father’s.
As for Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, here, as in the temptation narratives, we see Jesus’ genuine struggle to do his Father’s will. This was no charade or mere play-acting. It was hard to do the Father’s will. But, once more, we see Jesus’ perfect submission to the Father’s will. What Jesus finds necessary to differentiate is his human desires from his Father’s will. While expressing honestly his human desire not to be crucified to his Heavenly Father in prayer, he submits his will to the Father’s, so that there is not any conflict. It’s not as though the Father forced Jesus to the cross against his will!
2. As for your second question, you are quite correct in emphasizing the physicality of Jesus’ resurrection body. But by “immaterial” I do not mean “incorporeal” in the sense of “bodiless.” Just as anthropological dualists will say that my soul is an immaterial substance that is conjoined with (but not identical to) a human body, so, too, Christ in his incarnate state is an immaterial substance conjoined with a human body. As God, Christ is an immaterial substance, but since the time of his virginal conception he has a human body.
- William Lane Craig