Paper 161 Overview: Further Discussions with Rodan

On Sunday, September 25, Jesus and ten apostles departed for Jerusalem to attend the feast of tabernacles, while Nathaniel and Thomas stayed behind at Magadan to continue their discussions with Rodan, the Greek philosopher from Alexandria. During this intellectually rich week, the three engaged in profound philosophical and theological conversations that led to Rodan's eventual acceptance of key kingdom concepts. Their discussions centered primarily on the personality of God and the divine nature of Jesus, with Rodan being particularly resistant to the concept of God's personality.

After days of deep dialogue and persuasive reasoning, Nathaniel eventually won Rodan over to the belief in the personality of the Universal Father through a series of logical arguments about divine communication and relationships. Following these transformative discussions about God and the divine nature of Jesus, Rodan returned to Alexandria where he became an influential teacher of Jesus' philosophy, remaining faithful to the kingdom until his death during the persecutions in Greece. The paper also provides insights into Jesus' unique ability to utilize both his human and divine minds during his earthly ministry.

While Jesus and ten of the apostles traveled to Jerusalem for the feast of tabernacles, Nathaniel and Thomas remained at Magadan to continue their discussions with Rodan of Alexandria. This educated Greek philosopher had previously been instructed about Jesus' teachings by a former apostle of John the Baptist who had taught at Alexandria. The two apostles and Rodan engaged in earnest debate during this week of intellectual exchange.

In the previous week, Rodan had shared his philosophy while Thomas and Nathaniel had presented the gospel of the kingdom to him in alternating sessions. Now, with Jesus absent, they continued these deep philosophical discussions, with Rodan demonstrating that he had been well-instructed in Jesus' teachings. These conversations would prove instrumental in Rodan's spiritual journey and eventual full acceptance of the gospel message.

The most significant point of contention between Rodan and the two apostles concerned the personality of God. Rodan argued that God could not possess personality because, in his view, personality requires equality and mutual communication between beings. He contended that since God is infinite and the creator of all other beings, he stands alone without equals and therefore cannot be a person according to this definition. Thomas responded by asserting that God's communication with humans proves his personality, but this reasoning failed to convince the Greek philosopher.

Nathaniel ultimately persuaded Rodan of God's personality through five compelling arguments: First, the Father in Paradise communicates equally with the Eternal Son and Infinite Spirit, showing his capacity for personal relationships with equals. Second, Jesus as the Eternal Son demonstrated personality to humanity, proving the possibility of divine personality. Third, the Father-Son relationship establishes that both possess personality through their mutual communication. Fourth, personality represents humanity's highest concept of divine reality and infinite values. Fifth, God must be a personality since he is the creator of all personality and the destiny of all personality. After considering these points, Rodan acknowledged God as a person while qualifying his understanding with extended values such as "superhuman, transcendent, supreme, infinite, eternal, final, and universal."

Having resolved their disagreement about God's personality, Nathaniel and Thomas presented their understanding of Jesus' divine nature to Rodan. They outlined a comprehensive case for Jesus' divinity based on their firsthand observations and experiences with him. Their presentation highlighted Jesus' own admission of his divinity and the remarkable events connected with his ministry that could only be explained by his being both Son of God and Son of Man.

They described Jesus' exemplary human relationships, unselfish character, and unfailing friendship as evidence of his divine nature. The apostles pointed to his blameless life, perfect righteousness, and extraordinary piety as further proof that he was more than merely human. They also emphasized his emotional control, compassion, apparent foreknowledge, superhuman awareness of God's presence, and authoritative teaching as indicators of his divinity. After these extensive discussions, Rodan and the two apostles hurried to Jerusalem to rejoin their fellow believers. Rodan subsequently returned to Alexandria where he taught his philosophy and became a dedicated follower of Jesus until his martyrdom in Greece during the persecutions.

The consciousness of Jesus' divinity developed gradually throughout his life, culminating at his baptism. After this pivotal event until his crucifixion, Jesus possessed the remarkable ability to limit his human awareness of his divine nature and prerogatives according to his discretion. In practical terms, this meant Jesus could choose in any situation whether to rely solely on his human mind or to access the knowledge and wisdom of his divine mind.

This extraordinary capacity allowed Jesus to withhold his foreknowledge of events from his associates when appropriate and to conceal his ability to perceive people's thoughts and plans. The apostles observed that sometimes Jesus appeared to act with only human knowledge, while at other times he clearly demonstrated divine wisdom and communion with celestial beings. This duality created an occasional challenge for his followers, who could not always differentiate between when Jesus was self-limiting his divine consciousness and when he was simply concealing his divine knowledge from them. His seamless integration of human and divine consciousness represented the perfect union of man and God in one personality.