The Eternal Relationships in the Godhead

The Eternal Relationships
in the

Godhead

Fundamental Truth
Concerning the Trinity,

the Incarnation,
the Word, the Eternal Life,

and the
Eternal Sonship

With
Special Reference to
the Teachings of F. E. Raven,
J. Taylor, Sr., and C. A. Coates

R. A. Huebner

Present Truth Publishers
825 Harmony Road

Jackson NJ 08527 USA

www.presenttruthpublishers.com

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Table of Contents

Part 1: Doctrine Concerning The Eternal Relationships

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
The Reasoning Upon Which the Denial of the Eternal Sonship is Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Raven-Taylor System of Inscrutability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 2: Some Characteristics of the Divine Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Characteristic Actions of the Persons of the Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Father, Son and Spirit Always Act in Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
For in Him All the Fulness [of the Godhead] Was Pleased to Dwell: Col. 1:19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chap ter 3: The H um iliation of Chr ist (Phil. 2:5-8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 4: The Union of the Two Natures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Christ’s Holy Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Impeccable One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 5: The Tem ptations and the Lord’s Om niscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 6: The Eternal Spirit Sent by the Father and the Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Spirit Was Sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Word “Eternal” Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 7: The Eternal Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Christ in John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
And the Word Became Flesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Chapter 8: The O nly-begotten Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Glory as of an Only-begotten With a Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
F. E. Raven Denied the Eternal Sonship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The Bosom of the Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Only-begotten Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Chapter 9: The Son Came Out from the Father and Does Whatever He Sees the Father Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
The Son Came Out from the Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
The Son Does Whatever He Sees the Father Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 10: The Father Sent the Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
If “Sent” Implies Inferiority of the Sent One, Then the

Use of “Divine Persons,” “I,” and “Me” U ndermines the Godhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Sent One from the Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
C hap ter 11: T he F ath er, th e S on , an d W e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 12: The Abandonment on the Cross and Communion with the Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 13: The Son G lorified as Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Appendix 1: The Ravenistic Branch of the Denial of The Eternal Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
F. E. Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
James Taylor, Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
C. A. Coates (1862-1945) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Did C. A. Coates Reaffirm the Eternal Sonship of Christ Before He Died? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

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Appendix 2: F. E. Raven’s Apollinarian Doctrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
The Person of the Christ, by F. E. Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Divine Attributes and The Second Man, by W. T. Whybrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
The truth of Christ’s Person: Is It Taught by Mr. F. E. Raven? By W. T. W hybrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
F. E. R. Heterodox on the Person of the Christ, by W illiam Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
F. E. Raven, James Taylor, Sr., C. A. Coates, and J. B. Stoney were Apollinarians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
FER Denied that Christ Had A Human Soul and Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
James Taylor, Sr., Also Denied That Christ Had a Human Soul and Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
C. A. Coates Also Denied That Christ Had A Human Soul and Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
J. B. Stoney Became an A pollinarian Also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Some Implications of Apollinarianism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Appendix 3: F. E. Raven’s Mystical Worship of the False God, or, “The Service of God” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
“The Service of God” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Thoughts on Worship and the Lord’s Supper, Mainly from J. N. Darby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Appendix: 4: John MacArthur Jr.’s Attack on the Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Part 2: The Separation From F. E. Raven and His Supporters

Chapter 1: Survey of W hat Led to the Separation from Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Survey of the History Leading to the June, 1890 Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Chapter 2: Letters and Papers Before the Division on June 29, 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
On Som e Subversions of the Truth, by C. D. Maynard (third edition) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Letter on Life and its Manifestation, Second Edition, by W. J. Lowe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Eternal Life and Righteousness, by W. T. Whybrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
A Letter, by P. A. Humphrey, January 22, 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Present Troubles, by Charles Stanley, Jan. 30, 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
“Be Not Deceived,” by P. A. Humphreys, May 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Chapter 3: The Bexhill/Greenwich Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
The Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Bexhill’ Competency Denigrated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Chapter 4: F. E. Raven’s Paper on Eternal Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Eternal Life, July 3, 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
“I Come Quickly: Hold Fast What Thou Hast, That no One Take Thy Crown” by P. A. Humphreys, August
1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Chapter 5: Some of F. E. Raven’s Letters Subsequent to the Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Chapter 6: Some Papers Against F. E. Raven Just After the Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Remarks, by A. H. Burton, Sept. 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Reflections on the Park Street Notice, by A. H. Burton, Oct. 1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Brief Statement of F. E. R.’s Doctrines, and Their Effect in Bristol, 1890; To Those Who Love our Lord

Jesus Christ in Sincerity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
A Word on Principles, by P. A. Humphreys Jan. 1891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Possession and Experience, by P. A. Humphreys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Chapter 7: F. E. Raven’s Lie Regarding What He Had Written About the Babe in the Manger . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

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Supplement of Facsimile Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Heard, . . . seen, . . . handled, W. J. Lowe S1

Faith and New Birth, W. J. Lowe S2

Rem arks on E ternal Life and divine Righteousness, B. F. Pinkerton S3

The New Development, W. Kelly S4

To the B rothers H. C. A nstey, J. B . Stoney and C. H . Mackintosh, C. Brockhaus, Phil. Thielman, S5
Emil Donges, H. C. Voorhoeve

A Letter, H. H. Snell S6

Heavenly Truth. A R eview of Mr. Ch ampney’s “Le tter to the Saints,” with an Appendix, W. T. W hybrow S7

A Few Remarks on Recent Doctrines Contained in “Notes of Readings Held in the United States

and Canada, Revised by F.E.R., F.G.B. S8

“What Think Ye of Christ?” H. H . Frost S9

An Appeal to the Saints in Fellowship with Mr. Raven, H. C. V oorhoeve, Jr. S10

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