PREVIEW

Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God (Book/ Hardcover)

Product Overview

Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God provides an eye-opening exploration of the triune nature of God from the pages of the Old and New Covenants. The approach is reverent, yet encyclopedic, with each of the 19 chapters and 8 appendices being a self-contained look at various facets of the plural unity of God. The fully annotated text also includes a bibliography, author and Scripture indices, an epilogue addressing Jewish issues, and a glossary of terms. The reader may be surprised to discover that the great preponderance of references to God's triunity occur in the Old Covenant Scriptures. The author, John B. Metzger, considers each reference diligently, and brings along the commentary of a host of solid Bible teachers, including those from the Messianic Jewish perspective, to give the reader access to rich food for thought. This 936-page, unparalleled resource is the work of seven years, with references to Scriptures from almost every book in the Bible. Serious theology students, seminaries, and church libraries will benefit from this engaging tour of God's Word in search of new understanding of God's nature from the richness of the Bible's Jewish perspective.

“I was delighted and fascinated with what I found in this book. [John Metzger] has produced a very careful, exegetical study of not only the names of God, plural descriptions of God, but also he has given a strong case for the tri-unity of God in the Old Testament. Pastors and laypersons will find enormous help in discussions such as the angel of the Lord, the meaning of the great Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, with a great discussion of the precise meaning of the phrase “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.” This is a much-needed tool to correct and inform the dialogue between Christians and Jewish people as well as for Christians to understand better their own doctrine of the Trinity. This work should bring great blessing to the body of Christ everywhere.” — Walter Kaiser

“John Metzger provides not only comprehensive, biblical based theology of Trinitarianism but a magnificent apologetic work on this cardinal doctrine of the Christian Faith. Moreover, the irenic tone in which it is articulated is designed to build bridges of understanding to the adherents of strict monotheism of Judaism by demonstrating that the God…of their fathers is at the same time one God existing in three persons. Metzger’s scholarly presentation of the biblical data is flavored by an evangelistic urgency that those who are so close and yet so far from the faith might become believers in the God of their fathers who is the Triune God.” — Eugene H. Merrill

“Finally, a useful book on the Triune nature of God! For years both in sharing the Good News of Messiah and in planting messianic congregations, we’ve lacked a suitable book for teaching on this profound and essential doctrine of the faith. In both communicating to the non-believing Jewish community or in messianic discipleship there has been an evident and great need that is met by John Metzger’s book.” — Sam Nadler

“The concept of the triune nature of the God of Israel, as taught even by the Hebrew Scriptures, has traditionally been the hardest thing for Jewish people to believe and accept. Often, no matter how well it is explained, Jewish people still tend to conclude that “Christianity" actually teaches the concept of three different gods. Even among some circles of Messianic Jews, this is a difficult teaching to accept and is also denied by some who affirm to believe in the Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus). While the New Testament does present the concept of the Trinity in a clearer manner, yet even many New Testament believers have a difficulty in explaining the concept in a way that does not cross the line from monotheism to tritheism. New Testament believers certainly affirm the concept but have a difficult time explaining it. So how does one explain the inexplicable? This is what John Metzger has zealously endeavored to do in thi

About the Author(s)

John B. Metzger came to faith at the age of 14 (July 23rd, 1960 to be precise) through the ministry of the Christian Youth Crusade held at Riverdale Baptist Church in Riverdale, Md. At the age of 16 (December 1962) he dedicated his life to full time service at the National Teen Convention (Youth for Christ) held that year in Washington, D.C. During his teen years John was grounded in the Scriptures through the faithful ministry of J. Albert Ford, the first pastor of Mclean Bible Church, Mclean, VA. John's ministry experience led him into Child Evangelism Fellowship as a Field Representative and then a County Director, the pastor of a Bible church, director of an Indian Bible Institute (also as the Interim Pastor at Grace Baptist Church, Salamanca, NY), and into Jewish ministries during the past 14 years. He also worked in the secular world for 15 years for Yellow Freight Systems and Lancaster Newspapers. Currently John and his wife, Sharon are serving with Ariel Ministries and reside in Charlotte, North Carolina. John met Sharon while attending Washington Bible College and married in 1968, they have been married for 44 years with two married sons and 10 grandchildren. John's education includes a BA from Washington Bible College in Lanham, MD graduating in 1970. He earned his Masters in Biblical Studies in 2004 from Lancaster Bible College Graduate School in Lancaster, PA. John is currently taking courses from Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also has attended Camp Shoshanah for 14 years and sat under the teaching of Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum as well as taking a 5-week study tour with Arnold to Israel in 1998. John is the author of the book, The Tri-unity of God is Jewish published in 2005 and a revision of that book in 2010 called Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God published by Ariel Ministries.