Hello fellow nairalanders.THis question has stirred up an argument between some guyz and girls and i need to sort them out.PLease who should we direct all praises to?God or Jesus ur.

Direct them to God through Jesus.

I agree with Zahymaka, but there's more.

Praise to God was expressed in several elements: praise, honour, glory, thanksgiving, bless/blessed/blessing, and strength (associated with 'praise' - compare: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength. . ." [Psa. 8:2] and "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise" [Matt. 21:16]). . . power, dominion, and majesty.

Going through the Bible, in more general terms praise was directed to 'God' as in the following:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people" (Luke 1:68). "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). "And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God" (Luke 18:43). "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Heb. 13:15).

When Jesus had been glorified after His death, resurrection and ascension, we see the elements of praise directed to both God the Father and to Jesus the Son.

(1) Praising God the Father:
"That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:6). "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort" (II Cor. 1:3). "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). "Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Phil. 4:20). "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12).

Believers often simply praised God - "Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47). "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Heb. 13:15). "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1Tim. 1:17).  The sense here is that 'God' is a reference to the Father.

(2) Praising Jesus The Son:
"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (II Tim. 4:18 - read from verse 17 and you'll see that the 'Lord' in v.18 is referring to Jesus who stood with and strengthened Paul in his ministry). "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen" (II Pet. 3:18). >>> Most authorities and scholars agree that the object of praise in I Pet.4:11 is Christ Himself; that is, praise is directed to Jesus Christ: ". . .that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Same thing applies in Heb.13:21 - praise is there ascribed to Jesus Christ from the construct of the Greek tense.

The reasons why praise is directed to Jesus Christ as much as to the Father is the fact that the Son (Jesus) is also God (see John 1:1) - the Second Person of the Trinity. All good translations attest to this fact where, for example, Paul in Rom. 9:5 ascribes praise to Christ as God: "To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen." (ESV). See also Tit. 2:13 where Jesus' deity is proclaimed: He is called "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" in that verse. Jesus also claimed equal honour as the Father in John 5:23 - "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." And at last in Rev. 5:12 - "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

Not only so, we see in several places that the Father and Jesus the Son are both offered praise simultaneously. "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, [that is, the Lord God Almighty_Rev.4:8] and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Rev. 5:13)

(3) Praise to the Father through Jesus:
"To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen" (Rom. 16:27). "Unto him [that is, God] be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:21). "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:20). "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Col. 3:17).


The summation is that praise is offered to both the Father and Jesus.

Need we say any more!

Give thanks always, give thanks to God.

but in all honesty, i say this because i believe we all christians here: this kind of arguments is a classic ploy to distract christians and gender the unnecessary.

thanks mlks_baby.

Trinity.

Three in one.

The God, the father, God, the son and God, the holy spirit

Welcome anytime, nicetohave.

Praise is offered indeed to the Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (compare Matt.28:19 and Rom.8:15).

However, since the question was with regards to praise being offered to either the Father or Jesus the Son, I sought to stay within that context. Thanks for bringing that to our notice, jogego.

it doesn't matter who's name u call when givin praise.if u say praise God or praise Jesus,the praise goes to the same person.
i don't know exactlly the verse or chapter in the bible,but it say"in the beginin was the word and the word was with us and that word was God".
in another verse it say"and the word was made flesh and dewelt amongst us".
so if u read the bible with understandin 4rm the holy spirit,u'll see that God and Jesus r 1 and the same person.

no one come to the father except through His holy Son (John 14:6 ) He's a faithful (Jesus) son, so he will bring all the Glory to His Father.

The problem I have with Christianity is the complication of the belief system. I am a Christian and I am not planning to jump around because in the end, it's just between you and your God (whatever you belief in). The name of Jesus has pretty much been the basis of modern day Christianity. The whole idea of trinity, has not made it any easier for us to understand. It always comes down to dogma. Just believe and you should be fine. I wish it was better than that. And our religious leaders are often armed with the ready made answer that "Man's intelligence is like a filthy rag in the face of God". I just wish God will have mercy on us and revert to the old testament and show us some more signs.

@ camara: perhaps this is the verse you were looking for?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God__And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

- John 1:1, 14.

The Problem is that the Christians of today like to Argue. Even those who are not Christians Argue, trying to find a way to discredit Christianity. The Bible was not written and given to man for the purpose of Argument. It is meant to be believed and to serve as a guide, leading immortal man to the Eternal God.

@Posh
I have a question:
1) Are you a Christian?
=> If you are a Christian, I believe you should be able to have an answer ready for this argumentative "boys and girls". You could have given them your own testimony of how you have praised God, Jesus or whoever and your Praises have been acceptable.
=> Should you be of another Faith, no problem still. You could just direct them to the Nearest Church in your/their neighborhood. They would find all their answers there, or perhaps to a neighbor, aquaintance or even friend of yours who is a Christian and who would be in a "better position" as a CHristian to expantiate on this their confusing topic of Praising God or Jesus.

You see, by trying to "sort out" the arguments of obviously confused "boys and girls" here on Nairaland, when we the contributors(each having our own point/s of view) don't know their "boys and girls"(point of view/s), and whatever might be confusing to them(boys and girls), neither do we know your(Posh's) point of view (as the carrier of the message/answer to their confusion) about this all-too-important subject of Praising God, or Praising Jesus(if you seek to make a distinction), would lead to another set of arguments, and another debate to end in total Confusion, if we are not too careful.

@Camara

don't know exactlly the verse or chapter in the bible,but it say"in the beginin was the word and the word was with us and that word was God.

the Bible passage is in John 1:1

in another verse it say"and the word was made flesh and dewelt amongst us".

Here are the first 14-verses of the Book of John (King James Version)
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name [was] John.
1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all [men] through him might believe.
1:8 He was not that Light, but [was sent] to bear witness of that Light.
1:9 [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

@ Idekeson

Christianity is complicated as long as a person looks at it from purely human point of view without the help of the Spirit. If everything about God is to be understood with just our minds according to mere human interpretation, what then would be the need of the ministry of the Spirit of God? Dogma or not, God gave His Word and our capacity to understand and rejoice in it is dependent on our obedience to Him. This is how God puts it in Proverbs 1:23 -

                   If you turn at my reproof,
         behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you;
           I will make my words known to you.

God have mercy on us if He asks us to revert back to the Old Testament code - you will never be justified in the sight of God by keeping the laws, commandments, rituals, ordinances, testimonies, judgements, and statutes!! The greatest thing that could happen to any man is the salvation that Jesus Christ obtained for us through His blood and sacrifice on the Cross. The glory of the New Testament far exceeds that of the Old - and I would not give all the coffee in Brazil to go back to the OT!

@mlks_baby

I said it to myself as i was reading your post, now let me say it out,

mlks_baby is a Pastor.

Good explanation!!!3 thumbs up.

wat about praise to holy spirit, ? catholics hail mary, joseph n the saints,

kimba:

@mlks_baby

I said it to myself as i was reading your post, now let me say it out,

mlks_baby is a Pastor.

Good explanation!!!3 thumbs up.

Haba!!. . .lol.        I'm not a pastor oohh!!          I've been challenged and tremendously helped by the many pastors of Nairaland and friends far and near! To God be ALL the glory (abi, was that supposed to be 'all praise to Jesus'?! - whichever you choose, God be glorified! Amen and amen!!).

We have all these men and women of God and they keep saying the Harvest is much but the labourers are few? i think its the other way round. You people should keep it up i am really proud of u'all you are all right

Direct it to God and you have already directed it to JESUS & THE HOLY SPIRIT,

If the entire verse of the bible should be reduced to "Love your neighbor as yourself", the goal of Christianity will be clearly defined. I think.

What you're suggesting is called reductionism. Matters of the Christian faith are much more than that. Loving my neighbour as myself is only part of it and holds an important place, no doubt. But have you considered that loving my neighbour as myself is meaningless until I discover what it means to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? The latter comes first and foremost, and the former is just useless without the latter.

Idekeson:

If the entire verse of the bible should be reduced to "Love your neighbor as yourself", the goal of Christianity will be clearly defined. I think.

Apart from reductionism, just loving my neighbour as myself does not guarantee salvation - one must be born again and have a personal commitment to Jesus as Lord; and that is why Christ died on the Cross. If all that God wanted me to know about all of the Bible was to love my neighbour as I love myself, then there would have been no need for a Saviour - we would just have needed a Teacher. Christ is more than a teacher - He is the Saviour.

I remember a rich young ruler came to Jesus asking how he might inherit eternal life. When Jesus told him to go keep the commandments, he asked the Lord 'which ones' He referred to. There upon Jesus responded by mentioning certain of them: "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." It is interesting that the ruler answered Jesus by saying, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" (Matt. 19:16-26). What this illustrates is that you cannot obtain eternal life by loving your neighbour as yourself. You may love everyone in the world and still be lost - like the young ruler!

God gave us the whole counsel of how we could enjoy fellowship with Him, and you're suggesting that the 'whole' be 'reduced'. . . to what? 

Once again, another confusion set thread. Now Posh wants to know who to give praise ?
Does he really? or is it another avenue to create christain fight What makes you think Posh is a devoted christain to start with?? Because he made a post and wrote Jesus in it

And each time a thread like this comes up, you see christains fighting over "who know God more" thereby showing off all their weakness for "unbelievers" to laugh or capitalise on.
Dont christains know when to just shut up and ignore manipulative traps like these.

How would Posh be asking who he should give praise to You should have asked him if he was a christain first before answering. And not allowing him set confusion and doubt in the midst of christains.

The A.S.S and the mouth are both openings, do they serve the same purpose, one takes in and one lets out. Do u put food up ur ass

lioness:

The A.S.S and the mouth are both openings, do they serve the same purpose, one takes in and one lets out. Do u put food up your ass

lioness, uhm. . . I didn't get your point. Que est. . . ?

lioness:

And each time a thread like this comes up, you see christains fighting over "who know God more" thereby showing off all their weakness for "unbelievers" to laugh or capitalise on.
Dont christains know when to just shut up and ignore manipulative traps like these.

Jesus and his disciples never shied away from "manipulative traps like these".

Simple Mlks Baby,  a christain who studies the bible and believes in the trinity. Knowing that Jesus came to die shouldnt be confused on who to praise.

Posh are you a christain/ a believer of Jesus christ?

ANSWER

God, the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit are one and the same God but work in Trinity. Jesus is the LOVE of the Almighty and the Holy Ghost is the Executive Justice. To bring it home to our understanding, It's like the two arms of a body. You can use your left or your right hand to carry out an action without involving the body but both arms belong to the same body and the food you eat nourishes the whole body and you also bath the whole body when you take your bath. I cannot explain all I know about the Trinity here but All our prayers must go to the Almigthy, who became Jesus in flesh and blood. John 1:1 says it all. All these confusion came because of the overzealous Christians of our time who in their pseudo-knowledge tries to personalize Jesus as being different from God Almighty.

When in the Bible you are told: "No one comes to the Father except through me(jesus)". I t does not mean you go to him as a person and beg him to tell God something about you. It simply means that no one can come to the Almighty except through the word that he brought, living the word for he is the Word made flesh. And through living according to the truth that he brought to mankind, you can now draw closer to God. Not by just believing, you also have to do that which you believe in and true belief come by inflexibly weighing, examining and experiencing that which you profess. Pray to the Almighty for He is Jesus and vice versa.

lioness:

And each time a thread like this comes up, you see christains fighting over "who know God more" thereby showing off all their weakness for "unbelievers" to laugh or capitalise on.
Dont christains know when to just shut up and ignore manipulative traps like these.

How would Posh be asking who he should give praise to You should have asked him if he was a christain first before answering. And not allowing him set confusion and doubt in the midst of christains.

Questions. . .  Questions. . .

In all fairness, I don't think anyone needs to be a 'Christian' in order to ask just about any question on Nairaland - here on this thread or elsewhere. Perhaps the handler of the topic meant to set manipulative traps - perhaps not. I answered because it was a real challenge for me, and even helped me discover how little I actually know my Bible on other subjects. You have no idea how many other questions were settled in my heart in seeking answers to Posh's question - for example, I've heard similar questions: "Who should we pray to - the Father or Jesus?__What is praise and how is it different from worship?" etc. One thing I know is that the Bible makes clear that non-believers have real questions to ask in a real world needing real answers - and we should ever be prepared to give an answer for why (and what) we believe with gentleness and respect - I Pet. 3:15. Even other believers will have questions themselves, such as larger_20 posted not long ago. Answering questions about Christianity is not a show off of weakness: the reverse is the case - when we shy away from questions then we expose our own ignorance and thereby provide grounds for non-believers to mock and laugh.

Genuine questions were asked by non-believers on Pentecost - Peter's answers brought about three thousand souls into God's Kingdom in a single day. Paul asked certain Ephesian disciples questions to determine if they already had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19). Down through history, many people have come to Christ by asking questions - I did, too, from a Muslim background. . . and before my conversion, it was the gross ignorance I saw in many so called Christians that made it difficult for me to be a believer until my dad took me to task (he had only just been converted a few months before by asking questions himself!).

Questions about the Bible and Christianity are legitimate - no one should wait to become a Christian in order to ask 'Christian' questions on a 'Christian' board for 'Christian' believers to answer. What the Bible asks us to avoid is unreasonable questions that gender strife and debates (I Tim. 1:4 and II Tim. 2:23). As soon as I see one, if the enquirer begins to sound unreasonable, I'm not obliged to respond so there'll be no daggers drawn.

my bad! Maybe am getting paraniod

wiseguy:

All these confusion came because of the overzealous Christians of our time who in their pseudo-knowledge tries to personalize Jesus as being different from God Almighty.

. . .Pray to the Almighty for He is Jesus and vice versa.

Confusion results when you accuse others of pseudo-knowledge and you fail to provide good answers. What you are describing is monism - not the Trinity: One God revealed in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You cannot really give rational answers about the Trinity by speaking the language of monism. Before you set off on your own overzealous adventure of pronouncing others as 'pseudo'-this or that, take some time to study your own statements.  

lioness:

my bad! Maybe am getting paraniod

Nope, you're not - we are all human 

@ mkls baby,

I stand in the knowledge and I have no apologies for posting what I posted. It is your choice to accept it or throw it away.

I don't know where you get the term, 'monism'. I reject to say it is what I mean in my posting but if your term 'monism' is consistent with what I have explained then so be it.

According to the following definition, which to a large extent is consistent to what I mean, The Trinity is God according to the teaching of the churches which represent the majority of Christians. According to the doctrine, God is a single being existing(working) simultaneously as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. --en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity.

The definition states that He is a single being who, in his relationship to us, manifests as three entities. And that is why it is called The Trinity of One God. Like I said earlier, it is your choice to accept or reject it and nobody is forcing it down your throat.

Now, let us look at your idea of monism which according to definition is a philosophical term which, in its various meanings, is opposed to Dualism or Pluralism. Wherever pluralistic philosophy distinguishes a multiplicity of things, Monism denies that the manifoldness is real, and holds that the apparently many are phases, or phenomena, of a one.

If the above definition is correct, does it then mean you uphold pluralistic view as opposed to monism. It then also follows, from implication, that the Trinity are three independent Gods(which I reject with every breath I take). For God is One and HE alone exists as GOD from all eternity to eternity. I am not implying that is what you believe just like you brought the term 'Monism' on me but I need you to clarify your position as opposed to 'your' term, monism.

Finally, whether you like it or not, there are overzealous christians who think they know and who in their oversealousness tries to misinterpret the scriptures. And I never in my posting accused anybody here in the forum of such practice. I pray that none of us here are to be found among these group. I make my contributions freely without attacking anybody's personality and I wonder why you seem so touchy about it.

wiseguy,

My rejoinders are not contesting that you believe in the Trinity. What I don't understand is why you should sound so accusative on the one hand; and then speak about the Trinity in language that describes monism on the other. In just a moment, I'll point out the distinctions on monism and Trinity to you. But here is a quote from your post:

wiseguy:

All these confusion came because of the overzealous Christians of our time who in their pseudo-knowledge tries to personalize Jesus as being different from God Almighty.

So far there's not been any hint in my posts of personalizing Jesus as "being different from the Almighty".  For you to have made such a statement here made me wonder about just who you referred to as 'the overzealous Christians' with 'pseudo-knowledge'. I'm not touchy about anything, but you'd not need to go that far to make your point so that no one would be left wondering that you are accusing or attacking anybody's personality.

wiseguy:


Pray to the Almighty for He is Jesus and vice versa.

Monism or Trinity.
Like I said, I'm not disputing your belief in the Trinity. However, it is how you explained the Trinity that made me wonder about your ideas. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not entities - they are divine Persons in the One Godhead. This is admittedly a mystery that dwarfs human language. Second, Jesus is God Himself, but He is not the Father; so your presumption that the Almighty is Jesus and "vice versa" needs important qualification. There are people who do not deny the deity of Jesus Christ; but when they speak of Jesus in His deity, they go so far as to claim that God is not a Trinity, and that the term is wrong and unbiblical. Their position is that there is only one God and He is Jesus; therefore, to them, Jesus is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is what is meant by monism - reducing all to just Jesus without distinguishing Him from the other Persons in the Trinity. Perhaps a better way to define this concept is modalism rather than monism.

wiseguy:

According to the following definition, which to a large extent is consistent to what I mean, The Trinity is God according to the teaching of the churches which represent the majority of Christians. According to the doctrine, God is a single being existing(working) simultaneously as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. --en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity.

The definition states that He is a single being who, in his relationship to us, manifests as three entities. And that is why it is called The Trinity of One God. Like I said earlier, it is your choice to accept or reject it and nobody is forcing it down your throat.

Good to know that you researched a little on the Trinity to understand that "God is a single being existing(working) simultaneously as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." In your very next statement you said, "The definition states that He is a single being who, in his relationship to us, manifests as three entities." I'll not overflog the issue; but 'entities' is the classic vernacular of modalism - and that was what informed my concern. How do you reconcile the conundrum that "he is a single being" and yet "simultaneously as three distinct persons"? Some dictionaries define 'entities' as 'beings'; but modalists do not. If 'entities' is the same as 'being', are you saying that "a single being" is equal to "three beings (or entities)"?

I do not subscribe to monism, modalism, pluralism or dualism. I believe in one God who has revealed Himself in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). My view of the Trinity is not a "vice versa" between the Almighty and Jesus - whether in worship or prayer. Should you desire to take up the discussion with me, I'll be glad to share, just so that you see how flawed your statements were.

wiseguy, forget your heat - unless you want to tell us who you had hoped to list as the "overzealous Christians of our time" on this Forum. If none, case closed.

All those '-isms' are simply beating me blues . . . I'm not trying to be silly, so no offences meant. All I know is that Jesus is not vice versa with the Almighty. If you "stand in the knowledge and [you] have no apologies for posting" that twister, let me ask you a question: Who died on the Cross for you - the Son or the Father? This "talan-tolo" wey U dey take shakara for us here is uncalled for. Did you not say "Jesus is the LOVE of the Almighty"?. . . and then you still post Him as vice versa with the Almighty. Oya, canst thou explain what thou meanest in thy treatise? So, if I pray to the Father in Jesus' Name, am I also praying to Jesus in Jesus' Name?

Father, Son and Holy Spirit - I believe.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit = vice versa. . . I NO believe!