His Holiness Pope Shenouda III addresses the problem taught by the Seventh-day Adventist sect that the Lord Christ is the angel Michael, and he presents the texts they rely on and then provides a biblical and theological reply.

Main idea:
The Adventists confuse between God appearing sometimes in the form of an angel and considering Christ a created angel; His Holiness explains that this confusion denies the reality of Christ’s divinity and affects the doctrine of the Trinity.

Their arguments and their critique:
His Holiness presents their justifications (such as the verses in Jude and Zechariah and Old Testament stories) and clarifies the difference between the Lord appearing in the form of an angel and being a created angel, pointing out that angels are created while Christ is the Creator of all.

Counter biblical evidences:
His Holiness refers to the texts in Hebrews, Colossians, and Philippians that distinguish Christ from the angels and confirm His divinity and sovereignty over them, and he mentions Christ’s temptations and victory over demons as an indication of His unique authority.

Theological and practical dimension:
He explains that saying Christ is an angel would weaken the mystery of the Trinity and the understanding of the atonement, because the Redeemer must be both human and divine and not a limited created being.

Related issues (apparitions and language):
His Holiness clarifies that God’s appearances in the Old Testament in the form of a man or an angel do not change that He is God, and these appearances are not evidence that God is created or that the Son is an angel.

A call for sobriety and discrimination:
His Holiness urges believers to exercise discernment when encountering such teachings: accepting their superficial confession of Christ’s divinity is not sufficient, but one must ask about the consequences of that belief on the doctrine of the Trinity and the atoning mystery.

Spiritual conclusion:
The lecture stresses the importance of preserving an Orthodox understanding of Christ’s identity and the Son’s divinity, and rejecting interpretations that diminish His divinity or turn Him into a created being like the angels.

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