Debated Texts
Professional scholars who believe in the deity of Christ admit:
But we shall find that on almost every occasion in the New Testament on which Jesus seems to be called God there is a problem either of textual criticism or of translation. In almost every case we have to discuss which of two readings is to be accepted or which of two possible translations is to be accepted. -- William Barclay, "Jesus as They Saw Him" (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 21
Belief in the deity of Christ has traditionally been the keystone of the doctrine of the Trinity, yet explicit references to Jesus as "God" in the New Testament are very few, and even those few are generally plagued with uncertainties of either text or interpretation. -- Christopher Kaiser, "The Doctrine of God" (London: Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1982) 29.
No one ... can help being impressed by the remarkable reserve of the NT writers in applying the term θεὸς to Jesus. ... If the writers of the NT were persuaded of the deity of Christ, what accounts for their reticence to ascribe to him the title that, of all the divine names, would seem most explicitly to affirm that deity? Have the fathers and the creeds of the church outstripped the NT evidence in speaking so plainly and so often of Jesus Christ as "God"? ... It is a curious fact that each of the texts to be examined contains an interpretative problem of some description actually, most contains two or three. -- Murray J. Harris, "Jesus as God" (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1992), 9-11.
Evidence Murray Harris use to proof the divinity of Jesus is: John 1:1,18; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20
No author of a Synoptic Gospel explicitly ascribe the title θεὸς to Jesus. Jesus never used the term θεὸς for himself. No sermon in the book of Acts attributes the title θεὸς to Jesus ... And possibly the biggest problem for NT Christology regarding this topic is that textual variants exist in every potential passage where Jesus is explicitly referred to as θεὸς. -- Brian J. Wright, "Jesus as θεὸς: A Textual Examination" in Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament, ed. Daniel B. Wallace (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 229-31.
As the above authors admitted themselves, none of the proven texts are strong arguments for the deity of Jesus. What are textually certain about Jesus are texts about his: birth, humanity, miracles, teachings, 12 disciples, death by crucifixion, resurrections, ascension and his return. If there are so many clear and certain texts about Jesus, why is the "fundamental truth about the deity of Christ" so obscure?
Deity Interpretations
Tip
The categories describe the rebuttals in the Scripture Interpretations tables below.
| Category | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Claim Attribution | Readers differ over whose claim or perspective a statement represents, and whether the author endorses it. |
| Concept Confusion | Readers interpret abstract concepts like plans, promises, representations as literal states or events. |
| Grammar & Scope | Readers differ over grammatical relationships, clause attachments, or the scope of qualifiers, negation, or modifiers. |
| Referent ID | Readers identify different people, things, or events through a pronoun, title, or description. |
| Symbolism | Readers interpret symbolic images or messages as literal descriptions. |
| Textual Variation | Different manuscript readings may mean readers are not comparing identical wording. |
| Topic | Readers differ over which issue or topic the statement addresses in context. |
| Translation | Biased translation that does not follow the original manuscirpts mislead readers. |
| Word Meaning | Readers assign different senses to the same word or title. |
| Scripture | Divine Jesus Interpretation | Rebuttal |
|---|---|---|
| John 5:18 | "making himself coequal with God" | Claim Attribution: Charge reflects opponents’ conclusion, not claim of Jesus. |
| John 20:28 | Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” | Word Meaning: Here "God" means Christ. |
| Galatians 1:1 | "nor through man, but through Jesus Christ" | Topic: about authority, not humanity. |
| Titus 2:13 | "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" | Grammar & Scope: Jesus = "the glory of our great God..." |
| Hebrews 1:3 | "the exact imprint of His nature" | Translation: "person" was changed to "nature" |
| Revelation 22:13 | "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last" | Word Meaning: "Alpha and Omega", "first and last" not unique to God alone. |
Preexistance Interpretations
| Scripture | Divine Jesus Interpretation | Rebuttal |
|---|---|---|
| John 3:13 | "Descended from heaven" | Textual Variation: Changes meaning of "heaven". |
| John 6:38-62 | "Come down from heaven" | Grammar & Scope: Narrator's comment confused with Jesus. |
| John 16:28 | "Come from God" | Topic: Jesus announces end of his ministry, not incarnation. |
| John 17:5 | Glory before the world existed | Concept Confusion: Jesus did not pre-exist literally, but in God's foretold plan (word). |
Creator Interpretations
| Scripture | Divine Jesus Interpretation | Rebuttal |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis 1:26 | "man in Our image", implying human Jesus = God | Word Meaning: "image" means representative not same essence. Applies to all humanity. |
| 1 Corinthians 8:6 | “through whom are all things” | Topic: food offered to idols, not an account of creation. |
| Colossians 1:13-17 | “For by him all things were created” | Grammar & Scope: “all things” refer to authorities, not creation. |
| Hebrews 1:1-2 | “through whom also He made the worlds” | Word Meaning: “worlds” (aión) can mean ages or spans of time. |
| Revelation 10:5-6 | Jesus is viewed as the mighty angel | Referent ID: the Creator is the Father, by whom the angel swears. |
Omnipresence Interpretations
Body of God Interpretations
| Scripture | Divine Jesus Interpretation | Rebuttal |
|---|---|---|
| John 1:1-18 | "The Word became flesh" | Concept Confusion: "Word" never means Christ literally. |
| Philippians 2:6-8 | "Form Of God, Likeness of Men" | Translation: multiple errors: changing tense, adding words, changing words |
| Colossians 1:14 | "Redemption through his blood" | Textual Variation: "through his blood" was added in later manuscripts. |
| Colossians 2:9 | "God in a human body" | Translation: "whole fullness of deity dwells" referring to truth not essence |
| 1 Timothy 3:16 | "God manifested in flesh" | Translation: Should be "he (Jesus) manifested in flesh" |
| 1 John 4:2 | "Christ has come in flesh" | Topic: Adressing Docetism, not affirming preexistance |
Warning
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. — Colossians 2:8 (ESV)
If Christ did not directly teach something, we should not read later philosophies back into biblical text according to human (church) traditions.
We should let the Bible form our theology (understanding of God), not the other way around.