๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐, ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐จ๐?
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
Question:
Jesus himself admitted that the Father is the only true God. Since Trinitarians believe that the Father and the Son are distinct Persons, that they are not the same Person, wouldnโt this prove that Jesus denied that he was God?
Answer:
Sam chooses to answer this question by immediately forming a corpus of specific verses from within Johnโs Gospel, ignoring the verses immediate context. If a Muslim were to chop up the Bible as he has, simply to prove a point, what would his reaction be? Hereโs Samโs new version of the Gospel According to John, please note that all emphasis is Shamounโs:
โAfter Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: โFather, the time has come. Glorify YOUR SON, that YOUR SON may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people THAT HE MIGHT GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL THOSE YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM.
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I HAD WITH YOU BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN โฆ
For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me โฆ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.
And glory has come TO ME through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name โ the name you gave me โ so that they may be one as we are one โฆ My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be IN US so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I IN THEM and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them AND THAT I MYSELF MAY BE IN THEM.โโ John 17:1-5, 8, 10-11, 20-26
This is what Sam concludes from the above:
- Jesus is Godโs Son.
- Jesus gives eternal life to all that God gives him, which is a claim to being absolute Deity since only God can give eternal life.
- Jesus existed in glory with the Father even before the world was created.
- Jesus demands to be glorified by God, something which no mere creature could ever demand.
- Jesus states that everything that the Father has belongs to him, which makes him the heir of everything that exists.
- Jesus indwells all the believers, an indication that Christ is omnipresent and therefore God since God alone is omnipresent.
- Jesus is the object of the Fatherโs love even before the creation of the world.
This is what the text actually says:
- Jesus is Godโs son, just as he was Davidโs, son is a term of endearment in the Old Testament.
- God gives eternal life to those who follow the message He sent with Christ, see Acts 2:21-22. Christ is the deliverer, not the source, Sam concedes to this by stating, God โgivesโ him these things.
- We all existed before the world began, Christ was merely more glorified by God as opposed to the rest of us, see Ephesians 1:4.
- Many creatures asked to be glorified by God, Jesus wasnโt the only one, see Jeremiah 30:19. As an addendum, Jesus could not glorify himself, if he was a God, then God can glorify himself, but Christ could not and only the one greater than him could do so, see John 8:54, โJesus replied, โIf I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.โ
- All Christ has is what God gave him, what God has given Christ, he earns glory through it, as Sam himself has quoted, โAnd glory has come to me through them.โ This does not make him God, but rather dependent upon Godโs majesty over all things.
- Christโs message was in his followers, as was Godโs message in Christ, thus he dispensed the knowledge so that they all could become โoneโ in the Lordโs path. If we take Samโs interpretation, then those of whom Christ are in, are also deities/ incarnate of God.
- Whether before, during or after the world, Godโs love does not make one a deity, for God has loved many. See Deuteronomy 23:5, John 16:27.
Below is Samโs logic for the divinity of each person in the Godhead:
- The Trinity is the only true God.
- Each specific member of the Trinity is the only true God.
- Therefore, the members of the Trinity are the only true God, whether individually or collectively.
To correct Sam:
- Christ says that the Father, not the Trinity is the only true God.
Since his first premise is wrong, his logical deduction is therefore non-sequitur and hereby invalid. He then went on to quote Hebrews 1:8-12 which according to his translation states:
โBut about the Son he says, โYour throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.โ He also says, โIn the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.โโ Hebrews 1:8-12
The reality is, the Judaic translation is rendered as:
โYour throne, O judge, [will exist] forever and ever; the scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.โ โ Tehellim (Psalms) 45:7.
In fact, the very next verse, which is verse 8, it declares that the judge has a God:
โYou loved righteousness and you hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, anointed you with oil of joy from among your peers.โ โ Ibid.
The confusion stems from the term for God, ืึฑืึนืึดืื , which has three meanings, Judges (Psalm 82:6), God (Genesis 1:1) and Angels (Psalm 8:6). Since verse 8 already mentions that the person from verse 7, has a God, then since there is only one God, verse 7 is translated as Judge or Angel, however since the person is on a throne and ruling judgement over a nation, the person is therefore a Judge.
Sam continues by quoting the following verse:
โFor admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.โ Jude 1:4โณ
Notice, the distinction between God and Jesus Christ. The verse did not say,โโฆ.the grace of our God who is our only Master and Lordโ, rather it differentiates between two persons, one who is God and the other who is a Master and Lord. Whereas Christ is a Master and a Lord, not once is he referred to as โGod, Jesus Christโ, but rather teacher, rabbi, master and lord (kurious not theos).
He then states:
In fact, a careful reading of John 17:3 helps to further confirm that Jesus wasnโt denying his absolute Deity:
โAnd this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, AND (kai) Jesus Christ whom you have sent.โ
To the contrary, this is another distinction between God and the one whom God has sent, Jesus the Christ. Notice the verse explicitly states โthat they know you the only true Godโ and then it goes on to say who the only true God sent, that is Christ. The verse does not describe Christ as a God in the least sense. If I said, โThe boy and the dogโ, would this mean to Sam that the boy is the dog?
According to his logic and reason, that would be a yes, but we are educated people and know otherwise. He has quoted some Christian scholars who adhere to his opinion, this is mere confirmation bias and adds nothing academic to his argument.
In fact, according to Samโs own quote from John Gillโs exegesis, many other Christian groups used this verse in opposition to the Trinitarian dogma:
โโฆ The Arians and Unitarians urge this text, against the true and proper deity of our Lord Jesus, and his equality with the Fatherโ โ Source โ as Sam has provided himself.
In closing, he then used several verses from the Gospel according to John, wherein the Christ is referred to as the saviour. We agree that Christ came to save men from their sins, he did so by calling them to repent in Matthew 3:2, 3:8, 4:17 and 11:20. This is naturally what the Prophets would have done. His last ditch attempt to use John 1:1 can easily be refuted if we understand โWordโ to be Godโs wisdom and action and not as a separate deity, as is presented in the Old Testament:
- And the word of the Lord was Josephโs helper (Gen. 39:2).
- And Moses brought the people to meet the word of the Lord (Ex. 19:17).
- And the word of the Lord accepted the face of Job (Job 42:9).
- And the word of the Lord shall laugh them to scorn (Ps. 2:4).
- They believed in the name of His word (Ps. 106:12).
As it stands, John 17:3 was not thoroughly answered by Sam, at the very most, he spent less than 50 words on these verses. Whereas he spent over 2000+ words on everything else. Therefore, he has not answered the question and the argument(s) he has presented have been soundly refuted.
wa Allaahu โAlam.= Allah knows Best.
Source Calling Christians
Refuting John 3:16
One in Three or Three in one God?