REFUTING ANOTHER UNITARIAN CANARD

I continue from where I previously left off: JESUS’ GOD PT. 1.

In this post I will show that the very inspired writings which these anti-Trinitarians appeal to emphatically affirm that Jesus is God in an absolute sense, being one with the Father and Spirit in essence, glory and majesty.

I begin with the witness of John himself.

JOHN

John begins his Gospel by declaring Jesus to be the eternal Word who has been existing with God from before creation, and has always been God in nature, whom God then appointed to create and give life to the entire creation. This is the very Word who then became flesh, meaning who became the Man Christ Jesus:    

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (kai theos een ho logos). He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind… This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)  

Here in the prologue John has attributed to Christ the exclusive functions and characteristics, which the Hebrew Bible ascribes to Yahweh alone.

For instance, the [O]ld [T]estament emphatically teaches that Yahweh alone created and sustains all creation, and that he is the sole source of spiritual light since illumination comes from him alone:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. And on the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven. Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet grown, for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being… So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. And Yahweh God fashioned the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This one finally is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called Woman, Because this one was taken out of Man.’” Genesis 2:1-7, 21-23

“And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, ‘Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are Yahweh. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down to You.’” Nehemiah 9:5-6

“Who ALONE stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea;” Job 9:8

“Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb?” Job 31:15

“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” Psalm 36:9

“Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, ‘I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,’” Isaiah 44:24

“It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, And I commanded all their host… For thus says Yahweh, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it a formless place, but formed it to be inhabited), ‘I am Yahweh, and there is none else.’” Isaiah 45:12, 18

In light of the foregoing, the inspired Apostle could not identify Christ as the true Light who enlightens all mankind or describe him as the One by whom all creation came into existence unless he believed that the Son (along with the Father and the Holy Spirit) is YHWH Almighty.

Nor could John claim that Christ has been existing as God from before creation if he didn’t think that Jesus is YHWH God who became a Man, since the OT is explicitly clear that YHWH is the only God who has been existing from all eternity:  

“A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place from generation to generation. Before the mountains were born Or You brought forth the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90:1-2

“Yahweh reigns, He is clothed with majesty; Yahweh has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is established, it will not be shaken. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” Psalm 93:1-2

“‘You are My witnesses,’ declares Yahweh, ‘And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no god formed, And there will be none after Me. I, even I, am Yahweh, And there is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and caused it to be heard, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,’ declares Yahweh, ‘And I am God. Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?’” Isaiah 43:10-13    

John has more to say.

According to the Evangelist, God has never been and can never be known apart from the Son coming to reveal and explain him:

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God (monogenes theos) who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:18

The reading adopted here, monogenes theos, is based on the two oldest surviving Greek manuscripts of this verse, namely P⁶⁶ and P⁷⁵, which are dated anywhere from the late second to third century AD. Note the various ways Bible versions have rendered this phrase:

“No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.” NASB  

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John 1:18 English Standard Version (ESV)

“No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.” Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

“No one has ever seen God. God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made God known.” Common English Bible (CEB)

“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like.” Contemporary English Version (CEV)

“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” Good News Translation (GNT)

“No one has ever seen God. The uniquely existing God, who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.” International Standard Version (ISV)

“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, himself God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” William Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament (MOUNCE)

“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)

“No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.” (NET)

No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.” New International Reader’s Version (NIRV)

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” New International Version (NIV)

“No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” New Living Translation (NLT)

“No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

“No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Now this places the anti-Trinitarian in a dilemma since John is clear that no one has ever seen God at any time apart from the Son’s revelation of God. And yet we are told that all throughout the OT period many saw God visibly and spoke directly with him. Some examples include:

“Now it happened that when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; Walk before Me and be blameless, so that I may confirm My covenant between Me and you, And that I may multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying… So He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.” Genesis 17:1-3, 22

“Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” Exodus 24:9-11

“Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. And then both came forward, and He said, ‘Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Indeed clearly, and not in riddles, And he beholds the form of Yahweh. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?’” Numbers 12:5-8

“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.” Isaiah 6:1-5

“I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, ‘Strike the capitals so that the thresholds will quake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword; Not one of them who can flee will flee, And not one of them who can survive will escape.’” Amos 9:1

According to the inspired John, the only way that these OT figures could have beheld and seen YHWH is if they were actually beholding the Son in his prehuman existence.

In other words, John is indicating that it was none other than Jesus himself who, in his preincarnate state, had been appearing to the patriarchs and prophets as YHWH God Almighty for the express purpose of revealing God to them.

In fact, the climax of the Gospel is John’s bookend where Thomas utters a Christological confession in response to seeing the risen Jesus in his glorified physical body:

 “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ Thomas answered and said TO HIM, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.” John 20:24-29

Thomas unambiguously acknowledges the glorified Jesus to be his very Lord and God!

What makes this so astonishing is that Thomas’ confession is virtually identical to the following Psalm’s description of YHWH:

“You have seen it, O Yahweh, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me. Stir up Yourself, and awake to my justice And to my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Yahweh my God, according to Your righteousness, And do not let them be glad over me.” Psalm 35:22-24

Here’s the Greek rendering of the Psalmist’s confession:

“Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgment, [even] to my cause, my God and my Lord (ho theos mou kai ho kyrios mou).” Psalm 34:23 LXX

Now compare this with the Greek of John:

“Thomas replied, ‘You are my Lord and my God (ho kyrios mou kai ho theos mou)!’” John 20:28 CEV

“And Thomas answered and said UTO HIM (eipen auto), My Lord and my God.” Authorized King James Version (AV)

The phrasing of the two texts is identical with the only difference being that the word order is different, i.e., “my Lord and my God” vs. “my God and my Lord.”

The anti-Trinitarian is now faced with a massive problem since the only way that a monotheistic Jew like Thomas could dare make such a confession is if he were convinced that Jesus is God Almighty in the flesh. There’s simply no way around this for the unitarian/arian disbeliever.  

This point is further strengthened by John describing Jesus doing what the OT ascribes to YHWH, namely, breathing out the Holy Spirit upon his disciples:

“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.’” John 20:21-23  

The risen Christ ends up fulfilling the words of John the Baptist who had stated that the Son would baptize individuals with/in the Holy Spirit:

“On the next day, he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, “After me comes a man who has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.” I did not know Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.’ And John bore witness saying, ‘I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him. And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.’” John 1:29-34

Remarkably, the Hebrew Bible is crystal clear that YHWH alone breathes forth the Holy Spirit and that he is the One who pours out the Spirit upon believers:

“Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

“The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

This next one is also interesting since Yahweh announces that he will pour out His Spirit in connection with all those who would call upon his name for salvation:

“And it will be afterwards That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams; Your young men will see visions. Even on the male slaves and female slaves I will in those days pour out My Spirit. And I will put wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes. And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls.” Joel 2:28-32

And yet John is clear that it is Jesus’ name that a person must embrace in order to be saved!  

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13

“Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:30-31

The Apostle even goes as far as to say that Christ is the Hearer of prayer, being the One who will personally answer every request made in his name!

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness about His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has this witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness which God has borne witness about His Son. And the witness is this, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have that life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” 1 John 5:9-15

“Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14

Once again, Jesus does what the OT ascribes to YHWH alone:

“To You, there will be silence and praise in Zion, O God, And to You the vow will be paid. O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh comes.” Psalm 65:1-2

In light of the foregoing, could John have been any clearer or mor explicit in affirming that Jesus is indeed YHWH Almighty who became Man, being the unique Son of God who is one with the Father and the Son in essence and glory?

 In the next part I conclude with the witness of the holy and blessed Apostle Paul: JESUS’ GOD PT. 3.

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