The following excerpt is taken from the monumental work titled The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense, authored by Robert M. Bowman Jr. & J. Ed Komoszewski, published by Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2024, Part 2: Like Father, Like Son: Jesus’ Divine Attributes, Chapter 12: In the Beginning Was the Word, pp. 227-230.

In my estimation this is THE best and most comprehensive exposition and defense of the biblical basis for the Deity of Christ. Every serious Trinitarian Christian student of the Holy Bible, apologist, and/or theologian must have this book in the library.

THE WORD WAS ETERNAL

John begins his Gospel by saying that the Logos “was” (ēn) in the beginning (vv. 1b, 2). John does not mean that the Logos began to exist but that he was already existing “in the beginning.” The word ēn (the imperfect tense form of the Greek “to be” verb) has the nuance of “was already existing” (cf. NLT, “already existed”) in this context for two reasons. The first is the studied contrast in John 1:1–5 between ēn (“was”), which occurs six times, and egeneto (“became,” “came to be”), which appears twice (1:3) and is a key word used twenty-one times in the Greek translation of the creation narrative in Genesis 1:1–2:4. It is the contrast between the way the two verbs are used in context that indicates the eternal preexistence of the Logos, not the imperfect tense of ēn by itself. In contrast to everything that “came to be,” the Logos simply “was.”¹⁵

The second reason is the context of existing “in the beginning” (en archē). As Richard Hays points out, “The opening words of John’s Gospel echo the first words of Israel’s scripture: ‘In the beginning . . .’ Although the echo consists of only two words (en archē), its volume is amplified by the placement of these words at the outset of the narrative, corresponding to their placement as the opening words of Genesis.”¹⁶ This is not the only allusion to Genesis 1 in the prologue, since both passages go on immediately to talk about creation and light (Gen. 1:1, 3–5; John 1:3–5, 9).¹⁷ As James Dunn notes, John’s statement that “the Logos was (not ‘came to be’) in the beginning” means that “we have moved beyond any thought of the Logos as created, even the first created being,” that one might find in earlier Jewish texts about Wisdom, for example.¹⁸

According to John, everything that came into existence—the world itself— did so through the Logos (John 1:3, 10). Verse 3 is rather emphatic: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being” (1:3 NASB).¹⁹ John states the point positively (“all things came into being through Him”) and then negatively (“and apart from Him not even one thing came into being”), thereby making clear that his statement is to be taken in the most comprehensive way possible.

Notice how these two statements—that the Logos “was in the beginning” (John 1:1b, 2) and that everything that has come into being without exception did so through the Logos (1:3)—fit together. When taken together, they clearly put the Logos on the uncreated side of the divide between the uncreated (God, the Creator) and the created (creation, the world).

We will discuss the role of the Logos (Christ) in the work of creation in chapter 32 (see pp. 616–18). For now, the point to be grasped is that these statements affirming the Word’s existence before creation and his involvement in bringing about the existence of all creation reveal him to be eternal and uncreated—two essential attributes of God.

At this point the teaching of the prologue conflicts especially with the Christology of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who view the Logos as the preexistent but created archangel Michael who later became Jesus Christ. John’s teaching here also poses a problem for non-Jehovah’s Witnesses favoring something like an Arian view of Christ.²⁰ It should be noted that Bart Ehrman, who argues that Paul viewed Christ as a preexistent but created angel, agrees that John did not accept that view. Ehrman concludes that John held that the Logos was eternal and was in some sense God.²¹

To circumvent the clear teaching of John 1:1–3 that the Logos was uncreated, Jehovah’s Witnesses try to limit the creative work of the Logos in that passage to the physical world. They understand John’s opening words, “In the beginning” (1:1, 2), to refer to the beginning of the physical world only, with the spiritual world of angelic beings (including the Logos) having been created prior to that “beginning.”²² One serious problem with this interpretation is that verse 3 is as explicitly comprehensive as the language could be. Everything that has “come into being” did so through the Logos; nothing “came into being” that did not do so through him.

It is true that Genesis 1 does not give an explicit account of the creation of the angels or other spiritual beings populating the spiritual or supernatural realm. However, both Jews and Christians during the New Testament era definitely included all such spiritual beings in the category of “all things” that God had created (e.g., Ps. 148:2–6; 2 Baruch 21:6; Jub. 2:2; 2 Enoch 29:3; Col. 1:16). Greg Stafford, a former Jehovah’s Witness defending their Christology, assumes that the angels who shouted with joy when God established the earth (Job 38:4–7) must have been created before the “beginning” of Genesis 1:1, and concludes that Christ was also created before that beginning.²³ However, Job 38:7 entails only that the angels (“sons of God”) were present when God completed forming and establishing the earth; it does not indicate or imply that the angels existed before the initial creation of the physical universe.

When we compare John 1:3 to Colossians 1:16, we find confirmation that the “all things” created through the Logos in John include all spiritual or heavenly beings (translating literally):

All things [panta] came into being through him [di’ autou]. (John 1:3a)

Because in him were created all things [ta panta], in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things [ta panta] were created through him [di’ autou] and for him. (Col. 1:16)

Stafford admits that Colossians 1:16 encompasses the creation of the “invisible” beings (the angels) through the Son, but then claims that “Paul does not here directly refer to the ‘beginning’ of Genesis 1:1.”²⁴ This claim is defensible only in the narrowest, most pedantic sense that Paul does not actually use the word “beginning” in Colossians 1:16. That Paul’s language derives ultimately from the creation account in Genesis 1 is quite plain (again translating literally):

In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth [ton ouranon kai tēn gēn]. . . . And God saw all things [ta panta] that he had made. (Gen. 1:1, 31 LXX)

Because in him were created all things [ta panta], in the heavens and on the earth [en tois ouranois kai epi tēs gēs]. (Col. 1:16)

We have solid reasons, then, to understand John 1:1–3 to mean that the Logos existed eternally and is uncreated.

20. E.g., Danny André Dixon, “An Arian View: Jesus, the Life-Given Son of God,” in Son of God: Three Views, by Irons, Dixon, and Smith, 65–83. Oddly, Dixon cites with apparent approval Leon Morris’s observation about the force of ēn versus egeneto in John 1:1–3 (82 n. 47; see our n. 15 above) without addressing what Morris understood this contrast to indicate.

21. Ehrman, How Jesus Became God, 274–79.

22. For a defense of this position, see Stafford, Jehovah’s Witnesses Defended, 3rd ed., 370–77. Although Stafford was not a Jehovah’s Witness when he published this third edition, his defense of the Watchtower’s position on this subject remains the most sophisticated attempt available.

23. Stafford, Jehovah’s Witnesses Defended, 3rd ed., 373, see also 189 n. 102, 222, 302, 338, 384. Only five other OT texts (Gen. 1:1; 3:15; Exod. 3:14; Ps. 82:6; Prov. 8:22) figure as prominently in Stafford’s book as Job 38:7.

The fact that John’s prologue is echoing the Genesis account of creation is easily proven by comparing the Greek translation of Gen. 1:1 with that of John’s Gospel:

“In the beginning was (en arche een) the Word, and the Word was (een) with God, and the Word was God (kai theos een ho logos). He was (een) in the beginning with God. All things (panta) came into being (egeneto) through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being (egeneto) that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it… There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and the world came into being (egeneto) through Him, and the world did not know Him. And the Word became (egeneto) flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14, 18

“In the beginning (en arche) God (ho theos) made the heavens and the earth. Yet the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God (pneuma theou) was being carried along over the water. And God said, “Let light come into being.” And light came into being (egeneto). And God saw the light, that it was good. And God separated between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. And it came to be (egeneto) evening, it came to be (egeneto) morning, day one… And God saw all the things (ta panta) he made, and see, they were exceedingly good. And it came to be (egeneto) evening, and it came to be (egeneto) morning, a sixth day.” Genesis 1:1-8, 31 LXX

The following texts affirm that Genesis 1 is describing God bringing the entire creation into existence, including all heavenly beings:

“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.” Genesis 2:1-3  

The host of heavens includes all angelic creatures:

“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 9:6

“Then Micaiah said, ‘Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. And Yahweh said, “Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh and said, “I will entice him.” And Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then He said, “You shall entice him and also prevail. Go out and do so.” So now, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; but Yahweh has spoken calamity against you.’” 1 Kings 22:19-23

“Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, heavens of heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of Yahweh, For He commanded and they were created. He caused them to stand forever and ever; He gave a statute and it will never pass away. Praise Yahweh from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, doing His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged bird; Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both choice men as well as virgins; The old with the young. Let them praise the name of Yahweh, For His name alone is set on high; His splendor is above earth and heaven. And He has raised up a horn for His people, Praise for all His holy ones; For the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise Yah!” Psalm 148: 1-14

This explains why extra-biblical Jewish sources include angels within the Genesis creation account that God brought into being:  

“O hear me, You who created the earth, the one who fixed the firmament by the Word and fastened the height of heaven by the Spirit, the one who in the beginning of the world called that which did not yet exist and they obeyed You. You who gave commandments to the air with your sign and have seen the things which are to come as well as those which have passed. You who reign with great thoughts over the hosts which stand before you, and who rules with indignation the countless holy beings, whom you created from the beginning from flame and fire, those who stand around your throne. To you alone does this belong so that you can do all that you want.” 2 Baruch 21:4-7

“And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works.

“’For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which serve before him -the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth, (He created) the abysses and the darkness, eventide <and night>, and the light, dawn and day, which He hath prepared in the knowledge of his heart.’” Jubilees 2:1-2

|Monday is the day. The fiery substance.|

“And for all my own heavens I shaped a shape from the fiery substance. My eye looked at the solid and very hard rock. And from the flash of my eye I took the |marvelous| substance of lightning, both fire

in water and water in fire; •neither does this one extinguish that one, nor does that one dry out this one. That is why lightning is sharper and brighter than the shining of the sun, and softer than water, more solid than the hardest rock.

“And from the rock I cut off a great fire, and from the fire I created the ranks of the bodiless armies – the myriad angels – and their weapons are fiery and their clothes are burning flames. And I gave orders that each should stand in his own rank.

|Here Satanail was hurled from the hight, together with his angels.|

“But one from the order of the archangels deviated, together with the division that was under his authority. He thought up the impossible idea, that he might place his throne higher than the clouds which are above the earth, and that he might become equal to my power.

“And I hurled him out from the height, together with his angels. And he was flying around in the air, ceaselessly above the Bottomless.

“And thus I created the entire heavens. And the third day came.” 2 Enoch 29

Therefore, Bowman & Komoszewski are correct. John’s prologue describes Jesus as the preexistent Word who was already existing prior to the creation of all things, proving that Christ is not a creature whom the Father brought into existence. Rather, the Son is an uncreated divine Person who has always been existing along with the Father from before the creation of all things.

Unless indicated otherwise, scriptural citations taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).

FUTHER READING

THE UNCREATED WORD ENTERS CREATION

JOHN 1:1 

The Truth of John 1:1

JOHN 1:1 REVISITED

CHRIST: THE UNCREATED CREATOR OF ALL CREATION

NT SCHOLARSHIP ON JOHN 1:1 AND TITUS 2:13 PT. 1

What Kind of Theos is Jesus?

The following excerpt is taken from the monumental work titled The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense, authored by Robert M. Bowman Jr. & J. Ed Komoszewski, published by Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2024, Part 3: The Name of Jesus: Jesus’ Divine Names, Chapter 21: Could Jesus Be One of the Gods?, pp. 404-407.

In my estimation this is THE best and most comprehensive exposition and defense of the biblical basis for the Deity of Christ. Every serious Trinitarian Christian student of the Holy Bible, apologist, and/or theologian must have this book in the library.

“IF HE CALLED THEM GODS . . .” (JOHN 10:34–36)

We now move to considering whether the New Testament writings support the notion of a category of “gods,” other than false gods, into which Christ might be placed. As we mentioned earlier, Psalm 82 has played a significant role in debates over the deity of Christ because of Christ’s own reference to the psalm:

The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:33–36)

Unitarians tend to lean very heavily on this passage to trump all of the biblical evidence for the deity of Christ.³⁸ Latter-day Saints, on the other hand, interpret both this passage and Psalm 82 as support for their belief in the (potential) deity of all humanity.³⁹ These diverse theological uses of both Psalm 82 and John 10 might suggest the need for careful consideration before using these texts as proof texts for a particular doctrine.

In current biblical scholarship, John 10:34–36 is one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament—and not because of its supposed difficulty for orthodox theology. One of the difficult questions concerns what view, if any, of the identity of the “gods” in Psalm 82 is presupposed in John 10:34–36. The dominant theory today is that John 10 reflects the view (documented only in later Jewish literature) that the “gods” were the Israelites when they received the law at Mount Sinai.⁴⁰ However, we agree with Andrew Lincoln that John 10 does not clearly refer to that interpretation of Psalm 82 and that Jesus’ argument can be understood without settling this question.⁴¹

The more important question is how Psalm 82 fits into Jesus’ response to his Jewish critics who accused him of blasphemy. Many people understand John 10:34–36 to be arguing that if others (whoever they were) could rightly be called “gods” in Psalm 82, then Jesus could also rightly call himself a god or God’s son. This way of reading John 10:34–36 assumes that the term “gods” is used affirmatively in Psalm 82:6, which we have shown is incorrect. Does John 10:34–36 mistakenly assume such a reading of Psalm 82:6, and if not, how is Jesus using the Psalm in his argument?

A helpful insight comes from an older, largely neglected article in 1964 by Lutheran scholar Richard Jungkuntz. Most interpreters assume that the statement “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35b) means simply that Scripture is true. While agreeing with that principle, Jungkuntz argues that John 10:35b means something more: that Scripture cannot go unfulfilled.⁴² Note the parallel between the following two sayings of Jesus in John’s Gospel:

“If [ei] on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken [lythē], are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?” (John 7:23)

“If [ei] he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken [lythēnai]—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:35–36)

In these texts, “breaking” Scripture does not mean merely denying its truth but causing it to be unfulfilled. The verb luō and the synonymous verb kataluō in a few other places also have this meaning of causing Scripture to be unfulfilled (Matt. 5:17; John 5:18). The implication is that in John 10:35, Jesus was saying that Psalm 82:6 must be fulfilled in some way. The aside, “and Scripture cannot be broken,” which normally is something that would not have needed to be said in a discussion among Jews, apparently was made to indicate that the text pointed forward to a genuine if surprising fulfillment.

We see how Jesus interpreted this fulfillment of Psalm 82 in his concluding rhetorical question in John 10:36. Whatever those gods were, Scripture did not call them “gods” for no purpose. What those so-called gods failed to be, Jesus really was. They were unrighteous; Jesus was “consecrated” (John 10:36a). They did not genuinely represent God; Jesus, who was sent by the Father (10:36a), did. They failed to live up to the titles of “gods” and “sons of the Most High” (synonymous in the context of Psalm 82:6); Jesus really was “the Son of God” (10:36b). Thus, Jesus’ argument was not, “They were rightly called gods, and so am I,” but rather, “Their failure as ‘gods’ is stated in Scripture to point forward to me coming from the Father as his real Son.” On this reading of John 10:34–36, the “gods” of Psalm 82 are contrasted with Jesus in a sort of “reverse typology” roughly analogous to the way Paul contrasts Adam as the source of sin and death with Christ as the source of righteousness and eternal life (Rom. 5:12–19; 1 Cor. 15:21–22).

If Jesus was not claiming deity, it would have been easy enough to have said something like, “I’m not God; I’m just one of his many sons.” He never did. Whatever the precise nuance of Christ’s argument, he was clearly placing himself in a category of one—not arguing that he belonged in the same category as the “gods” of Psalm 82. Jesus was not, as his critics claimed, a man who was “making himself ” God; he was God’s Son whom the Father had sent by making him a man (cf. John 1:14).

ARE THERE GENUINE “GODS” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?

If John 10:34 does not refer to a group of genuine “gods” subordinate to God the Creator, are there any such references in the New Testament? The answer to this question is emphatically no. The Greek word theos (“God,” “a god,” or “gods”) occurs 1,317 times in the New Testament. Remarkably, there are only eight occurrences of the noun in a plural form (John 10:34, 35; Acts 7:40; 14:11; 19:26; 1 Cor. 8:5 [bis]; Gal. 4:8) and at most only eight that in English we would translate as “god” with a lowercase g (Acts 7:43; 12:22; 19:27; 28:6; 2 Cor. 4:4; Phil. 3:19; and possibly Acts 17:23a; 2 Thess. 2:4).⁴³ We have already seen that John 10:34–35 does not refer to a group of beings as legitimate “gods.” There is no debate over the fact that at least most of the remaining texts refer unmistakably to false gods. There is, however, debate over Paul’s statement, “For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’” (1 Cor. 8:5). Notoriously, Joseph Smith cited this text (in his usual authoritarian style) to prove his doctrine of the plurality of Gods:

Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many; and that makes a plurality of Gods, in spite of the whims of men. . . . You know and I testify that Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods. I have it from God, and get over it if you can.⁴⁴

LDS scholars have sometimes presented a softer claim, arguing that in 1 Corinthians 8:5 Paul was not referring exclusively to heathen or idolatrous gods. Such a qualification of Joseph’s position is forced on them by the explicit references to idols that frame Paul’s statement (see 1 Cor. 8:4, 7). In order to infer genuine gods from verse 5 along with the admitted pagan gods, Richard Draper and Michael Rhodes appeal to the Greek word hōsper there, translating it “as in fact.”⁴⁵ The problem with this argument is not the translation “as in fact” but their assumption that “many gods” means that there are many beings that are rightly affirmed to be gods. There are “in fact” many gods, but the question is whether these gods deserve to be called by that name.

Paul answers no to that question in the immediate context in two ways. First, he qualifies his reference to other gods and lords by saying, “although there may be so-called gods” (1 Cor. 8:5a). The Greek word translated “so-called” in several of the major contemporary English versions (ESV, NABRE, NET, NRSV, etc.), legomenoi, makes it clear that these objects of religious devotion are only called gods (by their devotees).

Second, Paul contrasts these other “gods” and “lords” with “one God, the Father” and “one Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 8:6). He has already affirmed that “there is no God but one” (8:4); now he expands on that confession by including Jesus Christ alongside the Father. Latter-day Saints, however, think that Paul qualified this confession to allow that there are other gods by saying “yet for us” (8:6a). In their view, “for us” in 1 Corinthians 8:6a contrasts our one God and one Lord with the many gods and many lords that rule other earths or worlds. The Father and the Son are the one God and one Lord for “this earth,” but there are many gods and lords for other worlds.⁴⁶

Nothing in the context of 1 Corinthians 8:6 supports this LDS interpretation. To the contrary, the “us” in context refers to well-informed believers, in contrast to unbelievers and new converts who may not fully understand the issue. Thus, Paul had just written, “we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one’” (8:4). The affirmation that “we know . . . that ‘there is no God but one’” is then repeated and elaborated in Paul’s statement, “yet for us there is one God the Father . . .” (8:6). Paul is saying that although there are indeed many “so-called gods” (8:5), that is, objects of worship called gods by unbelievers, we recognize only one God, one Lord.⁴⁷

The New Testament, then, makes no positive, affirmative references to a group of “gods.” The word theos in the New Testament always refers either to the one true God or (a surprisingly few times) to false gods. There is no third category of lesser “gods.”

38. E.g., Buzzard and Hunting, Doctrine of the Trinity, 45–46, 87, 125, 220, 291–92, 309.

39. See Daniel C. Peterson, “‘Ye Are Gods’: Psalm 82 and John 10 as Witnesses to the Divine Nature of Humankind,” in The Disciple as Scholar: Essays on Scripture and the Ancient World in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, ed. Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges (Provo, UT: FARMS at BYU, 2000), 471–594.

40. See Jerome H. Neyrey, “‘I Said: You Are Gods’: Psalm 82:6 and John 10,” JBL 108 (1989): 647–63; Menahem Kister, “Son(s) of God: Israel and Christ: A Study of Transformation, Adaptation, and Rivalry,” in Son of God: Divine Sonship in Jewish and Christian Antiquity, ed. Garrick V. Allen, Kai Akagi, Paul Sloan, and Madhavi Nevader (University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2019), 188–224 (esp. 200–203).

41. Andrew T. Lincoln, The Gospel according to Saint John, BNTC (London: Continuum, 2005), 307.

42. Richard Jungkuntz, “An Approach to the Exegesis of John 10:34–36,” CTM 35, no. 9 (Oct. 1964): 559–60.

43. In Acts 17:23a, Paul uses an altar “to an unknown god” (NET) as an object lesson for his proclamation about the true God the Athenians did not know. Second Thessalonians 2:4 can be taken to mean that the man of lawlessness will proclaim himself “to be God” (most translations) or “to be a god” (NABRE, NWT), but either way the man of lawlessness is a false god.

44. Smith, History of the Church, 6:475.

45. Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes, Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, BYU NT Commentary (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2017), 413.

46. Draper and Rhodes, Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, 413.

47. For more on 1 Corinthians 8:6, see pp. 496–500, 608–12.

FURTHER READING

“I SAID: YOU ARE GODS”

JWS, PSALM 82 & HUMAN JUDGES

The Meaning of “Lord” in 1 Corinthians 8:6

1 COR. 8 AND JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

A HYMN TO THE DIVINE CHRIST

REV. 3:14 REVISITED… ONE MORE TIME!

FIRSTBORN OF CREATION REVISITED… AGAIN!

GOD GAVE JESUS LIFE?

In this post I will share another case of the Gnostic influence upon the teachings of Islam, specifically as it relates to Adam and Satan.

THE ISLAMIC TEACHING

The Muslim scripture states that after Allah had created Adam with his two hands and breathed his spirit into him, Allah then ordered all the angels and Satan to bow down in worship of the first man. The devil refused to do so since he believed he was superior to Adam to his being created from fire, whereas the latter was produced from clay:

When thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to create a mortal out of mire, And when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down before him prostrate, The angels fell down prostrate, every one, Saving Iblis; he was scornful and became one of the disbelievers. He said: O Iblis! What hindereth thee from falling prostrate before that which I have created with both My hands? Art thou too proud or art thou of the high exalted? He said: I am better than him. Thou createdst me of fire, whilst him Thou didst create of clay. He said: Go forth from hence, for lo! thou art outcast, And lo! My curse is on thee till the Day of Judgment. He said: My Lord! Reprieve me till the day when they are raised. He said: Lo! thou art of those reprieved Until the day of the time appointed. He said: Then, by Thy might, I surely will beguile them every one, Save Thy single-minded slaves among them. He said: The Truth is, and the Truth I speak, That I shall fill hell with thee and with such of them as follow thee, together. S. 38:71-85 Pickthall

The Quran describes the Devil as genie or jinn, all of whom were produced from smokeless fire:

[Remember] when we said unto the angels, worship ye Adam: And they [all] worshipped [him], except Eblis, [who] was [one] of the genii, and departed from the command of his Lord. Will ye therefore take him and his offspring for [your] patrons besides me, notwithstanding they are your enemies? Miserable [shall such] a change [be] to the ungodly! S. 18:50 Sale

Surely We created man of a clay of mud moulded, and the jinn created We before of fire flaming. S. 15:26-27 Arberry

He created man of a clay like the potter’s, and He created the jinn of a smokeless fire. S. 55:14-15 Arberry

The ahadith also indicate that angels were made from light, in contrast to the jinn:

28 Events of the Day of Resurrection and the Beginning of Creation

(9a) Chapter: The Beginning of Creation, and Mention of the Prophets – Section 1

`A’isha reported God’s messenger as saying, “The angels were created from light, the jinn from smokeless fire[1], and Adam from what has been described to you[2].”

Quran; 4:13,

Quran; 3:59 (dust); 15:26, 28:33; 55:14 (crackling clay).

Muslim transmitted it.

Reference: Mishkat al-Masabih 5701

In-book reference: Book 28, Hadith 172 (Sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/mishkat:5701)

And:

18 The Book of Miscellaneous ahadith of Significant Values

(370) Chapter: Ahadith about Dajjal and Portents of the Hour

‘Aishah reported: The Messenger of Allah said, “Angels were created from light, jinns were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and ‘Adam was created from that which you have been told (i.e., sounding clay like the clay of pottery).”

[Muslim].

Reference: Riyad as-Salihin 1846

In-book reference: Book 18, Hadith 39 (Sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1846)

Other hadiths attest that Adam was created in the very image and form of Allah:

I. Initiating the Greeting

5873. Hammam related from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet said, “Allah created Adam on HIS FORM and HIS HEIGHT was sixty cubits. When He created him, He said, ‘Go and greet that group angels and listen to how they greet you. It will be your greeting and the greeting of your descendants.’ He said, ‘Peace be upon you,’ and they said, ‘Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah,’ and they added, ‘and the mercy of Allah.’ Everyone who enters the Garden will be in form of Adam. People have been getting shorter until now.” (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, Chapter 82. Book of Asking Permission to Enter; emphasis mine)

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger as saying: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, created Adam in HIS OWN image with HIS LENGTH of sixty cubits, and as HE created him HE told him to greet that group, and that was a party of angels sitting there, and listen to the response that they give him, for it would form his greeting and that of his offspring. He then went away and said: Peace be upon you! They (the angels) said: May there be peace upon you and the Mercy of Allah, and they made an addition of “Mercy of Allah.” So he who would get into Paradise would get in the form of Adam, his length being sixty cubits, then the people who followed him continued to diminish in size up to this day. (Sahih Muslim, Book 040, Number 6809 https://sunnah.com/muslim:2841; *; emphasis mine)

GNOSTIC INFLUENCE

The fable that I will be citing is taken from the Gospel of Bartholomew (GB), which scholars believe has been influenced by Gnosticism. What makes GB such an interesting document is that it explicitly affirms the eternal preexistence and essential Deity of Christ and his personal distinction from the Father. It also teaches Jesus’ virginal conception and birth, and describes his virgin Mother in a highly exalted manner.

With the said I now plunge into the text itself. All emphasis is mine.  

The Gospel of Bartholomew

From “The Apocryphal New Testament”

M. R. James-Translation and Notes

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924

Particular scholars believe that Bartholomew may have been written in the 4^th century AD in Greek, and later translated into the Coptic language between the 5^th and 6^th century (MS 1991 – The Schoyen Collection).

IV

10 And as he thus spake, Jesus raised him up and said unto him: Bartholomew, wilt thou see the adversary of men? I tell thee that when thou beholdest him, not thou only but the rest of

11 But they all said unto him: Lord, let us behold him.

12 And he led them down from the Mount of Olives and looked wrathfully upon the angels that keep hell (Tartarus), and beckoned unto Michael to sound the trumpet in the height of the heavens. And Michael sounded, and the earth shook, and Beliar came up, being held by 660 (560 Gr., 6,064 Lat. 1, 6,060 Lat. 2) angels and bound with fiery chains. 12 And the length of him was 1,600 cubits and his breadth 40 (Lat. 1, 300, Slav. 17) cubits (Lat. 2, his length 1,900 cubits, his breadth 700, one wing of him 80), and his face was like a lightning of fire and his eyes full of darkness (like sparks, Slav.). And out of his nostrils came a stinking smoke; and his mouth was as the gulf of a precipice, and the one of his wings was four-score cubits.

14 And straightway when the apostles saw him, they fell to the earth on their faces and became as dead.

15 But Jesus came near and raised the apostles and gave them a spirit of power, and he saith unto Bartholomew: Come near, Bartholomew, and trample with thy feet on his neck, and he will tell thee his work, what it is, and how he deceiveth men.

16 And Jesus stood afar off with the rest of the apostles.

17 And Barthololmew feared, and raised his voice and said: Blessed be the name of thine immortal kingdom from henceforth even for ever. And when he had spoken, Jesus permitted him, saying: Go and tread upon the neck of Beliar: and Bartholomew ran quickly upon him and trode upon his neck: and Beliar trembled. (For this verse the Vienna MS. has: And Bartholomew raised his voice and said thus: O womb more spacious than a city, wider than the spreading of the heavens, that contained him whom the seven heavens contain not, but thou without pain didst contain sanctified in thy bosom, &c.: evidently out of place. Latin 1 has only: Then did Antichrist tremble and was filled with fury.)

18 And Bartholomew was afraid, and fled, and said unto Jesus: Lord, give me an hem of thy garments (Lat. 2, the kerchief (?) from thy shoulders) that I may have courage to draw near unto him.

19 But Jesus said unto him: Thou canst not take an hem of my garments, for these are not my garments which I wore before I was crucified.

20 And Bartholomew said: Lord, I fear lest, like as he spared not thine angels, he swallow me up also.

21 Jesus saith unto him: Were not all things made by my word, and by the will of my Father the spirits were made subject unto Solomon? thou, therefore, being commanded by my word, go in my name and ask him what thou wilt. (lat. 2 omits 20.)

22 [And Bartholomew made the sign of the cross and prayed unto Jesus and went behind him. And Jesus said to him: Draw near. And as Bartholomew drew near, fire was kindled on every side, so that his garments appeared fiery. Jesus saith to Bartholomew: As I said unto thee, tread upon his neck and ask him what is his power.] And Bartholomew went and trode upon his neck, and pressed down his face into the earth as far as his ears.

23 And Bartholomew saith unto him: Tell me who thou art and what is thy name. And he said to him: Lighten me a little, and I will tell thee who I am and how I came hither, and what my work is and what my power is.

24 And he lightened him and saith to him: Say all that thou hast done and all that thou doest.

25 And Beliar answered and said: If thou wilt know my name, at the first I was called Satanael, which is interpreted a messenger of God, but when I rejected the image of God my name was called Satanas, that is, an angel that keepeth hell (Tartarus).

26 And again Bartholomew saith unto him: Reveal unto me all things and hide nothing from me.

27 And he said unto him: I swear unto thee by the power of the glory of God that even if I would hide aught I cannot, for he is near that would convict me. For if I were able I would have destroyed you like one of them that were before you.

28 For, indeed, I was formed (al. called) the first angel: for when God made the heavens, he took a handful of fire and formed me first, Michael second [Vienna MS. here has these sentences: for he had his Son before the heavens and the earth and we were formed (for when he took thought to create all things, his Son spake a word), so that we also were created by the will of the Son and the consent of the Father. He formed, I say, first me, next Michael the chief captain of the hosts that are above], Gabriel third, Uriel fourth, Raphael fifth, Nathanael sixth, and other angels of whom I cannot tell the names. [Jerusalem MS., Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Xathanael, and other 6,000 angels. Lat. I, Michael the honour of power, third Raphael, fourth Gabriel, and other seven. Lat. 2, Raphael third, Gabriel fourth, Uriel fifth, Zathael sixth, and other six.] For they are the rod-bearers (lictors) of God, and they smite me with their rods and pursue me seven times in the night and seven times in the day, and leave me not at all and break in pieces all my power. These are the (twelve, lat. 2) angels of vengeance which stand before the throne of God: these are the angels that were first formed…

48 Bartholomew saith unto him: Be still (be muzzled) and be faint, that I may entreat my Lord.

49 And Bartholomew fell upon his face and cast earth upon his head and began to say: O Lord Jesu Christ, the great and glorious name. All the choirs of the angels praise thee, O Master, and I that am unworthy with my lips . . . do praise thee, O Master. Hearken unto me thy servant, and as thou didst choose me from the receipt of custom and didst not suffer me to have my conversation unto the end in my former deeds, O Lord Jesu Christ, hearken unto me and have mercy upon the sinners.

50 And when he had so said, the Lord saith unto him: Rise up, suffer him that groaneth to arise: I will declare the rest unto thee.

51 And Bartholomew raised up Satan and said unto him: Go unto thy place, with thine angels, but the Lord hath mercy upon all his world. (50, 51, again enormously amplified in lat. 2. Satan complains that he has been tricked into telling his secrets before the time. The interpolation is to some extent dated by this sentence: ‘ Simon Magus and Zaroes and Arfaxir and Jannes and Mambres are my brothers.’ Zaroes and Arfaxatare wizards who figure in the Latin Acts of Matthew and of Simon and Jude (see below).

52 But the devil said: Suffer me, and I will tell thee how I was cast down into this place and how the Lord did make man.

53 I was going to and fro in the world, and God said unto Michael: Bring me a clod from the four corners of the earth, and water out of the four rivers of paradise. And when Michael brought them God formed Adam in the regions of the east, and shaped the clod which was shapeless, and stretched sinews and veins upon it and established it with Joints; and he worshipped him, himself for his own sake first, because he was the image of God, therefore he worshipped him.

54 And when I came from the ends of the earth Michael said: Worship thou the image of God, which he hath made according to his likeness. But I said: I am fire of fire, I was the first angel formed, and shall worship clay and matter?

55 And Michael saith to me: Worship, lest God be wroth with thee. But I said to him: God will not be wroth with me; but I will set my throne over against his throne, and I will be as he is. Then was God wroth with me and cast me down, having commanded the windows of heaven to be opened.

56 And when I was cast down, he asked also the six hundred that were under me, if they would worship: but they said: Like as we have seen the first angel do, neither will we worship him that is less than ourselves. Then were the six hundred also cast down by him with me.

57 And when we were cast down upon the earth we were senseless for forty years, and when the sun shone forth seven times brighter than fire, suddenly I awaked; and I looked about and saw the six hundred that were under me senseless.

58 And I awaked my son Salpsan and took him to counsel how I might deceive the man on whose account I was cast out of the heavens.

59 And thus did I contrive it. I took a vial in mine hand and scraped the sweat from off my breast and the hair of mine armpits, and washed myself (Lat. 2, I took fig leaves in my hands and wiped the sweat from my bosom and below mine arms and cast it down beside the streams of waters. 69 is greatly prolonged in this text) in the springs of the waters whence the four rivers flow out, and Eve drank of it and desire came upon her: for if she had not drunk of that water I should not have been able to deceive her.

61 And Bartholomew came and fell at Jesus’ feet and began with tears to say thus: Abba, Father, that art past finding out by us, Word of the Father, whom the seven heavens hardly contained, but who wast pleased to be contained easily and without pain within the body of the Virgin: whom the Virgin knew not that she bare: thou by thy thought hast ordained all things to be: thou givest us that which we need before thou art entreated.

62 Thou that didst wear a crown of thorns that thou mightest prepare for us that repent the precious crown from heaven; that didst hang upon the tree, that (a clause gone): (lat. 2, that thou mightest turn from us the tree of lust and concupiscence (etc., etc.). The verse is prolonged for over 40 lines) (that didst drink wine mingled with gall) that thou mightest give us to drink of the wine of compunction, and wast pierced in the side with a spear that thou mightest fill us with thy body and thy blood:

63 Thou that gavest names unto the four rivers: to the first Phison, because of the faith (pistis) which thou didst appear in the world to preach; to the second Geon, for that man was made of earth (ge); to the third Tigris, because by thee was revealed unto us the consubstantial Trinity in the heavens (to make anything of this we must read Trigis); to the fourth Euphrates, because by thy presence in the world thou madest every soul to rejoice (euphranai) through the word of immortality.

64 My God, and Father, the greatest, my King: save, Lord, the sinners.

65 When he had thus prayed Jesus said unto him: Bartholomew, my Father did name me Christ, that I might come down upon earth and anoint every man that cometh unto me with the oil of life: and he did call me Jesus that I might heal every sin of them that know not . . . and give unto men (several corrupt words: the…

69 Then I, Bartholomew, which wrote these things in mine heart, took hold on the hand of

Glory be to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that givest unto all thy grace which all we have perceived. Alleluia.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, the life of sinners.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, death is put to shame.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, the treasure of righteousness.

For unto God do we sing.

70 And as Bartholomew thus spake again, Jesus put off his mantle and took a kerchief from the neck of Bartholomew and began to rejoice and say (70 lat. 2, Then Jesus took a kerchief (?) I and said: I am good: mild and gracious and merciful, strong and righteous, wonderful and holy): I am good. Alleluia. I am meek and gentle. Alleluia. Glory be to thee, O Lord: for I give gifts unto all them that desire me. Alleluia.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.

71 And when he had ceased, the apostles kissed him, and he gave them the peace of love.

COMMENTARY

Note the similarities between GB and the Islamic corpus:

1. Both teach that Adam was fashioned after the image of God/Allah.
2. Both teach that the angels and Satan were to worship Adam, with GB emphasizing that this was to be done in recognition of the man being the very image of God.
3. Both teach that Satan refused to do so because he was made of fire, whereas Adam was made of clay, which made Satan think he was better than the first man.

It is obvious that the author(s) and/or editor(s) of the Quran has/have adapted the various uninspired myths, fables, traditions etc., which were held by Christians, Jews, pagans, etc., and passed them off as revelations from God. This is the precise charge which the disbelievers leveled against the compiler of the Muslim scripture:

Those who disbelieve say: “This (the Qur’an) is nothing but a lie that he (Muhammad) has invented, and others have helped him at it, so that they have produced an unjust wrong (thing) and a lie.” And they say: “Tales of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon.” Say: “It (this Qur’an) has been sent down by Him (Allah) (the Real Lord of the heavens and earth) Who knows the secret of the heavens and the earth. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” S. 25:4-6 Hilali-Khan

The example of GB proves that the unbelievers were right since the Quran is nothing more than a garbled up, incoherent and unintelligible mishmash of fairytales, traditions and specific legal rulings, which “Muhammad” “borrowed” from the beliefs and practices of the various cultures of that time.

FURTHER READING   

Christian Fables That Expose the Fraud of Muhammad

CHRISTIAN FABLES OF THE QURAN

GNOSTIC FABLES OF ISLAM

The Quran’s Manifold Blunders Pt. 2

Sujood – The Act of Worship Which Allah Shares With His Creatures

Is Jesus Really Like Adam After All?