“I am God and there is no other.”

     At a seniors’ luncheon, I recently met a lovely old gentleman—he was friendly, he was gracious, he was interested in life, he was happy to talk about his experiences and, as we parted, he had the five of us hold hands as he prayed at the table. Then I asked him where he worshipped and he said he was “a fringe Christadelphian.” How disappointed I was! He said he didn’t believe in the Trinity, and the beginning of Jesus’ existence was only at Bethlehem. In fact, he had written a book defending his (dis)belief. In spite of this he still seemed to have complete faith in Jesus as his Saviour. Without critiquing his book item by item, I want to re-examine the doctrine of the Deity of Christ. Other excellent discussions are presented in the Precious Seed 2011 Supplement Behold your God, and in Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrine.

 “Deity” and “Trinity” in Scripture

     The word “trinity” never occurs in the Bible although it well indicates the concept of “three in one and one in three.” This is an idea that’s too big for us, so we make all kinds of analogies, like St. Patrick’s shamrock (three lobes but one leaf) or an egg (shell, yolk, white) or space (length, width, height). Even so, all these analogies break down and, in the end, Muslims still accuse us of worshipping “a three-headed god.” This was the controversy in the church in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries— Arius taught that “the son of God was created by the Father.” (Oxford Dictionary.) Athanasius countered with his classic work, The Incarnation of the Word of God (c.318 AD). Let’s look at the Scriptural doctrine from several different viewpoints:

1.The Grammar of the Bible

        There are several details of grammar that point subtly toward a plurality of Persons in the Godhead. The very first is the word “elohim” (Gen.1:1), a plural form for God, but taking a singular verb. Anti-Trinitarians will admit that it is a plural noun, but then think that we want a plural verb to go with it. Of course we don’t—we believe that the Trinity is so truly one and in agreement on every thought and action that a singular verb is only appropriate. Another grammatical construction is Genesis 1:26, where God says, “Let us make man in our image.” Only God could make man; he wasn’t talking to the angels— he was talking to the other Persons of the Holy Trinity. A third concerns the deity of Christ: “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58) This may sound a little ambiguous to English readers but the reaction of the Jews confirms that Jesus was claiming deity—“They picked up stones to stone him.”

2.Express Statements of the Bible

        Multitudes of verses come right out and say that Jesus is God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Romans 9:5 says, “…Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!” Titus 2:13 refers to “the blessed hope— the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Colossians 2:9 says, “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Finally, 2 Peter 1:1 talks about “the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

3.Biblical responses to Jesus

        Without always specifically claiming Deity, Jesus acted as only God could act. For example, in Mark 2:5, he says, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The response of the scribes was, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  Another interesting response came from the rich young ruler who addressed Jesus as “Good teacher.” Jesus countered with, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” Note that he did not say, “Do not call me good.” He obviously wanted the young man to acknowledge his Deity. (Mark 10:17,18) A third incident is John 10:30-33. The Jews wanted to stone him but not because of his miracles; rather, “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” One final response to Jesus is highly appropriate: Thomas saw his nail-imprinted hands and said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

        If (or since) we trust Jesus to be true, honest, and faithful, how could we ever deny his claim to Deity (and the claims of his apostles for him, too)? If we deny his Deity, we are calling him a liar! Next time, we will look at several more proofs of his Deity, not omitting several theoretical principles as well.Ì