The Bible and the Fathers on the Divinity of Jesus Christ

Among those who have responded to my testimony, a few Unitarians have come out of the woodwork, warning me sternly that there is one God. With this, I agree, of course. But they add that Jesus is not God. With this, I disagree.

1. Many Bible passages suggest that Jesus is not merely of God but that he is (i.e., one with) God.

“I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

“And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” (Philippians 2:6)

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9)

“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:8)

2. We are obligated to worship, praise, and thank Jesus in ways appropriate or reserved to God alone.

“And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” (Hebrews 1:6)

“That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.” (John 5:23)

“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59)

“Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:12-13)

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20)

3. Jesus did miracles of a sort no prophet had done before, showing divine power, forgave sins, and did other things that Jews of his day could ascribe only to God himself.

“Then they took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (John 10:31-33)

“But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” (Matthew 9:6)

“And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” (Mark 2:4-7)

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:39-41)

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)

“And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” (John 11:43-44)

“Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.” (Luke 9:16-17)

4. Jesus is given titles and ascribed general attributes and creative activities that can only be given to God.

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings.” (Revelation 17:14)

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17)

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9)

“The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:2-3)

“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews 1:2)

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)

“Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment.” (Hebrews 1:10-11)

“For us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)

5. The earliest Church writers, called the Apostolic Fathers and taught by the Apostles themselves, affirmed the divinity of Jesus as well (c. 95–150).

“For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God’s plan, of the seed of David, but also of the Holy Ghost.” (Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians 18:2)

“There is one Physician, who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first passible and then impassible—Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians 7:2)

“Await Him that is above every season, the Eternal, the Invisible, who for our sake became visible; the Intangible, the Impassible, who for our sake suffered, who for our sake endured in every way.” (Ignatius, Letter to Polycarp 3:2)

“I want the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink, I want his blood, which is incorruptible love.” (Ignatius, Letter to the Romans 7:3)

“Wherefore, girding up your loins, serve the Lord in fear and truth, forsaking the vain and empty talk and the error of the many, and believing in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave Him glory and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead.” (Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians 2:1)

By the time of Irenaeus, in Against Heresies (c. 175-200 A.D.), the divinity of Christ was being affirmed even more explicitly, since so many heretics had denied this. For example: “But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth.” (Against Heresies 3.19.2)

6. The divinity of Jesus was affirmed in the first great ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.).

“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [omitted from the 381 A.D. version: the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, consubstantial [homoousios] with the Father;

By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];

Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;

He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

And in the Holy Ghost.

[But those who say: ‘There was a time when he was not;’ and ‘He was not before he was made;’ and ‘He was made out of nothing,’ or ‘He is of another substance’ or ‘essence,’ or ‘The Son of God is created,’ or ‘changeable,’ or ‘alterable’—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]” (The Nicene Creed)

Conclusion

I could go on, because the Bible and other sources are quite clear about the divinity of Jesus, who is God the Son, and they make this point in many ways indeed.

Heretics, who deny the divinity of Jesus, point to the fact that he prays to his Father (Mt 26:39) and even calls him his God (Jn 20:17). “Obviously, then, they are distinct persons,” goes the argument. “Therefore, Jesus is not God!” But all that validly follows from the premises is that Jesus is a distinct person from his Father. Yet, the above passages (and others) make the doctrine unmistakable: Jesus is also one with his Father. They are, as it were, “joined” in the Godhead. Exactly what their unity consists of is a matter long debated, and long considered a mystery that it is not given us to understand. If you want to study this question, the topic to study is the Trinity.

Why should we expect to be able to understand this immediately, or even at all in this life? We’re talking about God, who in his very nature is more powerful than the entire universe, having created it, and who is beyond space and time, having created that. Suppose God wanted to live among us, as one of us: Here we have God the Son. Suppose God wanted to make himself always available to his faithful children, but in a way that would not interfere with our free will: Here we have God the Holy Spirit. So we can understand why God would be “in three persons”; but we cannot understand precisely how God might bring these things about, or what the relationship would be between these three persons. It certainly does not follow that there are three gods.

If you deny that Jesus is God—if you deny that he is one with the Father, that they are joined in the Trinity with the Holy Spirit—then, ultimately, you must deny Scripture as well as the earliest Church, as reflected by the earliest Church Fathers. There is no coherent way to reinterpret many of the above verses, so that Jesus emerges as some lesser being who is not God. Only those who are willing to disregard large numbers of passages and clearly-established biblical doctrine can deny the divinity of Jesus.