GREYES

1. Jesus “failed” at his first attempt at healing the blind man at  Bethsaida. God cannot make mistakes; therefore, Jesus is not God.

Answer: Jesus did not fail at His first attempt. Jesus was making the point that His disciples needed more faith or, in other words, a ‘second laying on of hands’ to see more clearly who He was. If we read Mark chapter 8 from the beginning (1-21), we notice Jesus’ disciples still doubting Jesus’ capability when feeding the multitude. Furthermore, if we keep reading, after the blind man’s miracle, Jesus asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I am?” (8:27), and they answered that He is believed to be one of the prophets (8:28). Significantly, Jesus had to ask them a question a second time (note my italics), “But whom say ye that I am?” and Peter answered that Jesus is the Christ. And He commanded them not to tell anyone (8:30) in a similar fashion Jesus told the blind man not to tell anyone (8:26).

Throughout the gospels, Jesus did many miracles and never had to perform them again. For instance, Jesus was able to raise Lazarus from the dead at the first attempt. Moreover, He intentionally waited four days before doing the miracle. This speaks of Jesus’ confidence in Who His Father is (God); and, therefore, His own divine nature. Therefore, if Jesus could raise the dead, what happened in Bethsaida was intentional and not due to Jesus’ inadequacy.

2. All authority has been “given” to Jesus by the Father (God) in Matthew 28:18. How can Jesus be “God” if he was “given” this authority? And what was he before this? He was nobody. If Jesus is co-equal with the Father (God), as claimed by Trinitarians, why would Jesus need the Father to give Him authority if He is God Himself?

Answer: Firstly, being given authority does not undermine the full divinity of Jesus. This is because the divine persons of the Trinity are co-equals in nature, not in their roles. Indeed, everyone can agree that our children are human beings, not animals. Our sons and daughters will share our exact nature. Therefore, God the Father has given full authority to the Son in a similar fashion that a human father would make his son his heir.

‘The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons in One and Only Divine Being. This is not to be interpreted as three persons existing collaterally or side-by-side but instead as One God with a threefold manner of existence’ (Brakel, 1999). It is understandable how confusing this might sound to non-Christians, even some Christians. Nevertheless, with the evidence that we have in God’s Word, we use our God-given mind, and by reading the text, we try to make sense of the attributes of the Divine Being, and the existence of the Trinity is the most coherent argument using not only our reason but also our faith. Although the word ‘Trinity’ does not appear in the Bible, we have evidence of its existence in the Torah or Tanakh (Old Testament) and the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament).

Let us start with the Torah. In the very first book of the Pentateuch, that is, Genesis, the very first chapter, and the very first verse (Genesis 1:1), we can notice the original Hebrew word for God is in the plural form אֱלֹהִים (Elohim). This is the word used for The Tetragrammaton, which consists of the four letters of the name of God revealed to Moses, Yahweh (Y-H-W-H or יהוה‎ in Hebrew). Elohim usually expresses a plurality exceeding two, which is coherent with a trinitarian attribute of God (Brakel, 1999). Some have dismissed this idea by explaining this as ‘grammatical attraction’, a technical grammatical mismatch. However, the numerous occurrences of this phenomenon and the knowledge that there is only One God strongly point to the existence of three inseparable divine persons in One Godhead.

Moreover, there are some striking divine statements in Genesis 1:26 that read, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. Similarly, in Genesis 3:22, we read, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil”. In Malachi 1:6, the word ‘Maker’ is in the plural. Not only nouns are in plural but also pronouns (Plumer, 2004). Another occurrence is in Genesis 11:7 “Let us go down, and there confound their language”. God’s repetitive use of the plural relative to Himself makes a strong case for the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) consists of three verses mentioning the LORD in each one, conjoined to an activity (Brakel, 1999):

Verse 24: The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

Verse 25: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

Verse 26: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Another clear piece of evidence is in the New Testament is during Jesus’ Baptism in the Gospel of Matthew 3:16-17:

‘When He had been baptised, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”‘

3. If Jesus were God, how can the devil say to a God, “I shall give you all this if you worship me?” Therefore, Jesus is not God, for even the devil knew He was not.“The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert. There the devil tempted him (Jesus). ² After 40 days and 40 nights of going without eating, Jesus was hungry.” Jesus said lastly: ‘Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.’ Jesus clarified that the only person who should be worshipped is God and no one else.

Answer: First of all, it is unclear which Bible translation was used in this objection because all Bible translations (and there are many) agree that ‘Jesus went to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil’, not that He was actually tempted. ‘A man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.’ (James 1:14).

The devil was trying to lure Him, but Jesus was not carried away and enticed by these material gains; therefore, Jesus was not tempted. The devil could only try to tempt Him because although fully God, we must not forget that He was also fully human at the same time. Therefore, the devil was trying to appeal to the human nature of Jesus. But more importantly, the devil’s pursuit of tempting Jesus was only possible because it was Jesus’ will to be tempted. If we reread the verse, it says, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”. This means that Jesus intentionally allowed this encounter with the devil. He was led by the Spirit so that the devil could try to tempt Him. This sounds more like Jesus provoked and challenged Satan to tempt Him (Aquinas, 1947), not vice versa.

Finally, when Jesus says, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10), Jesus shows His authority over Satan. Satan wanted Jesus to worship him in exchange for these material things. In this verse, Jesus is actually saying that Satan is not worth worshipping; instead, Satan should worship God. Since Jesus is God, Satan should worship Him instead. Some may argue that Jesus uses the third-person pronoun “Him only shalt thou serve”, but we know that Jesus often spoke of Himself in the third person. This is evident in John 17:1-2: ‘These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”’

Even the demons recognise Jesus as God: ‘”Thou art Christ the Son of God.” And He (Jesus) rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ’ (Luke 4:41). It is also worth highlighting, according to this verse, Jesus did not want to be recognised as God, much less to be proclaimed God by demons. This may be because Jesus did not want the truth about Himself to be connected to evil, and He did not want to consider Himself equal to God. To support this idea, Philippians 2:6 reads, ‘Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;’ Therefore, Jesus’ humility seems to explain the lack of explicit claims about His divinity. Jesus might not have directly claimed to be God, rather He showed His divinity through His deeds.

4. The Father is greater than Jesus (John 14:28).

Answer: An explanation regarding authority has already been given in question 2. Speaking from the standpoint of His humanity, Jesus could state that ‘the Father is greater than Him’ (John 14:28). After Jesus’ resurrection, God the Father gave Him all authority, so Jesus became the most relevant person (or essence) of the Trinity because of His humility, obedience and sacrifice on the cross. To support this idea, we read in Philippians 2:6-11:

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; 7 rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on Earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

Additionally, it is plausible to assume that in any family fathers are considered as greater than their sons, not because they have more value or are superior in nature, but because they have a greater role. Therefore, a son does not cease to be human just because of his role. So likewise, God the Father is greater than God the Son in their respective roles, but they are the same in divine substance and glory (Brakel, 1999), along wit the Holy Spirit.

5. “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30). If Jesus were God, why couldn’t He do whatever He wanted, since He is God? Why must He listen to the Father (God) to be granted permission?  

Answer: Again, because Jesus, in His human form, did not consider Himself equal to God, even though He was entirely God at the same time. How can that be explained? No one knows how, only God. God gave us a mind to reason, and Christians believe God revealed His nature just enough to save people. Trying to explain God using our limited human reasoning is like putting an entire ocean in a bucket. If humans could fully explain God’s nature, then He would not be God anymore; humans would be! God’s mysterious nature is what makes God overwhelmingly impressive; it is what makes Him God and us His creation, for the creation can never be greater than its Creator. Therefore, as Jesus was in His human visible form, He did not consider Himself equal to God, but instead, He obeyed and sought the Father’s will.

Moreover, because of His obedience and humility, God the Father exalted Him and gave Jesus the authority to execute the judgment of all peoples. God the Father is the one Who raises the dead and gives them life. Nevertheless, since Jesus is the One that will execute judgment, no one will have everlasting life without believing in Jesus. This is why Jesus is called ‘The Door’ (John 10:9). We must go through Him for eternal life. ‘Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”’ (John 14:6).

²¹ For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. ²² For the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: ²³ 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 5:21-23)

6. The doctrine that Jesus taught was not His (John 7:16).

Answer: Again, this can find its answer in the questions above.

7. Is Jesus shy to say, ‘I AM GOD?’ There is not even one verse in the Bible where Jesus says, “I am God”. If Jesus were God, why did He never claim to be God? There are many passages in the Old Testament where God Almighty clarifies that He is God.

Answer: Again, Jesus did not want to reveal He was the Christ; instead, He showed His divine nature through His deeds. In addition to this, He did not want to consider Himself equal to God during His time on Earth. However, He did, on some occasions, claim to be God implicitly, and there is clear evidence that Jesus claimed to be God in John 8:57-58:

⁵⁷ Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen, Abraham? ⁵⁸ Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I Am.

We notice that Jesus used the term ‘I Am’, which is the Name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14: ‘And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.‘

In addition, you do not need a Theologian’s insight or a Theology degree to deduce that by Jesus saying that He Was before Abraham that He meant that He was and is God since this statement implies that Jesus is not bound to time or history, meaning He is LORD over History, for in human history Abraham existed before Christ. Yet, Jesus boldly states that before Abraham, ‘verily, verily’ He Is.

Another clear statement is in the Gospel of Mark 14:61-64:

⁶¹ But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. ⁶⁴ “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

Atheists, including Muslims, argue that the synoptic gospels seem to have improved to the Johannine Gospel, because the fourth gospel portrays Jesus as divine; and thus, is not as reliable as the Markan Gospel, considered the first of the synoptic gospels, and so more accurate (Markan priority). But here is a clear statement that Jesus is the Son of God and it is found in the first account of the gospel.

8. If Jesus were God, why would he differentiate Himself? Why would he say God ALONE is good? He is making clear that God alone is perfect and no one else, not even Himself. ‘And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God (Mark 10:17-18).

Answer: Jesus was not denying His divinity. Instead, Jesus was trying to make the rich man think. He wanted this young man to ponder the true meaning of goodness, hoping that he would realise that to be good is to follow Him and put God above his riches.

9. Jesus does not know ‘the hour’. ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only’ (Matthew 24:36). If Jesus were God incarnate in the flesh, how is it that He is unaware of the time of the coming hour? So, Jesus is not all-knowing which is an essential attribute of God. How can one claim Jesus is God when He lacks essential attributes of God?

Answer: Jesus “emptied Himself” and became like one of us with human-limited reasoning. Similarly, Jesus was not omnipresent when He was in His human state, but after Resurrection, He could go from one place to another without walking and even cross locked doors. This is evident in John 20:19:

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

10. Jesus worships God. If Jesus said, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’, why do Trinitarians continue to worship Jesus?

Answer: Christians worship and will continue to worship Jesus because we firmly believe He is God, and we maintain that all three persons of the Trinity are co-equals, co-essentials and co-eternal in One and Only Divine Being.

As mentioned previously, in His human state, although still fully God, He humbled Himself and did not consider Himself God, so yes, He was subject to the Father during this time. However, His obedience, humility, and temporary humanity (Incarnation) do not detract from His divinity.

CONCLUSION

Most Islamic objections to Jesus’ divinity can be explained by His willingness to become temporarily human. Jesus became like one of us because He wanted to. He died on the cross because He willingly laid down His life to secure the forgiveness of our sins; no one took His life from Him. To support this idea, we read, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). He could have prayed to the Father and all the torture and pain would have ceased immediately. (If you have not watched it yet, I recommend watching the movie ‘The Passion of Christ’ (2004) by Mel Gibson). But, instead, Jesus never gave up and fixed His eyes on the prize, which is the joy of spending eternity with us, His most treasured creation, and so He endured the cross:  ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Hebrews 12:2). Another supporting verse is John 19:11, when Jesus tells Pontius Pilate that he would have no authority over Him if it were not given to Pontius Pilate from above: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” (John 19:11). As we can see, out of His own will and love, Jesus died for all. All we need to do is to believe in Him.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16).

And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day’ (John 6:40)

Bibliography

Aquinas, T. (1947) Summa Theologica III. Edited by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York: Benziger Brothers.

Brakel, W. a (1999) The Christian’s Reasonable Service in which Divine Truths concerning the COVENANT OF GRACE are Expounded, Defended against Opposing Parties, and their Practice Advocated as well as The Administration of this Covenant in the Old and New Testaments, Practice.

Plumer, W.S. (2004) Theology for the people: or, Biblical doctrine, plainly stated. Sprinkle Publications.

JGR, the person behind Greyes, is a passionate follower of Jesus, and she delights in studying God’s Word, as well as encouraging others to deepen their relationship with Christ. She has attained a Certificate of Higher Education in Theology, Ministry, and Mission from Durham University and holds a Bachelor of Theology from the University of Oxford. Her theological education is distinguished by a robust academic emphasis on ancient Biblical languages (Hebrew and Greek) and Apologetics. Additionally, with her academic background in Art & Design and a Master of Science in Podiatry, she is dedicated to pursuing both fields when not composing works on Theology. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and cooking.