Scripture
John 1:1
John identifies the Word as both with God and God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word is divine
John opens his Gospel by distinguishing the Word from God while also identifying the Word as God. Christian answers about Jesus as God should start with both claims together.
Where this passage comes up
- God was once a manThe Bible and the Book of Mormon both describe God as God from all eternity. The Bible promises likeness to God, not a God who was once a man.
- John 1:1 says "a god"The missing article in John 1:1 marks what the Word is, not a lesser god; John separates the Word from all created things and ends with Thomas calling Jesus 'my God.'
- John did not write the Gospel of JohnDisputed authorship is not the same as unreliability. John's Gospel claims eyewitness roots, circulated early, and its view of Jesus appears in earlier sources.
- The New World Translation restores the truthJudged by its own standard of following the text, the New World Translation bends the verses about Jesus' identity in one direction, while much of it reads fairly.
- The Trinity is shirkThe Trinity is not three gods, but that is not the heart of the charge. The question is whether persons within the one God fit his oneness, and who Jesus is.
- The Trinity was invented at NicaeaNicaea met to answer Arius about the Son. The threefold name, the worship of Jesus, and the word Trinity were all in Christian use long before 325.
- Jesus is GodThe New Testament places Jesus inside the identity of Israel's one God, the Creator, while still distinguishing him from the Father.
- The Trinity is monotheismThe Bible says there is one God, distinguishes the Father, Son, and Spirit from one another, and treats each as that one God. The Trinity is the summary that keeps all three.