The conclusion, that the Bible makes a distinction between God and Jesus, and therefore that Jesus is not God, given how the New Testament uses the title “God,” came as a surprise to me personally. To confirm my conclusion, I studied various books of the New Testament. These studies are available as articles:
Summary of the articles below
The Bible provides much evidence for Christ’s divinity but also that He is distinct from God and subordinate to the Father. We must consider both sets of evidence. This article summarizes the articles on this website about the nature of Christ.
Specific Bible Books
Book of Revelation
This article analyzes the relationship between God and Jesus in the book of Revelation, including how it uses divine titles. It concludes that the Son is subordinate to the Father, but also belongs with the Father when compared to the created universe.
Colossians Part 1
The roles of God and Christ in the letter to the Colossians – Are we saved by Christ or by God? Who created all things and who reconciled all things to God; God or Christ Jesus?
Colossians Part 2
This article discusses the view of Jesus in the letter to the Colossians; is Jesus God? Is He equal to the Father? Or is He a created being?
Specific Bible Passages
Philippians 2
Philippians 2:5-11 describes four chronological stages of Christ’s life – before He became man – His human life – His death – and His exaltation after His ascension. Do these verses describe Him as God? If Jesus is not God, why will every knee bow to Him?
1 Corinthians 8:6
1 Corinthians 8:6 shows that God is the Father alone. Trinitarians counter by saying that Jesus is God because (1) He co-created with God, (2) “God” and “Lord” are synonyms, and (3) this verse divides the words of the Shema between the Father and the Son.
Did Jesus claim to be God?
In this verse, the Jews accused Jesus of claiming to be God. Based on Jesus’s debate with the Jews in this chapter, what did Jesus claim to be? Is verse 33 correctly translated? Or did Jesus, in John 10:36, claim to be THE Son of God?
I and the Father are one.
This article discusses three statements by Jesus that are often thought to mean that He is God Himself, namely “I and the Father are one,” “The Father is in Me, and I in the Father,” and “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 10:30; 38; 14:9).
Origin and Pre-Existence
Only-Begotten Son
As the “only-begotten,” Jesus is the only being generated from the being of the Father. But some argue that monogenēs should not be translated as “only begotten” but as “only unique.” This article motivates why “only begotten” is correct.
Firstborn Of All Creation This article argues that Colossians 1:15 refers to the Son as the firstborn in a literal sense, namely that He literally was the first to exist. But since He was “born,” He was not created. Rather, He, Himself is “the Beginning” (Col 1:18; Rev 3:14) of all creation.
Jesus existed before his birth.
The Son always existed in the form of God and was equal to God, but was sent by God, emptied Himself, and descended from heaven to be born as a human being.
God created through His Son.
God created all things through Jesus Christ. As begotten of God, the Son was not created. Since the Son also created time, He ‘always’ existed. But of the reality beyond time – the source of the universe – we know nothing.
Jesus in the Old Testament
Jesus always existed for God created all things through Him. We must, therefore, find Jesus in the Old Testament (OT). God is invisible but was seen in the OT. This article finds evidence of two divine beings in the OT, implying that one of them is Jesus.
Jesus is not God but subordinate to God.
Jesus is not God.
In the Trinity theory, God is one Being but three equal Persons. In contrast, the Bible always distinguishes between God and Jesus. For example, God is invisible but Jesus is visible, Jesus calls God His God, He is the image of God, and He is at God’s right hand.
Jesus is the Word of God.
Christ is the “Word of God” because everything that the creation receives from God, including existence, sustenance, knowledge, and salvation, flows through His Son. Also, through Christ, the adoration and thanksgiving of the creation flow back to God.
The Almighty is the Father.
The title, “the Almighty,” appears ten times in the New Testament. This article shows that the New Testament refers to the Father alone as “the Almighty.” Some verses make an explicit distinction, e.g., “the Lord God the Almighty AND the Lamb” (Rev 21:22).
The Son is subordinate to God.
The Son was subordinate to God before His birth and still is now after His ascension. Everything that the Son has, both as a human and eternally, He received from His Father, including His authority to raise the dead and to judge, and the Fullness of Deity.
If Jesus is not God, why must we worship Him? We may worship only God, but we must also worship Jesus. Does that mean that He is God? The English word “worship” implies worshiping God. The Greek word that is translated as worship (proskuneó) does not require the one worshiped to be God.
Summary of these articlesThe basic meaning of the Greek word translated as “God” (theos) is an immortal being with supernatural powers. To translate theos as “God” when it refers to Jesus is an application of the Trinity doctrine; not proof there-of.
What does theos mean?
The Greek word theos has a wide range of meanings, including false gods, God’s people, and the Almighty. The English word “God” refers only to the Almighty. This article analyses in what sense the New Testament refers to Jesus as theos.
John 1:18 – The Only Begotten God
Many ancient manuscripts of John 1:18 refer to Jesus as son and not as theos. In any case, the word “God” is an interpretation for theos means “god” and is only translated as “God” when the translator thinks that it refers to the Ultimate Reality.
John 20:28 – “My Lord and my God!“
Why did Thomas address Jesus as ho theos (literally, the god) in John 20:28? Thomas could not have called Jesus “my God” because Jesus never taught that He is God and because the disciples, at the time, did not think or teach that Jesus is God.
Is Jesus “God” in John’s gospel? The title “God” appears more than 100 times in John’s gospel and it consistently distinguishes between God and Jesus. Only 3 instances possibly refer to Jesus as God, but these instances are debatable. And John wrote that the Father is Jesus’ God.
Romans 9:5
Paul never refers to Jesus as God. He always distinguishes between Jesus and God. The huge variation in the translation of Romans 9:5 disqualifies it as evidence that Jesus is God. It depends on punctuation which, in the Bible, is interpretation.
Hebrews 1:8
Hebrews 1:8 refers to Jesus as theos but the next verse shows that He is NOT God for it says that God is His God. Furthermore, Hebrews 1:1-2, 6 makes an explicit distinction between Jesus and God and represents Jesus as subordinate to God.
John 1:1
Introduction
John 1:1 is very important in the controversy over the deity of Christ. This article introduces the articles that discuss its translation, including alternative translations, and the meanings of “the Word,” “the beginning,” and “with God.”
The Word
The normal meaning of logos is “message.” Some propose that the logos in John 1:1 is not a person but a personification of God’s eternal plan. In Greek philosophy, the logos was the intermediary through whom God created all things.
The Word was a god. John 1:1b includes the article (the) before theos (God), but John 1:1c omits it. Jehovah’s Witnesses, therefore, translate John 1:1c as: “the Word was a god.” This article lists seven objections to this translation.
Theos is a count noun. To defend their translation, “the Word was a god,” Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that “God” is a count noun and count nouns must always be either definite or indefinite, even when used qualitatively. This article evaluates this argument.
The Word was God.
The translation, “the Word was God,” interprets theos as definite, but John 1:1c uses theos in a descriptive sense. In other words, it says that the Word was like God; He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15; cf. Heb 1:3).
This translation interprets theos as definite, but John 1:1c uses theos in a descriptive sense. In other words, the Word was like God, as the Bible elsewhere states, He is the image of the invisible God and the exact representation of His nature.
Is John’s Logos the same as Philo’s Logos?
Philo, a Jewish philosopher who wrote a few decades before the NT was written, included the Logos of Greek philosophy in his interpretation of the Old Testament and described the Logos as very similar to the Logos in the New Testament (Jesus Christ). This article shows these parallels and explains why they exist.
Hebrews 1:8 refers to Jesus as “GOD” but the next verse refers to the Father as His “GOD:”
“1:8 Of the Son He says,
“YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER … 1:9 … THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.” (NASB)
The reference to Jesus “GOD” in verse 8, for the following reasons, does not mean that Jesus is God in the modern sense of the word:
(1) Jesus is described as theos but that does not mean He is the Almighty.
Firstly, as discussed in the article on theos, there is no word in the original Greek that is exactly equivalent to the modern word “God:”
We use the word “God” for the Almighty; the one who exists without cause and who caused all others things to exist.
The word “God” in Hebrews 1:8 is translated from the Greek word theos but it has a much wider range of meanings. Originally, it was used by the Greeks for their gods, such as Zeus. When Greek became the lingua franca – the bridge or common language – in Europe during the centuries before Jesus was born, the Jews began to use this same word for YHVH (the God of the Old Testament). But theos also retained its much broader meaning. The New Testament, therefore, still uses theos for the gods of the nations (e.g., 1 Cor 8:5) and even for Satan (2 Cor 4:4).
Therefore, when the translator thinks that a specific instance of theos refers to God Almighty, it is translated as “God.” In other instances, it is translated as “god.”
In the NASB, the word “GOD” is in all caps because it is a quote from the Old Testament. However, in other instances where theos refers to Jesus, for example John 20:28, it might be translated as “God,” indicating that Jesus is God Almighty. But that reflects the interpretation of the translator. It is an application of the Trinity doctrine; not proof of that doctrine.
If one understand Jesus as the Son of God, through whom God created all things, and who still upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb 1:2-3), but who received His existence from His Father, then references to Jesus as theos may be translated as “god,” with a lower “g.”
However, in a Christian context, the words “God” and “god” have assumed special meanings which one would not find outside the church, namely that “god” refers to a false god. For that reason, we do not want to translate theos, when it refers to Jesus, as “god.” Perhaps we should rather translate it as “Son of God.” But the important point remains that the readers must understand that, the fact that the Bible refers to Jesus as God, does not prove that He is the Almighty; the One who exists unconditionally.
(2) God is Jesus’ God.
Secondly, “GOD” in the next verse (Heb 1:9) refers to the Father. In that verse, the phrase “GOD, YOUR GOD” means that Jesus has a God over Him. God is also Jesus’ God. We find this principle, that Jesus is God, in many other places in the Bible John 20:17; Heb 1:9; 2 Cor 11:31; Eph 1:3, 17; 1 Peter 1:3; Rev 1:6; 3:2, 12). If the Father is Jesus’ God, Christ is subordinate to the Father, which is contrary to the Trinity doctrine, in which they are co-equal.
(3) The king is also called god.
Hebrews 1:8-9 is a quote from Psalm 45. That psalm refers to the king of Israel as “god.” Hebrews 1 refers to Jesus as “god” because it interprets the king in the psalm as a type of Christ and because the psalm refers to the king as “god.”
The word that is translated “God” in Psalm 45 is elohim. As shown by the fact that Psalm 45 refers to the king as elohim, this word is similar to theos in that it is used both for the true God and for certain superior human beings.
(4) Better than angels
A main purpose of Hebrews is to exalt Jesus. The author does this in a number of ways. For example, Hebrews says that the Son has become “much better than the angels” (Heb 1:4). If the writer of Hebrews thought that the Son is the Almighty God, while would the writer try so hard to show that Jesus is “better than the angels?” He could simply have stated that Jesus is God.
(5) Jesus is distinct from God.
Several times, Hebrews explicitly distinguishes, not only between the Father and the Son, but between “God” and “His Son.” For example:
“God … has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb 1:1).
“Jesus … has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
If only the Father is “God,” then Jesus is not “God.”
6. Jesus is subordinate to God
In several ways, Hebrews describes the Son as subordinate to God. For example, the Son “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3). The equality of the Father and the Son is the cornerstone of the Trinity doctrine. If the Son is subordinate to the Father, then the Trinity doctrine collapses.
Indications that Christ is God
The following are other aspects in Hebrews 1 that might be understood as saying that Jesus is God:
(7) Only Begotten Son of God
Hebrews 1:5 quotes from Psalm 2, saying of Jesus, “you are my son, today I have begotten you.”
A human son is of the same substance as the human father but we must not assume, since Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God, that this means that Jesus is equal to the Father. He is called the Only Begotten Son of God to show that He has a very unique relationship with God AS FAR AS HIS ORIGIN IS CONCERNED. To describe Jesus as the “only begotten Son” is an attempt to explain something in human language which human minds cannot comprehend, for it is hidden in the mystery of the infinity.
(8) God commanded angels to worship the Son
God commanded all angels to worship the Son (Heb 1:6). This is also sometimes taken as evidence that Jesus is God Almighty. However:
(a) If Jesus was the Almighty God, then there would not have been any need for the Father to command angels to worship Him.
(b) The word that is translated as “worship” (proskuneó) simply means to show honor by bowing down. For example:
“When Jesus came down from the mountain, … a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him” (Matt 8:1-2).
In the Bible, there are many examples where this Greek word is used to say that one person gives honor to another human being, such as to a king.
But still, it is significant that all angels and all humans must give honor to the Son. But that is appropriate because God created all things through His Only Begotten Son. The Son “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb 1:1-3; cf. John 1:1-3; Col 1:15-17). In Him (Jesus) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). Everything that God does, He does through the Son.
Furthermore, since God had to command the angels to worship Jesus, Jesus is not the ultimate Source of all things. The Son must be worshiped but He still is subordinate to the Father.
Conclusion
That Jesus is called theos does not prove that He is God, for theos can also be translated as “god” with a small “g.” But translators are Trinitarians, and therefore believe that Jesus is God. To translate theos as “God,” with a capital “G,” rather than with a small “g,” when it refers to Jesus, is an implementation of the Trinity doctrine; not proof of it.
This article touches on various aspects that are discussed in other articles to show that Jesus is distinct from and subordinate to the Father. See the full list of available articles at the end of this article.
– END OF SUMMARY –
Purpose
Hebrews 1:8-9 refers to Jesus as “GOD:”
8 But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. 9 “YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU …”
“GOD” in verse 8 refers to Jesus. “GOD” in verse 9 refers to the Father: He is Jesus’ God. Since Hebrews 1:8 refers to Jesus as “God,” the question in this article is whether this proves that He is God.
All bold, underlining, UPPERCASE, font sizes, and italics in this article were added by myself. Bible quotes are from the NASB.
For the following reasons, Hebrews 1:8-9 does not mean that Jesus is God in the modern sense of the word:
1. JESUS IS IDENTIFIED AS THEOS.
There is no word in the original Greek text that is exactly equivalent to the modern word “God:”
In modern English, we use the word “God,” to identify one specific Being; namely, the uncaused Cause of all things. This word functions as A PROPER NAME FOR THE SUPREME BEING.
The word “God” in Hebrews 1:8 is translated from the Greek word theos, but this is the normal Greek word for the Greek gods, such as Zeus. This word does not identify any specific being, but a CATEGORY OF BEINGS. That category includes the true God of the Bible but also includes other beings. For example, Satan is also called theos, namely “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4).
Theos can be translated either as “god” with a lower case “g” or as “God.” It depends on who it refers to. When the translator understands a specific instance of theos to refer to the God of the Bible, theos is translated as “God.” In other instances, it is translated as “god.”
Therefore, whether to translate theos as “God” or as “god” depends on the translator’s interpretation. Translators render theos, when it refers to Jesus, as “God” with a capital “G” because they, generally, are Trinitarians. If one does not assume the Trinity theory, the handful of references to Jesus as theos in the New Testament may also be translated as “god.” The fact that Hebrews refers to Jesus as “God” is an implementation of the Trinity Doctrine; not proof there-of.
It is a form of collective circular reasoning: First, the Trinitarian translator capitalizes the “G.” Then the readers exclaim, SEE, it says “God! Therefore, Jesus is God!” For a further discussion, see – The Meanings of the Word THEOS.
2. JESUS HAS A GOD OVER HIM.
Verse 9, actually, proves that Jesus is not God, for it says to Jesus, “GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU.” In other words, Jesus has a God over Him. God is also Jesus’ God. This is similar to John 20. That chapter also refers to Jesus as “God” (v17) but in the same chapter Jesus refers to God as His God:
“I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17).
Hebrews 1:8-9 quotes from Psalm 45:6-7. Psalm 45:1-2 reads:
1 … I address my verses TO THE KING … 2 … GOD HAS BLESSED YOU forever …
This makes a distinction between God and the king of Israel. But verses 6 to 9 addresses the king of Israel as God:
6 YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER … 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED You … 9 Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen.”
The mention of the king’s wives in verse 9 confirms that “God” in verse 6 refers to the king of Israel as God. The words, “GOD, YOUR GOD, has anointed You” means that the true God is also the God of the king of Israel.
Hebrews 1 refers to Jesus as “GOD” because it interprets the king of Psalm 45 as a symbol of (a type of) Christ and because the king is called “God” in Psalm 45. This does not prove that Jesus is “God” in the modern sense of the word, for the word that is translated “God” in Psalm 45 is elohim and this word, similar to theos, is used for both the true God and for certain superior human beings. This is confirmed by the fact that Psalm 45 refers to the king as “god.” Another example is in Exodus 7:1, where “The LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made you a god [elohim] to Pharaoh.” The NASB translates elohim about 250 times with a small case “g” “god” or “gods.”
For more information, see the separate article on elohim. Literally, it is a plural word (gods). Strong’s defines elohim as “God” with a capital “G,” or “god.”
INDICATIONS FROM THE CONTEXT IN HEBREWS 1
So far, we have discussed three aspects from verses 8 and 9, namely:
The word theos,
The fact that the Father is identified as Jesus’ God and
Psalm 45, which these verses quote.
The next three points are from the context of Hebrews 1:8-9 in Hebrews 1:
4. Better than angels
A primary purpose of Hebrews is to exalt Jesus. The letter, for example, commences by saying that:
God appointed His Son as “heir of all things” (1:2).
Through the Son, God, “made the world” (1:2).
The Son “is … the exact representation of God’s nature” (1:3).
Jesus “upholds all things by the word of His power” (1:3).
The Son “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3).
Christ became “much better than the angels” (1:4).
If the writer of Hebrews thought that the Son was God, then there would have been no need to try so hard to show that Jesus is “better than the angels.” He could simply have said that Jesus is God.
5. DISTINCT FROM GOD
Hebrews several times explicitly distinguishes between “God” and “His Son.” For example, it says that “God … has spoken to us in His Son” (1:1) and identifies “God” as “the Majesty on high” (1:3). If the Son is distinct from God, then the Son is not God, if we use the word “God” in the way that the New Testament normally uses it.
6. SUBORDINATE TO GOD
In several ways, Hebrews describes the Son as subordinate to God. For example, the Son “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3). Other examples claim that God is the:
Original Owner, because He “appointed” His Son as the heir of all things (1:2).
Creator, for He made the world “through” the Son (1:2).
True glory, for the Son is the radiance of His glory (1:3).
The equality of the Father and the Son is the cornerstone of the Trinity doctrine. The entire remainder of the Trinity doctrine, such as that the Son has both a human and a divine nature, has been developed to reconcile this supposition with the Bible. If the Son is subordinate to the Father, then the entire Trinity doctrine collapses.
So far, we have discussed six aspects:
The word theos,
The fact that the Father is identified as Jesus’ God,
Psalm 45, which these verses quote,
Hebrews tries very hard to prove that Jesus is better than the angels,
Jesus is distinct from God, and
He is subordinate to God.
The next two points are further aspects from the context in Hebrews 1 that might be interpreted to saying that Jesus is God:
7. TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU
In verse 5, Hebrews 1 quotes from Psalm 2, saying of Jesus, “you are my son, today I have begotten you.” We must not assume that this means that Jesus is equal to the Father, in the same way that a human son is of the same substance as the human father. He is called the Only Begotten Son of God to reveal to us that He has a very unique relationship with God AS FAR AS HIS ORIGIN IS CONCERNED. To describe Jesus as the “only begotten Son” attempts to explain something in human language which human minds cannot comprehend, for it is hidden in the mystery of the infinity. He was not begotten as humans are. We should not give a literal interpretation to this symbolic language. We should allow the Bible to interpret it for us. For a further discussion, see Only Begotten Son of God.
8. WORSHIP THE SON.
According to Hebrews 1:6, God commanded all angels to worship the Son. This is similar to Philippians 2:9-10, where we read,
“God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above EVERY NAME, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW … and that every tongue will confess THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.”
We must worship Jesus, for God created all things through His Only Begotten Son. The Son still “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:1-3; cf. John 1:1-3; Col 1:15-17). “In Him (Jesus) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). Everything that God does, He does through the Son.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT JESUS IS GOD.
Firstly, in both Hebrews 1:6 and Philippians 2, it is God who commands all beings to worship Jesus. Philippians 2, for example, says that “God exalted Him.” If Jesus was God, then there would not have been any need for God to COMMAND His creatures to worship Him.
Secondly, in Philippians, “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” In other words; they will NOT confess Jesus as God.
Thirdly, the word that is translated “worship” (the Greek word proskuneó) has a much wider meaning than the English word “worship.” The word “worship” implies that the one who is worshiped is God, but there are many examples in the Bible where this Greek word is used to say that one person gives honor to another human being, such as to a king. Proskuneó simply means to show honor. Literally, it means “to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior.” For example, the three wise men came looking for the “King of the Jews” (Mt. 2:2). When they found Him, “they fell to the ground and proskuneóHim” (v11); not because He is God, for they did not think of Him as God, but because He is “born King of the Jews.”
Fourthly, in Philippians 2, Jesus is worshiped “to the glory of God the Father.” He is not worshiped independently from God, but “to the glory of God.” To glorify the Son is to glorify the Father. We worship the Father through the Son.
CONCLUSION
Even though the Son is worshiped, He is still subordinate to the Father. For a further discussion, see Jesus is worshiped.
CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE ARTICLE
That Jesus is called theos does not prove that He is God, for theos can also be translated either as “god” with a small “g.” But translators, generally, are Trinitarians, and therefore believe that Jesus is God. To translate theos as “God,” with a capital “G,” rather than with a small “g,” when it refers to Jesus, is an implementation of the Trinity doctrine; not proof of it.
This article argues that Colossians 1:15 refers to the Son as the firstborn in a literal sense, namely that He literally was the first to exist. But since He was “born,” He was not created. Rather, He, Himself is “the Beginning” (Col 1:18; Rev 3:14) of all creation.
Hebrews 1:8 refers to Jesus as “GOD” but the next verse refers to the Father as His “GOD:”