Reference
BibleRef
Reference pages used for BibleRef-first links to Scripture passages.
BibleRef, accessed June 16, 2026.
Open sourceArgument
The Deity of Christ
The New Testament presents Jesus as personally distinct from the Father while sharing divine names, works, worship, and identity.
Christian confession of Jesus' deity does not begin by adding a second god to Israel's God. It arises from the New Testament's treatment of Jesus as Creator, Lord, worshiped Son, and risen Lord.
Premises
- 1 John identifies the Word as with God and as God.
- 2 Paul and Hebrews place the Son on the Creator side of the Creator-creature distinction.
- 3 The risen Jesus receives divine confession and worship without correction.
Use the Bible's own categories
The decisive question is not whether the word Trinity appears in a verse. The question is whether the New Testament places Jesus in the unique identity, works, honor, and worship of the one God.
Keep distinction and deity together
John can say the Word was with God and was God. Christian doctrine preserves that pattern: the Son is not the Father, and the Son is not a creature.
Sources
Secondary context
Jesus and the God of Israel
Scholarly work on early divine-identity Christology and Jewish monotheism.
Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament's Christology of Divine Identity, Eerdmans, 2008.
Secondary context
Lord Jesus Christ
Scholarly work on devotion to Jesus in earliest Christianity.
Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, Eerdmans, 2003.