jerzy wrote:Christian2
I have no problem with Jn 17:3 or 20:17 but the Trinitarians wish those texts weren’t there in the Bible. They have nothing to show in support of their Trinity God theology. If they had it would mean that God contradicted Himself.
Check, mate.
I am a Trinitarian and I don't wish those tests were not in the Bible.
My interpretation of John 17:3 follows.
John 17:3 is used by non-trinitarians as a proof text that the Christ is not God, the incarnate Word of God.
Scripture in context:
John 17
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
17 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:
Father,
the hour has come.
Glorify Your Son
so that the Son may glorify You,
2 for You gave Him authority
over all flesh;[a]
so He may give eternal life
to all You have given Him.
3 This is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only true God,
and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.
4 I have glorified You on the earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
with that glory I had with You
before the world existed.
The Father is God -- Yod-Hei-Vav-Hei (YHVH).
Jesus called God YHVH. (or YHWH) “Father”
I believe Jesus was saying that God/Father is the only true God as opposed to false gods and idols
2 Chronicles 15:
3 For a long time Israel was without
the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. (Israel was worshiping idols then.)
The true God vs idols.
Jeremiah
10 But
the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' "
The true God vs idols.
1 Thessalonians 1:9
9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God,
The true God vs idols
1 John 5:20-21
20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is
the true God and eternal life. 21Dear children, keep yourselves from
idols.
True God vs idols
John 17:3
John 17:3 (New International Version)
3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
True God vs false gods/idols
Jesus is saying there is only one God/Creator -- YHWH. He is not saying that YHWH's Word and YHWH's Spirit are not God.
Non-Trins tend to forget about verse 5:
5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
with that glory I had with You
before the world existed.
In verse 5, Jesus is saying that He existed before the world existed. That tells me Jesus Christ is eternal and only God is eternal.
Notice something else:
3 This is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only true God,
AND the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.
To have eternal life, you must KNOW God AND Jesus Christ – the two go together.
Since eternal life means "knowing" the Father and the Son intimately (in that they dwell within the believer) and Christ joins Himself to the Father in this verse, it is clear enough that it is strongly Trinitarian, not anti-Trinitarian.
Christ is also making Himself equal with God in this verse, since we must "know" both the Father, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. While the Holy Spirit is not mentioned here, He has already been mentioned in the preceding chapters.
John 20:17 follows.
Some have objected `How can Jesus be divine if He acknowledges God to be His God, as in the words to Mary, `Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, "I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God"'' (John 20:17)
It is to be noted that when Jesus said `I am ascending to My Father and your Father and to My God and to your God', He did not to say `I am ascending to our Father and our God.' Jesus had to make the distinction between My Father and your Father and My God and your God.
It is also to be noted that in Jesus' statement we see the two natures of Christ. The statement, "My Father", points to the divine nature of Christ. When Jesus healed the man who was paralysed for 38 years the Jews objected to the healing because it took place on the Sabbath.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, `My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.' Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:16-18)
The Jews understood the statement `My Father' as a claim to divinity. Had the Lord Jesus said `Our Father has been working' there would have been no problem. However, Jesus intentionally made the distinction as He did in John 20:17.
When Jesus said, `My Father ', there was the reference to the divine nature in Him. When He said, `your Father', it was because they were adopted as children due to His work of redemption. When Jesus said, `My God', there was the reference to His human nature which He acquired through the incarnation. When He said, `Your God', it was because they were His creatures. Thus the one who is a Son by nature becomes a slave by the incarnation, in order that those who are slaves by nature become sons by adoption. Source: (M. Anderson, used by permission)