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Jerry Newcombe at http://doubtingthomasbook.com/thomas-jefferson-and-the-trinity/ gives 6 "proofs" that the Bible says Jesus is God. He writes the following on his website: "Priestley claims that the first writer to claim that Jesus was divine was the Plato-inspired Justin Martyr (of the mid-second century). He claims: 'We find nothing like divinity ascribed to Christ before Justin Martyr.' Yet the Bible claims that:
(a) Jesus could forgive sins, although only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:7)"
Reply: I see that you are working under the assumption that God does not or either cannot delegate authority. John 5:22, 27 says, "Nor does the Father himself judge anyone. He has given his Son the full right to judge...And he has given the Son the right to judge" TEV. Since Jesus was GIVEN the right to judge, this indicates a transfer of power which the Son did not previously have. When Jesus forgave a man of his sins, the people understood that this was a transfer of power. "When the people saw it, they were afraid, and praised God for giving such authority to people." Matt 9:8 TEV. Then Jesus passed on this authority to forgive sins to his apostles (John 20:22, 23). This does not make them God.
(b) Jesus was the Word of God made flesh “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:14, 1);
Reply: The translaton "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” demonstrates the failure of most Bible versions. The Greek highlights the differences between the two uses ot QEOS / theos / god in this passage, but the majority of Bibles refuse to reveal this difference. There are however many Bible translations and scholars who translate this verse otherwise:
Edward Harwood, "and was himself a divine person"
Newcome, 1808, "and the word was a god"
La Bible du Centenaire, L’Evangile selon Jean, by Maurice Goguel,1928: “and the Word was a divine being.”
John Samuel Thompson, The Montessoran; or The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists, Baltimore; published by the translator, 1829, "the Logos was a god
Goodspeed's An American Translation, 1939, "the Word was divine
Revised Version-Improved and Corrected, "the word was a god."
Prof. Felix Just, S.J. - Loyola Marymount University, "and god[-ly/-like] was the Word."
Moffatt's The Bible, 1972, "the Logos was divine"
International English Bible-Extreme New Testament, 2001, "the Word was God*[ftn. or Deity, Divine, which is a better translation, because the Greek definite article is not present before this Greek word]
Reijnier Rooleeuw, M.D. -The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, translated from the Greek, 1694, "and the Word was a god"
Hermann Heinfetter, A Literal Translation of the New Testament,1863, [A]s a god the Command was"
Abner Kneeland-The New Testament in Greek and English, 1822, "The Word was a God"
Robert Young, LL.D. (Concise Commentary on the Holy Bible [Grand Rapids: Baker, n.d.], 54). 1885, "[A]nd a God (i.e. a Divine Being) was the Word"
Belsham N.T. 1809 “the Word was a god”
Leicester Ambrose, The Final Theology, Volume 1, New York, New York; M.B. Sawyer and Company, 1879, "And the logos was a god"
Charles A.L. Totten, The Gospel of History, 1900, "the Word was Deistic [=The Word was Godly]
J.N. Jannaris, Zeitschrift fur die Newtestameutlich Wissencraft, (German periodical) 1901, [A]nd was a god"
Samuel Clarke, M.A., D.D., rector of St. James, Westminster, A Paraphrase on the Gospel of John, London "[A] Divine Person."
Joseph Priestley, LL.D., F.R.S. (in A Familiar Illustration of Certain Passages of Scripture Relating to The Power of Man to do the Will of God, Original Sin, Election and Reprobation, The Divinity of Christ; And, Atonement for Sin by the Death of Christ [Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1794], 37). "a God"
Lant Carpenter, LL.D (in Unitarianism in the Gospels [London: C. Stower, 1809], 156). "a God"
Andrews Norton, D.D. (in A Statement of Reasons For Not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians [Cambridge: Brown, Shattuck, and Company, 1833], 74). "a god"
J. Harold Greenlee, "and the Word was Deity" (A Concise Exegetical Grammar of New Testament Greek)
Paul Wernle, Professor Extraordinary of Modern Church History at the University of Basil (in The Beginnings of Christianity, vol. 1, The Rise of Religion [1903], 16). "a God"
George William Horner, The Coptic Version of the New Testament, 1911, [A]nd (a) God was the word"
Ernest Findlay Scott, The Literature of the New Testament, New York, Columbia University Press, 1932, "[A]nd the Word was of divine nature"
James L. Tomanec, The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed, 1958, [T]he Word was a God"
Philip Harner, JBL, Vol. 92, 1974, "The Word had the same nature as God"
Maximilian Zerwich S.J./Mary Grosvenor, 1974, "The Word was divine"
Siegfried Schulz, Das Evangelium nach Johannes, 1975, "And a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word"
Translator's NT, 1973, "The Word was with God and shared his nature
...with footnote, "There is a distinction in the Greek here between 'with God' and 'God.' In the first instance, the article is used and this makes the reference specific. In the second instance there is not article, and it is difficult to believe that the omission is not significant. In effect it gives an adjectival quality to the second use of Theos (God) so that the phrase means 'The Word was divine'."
Schonfield's The Original New Testament, 1985, "the Word was divine
J. Madsen, New Testament A Rendering , 1994, "the Word was a divine Being"
Jurgen Becker, Das Evangelium nach Johannes, 1979, "a God/god was the Logos/logos"
Curt Stage, The New Testament, 1907, "The Word/word was itself a divine Being/being."
Bohmer, 1910, "It was strongly linked to God, yes itself divine Being/being"
Das Neue Testament, by Ludwig Thimme, 1919, "God of Kind/kind was the Word/word"
Holzmann, 1926, "ein Gott war der Gedanke" [a God/god was the Thought/thought]
Friedriche Rittelmeyer, 1938, "itself a God/god was the Word/word"
Lyder Brun (Norw. professor of NT theology), 1945, "the Word was of divine kind"
Fredrich Pfaefflin, The New Testament, 1949, "was of divine Kind/kind"
Albrecht, 1957, "godlike Being/being had the Word/word"
Smit, 1960, "the word of the world was a divine being"
Menge, 1961, "God(=godlike Being/being) was the Word/word"
Haenchen, 1980, "God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos" [as mentioned in William Loader's The Christology of the Fourth Gospel, p. 155 cf. p.260]
Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch, 1982, "He was with God and in all like God"
Haenchen (tr. By R. Funk), 1984, "divine (of the category divinity)was the Logos"
Johannes Schulz, 1987, "a God/god (or: God/god of Kind/kind) was the Word/word." [As mentioned in William Loader's The Christology of the Fourth Gospel, p. 155 cf. p.260]
William Temple, Archbishop of York, Readings in St. John's Gospel, London, Macmillan & Co.,1933, "And the Word was divine."
John Crellius, Latin form of German, The 2 Books of John Crellius Fancus, Touching One God the Father, 1631, "The Word of Speech was a God"
Greek Orthodox /Arabic Calendar, incorporating portions of the 4 Gospels, Greek Orthodox Patriarchy or Beirut, May, 1983, "the word was with Allah[God] and the word was a god"
Ervin Edward Stringfellow (Prof. of NT Language and Literature/Drake University, 1943, "And the Word was Divine"
Robert Harvey, D.D., Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Westminster College, Cambridge, in The Historic Jesus in the New Testament, London, Student Movement Christian Press 1931 "and the Logos was divine (a divine being)"
Jesuit John L. McKenzie, 1965, wrote in his Dictionary of the Bible: "Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated . . . 'the word was a divine being.'
(c) the Jews picked up stones to kill Him “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33)—a claim Jesus did not dispute;
Reply: John 10:33 can also be translated as "a god" as it does in the New English Bible, which makes more sense in the context. “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? {10:35} If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), {10:36} say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am [the] Son of God?” ASV
Here Jesus was quoting Psalm 82 where human judges are called gods. Does it not make sense that the Son of God can be called a god also?
Jesus was adamant about the ignorance of the Jews, so we should not put too much stock in his enemies. Matt. 12:34 "Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matt. 22:29 "But Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God."
(d) before Abraham was, “I am” (a claim of deity, echoing back to God’s claim before Moses in the burning bush, John 8:58);
Reply: Yet another poorly translated passage, in both instances (John 8:58 and Exodus 3:14). Let us look at the context. Jesus identifies himself as the one "sent" by a superior, he did not come of his own accord (Jn.8:16,29,42,). This superior is identified as "Father" and "God" (8:54). Is not the sender the superior of the one sent? (Jn.13:16 cf Jn. 14:28). Jesus does nothing of his "own initiative" and he can only speak what he was "taught" by the Father (8:28). Jesus does not seek his own glory, but God's and "keeps His word" (8:50, 54). Could this be said of Almighty God?
The word EIMI (am) is in the present tense, but the surrounding context is not. They call this the “Extension from the Past” idiom or PPA (Present of Past Action). The reason for this are the words PRIN ABRAAM GENESQAI (before Abraham was). Many grammarians realize this, and have thus abandoned trying to read more into John 8:58. For this reason many Bibles translate John 8:58 in a way that makes more sense:
The (older) Living New Testament: "The absolute truth is that I was in existence before Abraham was ever born."
The 20th Century New Testament: "before Abraham existed I was."
Noyes, G.R. N.T. (1878) _Jesus said to them, truly, truly do I say to you, from before Abraham was, I have been.__
Hanson, J.W. New Covenant (1884) _Jesus said to them,_truly, truly, I say to you, I am before Abraham was born.__
Kraeling, E.G. Four Gospels (1962) _With another amen-saying, Jesus declares to them that before Abraham was, He (Jesus) is (hint of His preexistence)._
Parker, P.G. Clarified N.T._Jesus answered, before Abraham existed, I existed._
Cotton Patch Version (1970) _To this Jesus replied, I existed before Abraham was born.__
Ledyard, G.H. New Life Testament (1969) _Jesus said to them, for sure I tell you, before Abraham was born, I was and sum and always will be._
Dr. E.C. Dymond N.T. (1972) __Yes, indeed!; said Jesus: _He saw me in prospect. The fact is, that long before Abraham was conceived in his mother_s womb, that individual who I now am had been conceived in God's mind: He had completed the plan and specifications, so to speak, and therefore He was able to give Abraham a mental preview of me__.
Good News for the World (1969) _Jesus answer, I tell you the truth. I already was before Abraham was
born.__
The Complete Bible, An American Translation Goodspeed: "I tell you I existed before Abraham was born."
The Living Bible: "I was in existence before Abraham was ever born."
Lattimore: "Truly, truly I tell you, I am from before Abraham was born."
The New Testament, From the Peshitta Text, Lamsa: "Before Abraham was born, I was."
An American Translation, In The Language of Today, Beck: "I was before Abraham."
New Testament Contemporary English Version: "I tell you.that even before Abraham was, I was, and I am."
The Unvarnished New Testament: "Before Abraham was born, I have already been."
The New Testament, Kleist & Lilly: "I am here-and I was before Abraham."
The New Testament in the Language of the People, Williams: "I existed before Abraham was born."
The New Testament, Noyes: "From before Abraham was, I have been."
A Translation of the Four Gospels, Lewis: "Before Abraham was, I have been."
Wakefield, G. N.T. (1795) _Jesus said unto them: Verily verily I say unto you, before Abraham was born, I am He._
The Syriac New Testament, Murdock: "Before Abraham existed I was."
The Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels, Burkitt& The Old Georgian Version of the Gospel of John,
Blake & Briere "Before Abraham came to be, I was."
The New Testament Or Rather the New Covenant, Sharpe: "I was before Abraham was born."
The 20th Century New Testament 1904: "Before Abraham existed I was already what I am."
The New Testament, Stage: "Before Abraham came to be, I was."
International Bible Translators 1981 _Jesus said to them, I am telling the truth: I was alive before Abraham was born!__
The Coptic Version the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, Horner: "Before Abraham became, I, I am being."
The Documents of the New Testament, Wade: "Before Abraham came into being, I have existed."
Noli, M.F.S. N.T. (1961) _Jesus answered them: Well, well, I tell you, I existed before Abraham was born.__
"I have been in existence since before Abraham was born" Kenneth McKay
The Concise Gospel and The Acts, Christianson: "I existed even before Abraham was born."
A Translators Handbook to the Gospel of John, Nida: "Before Abraham existed, I existed, or I have existed."
The Simple English Bible: "I was alive before Abraham was born."
The Original New Testament, Schonfield: "I tell you for a positive fact, I existed before Abraham was born."
The Complete Gospels Annotated Scholars Version, Miller: "I existed before there was an Abraham."
Swann, G. N.T. (1947) Jesus said to them, verily, verily I say unto you, I existed before Abraham was born_
International English Version (2001) "I was alive before Abraham was born"
(e) Jesus was Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23);
Reply: For Matthew 1:23 The use of the titular name Imanuel had its earlier fulfillment is someone other than Jesus Christ:
"Both the context of Isaiah 7 and the use of 'Immanuel' two more times in chapter 8 (vv. 8, 10) raise the distinct possibility that the sign had a near fulfillment that affected Ahaz directly. Such a possibility is supported by the two verses immediately after 7:14 that tell us that the boy will still be young when Ahaz's enemies-the kings of Samaria and Damascus-will lose their power (a prediction fulfilled in 732 b.c.). The birth of a boy who would serve as a sign to Ahaz appears to be closely linked to the birth of Isaiah's son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz in 8:1-4. Both Immanuel in 7:15-16 and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz in 8:4 are young children when Damascus and Samaria collapse. And in 8:8 the two boys may be identified as Isaiah addresses Immanuel as if he were already present in Jerusalem. Verse 10 contains another occurrence of 'Immanuel' in the words 'God is with us.' The prophet was challenging Ahaz to trust God, who was "with" his people just as he had promised to be with them constantly. In Numbers 14:9 Joshua and Caleb had urged the Israelites to acknowledge that the Lord was with them and to begin the conquest of Canaan, but just like Ahaz the people chose the path of unbelief with its tragic consequences. An earlier king of Judah, Abijah, believed that God was with his people as they faced the numerically superior army of Jeroboam. Abijah's faith was honored as the Lord gave him a resounding victory (2 Chron 13:12-15)." -- Elwell, Walter A. "Entry for 'Immanuel'". "Evangelical Dictionary of Theology". http://www.biblestudytools.net/Dictionaries/BakerEvangelicalDictionary/bed.cgi?number=T366. 1997.
Was one of Isaiah's sons also God? Of course not!
Harris, in his Jesus As God, has this long, technical, and interesting statement:
"Matthew 1:23 is the first of Matthew's "formula citations" and reflects the LXX version of Isaiah 7:14, to which the evangelist has added O ESTIN KTL. The issue is whether MEQ HMWN O QEOS should be translated "God with us" or "God is with us," that is, whether MEQ HMWN is attributive and functions as an adjective or is predicative and functions as an adverb. It should be observed immediately that both of the above translations are feasible, for in both Hebrew (GKC §141f) and Greek (N. Turner, Syntax 294-98, 309-10) the copula may be omitted.
That Matthew attaches special significance to the name EMMANOUHL is incontestable: he has included in his citation of Isaiah 7:14 a line (KAI KALESOUSIN...EMMANOUHL) which was not directly germane to his purpose of showing that the virginal conception and the birth of Jesus were the fulfillment of Scripture; in addition, he has added a translation of the Hebrew expression El Imanuw-'el that the LXX had simply transliterated.
In arguing in favor of the translation "God with us," J. C. Fenton notes the inclusio in Matthew 1:23 and Matthew 28:20 (MEQ hHMWV hO QEOS-EGW MEQ hUMWN EIMI) and equates the EGW of 28:20 with the hO QEOS of 1:23: "Matthew is saying that Jesus is God" (81). But one may recognize the presence of inclusio without drawing Fenton's conclusion. The Messiah Jesus is now always with his obedient disciples (28:20) because God once deigned to visit his people in this Messiah (1:23). Is it likely that Matthew, whose favorite designation for Jesus is hUIOS QEOU would preface his Gospel with hO QEOS as a christological title?
Fenton also emphasizes that in Matthew META + the genitive almost always means "in the company of" rather than "in favor of" and therefore is more readily applicable to the Son than the Father (81). In the nature of the case, most uses of META in the Gospels denote a literal "being with," but one should not overlook its figurative use "of aid or help be with someone, stand by, help someone of God's help" (BAGD 509a, citing [with a "cf."] Matt. 1:23). Perhaps the closest verbal parallel in the NT to MEQ hHMWN hO QEOS is found in 2 Corinthians 13:11: hO QEOS ... ESTAI MEQ hUMWN. In both texts (EINAI) META denotes divine aid and favor.
Whereas the MT of Isaiah 7:14 reads the third-person singular qara (referring to the child's mother) and the LXX the second-person singular KALESEIS (referring to Ahaz), Matthew has the impersonal third-person plural KALESOUSIN "they (= people) will call him (Immanuel)." If these people are the followers of Jesus, "Immanuel" could here be portrayed as the post-Easter christological confession of the church, comparable to Thomas's confession, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28) . It is unnecessary, however, to restrict this confession to a post-Easter setting when QEOS became an occasional title of Jesus. For when, during the public ministry of Jesus, people glorified God that he had intervened in human history to bring physical or spiritual healing through Jesus, they were in effect giving Jesus the name "Immanuel"-in the person of Jesus "God is with us" to save. For
instance, the crowd at Nain who had witnessed Jesus' raising of the widow's son "glorified God" with the words "God has visited his people" (Luke 7:16), which is equivalent to saying "Jesus is Immanuel" (cf. also Luke 1:68-69).
In favor of the translation "God is with us," it is true that the translation of El Imanuw-'el that Matthew supplies, MEQ hHMWN hO QEOS simply reproduces the word order of the Hebrew, but if hO QEOS were in fact a title of Jesus, one might have expected the translation to be either hO MEQ hHMWN QEOS or hO QEOS MEQ hHMWN (or the more correct Greek hO QEOS hO MEQ HMWN). That is, word order suggests that MEQ hHMWN is predicative rather than attributive, functioning as an adverb rather than as an adjective.
There are only three occurrences of El Imanuw-'el in the OT, all in Isaiah. Twice the LXX translates the expression by (KURIOS) hO QEOS (Isa. 8:8, 10), and once it transliterates the phrase (Isa. 7:14). Matthew cites the transliteration found in Isaiah 7:14, but when he chooses to add a translation he uses the rendering found in Isaiah 8:8, 10 where, according to BDB 769a, El Imanuw-'el is a "declaration of trust and confidence, with us is God!" That is, the meaning of MEQ hHMWN hO QEOS seems almost indistinguishable from hO QEOS -hUPER hHMWN (cf. Rom. 8:31).
There are therefore strong reasons for believing that in Matthew 1:23 MEQ hHMWN hO QEOS signifies that in Jesus God is present, to bring salvation to his people rather than that Jesus, as hO QEOS is personally present with his people. Matthew is not saying, "Someone who is 'God' is now physically with us," but "God is acting on our behalf in the person of Jesus."" pp. 257, 258 Jesus as God-The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus by Murray J. Harris
(f) we wait for the return of “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Reply: Again, another Scripture that can be translated differently:
"of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ." New American Bible
"of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." American Standard Version
"of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." King James Version
"of the great God and our Saviour." Revised English Bible margin
"of the great God and our Saviour." New English Bible margin
"of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus." Moffatt
"the magnificent God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus." 21st Century NT
"the great God and our Savior." New Revised Standard Version margin
"the great God and our Savior." Revised Standard Version margin
"our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Contemporary English Version margin
"our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Jerusalem Bible margin
"great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ." Concordant Literal NT
"the great God and our Savior Christ Jesus." Rotherham
"the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" Worrell New Testament
"the great God, and if our Saviour Jesus Christ" New European Version
"the great God and our Savior" New American Standard Bible margin
"the Great God, and of our Deliverer Jesus Christ" The Original New Testament, Schonfield
"our Great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah" Jewish NT
"our great God and our Savior Jesus Messiah." The Power New Testament-Revealing Jewish Roots
"the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" Catholic Douay Bible
"the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" Good News Bible margin
"the Mighty God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ" Eonian Life Bible
"the great God and of our savior, the Annointed One Jesus" David Bentley Hart New Testament
See also The New Testament in Modern English, by J. B. Phillips; The Riverside New Testament; La Sainte Bible, by Louis Segond; Revised Version Improved and Corrected; Gilbert Wakefield NT; H. Highton NT; Herman Heinfetter NT etc
Henry Alford, in The Greek Testament, states: "I would submit that [a rendering that clearly differentiates God and Christ, at Titus 2:13] satisfies all the grammatical requirements of the sentence: that it is both structurally and contextually more probable, and more agreeable to the Apostle's way of writing."-(Boston, 1877), Vol. III, p. 421. See also 2Peter 1:2; 1Timothy 1:1,2; 2:5; 6:13; 2Timothy 1:1,2; 4:1; Titus 1:1; 3:6
