Jesus—Was He God?
In the fourth century C.E. clerics of the Roman Catholic Church formulated the Trinity doctrine, which claims that Jesus was equal to his Father and part of a triune deity. However, many careful Bible students have held that the Scriptures actually do not support this widely taught doctrine.
Volume 2 of The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (1976) considers this matter. It acknowledges that there are “a few N[ew] T[estament] texts [that] raise the question whether the Son of God is also called God.” But what is the overall picture found in the “New Testament,” or Christian Greek Scriptures? This dictionary states:
“Jesus Christ does not usurp the place of God. His oneness with the Father does not mean absolute identity of being. Although the Son of God in his pre-existent being was in the form of God, he resisted the temptation to be equal with God (Phil. 2:6). In his earthly existence he was obedient to God, even unto death on the cross (Phil. 2:8). He is the mediator, but not the originator, of salvation (2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:20; Heb. 9:15), the lamb of God who bears the sins of the world (Jn. 1:36). After the completion of his work on earth he has indeed been raised to the right hand of God (Eph. 1:20; 1 Pet. 3:22) and invested with the honour of the heavenly Kyrios, Lord (Phil. 2:9 f.). But he is still not made equal to God. Although completely coordinated with God, he remains subordinate to him. (cf. 1 Cor. 15:28). This is true also of his position as eternal high priest in the heavenly sanctuary according to Heb. (Heb. 9:24; 10:12 f.; cf. Ps. 110:1). He represents us before God (cf. also Rom. 8:34). If in Rev. 1:13 ff. the appearance of the heavenly son of man is described with features from the picture of the ‘Ancient of Days’ (God) of Dan. 7, this is not to say that Christ is equal with God. In Rev. a distinction is always made between God and the ‘Lamb’.”
Surely the overall view of the Scriptures points to the fact that Jesus was not God as the Trinity doctrine claims.