This post contains scriptures where Jesus is clearly not viewed by the writer as God.
Paul’s statements clearly do not see Jesus as God.
1 Cor 15:20-28;
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human, 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.”
But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.
Luke says that Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature.”
Luke 2:52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” — Luke 2:52 (ASV)
The Greek is: **καὶ Ἰησοῦς προέκοπτεν [ἐν] τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ χάριτι παρὰ θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις.
The NRSV translates it: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” — Luke 2:52 (NRSV)
The verse concludes Luke’s only account of Jesus between infancy and the beginning of his adult ministry. It follows the episode of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple (Luke 2:41–51).
An important point for your earlier questions about Jesus’ age and development is that Luke explicitly portrays Jesus as undergoing normal human development: he increased (προέκοπτεν) in wisdom and age/stature, rather than simply possessing complete adult wisdom from childhood. The Greek ἡλικίᾳ (hēlikia) can mean age, maturity, or stature, which accounts for the difference between the ASV’s “stature” and the NRSV’s “years.”
================
John says JBap saw the dove come down on Jesus. If Jesus was God why the Dove?
The passage is John 1:32–34. John the Baptist explicitly says that he saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remain on Jesus.
John 1:32–34 (NRSV): “And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One of God.’”
The important distinction is that John’s Gospel does not actually say that John the Baptist saw Jesus being baptized. It says that John saw the Spirit descend like a dove and remain on Jesus. This is somewhat different from the Synoptic accounts:
- Mark 1:10 — Jesus sees the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove.
- Matthew 3:16 — the Spirit descends like a dove; the narrative does not explicitly identify the observer.
- Luke 3:22 — the Spirit descends like a dove; again, no observer is explicitly identified.
- John 1:32 — John the Baptist explicitly says, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove.”
That difference is significant if you’re examining who witnessed the baptism/theophany in the different Gospel traditions.
==========
Mark 6:5 When he went home he was “not able to do a deed of power”
John 7:37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.
=============================
Hebrews begins with an extraordinarily elevated description of the Son:
“He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being…”
—Hebrews 1:3, NRSV
The passage has highly sophisticated Greek prose and a carefully constructed sequence describing the Son’s relationship to God and creation.
ChatGPT’s Prompt: Provide scriptures where Critical bible scholars say Jesus is clearly not viewed by the writer as God.
Response:
The clearest New Testament passages
The strongest examples come from passages where the New Testament writer distinguishes Jesus from God, portrays God as Jesus’ superior, or describes Jesus as a human being appointed and exalted by God.
One qualification is important: a passage can distinguish Jesus from God without necessarily denying that Jesus has a divine status or participates in God’s identity. Critical biblical scholars debate how these texts relate to later Christian doctrines of Jesus’ divinity.
The translations below follow your usual preference: the American Standard Version (ASV) for the Hebrew Bible and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) for the New Testament.
1. Mark 10:17–18 — Jesus distinguishes himself from God
NRSV, Mark 10:18: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”
Why it matters: Jesus distinguishes himself from God in response to being called good. The statement can be read as a refusal to accept a divine identification or as a challenge to the man’s understanding of goodness. The verse alone does not settle the question of Jesus’ divinity.
2. John 17:3 — The Father is identified as the only true God
NRSV, John 17:3: “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Why it matters: Jesus addresses the Father as “the only true God” and identifies himself as the one sent by God. The sentence distinguishes the Father from Jesus.
Critical-scholarship context: James D. G. Dunn examines how early Christians understood Jesus’ relationship to the one God of Israel in Christology in the Making. Dunn emphasizes the historical development of Christological language rather than treating all New Testament descriptions as interchangeable. See Dunn’s book.
3. John 20:17 — Jesus calls the Father his God
NRSV, John 20:17: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Why it matters: The risen Jesus explicitly calls the Father “my God.” This is particularly significant because it occurs after the resurrection.
The Gospel of John also contains unusually elevated descriptions of Jesus. This verse establishes a distinction between Jesus and the Father, but it does not, by itself, explain the full relationship between Jesus and divinity in John’s theology.
4. 1 Corinthians 8:6 — Paul distinguishes one God from one Lord
NRSV, 1 Corinthians 8:6: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
Why it matters: Paul identifies the Father as “one God” and Jesus as “one Lord.” This is one of Paul’s clearest statements distinguishing the two.
Important qualification: Many scholars argue that Paul is not simply placing Jesus outside the divine sphere. The inclusion of Jesus in a statement about the one God of Jewish monotheism may instead give Jesus an exceptionally exalted status. The passage clearly distinguishes Jesus from the Father, but scholars disagree about whether it also includes Jesus within the divine identity.
5. 1 Timothy 2:5 — Jesus is the mediator between God and humanity
NRSV, 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human.”
Why it matters: The writer distinguishes the one God from the human mediator, Christ Jesus. Jesus is explicitly described as human.
Historical-critical note: Many scholars regard the Pastoral Epistles, including 1 Timothy, as written by a later author writing in Paul’s name rather than by Paul himself. Therefore, this passage should not automatically be treated as Paul’s own wording or theology.
6. Acts 2:22 — Jesus is a man accredited by God
NRSV, Acts 2:22: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know.”
Why it matters: Jesus is described as a man, while God performs deeds through him. This fits a pattern in Acts in which Jesus is God’s chosen and empowered agent.
7. Acts 2:36 — God makes Jesus Lord and Messiah
NRSV, Acts 2:36: “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Why it matters: God is the actor, and Jesus is the one whom God makes Lord and Messiah. The wording can support an exaltation Christology: Jesus is raised to a position of authority by God.
8. Acts 3:13 — God glorifies Jesus
NRSV, Acts 3:13: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus.”
Why it matters: Jesus is called God’s servant, and God is the one who glorifies him. The description is consistent with the biblical tradition of a human agent chosen and exalted by God.
9. Acts 17:30–31 — God appoints the man who will judge the world
NRSV, Acts 17:31: God “has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.”
Why it matters: In context, Paul is speaking about Jesus’ resurrection. God appoints the man through whom the world will be judged. The passage presents Jesus as God’s appointed agent rather than explicitly identifying him as God.
10. 1 Corinthians 15:27–28 — The Son is ultimately subject to God
NRSV, 1 Corinthians 15:28: “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.”
Why it matters: Paul distinguishes God from the Son and says the Son will ultimately be subject to God. This is one of the strongest passages for the claim that Paul envisages a hierarchy between God and Jesus.
Qualification: Paul also describes Jesus as reigning and exercising extraordinary authority in this same passage. Subordination does not necessarily mean that Paul considers Jesus merely an ordinary human being.
11. Revelation 3:12 — The risen Jesus repeatedly says “my God”
NRSV, Revelation 3:12: The risen Jesus speaks of “the name of my God” and “the city of my God.”
Why it matters: Even in Revelation, where Jesus receives extraordinary heavenly honor, he refers to God as his God. The text distinguishes Jesus from the one he calls God.
Additional passages about Jesus’ humanity and exaltation
These passages are especially relevant to historical-critical scholarship because some scholars argue that they preserve earlier Christian beliefs in which Jesus became God’s exalted Son or Lord through resurrection.
| Scripture | What the passage says | Historical-critical significance |
|---|---|---|
| Romans 1:3–4 | Jesus is descended from David and designated Son of God in power through resurrection. | A possible example of exaltation Christology. |
| Acts 5:30–31 | God raised Jesus and exalted him as Leader and Savior. | God raises and exalts Jesus. |
| Acts 13:32–33 | God fulfills the promise by raising up Jesus. | Connects Jesus’ status with God’s action. |
| Luke 22:42–43 | Jesus prays to the Father, asking that his will be done. | Distinguishes Jesus’ will from the Father’s in the narrative. |
| Mark 13:32 | The Son does not know the day or hour; the Father does. | Presents a distinction in knowledge between the Son and the Father. |
| John 14:28 | Jesus says, “the Father is greater than I.” | Explicitly expresses a relationship of greater and lesser. |
| Hebrews 5:7–10 | Jesus prays to God, learns obedience through suffering, and is designated high priest by God. | Presents Jesus as obedient and appointed by God. |
Bart D. Ehrman discusses Romans 1:3–4 and the speeches in Acts as possible evidence of an early exaltation Christology—a view in which Jesus began as human and was exalted by God. He distinguishes this from an incarnation Christology, in which Jesus existed as a divine being before becoming human.
See Ehrman’s discussions of exaltation Christology in Acts and an early creed in Romans 1:3–4.
A crucial distinction: Ehrman argues that some early Christian traditions reflect an exaltation Christology, but he does not conclude that Paul himself consistently held that view. The New Testament contains different Christological emphases, sometimes within the same document.
Which passages provide the strongest evidence?
1. Acts 2:22, 36
Jesus is a man accredited by God, whom God makes Lord and Messiah. These verses fit the pattern of exaltation through God’s action.
2. 1 Corinthians 15:27–28
The Son is ultimately subjected to God. James D. G. Dunn and other scholars have discussed how this subordination qualifies or limits claims about Jesus’ divine status, although alternative interpretations exist.
3. 1 Timothy 2:5
Jesus is explicitly called human and distinguished from the one God. The important caveat is that this letter is commonly dated later than Paul’s undisputed letters.
4. John 17:3 and John 20:17
Even the Gospel with some of the New Testament’s highest Christology distinguishes Jesus from the Father, whom Jesus calls the only true God and his own God.
The scholarly conclusion
It would be inaccurate to say that critical biblical scholars unanimously conclude that Jesus is not God. Their conclusions vary according to the author, the date of the text, and what they mean by the word God.
For further reading:
- Bart D. Ehrman, How Jesus Became God. Explores how beliefs about Jesus’ status developed in early Christianity. Publisher and book information.
- James D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making. Examines the historical development of incarnation, Son of God, and other Christological concepts. Publisher’s description.
The most defensible historical-critical claim is that some New Testament passages portray Jesus as a human being whom God appoints, raises, exalts, and ultimately subjects to himself. Whether those descriptions exclude every form of divine status for Jesus is a further interpretive question, not something the passages all answer identically.
