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John 14:9 - Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?' Jesus no where calls himself "God" above, so what the trinitarian has to do is add such a thought to what is written. As yet, I have not seen any explanation as to how the trinitarian adds such a thought to the above verse, except that that they say that Jesus is here claiming to be God. Of course, "the Father" is mentioned, who is indeed the God of, the Supreme Being over, Jesus, but the trinitarian usually will deny that Jesus is his Father. The trinitarian would have to assume and add to the scripture that Jesus is speaking as one person of God, and that he speaks of his God and Father as another person of God, but I don't see how they can actually plug the assumptions into what Jesus said, except that it end up claiming that Jesus is his Father. While the "oneness" believers might be able to read into this verse that Jesus was his Father, I don't see how the trinitarian could read the idea that Jesus was here claiming to be the Supreme Being. Actually, of course, Jesus was not claiming to be his God nor his Father, but rather that his God and Father could be seen in him, through his words and through his works, which were done in the name of his God and Father, Yahweh, which agrees with the rest of the scriptures. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God [THEOS, mighty one] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. -- John 1:18, New American Standard Version. (NAS) John was not saying that Jesus was the Supreme Being whom no one had seen, but rather that Jesus was a mighty one begotten by the only true Supreme Being, and that Jesus explained the only true Supreme Being. -- John 17:3. John 4:34 - Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work." -- World English (WEB) Who sent Jesus? -- Isaiah 61:1 - Yahweh ... has sent me. (WEB) John 9:4 - I must work the works of him who sent me. (WEB) Who sent Jesus? "Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen." -- Deuteronomy 18:15 (WEB). John 10:32 - Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?" John 14:10 - I speak not from myself; but the Father living in me does his works. -- Whose words did Jesus speak? "Yahweh said... I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him." -- Deuteronomy 18:17,18 (WEB). John 10:25 - The works that I do in my Father's name, these testify about me. -- In whose name did Jesus perform his works? -- "Yahweh said... whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." -- Deuteronomy 18:17,18 (WEB) When Jesus said: "He who has seen me has seen the Father," did he mean that everyone who saw him walking around on earth had seen the Father? No, because he also had earlier said to the unbelieving Jews: "The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form." (John 5:37) And again in John 8:19: "You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." So Jesus could not have been speaking of seeing the Father in him by physical eyes, but rather by means of the eyes of comprehension. This indicates that Jesus meant that if his disciples had seen him, that they also had seen his Father, since Jesus did the works of his Father. (John 8:38) As John said: "No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." (John 1:18) And Jesus also had said: "Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me. Not that any man has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father." -- John 6:45,46. However, Jesus in the context does tell us what he meant when he said that he who had seen him had seen the Father also: "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father living in me does his works." (John 14:10) Rather than claiming to be God Almighty, he is saying that he spoke the words of God Almighty his Father, and thus in this manner the Father could be seen in him. This is in harmony with the prophecy that Yahweh would put his words into his mouth, and that he would speak in Yahweh's name. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Jesus was stating in John 14:9 that he so reflected the Father's character, that to observe and learn of him was tantamount to observing and learning of the Father. Literally, of course, "no man has seen God at any time". -- John 1:18; 1 John 4: 12; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15. Christian love, Ronald For more information, see: http://godandson.reslight.net/john-14-9.html __________________ Praise Yahweh! Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, For his lovingkindness endures forever. (Psalm 106:1, World English Bible translation) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:30, King James Version)

Related Books Please note that I do not necessarily agree with all viewpoints presented by the authors of these books. One God & One Lord : Reconsidering the Cornerstone of the Christian Faith Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament The Father and the Son: Is Jesus God? Divine Truth or Human Tradition A Reconsideration of the Roman Catholic-Protestant Doctrine of the Trinity in Light of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian The Trinity's Weak Links Revealed A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.