The claim is made that in John 17:3, Jesus only refers to TRUE GOD and NOT the Father. It is claimed that Jesus spoke of the only true as opposed to FALSE gods of which the ancient lands abounded, and thatt his is what Christ wished to emphasize,that among universal idolatry,there is but ONE TRUE GOD.
Actually, what Jesus said:
John 17:1 - Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
John 17:2 - even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him, he will give eternal life.
John 17:3 - This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. -- World English
So when Jesus said "you," in verse 3, who was he addressing?
Father, ... John 17:1
This is eternal life, that they should know you [Father], the only true God, and him whom you [Father] sent, Jesus Christ. -- World English
Yes, indeed, Jesus does identify his God and Father as the only true God, and excludes himself by stating that he was sent by the only true God.
Who sent Jesus?
Yahweh has... sent me. -- Isaiah 61:1. -- World English.
The God and Father of Jesus is indeed the only true God. Jesus is not his God whom Jesus declared to be the only true God who had sent him.
Trinitarians usually would like to reword what Jesus said, so as to make it appear that the "only true God" would include Jesus. Indeed, they often refer to this scripture as though Jesus said such a thing.
Anthony F. Buzzard and Charles F. Hunting, in their
The Doctrine of The Trinity, Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound, 1998, pp. 38-39 make the following observation,
We not the remarkable comment of a celebrated Church Father. It was so difficult for Augustine to harmonize this original Christian creed with the Trinitarian dogma known to him in the fifth century, that this immensely influential church leader actually restructured Jesus' words to accommodate both Father and Son in the Godhead. Augustine, in his Homilies on John, boldly asserts that John 17:3 means: "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent, as the only true God." This daring alteration of the Holy Scripture seriously distorts the words given to us by Jesus. Jesus defines his own position as the Messiah, distinct from the Godhead, which consists of the Father alone. The wise believer will distance himself from such violence to the Bible. Such forcing of the text merely exposes Augustine's desperation to find his creeds in the Scriptures.
Christian love,
Ronald
RELATED BOOKSPlease note that I do not necessarily agree with all that is stated in these books. -- Ronald
The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound -- Presents unitarian viewpoint; denies the prehuman existence of Jesus, but otherwise, the book contains a lot of good information.
Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian
When Jesus Became God -- Gives a lot of historical background.
The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture - The Effect of Early Christological Controversies
on the Text of the New Testament
Concepts of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - A Classification and Description of the Trinitarian and Non-Trinitarian Theologies Existent Within Christendom
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
The Trinity's Weak Links Revealed A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
