By carlos@thehumanjesus.org
In the book "Putting Jesus in His Place," author Robert Bowman argues that in John 17:3 Jesus “is simply saying that the Father is the only true God—the only real or genuine God—as opposed to the many false gods and idols.” In other words, Jesus’ confession has nothing to do with whether or not Jesus is also “the only true God.”
Apart from the fact that it’s self-evident throughout the scriptures that Israel’s God is supreme over “the gods of the nations,” Bowman's claim on its face should be nonsensical. To claim that Jesus is "only true God" in the same way his Father is "only true God" destroys the biblical language if not logic itself!
The fact is that it's impossible to circumvent the clear, unambiguous meaning of Jesus’ words in John 17:3. Along with other indisputable facts like the NT writers use of the word "God" for the Father more than 1300 times!
In the book "Putting Jesus in His Place," author Robert Bowman argues that in John 17:3 Jesus “is simply saying that the Father is the only true God—the only real or genuine God—as opposed to the many false gods and idols.” In other words, Jesus’ confession has nothing to do with whether or not Jesus is also “the only true God.”
Apart from the fact that it’s self-evident throughout the scriptures that Israel’s God is supreme over “the gods of the nations,” Bowman's claim on its face should be nonsensical. To claim that Jesus is "only true God" in the same way his Father is "only true God" destroys the biblical language if not logic itself!
The fact is that it's impossible to circumvent the clear, unambiguous meaning of Jesus’ words in John 17:3. Along with other indisputable facts like the NT writers use of the word "God" for the Father more than 1300 times!