Difficult Verses

Difficult Verses

Thomas Allen

In “The Bible Is Reliable, Part 2,” Grace (in) Focus, November/December 2022, page 20, Dix Winston identifies some difficult sayings of Jesus. Two are (emphases are added):

(1) John 14:28: “Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I.”

(2) Luke 18:19: “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, even God.”

Two other verses that he does not mention that would be difficult from his perspective are:

(1) 1 Corinthians 8:6: “yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.”

(2) 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus,”

(These two verses are the key verses that convinced Isaac Newton that Trinitarianism errs and Unitarianism is correct.)

Mr. Winston believes that the Bible is without error and should be understood literally. Therefore, the Bible correctly states what Jesus says.

Further, Mr. Winston is a Trinitarian. Yet, because of his faith in the Trinity Doctrine, he finds these verses difficult to understand. For him, Jesus obviously does not literally mean what he says. Thus, Jesus does not really mean that the Father is greater than he is or that he is not good because only God is good. Moreover, Paul does not really mean that only the Father is God. Being God, Jesus cannot mean what he clearly says in these verses. Not meaning what he clearly says, Jesus consequently deceives those who heard him and the readers of the Bible today. (Unless he wants to risk being a heretic, Mr. Winston cannot use the Jesus-speaking-in-his-human-nature argument because the Council of Chalcedon [where Jesus was declared to have two independent natures and wills] declared that whenever Jesus spoke, he always spoke as God the Son and never as a mere human.)

Like all Trinitarians, Mr. Winston does not believe in Occam’s razor: With competing explanations, a simple explanation is generally preferred to a complex explanation. While the Trinitarian explanation of these verses is complex, the Unitarian explanation is simple.

Unlike Trinitarians, Unitarians do follow Occam’s razor. They believe that Jesus literally means what he says in these verses. Thus, Jesus really does mean that the Father is greater than he is and that only God the Father is good.

Unlike Trinitarians, who believe that Jesus does not mean what he says and that these verses need to be explained away, Unitarians accept what Jesus says and have no need to explain them away. While the Trinitarian explanation of these verses is complex, the Unitarian explanation is simple.

Thus, Trinitarians let their doctrine decide how they interpret these verses. On the other hand, Unitarians let these verses guide them in establishing the Unitarian Doctrine.

Because these verses conflict with the Trinity Doctrine, Trinitarians find them difficult to understand. However, because these verses support the Unitarian Doctrine, Unitarians do not find them difficult.

Appendix

The following are other verses that Mr. Winston does not mention that are hard sayings of Jesus for Trinitarians. Trinitarians cannot use the Jesus-speaking-in-his-human-nature argument to explain away these verses without risking heresy. These verses are from the King James translation with emphases added.

– Matthew 4:10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

– Matthew 27:46: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

– Mark 12:29: And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

– Mark 13:32: But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

– Mark 14:36: And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. 

– John 1:18: No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

– John 5:19: Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

– John 7:16: Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

– John 8:28: Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

– John 8:40: But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

– John 17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

– John 20:17: Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

If Jesus were a co-equal God with the Father as the Trinity Doctrine proclaims, he would not have to depend on the Father as he says he does in some of the above verses.  Further, if he were God, his will would be the same as the Father’s, and he could not forsake himself. Moreover, he would be omniscient. Also, he would not declare God his Father as the only true God.

Copyright © 2023 by Thomas Coley Allen.

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