Deity of Christ
Jesus' divinity was added to the Bible later.
Short answer
Belief in Jesus' divinity runs through every part of the New Testament, in thousands of manuscripts from across the ancient world, and in early Christian writers who quoted it. There is no early manuscript tradition without it. A few individual verses have textual questions, but the teaching does not depend on any one of them.
In simple words: We have thousands of very old copies of the New Testament, and they all show that Jesus is God.
Response
If Jesus' divinity had been added later, we would expect to find early manuscripts or writers without it. We find the opposite.
The teaching appears across every kind of New Testament writing, by multiple authors: Gospels, letters, sermons, hymns, and prophecy. It is not in a few isolated verses that could have been slipped in; it is woven into the structure of the books, in Jesus' actions, the reactions of his enemies, the worship of his followers, and Old Testament passages applied to him.
Some of the earliest manuscripts we have contain key passages. Two papyri from around AD 200, P66 and P75, include John 1:1, "the Word was God," and both read John 1:18 as "the one and only God," a strong statement of Jesus' deity.
Honesty matters here. A few verses do have textual questions. For example, the wording of 1 John 5:7 in the King James Version ("the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one") was added in later manuscripts, and modern translations rightly leave it out. But no Christian teaching depends on that verse. Remove every disputed verse, and Jesus' divinity is still everywhere.
Because the manuscripts were copied across many regions at once, no person or group could have changed them all. And Christian writers like Ignatius (c. AD 110) were already confessing Jesus as God, long before any supposed change could have happened.
Key evidence
- Jesus' divinity is taught by multiple authors across every genre of the New Testament.
- P66 and P75 (c. AD 200) contain John 1:1 and read John 1:18 as "the one and only God."
- Textual issues like the late wording of 1 John 5:7 (KJV) are openly noted in modern Bibles; the doctrine doesn't rely on them.
- Manuscripts copied across many regions make a coordinated change impossible.
- Early writers like Ignatius (c. AD 110) confess Jesus as God.
Bible passages
- John 1:1-18 The Word was God and became flesh.
- Philippians 2:5-11 In very nature God; every knee will bow.
- Colossians 2:9 The fullness of the Deity in bodily form.
- Hebrews 1:1-8 The Son, creator, called God.
Discussion questions
- Why does it matter that this belief appears in so many different kinds of writing?
- Why is it important to be honest about verses that have textual questions?
- If someone removed every disputed verse, what would remain about who Jesus is?