ContraModalism’s view essentially posits that the Father eternally caused the Son to exist. The Son is seen as a numerically distinct being from the Father, inherently inferior to Him, which establishes an asymmetrical relationship between them. This leads to the conclusion that the Son is created by the Father. While I have previously addressed the internal contradictions within this framework, I have not yet explored the biblical challenges to such a claim.
Consider Isaiah 44:24 and 45:12-18:
Isaiah 44:24 “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, ‘I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone.'”
Isaiah 45:12, 18 “‘It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, and I ordained all their host.’
‘For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else.”‘”
These statements are spoken by Yahweh in the context of His trial against false gods. The name “Yahweh” denotes the God of Israel, marking a being with a specific and unique identity. Central to this identity is the fact that God alone is the Creator of all things. Everything in existence falls on one of two sides of an ontological divide: the Creator or the created. The passages from Isaiah, along with later Jewish thought, emphasize that God alone occupies the Creator side of this equation. In the Jewish mind, to be the Creator of the world is to possess the identity of the God revealed in Genesis and Isaiah. Therefore, any attempt to place the Son among the creatures undermines His divine identity as Yahweh, the one true Creator.
In early Jewish theology, eschatological monotheism was closely connected with creational monotheism. That YHWH alone created all things is the basis for his sole lordship over all things, which must finally be fulfilled in the universal acknowledgement of him as only Creator and Lord. Among the biblical sources of early Jewish monotheism, this is especially clear in Isaiah 40 – 55 and appears in the context of the two passages from these chapters that were discussed in the last section. Isaiah 40:13 is most immediately a statement of creational monotheism, declaring YHWH to be unique in that he created the world without any collaborators or assistants. This incomparability as the sole Creator of all things is closely related, in the rest of Isaiah 40 – 55, to the eschatological monotheism that expects him to make his unique deity known to all the nations. The passage of divine speech to which Isaiah 45:23 belongs (45:18-25) is probably the best example of this close relationship between creational and eschatological monotheism. While verse 23 is a strong assertion of eschatological monotheism, the passage begins with a statement of creational monotheism (‘Thus says the Lord [YHWH] who made the heaven, this God who set forth the earth and made it … I am the Lord and there is none besides’) on which all the monotheistic rhetoric of the following verses is based. Thus, it was no great step, exegetically at least, from the inclusion of Jesus in the identity of God as sole eschatological Ruler to the inclusion of Jesus in the identity of God as sole Creator. These two aspects of the unique divine identity were inseparable.
Richard Bauckham. Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity (Kindle Locations 3186-3197). Kindle Edition.
In responding to Mormons, I have drawn upon the Old Testament to demonstrate the nature of Israel’s monotheism, arguing that Isaiah presents Yahweh as ontologically unique—distinct and incomparable to any other beings. Contrary to the notion of a “great chain of being,” where God merely exists as the highest being on a shared scale, Isaiah’s theology affirms that Yahweh’s existence is entirely different from anything else.
A defining feature of Yahweh’s uniqueness lies in the prerogatives and roles He alone possesses. These include His roles as the Eschatological Judge, the Creator of the world, and the sovereign Governor over all things. Notably, these very roles are also attributed to the Son in the New Testament, affirming the Son’s participation in the unique identity of Yahweh.
Now, we will turn to Isaiah once again to examine whether this understanding of monotheism is indeed affirmed by the prophet.
The first triadic movement (24d– f)stresses that only one God lies behind all creational reality. There is nothing of which he is not the maker (24d) and no other agency alongside him (24ef). Made, stretched and spread are participles (‘ maker of, ‘stretcher of’, ‘spreader of’), expressing an abiding relationship. The MT reflects divergent textual traditions and recommends mê’ittî (by myself/‘ from with me’, i.e. ‘from and of myself’), indicating that the impulse to create proceeded solely from within the heart of the Creator and adding a significant new thought to the triad. It is easy, and usual, to change the vowels of the Hebrew to read mî’ittî (‘ who was with me?’; an interrogative affirmation meaning ‘entirely by myself’).
Motyer, J. Alec. The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary (Kindle Locations 10157-10163). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
The point is that God alone is responsible for the existence of the world as we know it. … Isaiah asserts that God is the sole creator of the universe, with neither consort nor adviser. Whatever the gods may be, they are not responsible for the existence or the nature of the world as it now is. Thus they cannot alter the course of events nor themselves diverge from that course. Only a singularly free Creator could do so.
Oswalt, John N.. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
The Old Testament consistently teaches that the world was created by God alone, with no assistance from any other being. The New Testament builds upon this by presenting a cosmological perspective in which Jesus is also identified as the Creator of the world.
Consider John 1:1-3:
John 1:1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
John is clearly alluding to Genesis in these verses. The reasons for this conclusion are strong, including the shared phraseology (“In the beginning”), the theme of God’s presence at the beginning of creation, the fact that this is how John begins his Gospel, the role of divine speech in creation, and the contrast between light and life versus darkness—both central motifs in Genesis 1. Steve Hays elaborates on this connection, noting how John’s portrayal of Christ as the divine Word reinforces the continuity between the Old Testament’s account of creation and the New Testament’s revelation of Christ’s identity as the Creator.
By positioning Jesus as the Creator alongside Yahweh, John affirms the Son’s participation in the unique, unshared identity of God, further cementing the New Testament’s testimony to the Son’s divinity.
The only precedent we need for the Prologue to John is the Pentateuch. We don’t need to postulate any other source to explicate the text. In John 1, the specific literary allusions are to the creation account in Gen 1 and the Shekinah/tabernacle in Exodus.
The wording of Jn 1 echoes Gen 1 in several respects, viz.
i) The timemarker: “in the beginning”
ii) A divine Creator
iii) Creation by divine speech
iv) The opposition of light and darkness
v) Creation of life
2. However, that backdrop supplies a point of contrast as well as comparison: It goes back a step from Gen 1 by describing what lies behind creation: the preexistent Father with the preexistent Son. In Jn 1, the Genesis terminology has acquires a double entendre. In Gen 1, light and life refer to the origins of physical light and physical life. That’s included in Jn 1, but in the Prologue they acquire the additional significance of new life or eternal life. Spiritual illumination and spiritual renewal. Likewise, “darkness,” and the contrast between light and darkness, take on metaphorical connotations.
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2015/11/and-word-was-god.html
His title as “the light of the world” traces back to the creation account, where God is the maker of sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. The Son is “the light of the world” because he’s the divine source of mundane light.
iii) However, “light” in the Prologue is a double entendre. It hearkens back to the origin of physical light, but in addition, it is now a spiritual metaphor. The contrast between light and darkness evokes the creation account, but this time it carries moral and spiritual connotations. “Light” as an emblem of new life. Spiritual renewal. In contrast to spiritual rebels.
iv) The Creator who made the world is now entering the world he made, and the Baptist is a witness to that event (vv6-8).
v) The irony or paradox is that creatures fail to acknowledge their Creator even when they meet him face-to-face.
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2019/10/john-110.html
Jesus is unmistakably identified with the Creator God of Genesis, sharing in the identity of the God of Israel, who brought everything into existence. The contrast found in Genesis is pivotal: it asserts that the Creator God is fundamentally distinct from the pagan gods of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other ancient Near Eastern (ANE) pantheons. Genesis systematically dismantles these pagan worldviews by showing that God alone created the very objects and forces—the sun (the “greater light”), the stars, and the cosmos—that these cultures revered as deities.
In the ANE, people believed that matter was eternal, and that gods themselves were part of the material universe. These gods were seen as powerful, but ultimately contingent beings, often associated with elements of nature like the sun, moon, and stars, or the forces of chaos and fertility. For instance, the Egyptian sun god Ra and the Babylonian deities Marduk and Tiamat were believed to have emerged from or governed aspects of the physical world. Matter, in their view, was the primal substance from which the gods drew their power and identity.
Genesis 1, however, challenges this worldview by presenting God as the Creator of matter itself, not a part of it. The God of Israel is not bound by the material universe or shaped by it. Instead, He is the transcendent Creator who speaks everything into existence. By merely commanding, “Let there be light,” God brings forth light out of nothing, and by His word, He orders the cosmos. This clear distinction between the Creator and the created underscores a key element of biblical monotheism: God is utterly unique and transcendent, not part of the created order, but the One who brought it all into being.
The New Testament carries this theology forward and applies it to Christ. John 1:1-3 clearly reflects the Genesis creation narrative, emphasizing Christ’s preexistence and His role in creation. By beginning with the words “In the beginning,” John unmistakably ties Christ to the God of Genesis. The “Word” (Logos) is not only with God but is God Himself. This is important because the Logos is described as the agent through whom all things were made: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
This identification of Christ as the Creator has deep theological implications. In verse 3, John emphasizes the comprehensive nature of Christ’s creative work: “apart from Him, nothing came into being.” This directly parallels the exclusivity of Yahweh as Creator in Isaiah 44:24, where God declares, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone.” By using this language, John makes it clear that Christ is not part of creation but the One through whom everything was made. This distinguishes Christ from any created beings, including angels or any other powers.
Moreover, the fact that Christ shares in the unique role of Creator, a role that in the Old Testament is exclusively attributed to Yahweh, establishes the deity of Christ beyond doubt. In Jewish monotheism, the role of Creator was a defining feature of God’s identity, as demonstrated in Isaiah 40-48, where God repeatedly asserts His uniqueness as the Creator in contrast to the idols and gods of the nations. By ascribing this role to Christ, John is affirming that Jesus shares in the very identity of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
This is further reinforced by other New Testament passages, such as Colossians 1:16-17, where Paul writes, “For by Him [Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Paul’s emphasis on Christ as the Creator of both the visible and invisible worlds—including spiritual powers like angels—again places Christ on the side of the Creator, not the created. This effectively rules out any possibility of seeing Christ as a lesser divine being or a created intermediary, as some early heretical groups and later Arian or Mormon interpretations might suggest.
The cosmic scope of Christ’s creative role also highlights His sovereignty. As Creator, He not only brings the universe into existence but sustains and governs it. This connects to His role as the eschatological judge, a function that Isaiah also attributes exclusively to Yahweh (Isaiah 45:22-23). Thus, Christ’s involvement in creation ties into His authority over all things, both in the present and the future.
In conclusion, by identifying Jesus as the Creator, John and the rest of the New Testament affirm the full deity of Christ. Jesus is not merely a part of creation, nor is He a created intermediary between God and the world. He is Yahweh Himself, the God of Israel who created everything from nothing, and through whom all things continue to exist. This truth guarantees that Jesus shares in the unique, unshared identity of Yahweh, as Almighty God, the one true Creator.
Positively, Through him all things were made; negatively, without him nothing was made that has been made. The change in tense from were made to has been made is then the change in reference from the act of creation to the state of creation. Even so, the latter is a strange form of expression. It may be better to render the Greek, ‘All things were made by him, and what was made (taking ho gegonen as the subject of the second clause) was in no way (taking ouden adverbially) made without him.’ Either way, the point is powerfully made. Just as in Genesis, where everything that came into being did so because of God’s spoken word, and just as in Proverbs 3:19; 8:30, where Wisdom is the (personified) means by which all exists, so here: God’s Word, understood in the Prologue to be a personal agent, created everything.
Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (p. 118). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
In John 1:4-5, the metaphorical significance of “light” unfolds, expanding on the literal creation narrative in Genesis. Verse 4 declares, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” This introduces a dual function of Christ as both the source of life and the bearer of light, indicating that He is foundational to all existence, both physical and spiritual. The following verse, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it,” reinforces the allusion to Genesis 1, where light is brought forth to dispel primordial darkness. However, John takes this imagery further by applying it to a theological framework that encompasses both creation and redemption.
The phrase “The Light shines in the darkness” echoes the Genesis creation event, but in John’s context, it carries a more profound metaphorical application. This light represents the divine revelation that will ultimately end the spiritual darkness that originated from the Fall in Genesis 3. In the biblical narrative, darkness is often associated with sin, ignorance, and separation from God (e.g., Isaiah 9:2; John 12:35), and here it is symbolically linked to the fallen world that exists in opposition to God.
John masterfully uses this Genesis allusion to introduce Christ as the agent of both creation and redemption. Just as God spoke light into existence in Genesis to dispel physical darkness, so now “The Word” brings forth spiritual light to overcome the moral and spiritual darkness of the world. The darkness, representing the realm of sin and estrangement from God, “did not comprehend it.” The Greek word here, κατέλαβεν (katalaben), can mean both “comprehend” and “overcome,” indicating a dual dynamic. The darkness neither understands nor can overcome the light that Christ brings, emphasizing the victory of divine light over sin and evil.
This idea is expanded further in John 3:19-20, where it is explained that people love darkness because it conceals their sin: “This is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” The light of Christ’s revelation exposes the sinfulness of humanity, and this exposure provokes hostility. The world’s hatred for the light stems from its unwillingness to have its sinful nature revealed and judged.
Moreover, this metaphorical use of light in John’s Gospel highlights the cosmic scope of Christ’s mission. He is not merely a moral teacher or a prophetic figure; He is the embodiment of divine truth, life, and revelation. The imagery of light also recalls the broader biblical tradition, particularly the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah that speak of a light coming to those who dwell in darkness (Isaiah 9:2, 49:6). These prophecies anticipated the coming of a Messiah who would bring salvation and restore humanity’s relationship with God. By identifying Jesus as this light, John is affirming that Christ is the fulfillment of these prophecies and that His mission transcends Israel to encompass all humanity.
The connection between light and life in verse 4 further deepens this theological richness. In Scripture, “life” often refers not only to physical existence but also to spiritual vitality and fellowship with God. In the Garden of Eden, humanity had access to both physical life and spiritual life, symbolized by the Tree of Life (Genesis 2:9). After the Fall, death entered the world, both physical and spiritual (Romans 5:12), and humanity became alienated from the life of God. When John states that “In Him was life,” he is not merely referring to biological life but to the fullness of life that Christ offers—eternal life, which is restored through His redemptive work (John 10:10). Christ is the source of this life because He is both the Creator and the Redeemer. Just as He gave life to humanity at creation, He offers new life through His incarnation, death, and resurrection.
In this light, the role of the Word in both creation and redemption is made explicit. The Word who created the physical light and life in Genesis now brings spiritual light and eternal life through His incarnation. This dual role underscores Christ’s divine nature, positioning Him as both the source and sustainer of all creation. The light of creation (physical light) becomes a powerful symbol for the salvific light of Christ (spiritual revelation), which reveals the truth about God and humanity’s need for salvation.
The culmination of this idea is found in the prologue’s emphasis on the incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). By becoming flesh, the eternal Word entered the world’s darkness to bring light and life through His person and work. The incarnation represents God’s ultimate revelation and rescue mission, where the Creator steps into His creation to redeem it from the darkness of sin and death. The light of Christ shines through His life, death, and resurrection, breaking the power of darkness and offering salvation to all who believe.
This ties in with the previous verses, where John highlights that the Word is the source of “life” and “light.” Christ is the origin of both physical light—the light that enables creation—and the salvific light of revelation that leads humanity back to God. Therefore, Christ is both the One who brought forth the material universe and the One who brings spiritual and eternal life to those trapped in darkness.
To further enrich the connection, it’s important to recognize the eschatological significance of light in the biblical narrative. Throughout Scripture, light is associated with the coming of God’s kingdom and the restoration of creation. The New Testament, especially in Revelation, envisions a new creation where the need for physical light is supplanted by the direct presence of God and the Lamb (Revelation 21:23). In this ultimate fulfillment, Christ as the Light of the world brings about the final victory over darkness, uniting creation and redemption in His eternal kingdom.
In summary, John 1:4-5 not only ties Christ to the creation account in Genesis but also introduces profound theological themes of light and life that extend throughout the entirety of Scripture. Christ is revealed as the Creator, the sustainer of life, and the Redeemer who brings light into the spiritual darkness caused by sin. The Word’s light is both physical and spiritual, encompassing the entirety of God’s redemptive plan—from creation, through the fall, to the restoration of all things in Christ.
In 1:4–5, the evangelist continues to elaborate on the Word’s involvement in creation, writing as one who looks at the present in light of its origin, with the imperfect verbs in 1:1–4 providing the general backdrop (Ridderbos 1997: 38, 40).34 Both “life” and “light” are universal religious terms (D. H. Johnson, DJG 469–71; Schnackenburg 1990: 1.242–44), but John’s teaching is deeply rooted in OT teaching.35 At creation, calling forth “light” was God’s first creative act (Gen. 1:3–5) (Morris 1995: 74–75). Later, God placed lights in the sky to separate between light and darkness (Gen. 1:14–18). Light, in turn, makes it possible for life to exist. Thus, on the fifth and sixth days of creation God made animate life to populate both the waters and dry land, culminating in his creation of humankind (Gen. 1:20–31; 2:7; 3:20). Now John asserts that life was “in him,” Jesus. He is the source of life, both physical and spiritual (“eternal”). He also is the source of supernatural light, since only those who possess spiritual, eternal life have the capacity to “walk in the light,” that is, to make moral decisions that are in accordance with God’s revealed will.36 “Light of [all] people” means “light for [all] people” (Bultmann 1971: 40), an objective genitive in Greek (Ridderbos 1997: 38 n. 64), pointing to the universal effects of the Word’s appearance.
Andreas J. Köstenberger. BECNT – John (Kindle Locations 1131-1143). Kindle Edition.
n verses 9-10 of John 1, we read: “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” This builds upon the earlier statement in verse 3: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Together, these verses present a powerful theological challenge to ontological dualism, a worldview in which good and evil are seen as coequal and opposing forces.
John’s Gospel, by affirming that all things were created through the Word (Christ), rejects the idea that evil has an independent, eternal existence. In contrast to ancient Gnostic and other dualistic philosophies, where evil is often viewed as a separate, pre-existing force outside of creation, John asserts that everything, both physical and spiritual, has a common origin: the Creator God. This means that evil is not a coequal power with goodness nor does it possess a transcendent status over the universe. Instead, evil is a corruption or distortion of the good, part of the created order that has turned away from its intended purpose.
By emphasizing that the world was made through Christ, John is also making a polemical statement against any worldview that posits a divided or competing source of creation. The Word is the sole agent of creation, and as such, all things—both light and life—derive their existence from Him. This counters any notion that the material world is inherently evil or that evil is an original, creative force. Instead, evil, as presented in Christian theology, is understood as a privation of good, not an independent entity.
Moreover, the fact that “the world did not know Him” points to the tragic irony of creation’s rejection of its own Creator. Even though the world was made through Christ, the world has fallen into ignorance and darkness. This ignorance is not due to an ontological dualism but is a result of sin and alienation from God. The Light, Christ, enters the world to dispel this darkness, enlightening every person with the truth, but the world, entrenched in its rebellion, fails to recognize Him. This failure is not the result of a cosmic dualism but of humanity’s moral and spiritual blindness, which Christ comes to heal.
Ultimately, John’s prologue confronts any view that sees evil as an eternal principle or force, offering instead a robust monotheistic framework where all things—good and fallen—are traced back to the singular creative act of God through the Word. Evil, then, is not an equal counterpart to good but a distortion within a creation that was originally declared good (Genesis 1:31). Christ, as the true Light, enters this fallen world to restore it, shedding light on the darkness and offering the possibility of redemption.
The Word, then, was in the world as a result of his special coming into it. Our decision regarding the meaning of ‘world’ in v. 9 has its bearing on the interpretation of v. 10. This was the world that was made through him– not a mere repetition of vv. 3–4, since ‘world’ as we have seen, has a narrower focus than ‘everything that has been made’. The point is that John will not allow ontological dualism, the view that there exists a principle of evil entirely independent of the universe God created. Far from it: apart from the Word, ‘nothing was made that has been made’ (1:3). That includes the kosmos, the world of human beings and their affairs in rebellion against the Word. Instead of allowing dualism, John grounds the moral responsibility of the race in the doctrine of creation.
Carson, D. A.. The Gospel according to John (Pillar New Testament Commentary) (Kindle Locations 2200-2206). Eerdmans Publishing Co – A. Kindle Edition.
1 Cor. 8:4-6
4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
In this passage, Paul addresses the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols in the pagan context of Corinth. The availability of such meats—sold in markets or served in homes after being offered to idols—was a pressing concern for Christians, particularly those seeking to avoid participating in idolatry. Paul’s response is rooted in monotheism: he asserts that idols have no real existence and that there is only one true God. Thus, eating these meats poses no threat to the Christian’s faith, since the idols are powerless and not divine.
Paul grounds his argument in the foundational monotheistic statements of the Old Testament, particularly echoing the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” This confession of faith is central to Jewish theology, affirming that Yahweh alone is God. Paul reaffirms this belief in verse 4, stating, “there is no God but one.” By doing so, Paul is instructing his Gentile audience to understand that while the pagans may believe in many gods and lords, there is only one true God.
In verse 6, Paul expands upon the Shema in a remarkable way. He takes the Greek rendering of the Shema from the Septuagint and rearranges it to include Jesus Christ within the identity of the one God. He writes: “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
In this statement, Paul is making a profound theological assertion. The traditional Shema identifies Yahweh as “one Lord,” a declaration of God’s unique sovereignty and singularity. However, Paul here applies the title “Lord” (Kyrios) to Jesus, thereby including Him in the divine identity. This is a clear affirmation of Christ’s co-equality with the Father, especially in terms of creation and sustaining the world. The Father is described as the source (“from whom are all things”), and the Son as the agent (“by whom are all things”), indicating their shared role in the creation and existence of all things.
By including Christ in the Shema, Paul is not abandoning Jewish monotheism but expanding its understanding. He maintains that, despite the presence of “many gods and many lords” in the pagan world, for Christians, there is only one true God. This one God encompasses both the Father and the Son, without violating monotheism. Paul’s rearrangement of the Shema integrates Jesus into the divine identity, demonstrating a high Christology that affirms both the Father’s and the Son’s active participation in creation.
This passage also addresses ontological dualism by asserting that all things, including the material and spiritual world, were created by the one true God. In contrast to worldviews that suggest good and evil, or matter and spirit, as co-equal forces, Paul’s monotheism declares that both the physical and spiritual realms originate from the one Creator. Evil is not an independent or eternal force; it is a distortion of the good within creation.
Thus, Paul’s argument is not simply about the permissibility of eating meat sacrificed to idols. It is a profound theological statement that affirms Christ’s divinity and His inclusion in the identity of the one God. The Son is not a lesser being or a created intermediary but is fully divine, sharing in the roles and prerogatives of the Father. This passage, therefore, becomes a key text for understanding early Christian monotheism and the development of a Trinitarian understanding of God.
In conclusion, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 demonstrates Paul’s ability to adapt the Shema to include Jesus within the identity of the one God, affirming both the Father’s and the Son’s shared role in creation. It also highlights the Christian’s exclusive devotion to the one God in contrast to the “many gods and many lords” of the pagan world, while maintaining a firm commitment to Jewish monotheism.
In stating that there is one God and one Lord, Paul is unmistakably echoing the monotheistic statement of the Shema` (‘YHWH our God, YHWH, is one’),”) whose Greek version in the Septuagint reads: kurios ho theos hemon kurios heis estin. He has, in fact, taken over all of the words of this statement,71 but rearranged them in such a way as to produce an affirmation of both one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. If he were understood as adding the one Lord to the one God of whom the Shema` speaks, then, from the perspective of Jewish monotheism, he would certainly be producing, not Christological monotheism, but outright ditheism. The Jewish understanding of the Shema` in this period certainly saw it as a profession of the absolute uniqueness of YHWH, besides whom there is no other. Over against the many gods and many lords (v. 5) whom pagans worshipped, the Shema` demands exclusive allegiance to the unique God alone. Even if ‘Lord’ in verse 6 means no more than ‘lords’ in verse 5 – and it must mean at least this – there can be no doubt that the addition of a unique Lord to the unique God of the Shema` would flatly contradict the uniqueness of the latter. Paul would be, not reasserting Jewish monotheism in a Christian way nor modifying or expanding” the Shema`, but repudiating Judaism and radically subverting the Shema`. The only possible way to understand Paul as maintaining monotheism is to understand him to be including Jesus in the unique identity of the one God affirmed in the Shema`. But this is, in any case, clear from the fact that the term ‘Lord, applied here to Jesus as the ‘one Lord, is taken from the Shema` itself. Paul is not adding to the one God of the Shema` a ‘Lord’ the Shema` does not mention. He is identifying Jesus as the ‘Lord’ (YHWH) whom the Shema` affirms to be one. Thus, in Paul’s quite unprecedented reformulation of the Shema, the unique identity of the one God consists of the one God, the Father, and the one Lord, his Messiah (who is implicitly regarded as the Son of the Father).
Richard Bauckham. Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity (Kindle Locations 3492-3506). Kindle Edition.
Because Paul is writing in Greek, he uses Greek synonyms for Hebrew words. And we’re using English words. But if we were to retrotranslate Paul’s statement in light of the background text, this would capture the true force of the usage:
Hear, O Israel: Yahweh is our Elohim, Yahweh is one (Deut 6:4).
yet for us there is one Elohim, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Yahweh, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist (1 Cor 8:6).
iii) Elohim doesn’t necessarily denote the one true Deity. But in Deut 6:4, the one true Deity is the intended referent. To my knowledge, Yahweh is a distinctive designation for the one true Deity in OT usage. So that’s actually the stronger term.
Using the Shema as his framework, Paul assigns Elohim to the Father and Yahweh to the Son:
The Father is the one Elohim
while
The Son is the one Yahweh
That’s what Paul is saying. He is taking the nutshell confession of OT monotheism, but apportioning the two divine titles to the Father and the Son respectively.
And notice the symmetry. This isn’t working the Son into the Shema, as if the Father was the baseline. It isn’t making room for the Son, but making room for Father and Son alike. Including both Father and Son in the Shema.
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2017/03/jesus-is-one-yahweh.html
Unitarians, when faced with the clear biblical testimony of Christ’s role in creation, often attempt one final strategy to diminish Christ’s divine status. They argue that Christ is not the Creator Himself but merely an instrument of creation. According to this view, there is an asymmetry between the Father and the Son: the Father is the primary Creator, while the Son merely serves as a mediator, or tool, through whom creation occurs. In this analogy, Christ is likened to the hammer, while the Father is the ironsmith—the one truly responsible for creation.
However, this interpretation fundamentally misunderstands Paul’s intention in passages such as 1 Corinthians 8:6. Paul’s purpose is not to designate Christ as a lesser or subordinate tool, but rather to affirm His divine status by showing the symmetrical relationship between the Father and the Son. Both are involved in the act of creation. Paul carefully phrases the passage to emphasize that “all things” are created both “from” the Father and “through” the Son, highlighting their cooperative and equal involvement in the act of creation. This refutes any notion that Christ is a mere intermediary or instrument of the Father.
Furthermore, the idea that Christ is simply a tool in the hands of the Creator runs counter to the theological framework of Genesis 1. In Jewish monotheism, the Creator of Genesis 1 is not viewed as a mere instrument but as the sovereign God who brings the universe into existence through His authoritative word. For Paul to include Christ in this act of creation in 1 Corinthians 8:6, using the same language applied to the Father, would have been understood as a bold affirmation of Christ’s full divinity. No first-century Jew would have considered the Creator of Genesis 1 to be anything less than God Himself.
Additionally, Paul uses the same language in Romans 11:36 to describe the Father: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Here, Paul attributes the creation and sustaining of all things entirely to the Father, using the exact same prepositional phrases—”from” (ἐκ), “through” (διά), and “to” (εἰς)—that he applies to the Son in 1 Corinthians 8:6. This demonstrates that Paul sees no asymmetry between the Father and the Son in their role as Creator. Rather, both Father and Son are co-equal in their divine work of creation, with Christ fully sharing in the identity and prerogatives of the one true God.
In light of these considerations, the argument that Christ is merely an instrument or tool in creation collapses. Paul’s language does not support such a diminished view of Christ, and the biblical witness affirms that the Son, along with the Father, is the Creator of all things, fully participating in the divine work of creation.
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
This same phrase is being applied to both God and Christ in a symmetrical fashion. It isn’t to state that creation is only for God and is only through the Son.
The relationship to God expressed by the first and the last of the three prepositions (ek and eis) is attributed to the one God, the Father (‘from whom [are] all things and we for him), while the relationship expressed by the second of the three prepositions (dia) is attributed to the one Lord, Jesus Christ (‘through whom [are] all things and we through him’). The fact that, in Romans 11:36, all three prepositions apply to God whereas, in 1 Corinthians 8:6, one of them applies to Christ does not mean that they no longer all describe the Creator’s relationship to the whole of creation. On the contrary, it means precisely that Christ is included in this relationship as the instrumental cause of creation.'() The variation between ‘all things’ and ‘we’ in 1 Corinthians 8:6 results from Paul’s desire to situate himself and his readers within the ‘all things’ who are thus related to their Creator. … The fact that Paul associates ‘all things’ with one preposition (‘from whom all things’), ‘we’ with another (‘we for him’), and both ‘all things’ and ‘we’ with the last preposition (‘through whom all things and we through him’) is a rhetorical variation adapted to the needs of verbal symmetry. Paul does not mean that ‘we’ are not also ‘from God’ or that’all things’ are not also ‘for God’. The whole is a condensed form of what would otherwise have been the more cumbersome and less symmetrical formulation: one God, the Father, from whom [are] all things and we from him, for whom [are] all things and we for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom [are] all things and we through him.
Richard Bauckham. Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity (Kindle Locations 3537-3552). Kindle Edition.
In Colossians 1:15-17, Paul offers a profound Christological statement that echoes back to the creation narrative of Genesis, using language that underscores Christ’s central role in both the creation and sustenance of the universe:
Colossians 1:15-17 (NASB)
“15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
In this passage, Paul makes several key theological points that link back to the creation themes of Genesis. First, the description of Christ as “the image of the invisible God” calls to mind the language of humanity being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). However, whereas humans reflect God’s image in a limited and finite way, Christ is the perfect and complete manifestation of the invisible God. He fully reveals God’s character and essence, embodying God’s nature in a way that no created being can. This speaks to Christ’s divinity and His unique role in relation to creation.
Second, Paul refers to Christ as “the firstborn of all creation.” It is important to note that the term “firstborn” (prototokos) does not mean Christ is a created being, as some might claim. Instead, it signifies His preeminence and authority over all creation. In Jewish culture, the “firstborn” was the heir and had a position of supremacy in the family. Similarly, Christ holds the supreme place over creation, not as part of it, but as its Creator. This is further clarified in the following verses, which explicitly state that “by Him all things were created.”
The theme of Christ as the Creator is woven throughout this hymn, much like we saw in previous texts such as 1 Corinthians 8:6 and John 1:3. Here, Paul emphasizes that all things—whether in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible—were created by Christ. The phrase “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” refers to various levels of spiritual and earthly powers, showing that Christ’s creative authority extends beyond the physical world into the spiritual realm as well.
Notice also the significant addition in verse 16: “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” This is a crucial point. Not only was Christ the active agent of creation, but creation itself has a telos, a purpose, for Him. This further reinforces the idea that there is no asymmetry between the Father and the Son in their involvement in creation. The entire universe is made for Christ—He is not just a mediator or a tool in the Father’s hands, but the very goal and purpose of creation. The unitarian argument that Christ is merely an instrument of creation collapses under this weight. The idea that creation could be made “for” a mere instrument is nonsensical and contrary to the logic of the text. It is clear that Christ holds a divine status, sharing in the fullness of the Father’s creative work.
Verse 17 continues this theme of Christ’s preeminence: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Christ is not only the Creator but also the sustainer of all creation. His power continues to uphold the universe, maintaining its order and coherence. Without Him, everything would cease to exist. This cosmological scope further underlines Christ’s divinity—He is not merely part of creation but stands outside of and above it, as the One who brings everything into being and holds it all together.
The focus of verses 16-17 is indeed of cosmological proportions, encompassing everything that exists outside of God. The phrase “all things” leaves no room for exception. Everything that has been created, whether visible or invisible, is attributed to Christ. This not only affirms His deity but also dismantles any attempt to demote Him to a mere instrument in creation. The unitarian view, which seeks to lower Christ’s status, is completely refuted by the grandeur of Paul’s theological hymn here in Colossians. The idea that Christ could be a lesser being or merely a mediator is, as you rightly pointed out, “nonsense that feeds through the depraved mind.”
In conclusion, Colossians 1:15-17 reinforces the consistent New Testament teaching that Christ is fully divine, sharing in the identity and work of God the Father. The passage affirms that Christ is not only the Creator of the universe but also its ultimate purpose and sustainer. There is no asymmetry between the Father and the Son—both are equally involved in creation, and all things exist for Christ as well as through Him. This hymn provides a rich and profound Christology, calling us to recognize Christ’s central place in the cosmic order and in God’s plan of redemption.
4o
The first set of qualifiers, things in heaven and on earth, is clear enough. “Heaven and earth” is a common biblical merism, that is, a construction in which two elements function together to indicate a single whole: in this case, the created order, the universe (e.g., Gen. 1:1, passim). It is more difficult to know what in particular is intended in the pairing visible and invisible. This pair is not common, so we do not have much to go on. It is easiest to assume that they restate the first pair in chiastic arrangement (heaven = invisible; earth = visible).
The relationship between the last set of four qualifiers and the previous ones is again disputed. Some think that both earthly rulers and heavenly rulers—spiritual beings—are intended, so that the four elaborate the pair that precedes them: [things] visible and invisible. But it is more likely that all four are describing spiritual beings, and that they are elaborating the word invisible. Thrones, to be sure, occurs very often throughout Scripture in its literal sense and often also in the metaphorical sense of that which the throne represents, power. But its placement here suggests that, like the other three in the series, it refers to personal beings, a usage attested outside Scripture. The second term in the series, powers, translates a Greek word, kyriotēs, that occurs elsewhere in the New Testament and in Jewish writings as a reference to spiritual beings (Eph. 1:21; cf. 2 Pet. 2:10; Jude 8). The last two, rulers and authorities (archai and exousiai), are better known from the Pauline letters. They occur together in six verses as references to spiritual powers (1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 2:10, 15; cf. also archē in Rom. 8:38; in Titus 3:1 [and Luke 12:11], they refer to earthly authorities).
Also disputed is whether the four titles refer to all spiritual beings (e.g., angels, both good and bad) or to evil spiritual beings only.160 It is certainly the case that 1:20 and 2:15 imply hostility toward God and/or humans on the part of the powers; but the inclusive language of this verse suggests that Paul is setting up that specific point by asserting Christ’s supremacy over the entire angelic realm. …
The hymn thus far has focused on Christ’s role at the beginning (“in him,” “through him,” “before all things”) and at the end (“for him”) of creation. Now the focus turns to the present role of Christ in creation: in him all things hold together. The verb here (synestēken, from synistēmi) means, in this context, “hold together,” “cohere,” and the use of the perfect tense suggests a stative idea: the universe owes its continuing coherence to Christ. This concept has analogies in the wisdom/word tradition,172 which, in turn, is probably reflecting certain Platonic and Stoic emphases about the cohesion of the universe. Again, however, the idea that an aspect of God’s character or immaterial concept holds the universe together is a far cry from the startling claim that a man who had recently lived and been crucified by the Romans was the one in whom all things are held together. What holds the universe together is not an idea or a virtue, but a person: the resurrected Christ. Without him, electrons would not continue to circle nuclei, gravity would cease to work, the planets would not stay in their orbits. As is true of every line in this “hymn,” there is particular application to the Colossian Christians, who were perhaps being tempted to find coherence by pursuing other religious options in their context. In response, Paul wants them to understand that things make sense only when Christ is kept at the center.
Moo, D. J. (2008). The letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (pp. 121–126). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
These verses strongly imply, entail, and demand that Christ is not part of creation but is, in fact, the Creator of all things. The text leaves no room for ambiguity: nothing would have come into being without Him, and everything that exists owes its existence to Him. He is the eternal Creator, identified as Yahweh—the God of Israel and Almighty God. To suggest otherwise is to undermine the biblical witness and blaspheme against the Lord. The Bible’s cosmology, at its core, is two-tiered: there is God, who resides in eternity, and everything else, which He brought into existence. Nothing is eternal alongside God—He alone is self-existent, eternal, and entirely distinct from creation.
This fundamental distinction can be broken down into two simple categories: Creator and creature. Christ, as demonstrated in Colossians 1:15-17 and other New Testament passages, clearly belongs to the category of Creator, not creature. The New Testament consistently affirms that Christ is the One through whom all things were made and for whom all things exist. There is no hint of Christ being a created being; He is portrayed as the divine Logos, eternal with the Father, and fully God.
The history of biblical revelation supports this two-tiered cosmology. From Genesis to Revelation, God is always portrayed as “all alone” in the eternal state before anything else existed. He is the Creator, and everything else—the heavens, the earth, spiritual beings, humanity—are creatures. Nothing shares in the divine status of being eternal except God Himself. To classify anything or anyone, including Christ, as a creature rather than the Creator violates the clear biblical distinction between the two categories.
In short, the Bible’s consistent witness demands that Christ be recognized as the Creator, Yahweh, the Almighty God. To place Christ in the category of creature not only distorts the biblical teaching but also denies the central truth of His divine nature. All things were made by Him and for Him, and He sustains all creation by His power. This is the true biblical cosmology: God alone as the eternal Creator, and all else as His creation.
YHWH is God; there is no other besides him … YHWH is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other (Deut. 4:35, 39).
For there is no other besides the Lord, neither in heaven, nor on the earth, nor in the deepest places, nor in the one foundation (2 En. 47:3J).
There is an ancient saying about him: ‘He is one … And there is no other’ (Ps-Orphica, lines 9-10, 17). He is one, and besides him there is no other (Mark 12:32).
there is not a plurality of uncreated beings: for if there were some difference between them, you would not discover the cause of the difference, though you searched for it; but after letting the mind ever wander to infinity, you would at length, wearied out, stop at one uncreated being, and say that this is the Cause of all things. (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew 5)
it is impossible for two uncreated beings to exist together (Methodius, On Free Will 5)
in all things God has the pre-eminence, who alone is uncreated, the first of all things, and the primary cause of the existence of all, while all other things remain under God’s subjection (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.38.3)
For before all things God was alone, himself his own world and location and everything—alone, however, because there was nothing external beside him (Tertullian, Against Praxeas 5.13–15).
We have never heard that there are two unbegotten beings, nor that one has been divided into two … ; but we affirm that the unbegotten is one. (Letter of Eusebius of Nicomedia to Paulinus of Tyre, in Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History 1.5)
God, subsisting alone, and having nothing contemporaneous with Himself, determined to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, He made it; and straightaway it appeared formed as it had pleased Him. For us, then, it is sufficient simply to know that there was nothing contemporaneous with God. Beside Him there was nothing. (Hippolytus, Against Noetus 10.1; cf. Refutation of All Heresies 10.28)
the Father is the one uncreated being (Epiphanius, Panarion 33.7.6)
Dr. William Lane Craig in his work on abstract objects maintains eternality was viewed as a property to God alone:
The Church Fathers took this property to be unique to God: ‘the emphasis… on God being uncreated (ἀγένητος) implies that He is the sole originator of all things that are, the source and ground of existence; and the conception is taken as a positive criterion of deity’. 36 According to the patristics scholar Harry Austryn Wolfson,37 the Church Fathers all accepted the following three principles: 1. God alone is uncreated. 2. Nothing is co-eternal with God. 3. Eternality implies deity. Each of these principles implies that there are no agenēta apart from God alone.
God Over All: Divine Aseity and the Challenge of Platonism(Page 34).
Hebrews 1:1-2
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
In his debate with Dr. Dale Tuggy, Chris Date highlighted the significance of the Greek word ἐποίησεν, translated as “made” or “created,” which appears in biblical and extant literature to refer to God’s creative work, particularly in Genesis 1. Date’s argument underscores the connection between this term and divine creation, emphasizing that its usage in contexts like Genesis 1 supports the view that Christ, as described in passages like John 1 and Colossians 1, is the Creator, not a created being. The choice of ἐποίησεν reinforces the theological point that Christ’s role in creation mirrors God’s original act of creation, aligning Him with the divine identity of Yahweh as the one who made all things. This strengthens the case for Christ’s divinity and His role as the eternal Creator.
of divine activity, specifically of God’s creative activity create (Hes., Op. 109; Heraclitus, Fgm. 30 κόσμον οὔτε τις θεῶν οὔτε ἀνθρώπων ἐποίησεν, ἀλλʼ ἦν ἀεὶ καὶ ἔστιν καὶ ἔσται; Pla., Tim. 76c ὁ ποιῶν ‘the Creator’; Epict. 1, 6, 5; 1, 14, 10; 2, 8, 19 σε ὁ Ζεὺς πεποίηκε; 4, 1, 102; 107; 4, 7, 6 ὁ θεὸς πάντα πεποίηκεν; Ael. Aristid. 43, 7 K.=1 p. 2 D.: Ζεὺς τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν; Herm. Wr. 4, 1. In LXX oft. for בָּרָא also Wsd 1:13; 9:9; Sir 7:30; 32:13; Tob 8:6; Jdth 8:14; Bar 3:35; 4:7; 2 Macc 7:28; Aristobulus in Eus., PE13, 12, 12 [pp. 182 and 184 Holladay]; JosAs 9:5; Philo, Sacr. Abel. 65 and oft.; SibOr 3, 28 and Fgm. 3, 3; 16; Just., A II, 5, 2 al.) w. acc. ἡ χείρ μου ἐποίησεν ταῦτα πάντα Ac 7:50 (Is 66:2). τοὺς αἰῶνας Hb 1:2 (s. αἰών 3). τὸν κόσμον (Epict. 4, 7, 6 ὁ θεὸς πάντα πεποίηκεν τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον; Sallust. 5 p. 10, 29; Wsd 9:9; TestAbr A 10 p. 88, 21 [Stone p. 24]) Ac 17:24. τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν (cp. Ael. Aristid. above; Gen 1:1; Ex 20:11; Ps 120:2; 145:6; Is 37:16; Jer 39:17 et al.; TestJob 2:4; Jos., C. Ap. 2, 121; Aristobulus above) Ac 4:24; 14:15b; cp. Rv 14:7. τὰ πάντα PtK 2 p. 13, 26 (JosAs 12, 2; Just., D. 55, 2; also s. Ael. Aristid. above). Lk 11:40 is classed here by many. Of the relation of Jesus to God Ἰησοῦν, πιστὸν ὄντα τῷ ποιήσαντι αὐτόν=appointed him Hb 3:2 (cp. Is 17:7).—W. a second acc., that of the predicate (PSI 435, 19 [258 B.C.] ὅπως ἂν ὁ Σάραπις πολλῷ σὲ μείζω ποιήσῃ) ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς (God) created them male and female Mt 19:4b; Mk 10:6 (both Gen 1:27c).—Pass. Hb 12:27.—ὁ ποιήσας the Creator Mt 19:4a v.l.
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 839). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Chris Date, in his debate with Dr. Dale Tuggy, builds a comprehensive argument for Christ’s divinity and role as Creator, drawing on key biblical texts. He begins by examining the word translated as “made” or “created” (ἐποίησεν), which is unmistakably tied to the creation narrative in Genesis 1. This same term appears in Hebrews 12:26-27, where the shaking of the earth and heaven refers to the removal of “created things” (πεποιημένων), directly recalling the Genesis creation event. This reinforces the understanding that Christ, involved in this shaking, shares in the Creator’s role.
Date’s second argument involves the term translated as “world” in various biblical passages. Some Unitarians argue that this term refers only to the present or future age. However, Date points out that the author of Hebrews uses the term to include prior ages as well, specifically referring to the Genesis 1 creation event. Hebrews 11:3 confirms this, stating:
“By faith we understand that the worlds [ages] were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
This clearly refers to God’s act of creating the universe in the past, aligning with Genesis 1.
Additionally, in Hebrews 9:26, the author further emphasizes this point:
“Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Here, the term “ages” extends backward, showing that God’s creative work spans the entirety of time, and Christ’s redemptive work is tied to that overarching divine plan.
Perhaps the most striking evidence for Christ’s divinity comes from Hebrews 1:8-12, where a creation Psalm (Psalm 102:25-27) is applied directly to Christ:
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain…”
This passage, originally referring to Yahweh in the Old Testament, is here applied to the Son, demonstrating that Christ shares fully in the identity of Yahweh, the Creator of the universe. The Psalm affirms God’s eternal nature, which is applied directly to Christ, further proving His unchanging and divine status.
The biblical picture, as Date argues, is clear: God created, maintains, judges, and renews the world, and Christ is fully part of this divine work. He is not a mere intermediary but the eternal Creator Himself. This is the consistent teaching of the New Testament, and any attempt to deny this truth distorts the clear message of Scripture. Christ shares in the divine identity, and this fact is essential to understanding the fullness of His role as both Creator and Redeemer.
Further Suggestions:
TheCouncil:
Trinity or Tawhid in the Old Testament?
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