Does John 17:3 Refute the Deity of Christ? Spoiler – Nope!

If one watches a lot of debates between Christian and Muslim apologists, John 17:3 gets thrown around a lot.  It supposedly refutes the deity of Christ.  An interesting observation about this is that if you look at debates from ten years ago, this verse doesn’t seem to be quoted.  John 14:28 seemed to be more popular but it doesn’t get quoted that much anymore.  It’s almost as if John 17:3 and John 14:28 swapped places in terms of importance to Muslim apologists.  I wrote about John 14:28 a while back so now I’ll tackle John 17:3.

The verse reads:

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

The Father is the only true God, therefore this excludes Jesus Christ.  Now, this seems to be convincing at first.  Now, the question is, does the Greek word monos(only) work in an exclusive way or can it be used in a general but non-exclusive way.  Let’s look elsewhere at where this word is used in the New Testament.

In Jude 1:4, we read:

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is called the only Lord?  Is this true?  In a general way yes, but in an absolute way, no.

In Luke 2:22 we read:

And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

So the only Lord(Jude 1:4) is being presented to the Lord(Luke 2:22)?  How does that make sense?  It makes sense in the fact that monos(only) can be used in a general but not absolute way.  The same goes with John 17:3.

Another interesting part about John 17:3 is that the deity of Christ is clearly affirmed only two verses later.  In John 17:5 we read:

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Also, only a few chapters later, Thomas confessed Jesus Christ as his Lord and God.  This happens in John 20:28.  What’s amazing is that Jesus doesn’t correct him and say that the Father is the only true God.  He affirms that statement of faith which affirms the contextual reading of John 17:3 that I’ve provided in this text.

Every single verse that is thrown against the deity of Christ, when read in context, doesn’t say that at all.  They can also be turned around quite easily as we’ve shown with John 17:3.  Other examples of verses used like this that can be turned around are Acts 2:22 and Mark 10:18.

There is not a single verse in the entire Bible where the deity of Christ is denied.  It’s such a firmly established doctrine and that is the reason that it has been believed for 2,000 years.  The Church Fathers at the Council of Nicaea weren’t trying to incorporate Greco-Roman paganism into their religion.  They were interpreting the Bible in context.  Muslims should do the same and accept the deity of Christ.