Jesus is “one” with the God he calls “Father” (Jn 10:30). According to John’s testimony, Jesus’ relation to his Father—his eternal divine origin from the Father (Jn 1:14, 18) and his eternal divine orientation toward the Father (Jn 1:1-2)—provides the most comprehensive framework for understanding Jesus’ person and work (Jn 16:28). 1. Right from the […]
How John says Jesus is “God”
At the heart of John’s trinitarian Christology is the claim that Jesus is “God.” The following is an attempt to summarize what John intends by this claim and how he communicates it. 1. Both the prologue and the Gospel in its entirety are structured around statements regarding the deity of the second person of the […]
Why does John call Jesus “the Word” (Jn 1:1)?
Students of John’s Gospel have long pondered the question: Why does John call Jesus “the Word” in his prologue? Given the prologue’s resonance with discussions of Wisdom in the Old Testament (e.g., Job 28; Proverbs 8) and within ancient Judaism (e.g., Wisdom 7, which bears multiple similarities to John 1:1-18), the obvious title for the […]
The logic of revelation in the “Book of Signs” (John 1-12)
“The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me” (John 10:25). John 1-12, the so-called “Book of Signs,” provides the Fourth Evangelist’s testimony regarding Jesus’ public ministry. According to John, the marvelous words and deeds that Jesus speaks and performs during his public ministry reveal the truth about his person. John […]
The greatest prooftext for the doctrine of eternal generation?
The doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son is a central feature of orthodox Christian teaching. In this doctrine, the church confesses not simply that the second person of the Trinity is the one true and living God but how he is the one true and living God: as the Son eternally begotten by […]
God’s singular sovereign agency
I am currently working on an essay on the external works of the Trinity. Below is an excerpt, which focuses on the “oneness” of those external works. Scripture repeatedly draws our attention to the connection between the oneness of God and the oneness of God’s agency in his external works. In response to God’s wonderful […]
