John 20:28

"My Lord and my God"

Problem:

Since Jesus is addressed by Thomas as "My Lord and My God", this passage is considered by trinitarians to prove the "deity of Christ" - that he is "God the Son."

Solution:

1. Thomas' confession is an acknowledgment that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, but it is not a declaration that Jesus is "God the Son". Thomas, a Jew, used a mode of expression common to the Old Testament in which accredited representatives of God are referred to as "God". Angels are called "God" in the following passages: Gen. 16:7 cf. vs. 13; 22:8, 11, 15 cf. vs. 16; Exod. 23:20, 21. Moses is referred to as a "god" to Pharaoh. (Exod. 7:1, "god" is translated from the Heb. "elohim"). "Elohim" translated "God" can refer to the judges of Israel as in Psa. 82:1, 6 cf. John 10:34. It is also translated "judges" in Exod. 21:6; 22:8, 9 and "gods" (mg. "judges") in Exod. 22:28.

2. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus told Mary, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God." (vs. 17). Since Jesus was to ascend to his God, then clearly he was not himself "Very God".
3. [PK note added] During the 1st Century, a common greeting among Roman citizens was "Caesar is Lord." Emperor Domitian insisted on the title "Our Lord and God" in public documents, and "My Lord God Domitian" when addressed personally. When Thomas said "My Lord and my God", he didn't mean it in the way Trinitarians do. His confession may have been a declaration of loyalty to God's Son and divine representative; a deliberate rejection of the Roman emperor cult.¹

Footnotes:

1. From correspondence; D. Burke. Return