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Looking through the Bible the closest thing I could find is that at most Jesus was the son of god. In fact, several times Jesus made a distinction between god and himself. (The notion that he was one of "three coeternal consubstantial persons" wasn't finally formulated until 381AD.)
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The Bible does not say that Jesus was God.
Jesus never claimed to be God.
It was Christians who formulated the doctrine that Jesus was God.
Did the Jews Accuse Jesus of Claiming to Be “God” or “a God”?
May 28, 2014 by
Kermit Zarley2 Comments
The Gospel of John relates one incident in which the Jews accused Jesus of “making himself equal to God” and another incident in which they said to him, “you, though only a human being, are making yourself God” (Jn 5.18; 10.33). (All scripture quotations are from the NRSV.) Since Christians have been taught that Jesus is God, they have been taught that these Jews were correct in making these accusations. But in each instance, Jesus’ immediate response represents a denial of those allegations (Jn 5.19-46; 10.34-38). In the second incident, did they charge Jesus with making himself “God,” as has been traditionally translated, or “a god”? In the Greek text of Jn 10.33, the word for “God,”
theos, does not have the article, thus making it “a god.” But English Bibles don’t translate it that way. Versions with “God’s Son” include the NIV, NRSV, NEB, and versions with “the Son of God” include KJV, NASB, ESV.
The first incident, in Jn 5.1-9, was precipitated by Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath. Then we read, “the Jews started persecuting Jesus because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working’” (vv. 16-17). Thus, Jesus here calls God his Father, as he so often did, and he implicitly identifies his work as the Father’s work. Then we read, “For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God” (v. 18)……
In the second incident, in which the Jews accused Jesus of “making yourself God” (Jn 10.33), the Greek text has
theos without the article. Ordinarily, this would be translated “a god” rather than “God.” But because most translators believe Jesus is God, they have translated it “God” rather than “a god.”
What precipitated this accusation by the Jews, in Jn 10.33? They asked Jesus to tell them plainly if he was the Messiah (Jn 10.24). He replied that he had already done so. He added that his miracles, which he had done in his Father’s name, testify to who he is (v. 25). He further added that his Father had given him his disciples, to whom he gives eternal life, and no one can snatch them out of both his hand and the Father’s hand (vv. 28-29). He concluded, “The Father and I are one” (v. 30). Some church fathers asserted that Jesus’ word “one” (Greek
hen) was a claim to be of the same essence as that of the Father. On the contrary, Jesus meant he and the Father were unified in their relationship and work………
To sum, Jesus’ interlocutors in Jn 10.33 more likely accused him of making himself out to be
a god rather than
the God of Israel. And Jesus likely responded by calling himself “a son of God” in parallel to Ps 82 from which he quoted. Nevertheless, Jesus is “the Son of God” par excellence, and a huge majority of the
huios texts applied to Jesus in the Greek New Testament so identify him.
Did the Jews Accuse Jesus of Claiming to Be “God” or “a God”?
(To see a titled list of over fifty, two-three page posts (easily accessible) about the Bible not saying Jesus is God, click here.)
