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Did Paul teach that Jesus was God?
Trace the strongest lines of support, challenge each claim, and follow every response as far as the reasoning goes.
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Before you begin
Orient yourself to the question
01 Clarifying the question
Paul was a devout Torah-cenetered Jew, believing in one all-powerful God. (His devotion is partly why Paul persecuted Christians.) When Paul finally converted to Christianity, did he come to believe that Jesus was God, incarnated as a human? Did he attribute to Jesus God's divinity in some sense?
02 Plausibility questions
- Paul taught Jesus pre-existed?
- Paul believed Jesus is God?
The argument field
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Open any reason to read its case. Linked claims take you deeper into the tree.
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Supports this claim
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Paul’s letters explicitly say Jesus is God
01 Supporting reason Paul’s letters explicitly say Jesus is God Read argument
In his letters, Paul writes rather blatantly that Jesus is God in some sense.
After all, he says so in…
- Romans 9:5 — “Christ, who is God”
- Philippians 2 — “in the form of God”
- 2 Peter 1:1 — “Our God and savior, Jesus”
- Titus 2:13 — “Our God and savior, Jesus”
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Paul’s letters overtly imply Jesus is God
02 Supporting reason Paul’s letters overtly imply Jesus is God Read argument · 3 paths deeper
Paul unmistakably implies that Jesus is God, by taking Old Testament descriptions, roles and properties of God and applying them to Jesus.
This page analyzes four arguments:
- Paul used “Lord” in the YHWH-sense to designate Jesus.
- Paul uses OT descriptions about God to describe “Lord” Jesus.
- Paul inherited prayers to Jesus and taught others to use them.
- Paul said people were “in Christ” (and God).
- [More forthcoming.]
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Paul's churches believed Jesus was God
03 Supporting reason Paul's churches believed Jesus was God Read argument
The various Greek churches that Paul planted and/or pastored believed that Jesus was Good.
- Paul’s letters assume they believe it.
- The authorities behind Paul's churches taught it.
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The Jerusalem church believed Jesus was God
04 Supporting reason The Jerusalem church believed Jesus was God Read argument
The church lead by the apostles in Jerusalem publicly maintained that Jesus was God.
- …they designated Jesus as κύριος in the YHWH-sense.
- …they taught prayer to Jesus.
- …Peter did
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Paul believed Jesus was God
05 Supporting reason Paul believed Jesus was God Read argument · 2 paths deeper
Paul genuinely believed that Jesus was God incarnate (YHWH).
This page discusses this evidence:
This helps answer our question because, if Paul believed Jesus was God then he almost certainly taught it.
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