John 17:3 is not Unitarian nor Trinitarian
John 17:3 in the King James Version reads:
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
The following ay ang mga salita ni Jesucristo sa kanyang “Intercessory Prayer” para sa kanyang mga disciples, where one of his pleas to Heavenly Father is to sanctify ang mga disciples in the truth and to prepare them para sa kanilang hinaharap na responsibilities and adversities as they spread the Gospel. Sa words na ito ni Jesus na eternal life is knowing Heavenly Father as “the only true God” and to know Jesus Christ as their Savior, who truly came from God.
Ang phrase na “only true God” ay plainly na adressed lamang kay Heavenly Father, na kung saan ay something na hindi consistent sa Nicene Trintarianism at ang kanilang notion of the persons of the Trinity being one in substance and co-equal. One theologian na si Saint Augustine goes as far as saying na Jesus meant that the Father and Christ are the only true God (na nakasaad sa Tractate 105.3: “The proper order of the words is, That they may know You and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent, as the only true God.”), na kung saan ay isang malinaw na distortion ng words ni Jesucristo. Seeing na ang passage na ito ay hindi suportado sa idea ng Nicene Trintarianism, ginagamit din ito ng mga Unitarians para sabihin na dahil daw “only true God” si Heavenly Father, therefore daw hindi Diyos si Jesucristo dahil only daw—i.e. excluding the person of Jesus as God in nature. Kagaya lamang ng Nicene Trinitarians, ito rin ay isang distortion ng words ni Jesucristo at ang writing ni apostle John.
Ang “only true God” sa Greek ng New Testament ay τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν (ton monon alethinon theon). Now Unitarians will focus only sa limiting modifier na μόνον (monon, "only") and then base entirely their understanding of that verse on that word. Notice na there follows ang isang adjective na ἀληθινὸν (alethinon) in the accusative case, na kung saan ay nangangaluhugang “true.” Because words mean according to particular uses in different contexts (at hindi limited sa iisang context lang), ang adjective na "true" (ἀληθινὸν) acts as a modifier in order to distinguish ang isang particular na person o bagay to be much perfect o greater among their own kind. Kagaya lang naman sa pagsabi na dahil sa kanyang angking kabayanihan, si Juan Dela Cruz ay isang “tunay na Filipino.” Hindi nito sinasabi na ang ibang mamamayan ng Pilipinas ay hindi talaga Filipino, ngunit si Juan Dela Cruz ay isang role model at naiiba sa ibang mga Filipino.
Indeed in other places sa mga writings ni apostle John, ang ἀληθινὸν (alethinon) is used in the same way with other objects. For example, sa discourse ni Jesucristo on “the bread of life,” sinabi ni Jesus na siya ang “true bread from heaven” where it reads sa John 6:32:
“ . . .Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven [τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸν ἀληθινόν, ton arton ek tou ouranou ton alethinon]." (King James Version)
When Christ said na Heavenly Father gives "the true bread from heaven," hindi dinedeny ni Cristo na hindi tinapay yung kinain ng mga Israelita habang sila ay nasa ilang (that is manna, Exo. 16:1-15, 31), but instead says na this bread the Israelites ate ay pansamantala lamang, but ang “true bread” provides everlasting life. Tinapay talaga ang kinain ng mga Israelita pero hindi ito ang pinaka-tinapay o ang "true bread" that is Christ. In here, may contrast between sa perfect and imperfect, and ang adjective na “true” ay ginamit ni apostle John in order to make this contrast.
John 1 says that Christ is the "true light" (John 1:9), and in the same way with John 17:3 and John 6:32, dini-distinguish ng adjective na “true” ang “light” bilang isang title ni Jesucristo, making contrast sa visible light that we know, being that Christ is a light than guides the path of men back to God through the Gospel. (cf. 1Jn. 2:8) Sa Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls those who hear his message as “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) Si Jesus bilang ang “true light” does not disqualify ang ibang “lights” as "lights"; only that na ang “lights” (as people) are representative of the true light (Christ). Though imperfect sa buhay na ito, ang mga disciples bilang ang “light of the world” sees the “true light” as a perfect example in shining their own lights.
Ang pagiintindi sa John 17:3 in this way reflects ang perspective ng Bible sa “oneness” ng Diyos. Na sa pagsabi na ang Panginoon ay “isa” (Deut. 6:4-5) o may “iisang Diyos” (1Cor. 8:5-6), hindi nito sinasabi na walang ibang deities o mga mas mababang diyos na nageexist maliban sa Diyos ng Israel. [1] Sa Old Testament at New Testament ay malinaw na pinapakita ang paniniwala sa isang divine council o mga diyos na subordinate sa Diyos ng Israel (e.g. Psa. 82; Job 1:6; 2:1; 1Cor. 8:5-6; 4QDeut. 32:7-9) [2] Dahil ang tunay na Diyos ay may covenant relationship sa Israel (at ultimately sa Simbahan ni Jesucristo), ang Diyos ay ang “iisang tunay na Diyos” na kung saan siya ang nakapreside sa lahat ng mga bagay sa daigdig, at na sa kanyang pangalan lamang ay ibinibigay ang tunay na pagsamba ng mga tunay na mananamba (οἱ ἀληθινοὶ προσκυνηταὶ, oi alethinoi proskynētai, John 4:23).
Malinaw sa gospel account ni apostle John na si Jesucristo ay deity o God in nature (John 1:1-18; 8:58; 20:28), at sa kabuuan ng theology ng New Testament, si Jesus ay ang perfect representation ng pagka-Diyos ni Heavenly Father (Col. 1:15-20; 2:10; Heb. 1:1-12) That Christ is “one being” o “one substance” with the Father ay nakabase sa Greek philosophy that would later influence Christian thought. Hindi ito ang thinking na mayroon sa original authors and readers ng Bible. Ang “strict monotheism” as the majority of Christians believe, ay hindi reflective sa “covenantal monotheism”; as the “oneness of God” doesn't mean “only ontologically existing,” but “the only being deserving of worship among all others.” The Father bilang ang “only true God” better reflects ang early Christian understanding of the Father bilang ang autotheos, i.e. the Father ay divine in nature in an underived sense, na hindi siya under sa kaninuman, nor depend his being on any other God (cf. Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius; Basil, De Espiritu Sancto, Letter 38, 52, 210, 230; 236; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book VII, 1-3; et. al), and with Jesus in participation with Heavenly Father, siya ay ang perfect representation ng being ng Father, because he reveals the Father in all ways (John 1:18; 14:7-12; Heb. 1:3; cf. Col. 1:15-17). Jesus Christ made known the intristinctiveness of Heavenly Father as “the only true God.” Heavenly Father is under the category ng “only True God” and no one else, with Jesus Christ as his perfect divine Son.
[1] Marc Zvi Brettler ed., The Jewish Study Bible, second edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014): 361; see also. Nathan MacDonald, Deuteronomy and the Meaning of “Monotheism,” second edition (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012); Michael S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, ed. Tremper Longman III, Peter Enns (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008): 112; Peter Hayman, “Monotheism—A Misused Word in Jewish Studies?” Journal of Jewish Studies, 42.1 (Spring, 1991): 15. For 1 Cor. 8:5-6 and ὥσπερ εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοὶ (NRSV: “as in fact there are many gods…”) as an affirmative statement, see. Andrey Romanov, One God as One God and One Lord, Early Christian Studies 20 (Norwest: Sydney College of Divinity, 2021): 600-03.
[2] Eugene Ulrich ed., The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants, Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 134 (Leiden: Brill, 2010): 240, 242; E. Theodore Mullen, The Divine Council in Canaanite and Early Hebrew Literature, Harvard Semitic Monographs, 24 (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1980); Richard J. Clifford, “The Tent of El and the Israelite Tent of Meeting,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 33 (1971): 221-27; The Cosmic Mountain in Canaan and the Old Testament, Harvard Semitic Monogralhs 4 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972).
