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For those who claim the “Word” of John 1:1 (“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”) implies equality between Jesus
and God, 1 Corinthians 3:23 muddies the doctrinal waters.
This verse states, “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
Now, in what way are ye Christ’s? A follower of his teachings? But then in what way is Christ God’s? And if Jesus were God, why doesn’t the passage read “Christ is God” rather than “Christ is God’s”?
This verse emphasizes the fact that just as the disciples were subordinate to the
prophet Jesus, so too was Jesus subordinate to God. Surely this distinction comes as no surprise to those who respect the authority of Isaiah 45:22 (“For I am God, and there is no
other”),
Isaiah 44:6 (“Thus says the Lord … ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides
Me there is no God’”),
Deuteronomy 4:39 (“The Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; these is no other”), and Deuteronomy 6:4 (“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”).
Given the above, claiming the wording of John 1:1 to equate Jesus to God certainly is selective reasoning at best. All of which leaves a person to wonder what really is wrong with the Islamic viewpoint on this issue, whether understood in the framework of Unitarian Christianity or Islam.
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