Christians generally use 3 lines of reasoning to demonstrate that Jesus is God. First, Jesus Himself claimed to be God. Secondly, Jesus possessed attributes that only God can possess. Lastly, Jesus' followers recognized Him as God.

Jesus Claimed to be God

Jesus made many claims about Himself that indicated that He believed Himself to be God. For example, in John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." Here, Jesus is clearly identifying Himself with God. When confronted with this verse, Jehovah's Witnesses typically respond by saying that Jesus was not saying that He was God, but that He was one in purpose with God. However, the context of this passage clearly shows that this interpretation cannot be correct. Why would the Jews pick up stones to kill Jesus if He was only claiming to be one in purpose with God? In fact, after being asked by Jesus why they were seeking to kill him, the Jews answer in verse 33 "We are not stoning you for any of these…but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." (1)

Obviously, the audience understood Jesus' claims. Why else would they seek to stone Him?

One other important fact should be noted. If Jesus was not claiming deity but only unity of purpose with God as the Jehovah's Witnesses purport, then why did Jesus not try to correct their understanding? It's because their understanding was correct. They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God.

John 14:9

In John 14:9, Jesus affirms His deity when He tells Philip, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father". (2) Obviously, Jesus is claiming to be the representation of God in human flesh. If Jesus were not fully God, this statement would have been meaningless. Similarly, in John 8:19, Jesus tells the Pharisees that "if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." If Jesus was not equivalent in nature to the Father, how could either of these statements be true, or make any sense for that matter?

Mark 14:61-64

61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." 63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death. (3)

This was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as the Jews were concerned. They had been seeking a way to get rid of Jesus and now they had a perfect reason. Here Jesus claims to be "the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One", a clear reference to His deity. Once again though, critics will dispute that Jesus was claiming Godhood. They may point out that Jesus doesn't actually refer to Himself as God, but only as "the Son." The context clearly shows that the high priest understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, for why else would he have responded, "You have heard the blasphemy"?

John 5:17, 18

17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (4)

Again, the context clearly shows that the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming equality with God. For this reason, they sought a reason to kill Him.

"I AM"

Perhaps the most convincing claims to deity come from Jesus' use of the phrase "I AM". This phrase had significant meaning to the Jews because of its meaning in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush. The Lord then tells Moses that he is to go to Pharaoh of Egypt and petition the release of the Israelites. Moses then asks God, "Who shall I say sent me?" God replies, "Tell them that 'I AM has sent me to you'". (5)

The phrase "I AM" is a form of the verb "to be" and thus refers to God's eternal self-existence. God was saying to Moses, "Tell them that the eternal self-existent one has sent you." Jews from that moment on understood the phrase "I AM" to refer to the one true God who delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians. In John 8:58, Jesus uses this exact same phrase to refer to Himself. Jesus says to the Pharisees in John 8:58, "Before Abraham was born, I AM." (6) Hence, Jesus was claiming to be the same God who spoke to Moses and delivered His people from the hand of the Egyptians.

Critics often dispute this interpretation, claiming that Jesus was only alluding to his pre-existence, not his eternal existence. Yet the context clearly shows that the Jews picked up stones to kill him. If our interpretation is wrong, then we are left to answer the question, "Why would the Jews pick up stones to kill Jesus (the penalty for blasphemy was death) if he was only claiming to be older than Abraham?"

This was not an isolated usage of the term "I AM". Jesus often referred to Himself as "I AM". In John 6:35, Jesus said, "I AM the bread of life." (7)

In John 8:12, John 9:5, John 12:35-36, and John 12:46, Jesus said, "I AM the light of the world." (8)

Jesus also stated "I AM the gate" (9), "I AM the true vine" (10) , "I AM the resurrection and the life" (11), and "I AM the way, and the truth and the life." (12) In each instance, Jesus uses the same phraseology given by God to Moses as a description of His nature.

Perhaps the most convincing usage of this phrase by Jesus is in John 8:23, 24. Here Jesus states plainly,

"You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." (13) Notice that the word "He" is italicized. This means that it is not actually in the original manuscripts, but has been added by the translators to give clarity to the verse. In this case however, the addition of the word "He" actually distorts the intended meaning of the text. Without the "He", the verse then reads, "unless you believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins." This is exactly how it reads in the original text, and is strong evidence that Jesus understood Himself to be God, and openly stated it.

Common Objection

People who dispute that Jesus claimed deity often point out that Jesus never claimed to be God, but only "the Son of God." This interesting bit of information is supposed to prove that Jesus is not really God Himself, but less than God. After all, when Jesus says that He is "the Son of God", doesn't this mean that God created Him in much the same way that we are created by our parents?

On the surface, this logic seems sound, but it is flawed. We shouldn't be asking ourselves what we think the phrase means, but we should be asking ourselves "what did it mean to those to whom Jesus ministered?" It seems obvious that they understood Jesus to be claiming deity. Isn't that why they crucified Him? Certainly they were less confused about Jesus' words than we could be. So if Jesus was claiming to be God, why did He refer to Himself as "the Son of God"?

Ron Rhodes, in his book Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses, gives this explanation:

Though the term [son of] can refer to "offspring of" in some contexts, it actually carries the more important meaning "of the order of." The phrase is often used that way in the Old Testament. For example, "sons of the prophets" meant "of the order of prophets" (1 Kings 20:35). "Sons of the singers" meant "of the order of singers" (Nehemiah 12:28). Likewise, the phrase "Son of God" means "of the order of God," and represents a claim to undiminished deity. (14)

Not only was it used that way in the Old Testament, but numerous New Testament examples could also be given to show that this was the understood meaning of the phrase among those who heard Jesus use it.

For example, Mark 3:17 says:

17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, "Sons of Thunder"); [emphasis added] (15)

The reason they were given the nickname "Sons of Thunder" was not because they were born by Thunder, but because their nature was likened to thunder; they both had tempers.

Another good example is found in Ephesians 2:2 which says:

2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. [Emphasis added] (16)

Clearly, no one is actually born to "disobedience", but we are able have a nature that is characterized by disobedience. Therefore, someone who is a "son of disobedience" possesses the nature of disobedience.

Doesn't it make sense then, given the response of the Jews to Jesus, and given the meaning in Scripture of the phrase "son of" that Jesus was identifying Himself as God when He called Himself "the Son of God"?

If you still doubt that this is what Jesus meant when He called Himself "the Son of God", then ask yourself this question:

What does it mean when Jesus calls Himself "the Son of Man"? If the phrase "Son of God" means that Jesus is literally God's son, then why does Jesus often refer to Himself as the "Son of Man"? (84 times in the gospels). Does this mean that Jesus is Man's Son? Who is Man? Doesn't it make more sense to say that Jesus possesses the nature of God, and is therefore "the Son of God", and at the same time, Jesus possesses the nature of man, and is thus referred to as "the Son of Man"? In fact, this is exactly what Christians believe; that Jesus is fully God and fully man at the same time. This is why Jesus refers to Himself both as "the Son of God" and "the Son of Man."

Jesus Possesses attributes of God

Jesus not only made direct claims of deity, but Jesus also demonstrated characteristics that can only be attributed to God. Indirectly, these characteristics point to Jesus' deity. For example:

• Matthew 9:4, Matthew 12:25, and Luke 11:17 all demonstrate that Jesus possessed the attribute of omniscience. Likewise, the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4 shows that Jesus knew the thoughts and the past of the Samaritan woman. Jesus not only knew the thoughts and histories of those whom He encountered, but He also knew of His own death and resurrection (Matthew 17:22-27).
• In Revelation 1:17, and 2:8, Jesus is referred to as "the first and the last" (17), a reference to His eternal existence. In Revelation 1:8, Jesus is referred to as "the Alpha and the Omega" (18). This phrase had special significance to those who understood Greek. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter. When Jesus declares Himself to be the Alpha and the Omega, He is literally claiming to be the "all-inclusive" one. It is a definite allusion to His eternality.
• Jesus alludes to His omnipresence in Matthew 18:20 and Matthew 28:20.
• Jesus demonstrated His omnipotence numerous times throughout His ministry by demonstrating His power over nature, sickness, demons and ultimately death itself (see Luke 4:39-41; 7:14, 15; Mark 1:27, and Matthew 8:26-27).
• Additionally, Jesus is referred to as Holy (Acts 3:14), truth (John 14:6, Rev. 3:7), almighty (Rev. 1:8), and powerful (Hebrews 1:3). (19)

The fact that Jesus possessed these attributes which are God's alone is clear evidence of His deity.

Common Objection

Critics often concede that Jesus had many qualities that were divine-like. However, as a way to downplay Jesus' divinity, critics will often argue that Jesus doesn't possess all the qualities that God does. Most often, the attributes of omnipresence and omniscience are targeted as proof of this objection.

Clearly, Jesus in His human form could not have been omnipresent. This does not mean that He does not possess omnipresence as a divine quality. Philippians 2 explains:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (20)

Notice that verse 6 explains that Jesus possessed the very nature of God, but even though He possessed the qualities of deity, He humbled Himself to take on a human form. Obviously, by taking on a human body, Jesus was voluntarily relinquishing the use of His omnipresence. He did not cease to possess omnipresence, because to do so would mean that He would cease to be God. Instead, Jesus voluntarily veiled many of His divine attributes in order to identify with humanity.

This explains why Jesus in Matthew 28:20, in His glorified, resurrected body could claim "and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (21) Jesus was no longer limited by His human body to be in only one place at one time. Hence, Jesus does possess omnipresence.

Critics also argue that Jesus isn't omniscient. As proof, they often will point out that in Mark 13:32, Jesus claims that only the Father knows the day and hour of the Lord's return. They triumphantly declare that this is proof positive that Jesus isn't God, because Jesus doesn't know everything that God the Father does.

This is a tricky passage but easily explainable. The key to understanding this passage is recognizing the fact that Jesus possessed a dual nature. Jesus was fully God, and yet at the same time He was fully man. Though He was only one person, He possessed two natures. Certainly, in His humanity, Jesus was not omniscient. But in His divinity He was. Because Jesus possessed two natures, He sometimes operated within the sphere of His humanity, while at other times He operated within the sphere of His divinity.

Rhodes gives the following excellent examples:

"Both of Christ's natures come into play in many events recorded in the Gospels. For example, Christ's initial approach to the fig tree to pick and eat a fig to relieve His hunger reflected the natural ignorance of the human mind (Matthew 21:19a). (That is, in His humanity He did not know from a distance that there was no fruit on that tree.) But then He immediately revealed His divine omnipotence by causing the tree to wither (verse 19b).

On another occasion, Jesus in His divine omniscience knew that His friend Lazarus had died, so He set off for Bethany (John 11:11). When Jesus arrived, He asked (in his humanness, without exercising omniscience) where Lazarus had been laid (verse 34). Robert Reymond notes that 'as the God-man, [Jesus] is simultaneously omniscient as God (in company with the other persons of the Godhead) and ignorant of some things as man (in company with the other persons of the human race).'

All that helps to give a proper understanding of Jesus' comment in Mark 13:32: 'But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but Father alone" (NASB). In this passage, Jesus was speaking from the vantage point of His humanity. Thus, as a human being Jesus was not omniscient but was limited in understanding just as all human beings are. If Jesus had been speaking from the perspective of His divinity, He wouldn't have said the same thing." (22)

In short, Jesus did not always demonstrate that He possessed omnipresence and omniscience. This is because He voluntarily chose to veil those attributes when He took on the form of humanity. However, because He possessed a dual nature, it's clear that within His divinity, He was both omnipresent and omniscient.

Authority to Forgive Sin

The Jews of Jesus' time recognized that only God could forgive sin. When Jesus claimed to have authority to forgive sin, the Jews understood Jesus to be making Himself equal with God.

In Mark 2:5-12, Jesus encounters a paralytic and exchanges this dialogue with some of the religious leaders:

5 And Jesus seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." 6 But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 And immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, *said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? 9 "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, 'Arise, and take up your pallet and walk'? 10 "But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-He *said to the paralytic- 11 "I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." 12 And he rose and immediately took up the pallet and went out in the sight of all; so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this." (23)

Here Jesus claims the authority to forgive sins. The Jews understood this to be an indirect claim of deity, as evidenced by their response in verse 8. Clearly Jesus thought He was God. Clearly the Jews understood that Jesus thought He was God. Jesus understood their doubt that He really was God, so He proved it to them by healing the paralytic. In essence, Jesus was saying, "Anyone can claim to be able to forgive sins, but I will demonstrate that I have that authority by healing this man." He then did it.

Recognized as God

The third evidence of Jesus' divinity is the fact that His followers recognized Him as God. Perhaps the best example is in John 20:28. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared many times to many of His disciples. When the disciples told Thomas that they had seen the resurrected Jesus, Thomas expressed doubt that they had actually seen Him (this is the origin of the term 'doubting Thomas'). Thomas wanted proof. John 20:24-28 gives us the account:

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he [Thomas] said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (Inserts added) (24)

In this passage, Jesus appears to the unbelieving Thomas and proves to him that He has indeed been resurrected. Thomas' response is noteworthy. He said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Clearly, Thomas recognizes that Jesus is God and he proclaims it. What's interesting is that Jesus neither prevents Thomas from worshiping Him as God, nor does He correct him. If Jesus were not God, as some claim, wouldn't we expect Jesus to rebuke Thomas for calling Him God? For the Bible is clear that only God can be worshiped.

When confronted with a similar situation in Acts 14:11-15, Paul and Barnabas sternly reject the worship that their audience begins to give them.

11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. (25)

Here is a perfect example of men who were mistaken as 'gods'. Paul and Barnabas were quick to correct their audience from worshiping them. Why? Because only God can receive worship.

Another example of mistaken worship occurs in Revelation 19:9-10.

9 Then the angel said to me [John], "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God." 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Insert added) (26)

In this example, John, one of Jesus' closest followers, mistakenly begins to worship an angel. The angel is quick to point out to John that he should not worship him. Why? It is because worship is reserved for God alone.

If Jesus is not God, as some suggest, why is it that He did not correct Thomas when Thomas worshiped Him by calling Him God? It is because Jesus did not think that worshiping Him was improper. Since we have already seen in other examples that men and angels refused to accept worship that is reserved for God alone, and since we have also seen that Jesus did not refuse worship that is reserved for God alone, then it is obvious that Jesus considered Himself to be worthy of that worship. Jesus believed Himself to be God.

It should be noted that this is not the only instance where Jesus is specifically called God. Paul and Peter, two of the apostles of the first century church, also referred to Jesus as God.

In Titus 2:13, Paul explicitly calls Jesus God:

13 while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, (27)

Some have tried to suggest that Paul is not calling Jesus God. Instead, they claim that Paul is referring to two different beings: 1) our great God, and 2) our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is grammatically improbable, as the possessive pronoun "our" refers to the whole phrase. Hence, "our great God" is our "Savior, Jesus Christ.

Peter also refers to Jesus as God in 2 Peter 1:1,

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: (28)

It's plainly obvious that Peter is referring to Jesus as God and Savior. Clearly, these two examples offer irrefutable evidence that Jesus' own disciples considered Him to be God.

Philosophical Problems

Not only did Jesus claim to be God; not only did Jesus possess attributes that only God possesses, not only did Jesus' followers refer to Him as God, but there are philosophical reasons as well for believing that Jesus is God.

If Jesus were not God, then we're left with two interesting problems.

First of all, if Jesus were not God, how exactly was he able to pay for sin? Secondly, if Jesus isn't fully God, yet has many of the attributes of God, how are we to explain the Biblical teaching of one true God.

That Christ is not fully God is not a new idea. In fact, this idea was actually promoted by a man named Arius early in the history of the church (around 320 AD). Arius, whose ideas became known as Arianism, taught that "The Son of God was a created being, made from nothing; there was a time when he had no existence and he was capable of change and of alternating between good and evil." (29)

"To Arius, when Christians called Christ God, they did not mean that he was deity except in a sort of approximate sense. He was a lesser being or half-God, not the eternal and changeless Creator. He was a created Being-the first created Being and the greatest, but nevertheless himself created." (30)

Today, the teaching of Arianism can be seen clearly, but not exclusively, in the present day teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The problem with Arianism is that if Jesus is not fully God, possessing the righteousness of God Himself, how can he satisfy God's wrath for sin? Perhaps an illustration at this point will help our understanding.

Suppose that you owe someone a trillion dollars, and he is demanding payment. You don't have a trillion dollars so you seem to be in big trouble. Then a friend of yours comes along and notices that you seem to be a little depressed. "What's wrong?" he asks. You explain your dilemma to him and he says, "no problem, I'll just write you a check right now and you can pay the debt." Your friend writes you the check, gives it to you and you in turn take it to the person you owe and you pay your debt. What happens when the person goes to cash the check? If there is enough money to cover the check, then the check will clear and your debt will be paid. But if there is not enough money to cover the check, then the check will bounce and your debt will still not be paid.

Now, the reality is that your friend also owes a trillion dollars to the same person. In fact, everyone owes a trillion dollars. Since you don't have a trillion dollars and you desperately want to pay your debt, you need to find someone who does have a trillion dollars who would be willing to pay it for you. Now your friend is willing to pay it for you but as we've already seen, he is unable to pay it because he too owes the trillion-dollar debt.

Think of the trillion-dollar debt as our sin debt to God. Everyone owes the debt. Therefore, a mere man cannot pay your debt for you even if he wanted to. The only person who can pay your debt is someone who has no debt of his own in addition to a positive amount to cover your debt. Furthermore, the only person who can pay for everyone's debt is someone who not only has no debt, but they must have an infinite amount of resources to cover everyone else's debt. In other words, the only qualified person to pay for the sins of the whole world is someone who is both sinless and infinitely righteous. By definition, only God is both sinless and infinitely righteous. Therefore, God is the only one who can really qualify to pay for our sin. But if Jesus is not God, how can he pay for our sin? He can't. Therefore, in order to pay for sin, Jesus must be God.

The early church understood that Jesus must be fully God in order to fully pay for sin. In addition, they knew that the Bible and the early church fathers all taught that Jesus was God. So, when Arius began promoting his Arianism teaching, the early church took swift action. The Arian controversy was dealt with at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. To refute the teaching of Arianism, the church formed the Nicene Creed. This creed is reprinted here for our benefit.

"I believe in one GOD THE FATHER Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one LORD JESUS CHRIST, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds. God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen." (31)

The framers of the Nicene Creed inserted some very important phrases to clearly indicate that the church believed in the full deity of Christ. For example, "God of God", "very God of very God", "begotten, not made", and "being of one substance with the Father". In their fight against the teaching of Arianism, those who held to the full deity of Christ argued that, "If Christ had not been fully God…he could not have fully saved us." (32)

So we see that not only does the Bible support the teaching of the idea that Jesus is God, but the early church believed that Jesus was God as well. The tradition of the early church supports the idea that the early church taught the full deity of Christ.

There's another philosophical dilemma that arises when one believes that Jesus is not fully God. That is, how are we to explain the consistent teaching of the Bible that there is only one true God?

Religions like the Jehovah's Witnesses paint themselves in a corner when they claim that Jesus is not God Almighty or Jehovah, but he is a lesser created 'god'. The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one true God. Yet if Jesus is like a God, or a lesser 'god', as the Jehovah's Witnesses teach, how can we harmonize the monotheism of the Bible? The truth is that we can't. If one believes that there is one Almighty God (Jehovah, or God the Father), and a lesser god (Jesus), then we must say that they are polytheists. Obviously then, Jesus cannot be some lesser 'god'. He must be fully God in order to avoid the polytheism that the Bible teaches against.

Much more could be said about the subject of the deity of Christ. For a further discussion of the topic, see my article, The Trinity: Biblical or Diabolical? For now, we can safely say that the Biblical evidence supports the idea that Jesus is God. Jesus Himself thought He was God, and He made direct claims as such. Jesus possessed attributes that only God could possess. Jesus performed functions that God alone could perform. Jesus' followers recognized that He was God in the flesh. And lastly, the plan of salvation demands that only someone with the very righteousness of God could pay for sin. Jesus must have been God in order to pay for the sin of mankind. There is no other way that our sin could be paid.