Journal of Interreligious Studies on the Quran and the Bible

Journal of Interreligious Studies on the Quran and the Bible

A Critical Examination of the Trinitarian Perspective in the Gospel of John Based on New Testament Commentaries

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Morteza Sanei 1
Ebrahim Bahadivand Chegini 2
1 . Associate Professor, Department of Religions, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Qom, IRAN.
2 PhD in Religions and Mysticism, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Qom, IRAN.
10.22034/qb.2026.2073131.1055
Abstract
Christians often appeal to the Gospel of John in discussions of the Trinity and maintain that this Gospel presents the divinity of Jesus. For this reason, the Gospel of John has long attracted the attention of researchers and scholars and has, seemingly, faced numerous challenges. A careful analysis of this Gospel based on the commentaries written on it by New Testament exegetes can clarify its position regarding the doctrine of monotheism or the doctrine of the Trinity and resolve existing ambiguities. Moreover, such a study may reveal the often unheard voice of the minority monotheistic current within Christianity in contrast to the dominant Trinitarian perspective. The present study aims to examine the issue of the Trinity and monotheism through a commentary based approach. The findings indicate that two categories of passages can be extracted from the Gospel of John. The first category consists of challenging passages from which the impression has been drawn that this Gospel emphasizes the divinity of Jesus Christ. These passages are critically examined and evaluated in light of existing biblical commentaries, demonstrating that such interpretations are open to challenge and reconsideration. The second category includes passages that clearly support monotheism and indicate that Jesus possesses a human nature rather than a divine one.
Keywords
Monotheism
Gospel of John
New Testament Exegesis
Christian Unitarians
Trinity
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