“¹⁴These things write I unto thee… ¹⁵… that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. ¹⁶And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:14–16, KJV)

This translation of 1 Timothy 3:16 is highly promoted by Onenessians as a proof text that Jesus is a personal incarnation of God the Father. In fact, for Onenessians, it is practically an “end all” to the conversation on whether Jesus is “God the Father incarnate as a dual natured individual.” So, let’s see if this verse passes or fails our “jumping to conclusions and creating false dilemmas” test.

Trinitarians also use this verse for a proof text, so, first, again we ask, where does this verse explain, “God is a Trinity of three coequal persons in one substance”? It doesn’t, right? So, Trinitarians use this as a proof-text, and jump to conclusions, to create their false dilemma…

TRINITARIAN’S FALSE DILEMMA: “this can ‘only’ indicate that Jesus is the person of God the Son incarnate as a man.”

But this verse doesn’t say anything about “God the Son” or a “Trinity of persons” or “one substance.”

Does it support Oneness? Where does this verse explain, “Jesus is a dual-natured incarnation of the Father, his ‘deity’ is called ‘Father’ and his human ‘flesh’ is called ‘son’ but he only has one identity, one personality, that operates in different ‘modes’”? It doesn’t, right? So Onenessians, also use this as a proof-text, and jump to conclusions, to create their false dilemma…

ONENESSIAN’S FALSE DILEMMA: “this can ‘only’ indicate that Jesus is a dual-natured incarnation of the person of the Father”

But this verse doesn’t say anything, let alone purposely set out to teach in detail, about Jesus being an incarnation of the person of the Father or a mode of the Father or any other unique and distinctive details of the Oneness doctrine.

Does the word “manifest” mean “incarnate”? Not any more than God’s protection means authorization to tempt the Lord.

Proof Texted Scripture	False Dilemma “Concluded” from Proof Text	Scripture Negating the False Dilemma / Conclusion
1 Timothy 3:16 “God manifest in the flesh”	This can only mean that Jesus was God “incarnate” as a man in Jesus	2 Corinthians 4:5–11 “the life of Jesus…also be revealed (manifested) in our body”; and John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time.” See also Romans 1:19; 2 Corinthians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:11; John 3:21; John 21:14; John 1:18; 1 John 1:1–3; Hebrews 1:1–2; 1 John 4:12; John 5:37

As we can see from the table, the Oneness doctrine rests on how they interpret it, by giving a word a meaning it doesn’t have in the scripture, as opposed to what the Bible clearly says and teaches otherwise in a good many places. Being “manifested” merely means that Jesus Christ revealed (made known) what being godly (good, holy, and righteous) looks like. The same word for “manifest” (Greek phaneroō, G5319) is used in other passages, such as Romans 1:19, 2 Corinthians 3:3, John 3:21, and John 21:14 (see below). In these passages we can also see that the word “manifest” simply means “made known” or “revealed.” It certainly does not mean being made into something, so it is not saying that “God was made flesh.”

“Because that which is known of God is revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) in them, for God revealed [manifested] it to them.” (Romans 1:19)

“Being revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.” (2 Corinthians 3:3)

“Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) to God; and I hope that we are revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) also in your consciences.” (2 Corinthians 5:11)

“But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319), that they have been done in God.” (John 3:21)

“This is now the third time that Jesus was revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) to his disciples, after he had risen from the dead.” (John 21:14)

For the Oneness understanding of “manifest” to be true, it would mean that we must also be “God incarnate” when we “manifest” or reveal that which is known of God. It would mean that we are, as they claim of Jesus, incarnations of the word of God by becoming the epistles of Christ. And it would mean that Jesus incarnated himself at least three times to his disciples after he had risen from the dead.

Context is Key

The most important thing we need to focus on is the context of 1 Timothy 3:16; namely, that Paul was writing to his disciple Timothy for the purpose of teaching people how they “ought to behave.” Paul’s stated purpose (his “didactic focus”) was not to teach that God became a man. That concept conceals what Paul was trying to teach. To the contrary, Paul’s topic was that Jesus made known to us a life of godliness that we could all see and pattern our lives upon. Here’s how Paul explained this same concept elsewhere, as if to say, “in other words…” or, “it is written again” …

“⁶seeing it is God who said, ‘Light will shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves… ¹⁰…that the life of Jesus may also be revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) in our body. ¹¹For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:5–11)

The word translated here as “revealed” is the same Greek word used for “manifested” in 1 Timothy 3:16. Is this passage saying that when we make Jesus known through us that it is evidence that we are incarnations of Jesus Christ? Absolutely not! And yet that is what some people read into 1 Timothy 3:16 to make it sound like Jesus is an incarnation of God.

Rather, the point is simply that when we make the life of Jesus Christ manifest, we make him known or, we could say, “clearly understood.” And that is what 1 Timothy 3:16 is making known about godliness.

Thus, an interpretation that imposes the idea of “incarnation” upon 1 Timothy 3:16 actually hides and replaces the original intent of what Christ “made known” to us, which is “godliness” that is pleasing and acceptable to God. The simple truth is that Christ made God and godliness known in the exact same way that we are to turn and make Christ and his righteousness known to others through our “godliness.” This view is also totally in harmony with Paul’s stated context in 1 Timothy 3:14–15, where his stated purpose was to teach how we ought to behave.

When we consider what Paul wrote in context, we find other parallel passages that say the same thing as 1Timothy 3:16 that do not conclude this means that Jesus is God incarnate. For example:

“No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” (John 1:18)

John 1:18 presents a clear, “it is written again” quote in which Jesus is one “who” and he declared another “Him” than himself. These are personal pronouns that explicitly identify two different individuals, not mere “natures,” as Onenessians make them out to be.

“¹That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life ²(and the life was revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319), and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed (manifested, Greek phaneroō, G5319) to us); ³that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1–3)

“¹God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ²has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews 1:1–2)

This passage provides an explanation of how Jesus manifested God and godliness: it’s because God has spoken to us through His Son in the same way that he formerly spoke through prophets!

We believe that if anyone makes an honest effort to compare these verses with 1 Timothy 3:14–16, they will see they are all saying essentially the same thing, just in different ways. These are “it is written again” passages against the Onenessian interpretation of 1 Timothy 3:16.

Using Jesus’ method of interpretation, we can say, it is written again:

“No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” (John 1:18; see also 1 John 4:12)

“The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.” (John 5:37)

If Jesus believed for a moment that he was God the Father, then his statement in John 5:37 would be a lie. According to the Oneness doctrine, we are supposed to believe it was the person of God the Father Himself, in human form, who was visibly standing there and telling these Jews: “you have never heard my voice nor seen my form.” It is confusion and a contradiction to say Jesus was claiming to be God the Father incarnate and claiming not to be God the Father at the same time in the same relationship.

“But [we] have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2)

“God manifest” was the title of Antiochus Epiphanes, a forerunner of the Antichrist

We also need to address the fact that the idea of Jesus being called “God manifest” in the flesh would have been, in Jewish estimation, just as much an abominable doctrine as the Trinity would have been. And that is because of an infamous, pagan character in the annals of Jewish history who gave himself that very title: Antiochus Epiphanes.

“Antiochus regarded himself as Zeus (hence his title, epiphanes, meaning “manifestation of”), the Greek God… His self-view as the supreme God meant that he saw himself as having power over all the religions in his realm. He thus tried to systematically change the traditions of the Jews, based on the laws of Moses, to make them conform to Greek beliefs.” “Antiochus IV Epiphanes,” New World Encyclopedia, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Antiochus_IV_Epiphanes&oldid=1001584 (accessed 9/1/2022).

When Onenessians repeat the phrase “God manifest” from a corrupt passage of scripture, they are literally repeating the claim of Antiochus Epiphanes, a type of forerunner of the antichrist. Antiochus Epiphanes was perhaps the closest “type” or “shadow” of the coming antichrist as has ever been seen in history. To think that Jesus would be given the same title (“God manifest”), as one of Judaism’s archenemies by the apostles, particularly without any clear explanation, is as preposterous as believing first century Jews would have called God a “Trinity of three persons in one substance.”

The idea that 1 Timothy 3:16 means “Jesus was God” is definitely adding an unbiblical teaching to the word of God. This can also be demonstrated historically. Note what this following writer has to say about why it wasn’t used for argumentation in the early years of Christianity when the Trinity was being formulated:

“When the Christological controversies were occurring in the fourth century, we do not see even one solitary person making a reference to the ‘God was manifested in the flesh’ version of this verse as evidence for identifying Jesus as ‘God.’ This fact does itself undeniably demonstrate it was unknown to them. If indeed 1 Timothy 3:16 really said ‘God was manifest in the flesh,’ we can most definitely be sure this passage would have most been brought forward as ‘Exhibit A.’ Yet, not one soul mentions it even though this passage more than any other would have supported the teaching that the incarnate Christ was ‘God.’ But the facts remain as they are and it was never mentioned once in the myriads of documentation that exist illustrating what was argued in these debates. There is a good reason that no one in the fourth century church ever mentioned the passage. The word ‘God’ did not appear in 1 Timothy 3:16 until much later. It first appeared in manuscripts after Trinitarian dogma was developed and canonized and is an obvious later alteration.” “The Trinity Delusion,” 1 Timothy 3:16, www.angelfire.com/space/thegospeltruth/trinity/verses/1Tim3_16.html, accessed 9/12/2016.

Other References

The Most Notable Corruptions of Scripture

http://www.thenazareneway.com/textual_analysis/most_notable_corruptions.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/space/thegospeltruth/trinity/verses/1Tim3_16.html.

1 Timothy 3.16–Who Was Manifested?

http://lhim.org/blog/2008/08/13/1-timothy-316-who-was-manifested/

1 Timothy 3:16 – Trinity Delusion site

https://www.angelfire.com/space/thegospeltruth/TTD/verses/1timothy3_16.html

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