Evidence · Case 05 · Relativism
The Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 6
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
On the night before his death, speaking to his disciple Thomas, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He does not offer to point out the way or to pass along information. He puts himself in the place of the thing itself. The setting is the last supper teaching in John chapters 13 through 17, given privately to his closest followers.
Sources
The Gospel of John 14:6, New American Standard Bible.
Objections & responses
- John is the latest and most theologically developed Gospel, and most critical scholars doubt the “I am” sayings go back to the historical Jesus. Isn’t this about what John wrote, not what Jesus said?
Exactly, and the wording of this claim is careful on that point: the Gospel of John presents Jesus identifying himself as the truth. That is a claim about the text, which is not in dispute. Whether the saying is historical is a separate question that is not asserted here. In conversation, say John records Jesus saying rather than Jesus said, and you are on ground no one can knock you off.