CLAIM: Jesus said, “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (Jn. 10:35-36) Was Jesus arguing that there were many gods? Mormon theologians claim that this gives warrant for polytheism. Is this the case?
RESPONSE: Jesus was making an a fortiori argument based on his citation of Psalm 82. In the psalm, the unjust judges were called ‘gods’ because they were able to dispense judgment over the people. Jesus was saying, “How much more should I be called God for my authority?” In the original passage (Ps. 82:7), the human judges are said to die. Therefore, they were not immortal gods, as Mormons claim.