---
title: John 10:35
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-35/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-35.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 10:35
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 10:35

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—

## JW Usage

Jehovah's Witnesses cite Jesus' statement "Scripture cannot be broken" as an affirmation of biblical authority and the inviolability of God's written Word. In context, they use it to support the argument that the word "gods" in Psalm 82:6 is a legitimate, divinely sanctioned usage — proving that beings besides Jehovah can properly be called "gods" without it implying full deity. If Scripture itself uses the term broadly, then calling Jesus "a god" is scripturally warranted.

## Protestant Usage

Jesus affirms the absolute authority and unbreakable nature of Scripture — "Scripture cannot be broken." This is significant for the canon question: Jesus treats the Old Testament as self-attesting, fixed, and trustworthy in his own day, without appeal to any institutional body. The canon was recognised through distributed convergence across the early church, not imposed by a single central decree. In the immediate context of John 10:34-38, Jesus uses this unbreakable Scripture to build a lesser-to- greater argument about his own identity. If the inviolable Word applied "gods" to lesser beings who were condemned, how much more does it apply to the one the Father sanctified and sent? The phrase also undercuts any attempt to dismiss Jesus' argument as merely rhetorical — he grounds his deity claim in the permanent, unalterable authority of the written Word.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Elohim Category Trap](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/elohim-category.md) — Psalm 82 — If Jesus Is 'a God,' Which Kind? [Deity of Christ]
- [Canon Circularity — Who Gave You the Bible?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/canon-borrowed-capital.md) — Distributed convergence, not top-down decree, gave the church its 66 books [Authority]