---
title: John 17:3
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-17-3/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-17-3.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 17:3
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 17:3

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

## JW Usage

The NWT renders John 17:3 as "their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ." Jehovah's Witnesses use this verse in two ways. First, it is cited as proof that the Father alone is "the only true God," excluding Jesus from deity. Second, the phrase "taking in knowledge" is used to support the Watchtower's programme of ongoing Bible study, meeting attendance, and knowledge accumulation as requirements for attaining eternal life. In JW theology, salvation is a process of continual learning and obedience, and this verse is a key support text for that framework.

## Protestant Usage

Jesus says eternal life comes from knowing "you, the only true God, AND Jesus Christ whom you sent" — placing himself alongside the Father as equally essential to eternal life. The Greek ginōskō denotes relational knowing (as in Genesis 4:1, "Adam knew his wife"), not data accumulation. Most translations render this "that they may know you," not "taking in knowledge." In the same prayer, Jesus asks for the glory he had with the Father "before the world existed" (John 17:5) — what created being shared glory with Jehovah before creation? The phrase "only true God" excludes false gods, not the Son. The parallel in 1 Corinthians 8:6 illustrates this: if "only true God" in John 17:3 excludes Jesus from deity, then "one Lord" in 1 Corinthians 8:6 excludes the Father from lordship — an absurd conclusion no JW would accept. Both verses distinguish the persons while affirming shared divine identity. Eternal life IS the knowing — it is a relationship entered by trust, not a qualification earned by study hours.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Jehovah/Adam Name Analogy](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jehovah-adam-analogy.md) — Genesis 5:2 — One Name, Two Persons [Deity of Christ]
- [The Parachute Analogy — Trust, Not Effort](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/parachute-analogy.md) — Ephesians 2:8–9 / Way of the Master [Salvation]
- [Whoever Denies the Son Does Not Have the Father](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/1john2-23-deny-son-deny-father.md) — 1 John 2:22-23 [Deity of Christ]
- [You Can't Cite a Bible You Say Is Corrupted](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/consistency-corrupt-bible-self-defeat.md) — The Selective-Appeal Inconsistency [Authority]