What Religions Do Not Believe Jesus Is God?

Judaism is unambiguously in scope here. The Hebrew scriptures insist on the absolute, unshared uniqueness of God. The book of Psalms asks rhetorically, "who is a god except the ETERNAL, who is a rock but our God?" Psalms 18:32, and 1 Samuel echoes the same conviction 1 Samuel 2:2. There is simply no theological space within classical Jewish thought for a human being — however righteous — to be identified with God.

Mainstream rabbinic Judaism, codified by figures like Maimonides (1138–1204) in his Thirteen Principles of Faith, treats the belief that God is absolutely one and incorporeal as non-negotiable. The very notion of a divine incarnation is considered incompatible with biblical monotheism. Jesus is not discussed as a theological category in the Talmud in any positive sense; he's regarded as a historical Jewish figure, but certainly not divine.

It's worth noting that some 20th-century Jewish scholars — Martin Buber, for instance — expressed admiration for the ethical teachings attributed to Jesus while still firmly rejecting any claim to his divinity. That distinction matters: respect for a teacher doesn't equal theological agreement. The Deuteronomy passages warning Israel against failing to trust the LORD Deuteronomy 1:32 Deuteronomy 1:32 reflect a tradition that takes fidelity to the one God with utmost seriousness — and that fidelity excludes any rival divine figure.

Christianity is the tradition that does believe Jesus is God, so it serves here as the contrasting position rather than a tradition rejecting his divinity. The New Testament letter of James opens by addressing "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory" James 2:1, treating Jesus's lordship as a given assumption shared by the community.

The Council of Nicaea (325 CE) formalized the doctrine of Christ's full divinity against the Arian position, which had argued Jesus was a created being subordinate to the Father. Trinitarian Christianity — which encompasses Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and most Protestant denominations — holds that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, fully God and fully human.

It's fair to acknowledge internal disagreement: Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and some other Christian-adjacent movements do not believe Jesus is God in the full Trinitarian sense. So even within the broad Christian world, the question isn't entirely settled. But the overwhelming historic and contemporary mainstream of Christianity affirms Jesus's divinity.

Islam is firmly in scope and represents perhaps the most theologically explicit rejection of Jesus's divinity among the world's major religions. The Quran repeatedly and emphatically affirms that Allah alone is God — "there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Great Throne" Quran 27:26 — and treats the association of any partner with Allah (shirk) as the gravest possible sin.

Interestingly, Islam does not dismiss Jesus (Isa in Arabic). He's honored as one of the greatest prophets, born of a virgin, a worker of miracles, and the Messiah. But the Quran insists he was a human prophet, not divine. The question posed in Quran 37:86 — "Is it falsehood [as] gods other than Allāh you desire?" Quran 37:86 — captures the Islamic view that attributing divinity to anyone besides Allah is a form of falsehood, however sincerely held.

Classical Islamic scholars like Ibn Kathir (1301–1373) devoted considerable commentary to refuting the Christian Trinity doctrine specifically. The Quran 2:8 warns against those who say they believe but whose belief doesn't match reality Quran 2:8 — a verse sometimes applied in tafsir literature to those who profess monotheism while holding what Islam regards as polytheistic beliefs about Jesus.

So Islam occupies a unique middle position: deeply respectful of Jesus as a prophet, yet categorically rejecting his divinity.

Judaism maintains that God is utterly unique and that there is none besides Him, which excludes identifying any human, including Jesus, as divine 1 Samuel 2:2.

This exclusivity is repeatedly affirmed in Jewish scripture, underscoring that no other being shares God’s status as deity Psalms 18:32.

Christian scripture addresses Jesus with divine titles and honor, referring to him as “our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory,” which expresses a confession of his divinity in many Christian traditions James 2:1.

Islam teaches tawhid—absolute divine oneness—so Muslims affirm that no deity exists except Allah and reject assigning divinity to anyone else, including Jesus Quran 27:26Quran 37:86.