While it is good to ask questions to further understand the Scriptures, it is not good to 'question' the Scriptures. The more I read your posts, the more you appear to listen to the speculative & presumptions of others rather than the Scriptures & use the 'skeptical language' of unbelievers. You appear not to harmonize the WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE & what it says concerning the Trinity, both OT & NT & isolate verses.
Your first question is EXTREMELY LIMITED to just 2 Bible passages & your whole premise appears to be based on QUESTIONING the Word of God versus believing it & simply doing correlative Bible study on harmonizing the whole of Scripture on its revelation concerning the Triune nature of the one true God in Scripture.
As another poster stated, this often involves much study of Scripture; in other words, do your homework!
The dynamics of the Trinity as revealed in Scripture involve a number of things for one. The Father is God invisible; the Son is both God & man visible & thus is approached on the basis of both being true at the same time.
Secondly, the nature of the Father/Son relationship is another issue of why the Scripture says what it says at different times.
Third, the Son honors the Father. Yet the Son is to be honored just as the Father is honored. (John 5:23) Yet the Son received His teaching from the Father WHILE A MAN ON THE EARTH. Yet to have seen the visible Son working is to have seen the invisible Father working as well AT THE SAME TIME. (John 5:17).
Aramaic Bible in Plain English But Yeshua himself said to them: “My Father is working until this hour AND I am ALSO working.”
Fourth, the Holy Spirit, though God, honors the Son, taking from the Son what He is to lead & guide us into--all the truth. (John 14 & John 16). Yet in Acts 5, to lie to God is synonymous to lying to the Holy Spirit.
The Son glorifies the Father, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, the Father glorifies the Son, etc. depending on what passages you are reading at the time.
You must also consider the distinct roles & ministries each Person of the Trinity fulfilled, though unified in these, that often leads to the descriptions we find in Scripture concerning them as such.
One such example is that God is a Comforter or Paraclete or Counselor, however that Greek word is translated. All three members are called Comforter. (see if you can find the verses).
Thomas referred to Jesus, speaking directly to Him, as 'the Lord of me' & 'the God of me' & he wasn't referring to the Father when he made his confession directly to Jesus.
John 1:1 refers to Jesus as the Word being WITH GOD yet also the Word being God in the same sentence.
You reference John 17:3 as referring to the Father as the only true God, yet ignore the first part of the verse as to how Jesus defines what eternal life is: knowing both the Father AND the Son. Then you seem ignorant of what John also says in I John 5:20
Aramaic Bible in Plain English "And we know that The Son of God has come & he has given us a mind to know The True One and to be in The True One--IN HIS SON, Yeshua The Messiah. This One {refers back to the Son} is The True God & The Life Eternal."
So not only is the Father called the only true God but the Son is also called the only true God or true One & also is the eternal life. This is further confirmed in I John 1:2 Aramaic Bible in Plain English
"And The Life was revealed and we perceived and we testify and we proclaim to you the Life Eternal, that which was with The Father and was revealed to us."
Another issue is that Jesus Christ came to earth as the Word made flesh, God manifested in the flesh yet as a man OF NO REPUTATION (Phil 2:6-8), FROM AN UNKNOWN FAMILY & FROM AN UNKNOWN CITY (John 1:46) where He grew up. He came into the world, made the world & yet He wasn't recognized. When He presented Himself as Deity & the Promised Messiah, the Prophet & Priest Moses talked about & King from David's line to His own Jewish people, they received Him not but rejected Him & called for His crucifixion.
His physical appearance was one such that we wouldn't notice Him or pay attention to Him--He wasn't outwardly handsome or attractive or someone to be desired or majestic. (Isaiah 52 & 53) Those Divine attributes were veiled due to the voluntary limitations of being a man in a body of flesh & blood. He did not ever cease to be God but yet being a man had natural limitations He voluntarily accepted during His time on the earth.
So, rather than doubt or question the Word of God based on only two verses--
or question it based on someone's speculation that the NT writers depended on 'Aristotelian philosophy' RATHER THAN THE THE DIRECT LEADING & REVELATION FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT--
or quote skeptics language such as 'there may be other places but the others are more tentative because of variant manuscripts or grammatical imprecision' which is based on vague presumptions & unbelief--
rather than believing the WHOLE of what Scripture teaches & what the Christians have believed & taught since the first century onward, 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints.'
Present yourself TO GOD as one accurately handling the Word of Truth--the whole harmonization of the Scriptures concerning this wonderful teaching concerning the Triune nature of the one true living God.
These are just a FEW things to consider--before a more in-depth study of the various harmonious verses on the Trinity are shown, including all those that reference all 3 Persons of the Triune God throughout Scripture.
I hope that this is helpful & informative.
