A Reply to: One God
As posted athttp://acharlie.tripod.com/one_God.html
Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures will be from
the American Standard Version 1901
Holy Scripture flatly proclaims that there is one and only one God. Throughout the Bible we are reminded time and again that there is one God. So as not to fill the page with page upon page of verse references, I will limit them to just a few.Reply: Well, let us take a look at the above verses. In Genesis 18 and 19, do we have a multiplicity of the God Jehovah?
(Note don't go running off because you see the word "Jehovah" In the following verses. I will explain this at the end of the page.)
Isa 44:6 " Thus said Jehovah, king of Israel, And his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: `I [am] the first, and I the last, And besides Me there is no God."
Isa 43:10-11 "Ye [are] My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, And My servant whom I have chosen, So that ye know and give credence to Me, And understand that I [am] He, Before Me there was no God formed, And after Me there is none. I--I [am] Jehovah, And besides Me there is no saviour."
Deut 4:35 "Thou, thou hast been shewn [it], to know that Jehovah He [is] God; there is none else besides Him."
From these few verses, and the multitude of others I have not cited, we can conclude that there is only one God. Yet, what about the statements made throughout Scripture concerning Jesus Christ. (If you haven't been to my page "Who is Jesus Christ?" you will find listings of verses there, which apparently contradict the verses cited above). What are we to conclude? Is Scripture flawed? How can we possibly resolve the seeming disparity between these two groups of verses?
In the three verses cited at the beginning of this page the word 'besides' is used. This word is translated from the Aramaic 'milebad' and the Hebrew 'bilade' both of which are only used in the context of 'apart from'. To sum up the verses, "there is no God apart from Jehovah". So, I ask you to consider, "Is Scripture trying to tell us that Jesus is part of Jehovah?" How can that possibly be? It doesn't make sense; or, does it?
To reconcile the two different sets of verses would mean that the being (entity) God (JHVH) is comprised of more than one being. Does Scripture give us any indication that this is true?
Gen 1:26 "And God saith, `Let Us make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness-."
(In Genesis 1:26 the original word which has been translated "God" is "elohiym" which is again a plural word.)
Gen 11:6-7 "And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. Come, let US go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
Gen 19:24 "Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;-."
It seems that, especially considering the last verse, there is a multiplicity in the God Jehovah. If you read Gen 18 & 19 you find that Jehovah appeared to Abraham in the guise of three travelers, Abraham addressed them as Jehovah. Later in the chapter, Jehovah goes down to Sodom; yet the following verse clearly states that Jehovah was still with Abraham. Is this another hint as to the true nature of God? I believe that it is! Scripture abounds with references, which point to the Triune nature of the living God, Jehovah.
What of Gen 1:26 and the Hebrew word Elohim? Gn 1:26 says, "And God
said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Does this mean
that God is plural? "The plural form does not indicate multiple gods, but
God and the retinue of the divine court." Harper Collins Study Bible NRSV
(cf. Zondervan NASB Study Bible, Oxford Annotated Bible-RSV, and Oxford
Study Bible - REB) What divine court? God is not alone in heaven (Ps 82:1;
89:5-7) and he was not alone during creation (Job 38:4-7; Prov 8:22-30).
"Christians have traditionally seen this verse [Gen 1:26] as adumbrating
[foreshadowing] the Trinity. It is now universally admitted that this was
not what the plural meant to the original author" (Genesis 1-15, Word
Biblical Commentary, G.J. Wenham, 27).
How do we know this? Examine Ezra 4:17, 18 which says, "Then sent the
king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and
to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and in the rest
of the country beyond the River: Peace, and so forth. The letter which
ye
sent unto us hath been plainly read before me." King Artaxerxes
was not a Trinity, yet he can refer to himself as "us."
What does Elohim mean? Aaron Ember wrote: "That the language of the
O[ld] T[estament] has entirely given up the idea of plurality in . . .
[´Elo·him'] (as applied to the God of Israel) is especially
shown by the fact that it is almost invariably construed with a singular
verbal predicate, and takes a singular adjectival attribute. . . . [´Elo·him']
must rather be explained as an intensive plural, denoting greatness and
majesty, being equal to The Great God."-The American Journal of Semitic
Languages and Literatures, Vol. XXI, 1905, p. 208.
"Rulers, judges, either as divine representatives at sacred places
or as reflecting divine majesty and power." Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon
under Elohim.
Hebrew grammarian Gesenius says of Elohim, "The plural of Majesty...sums
up the several characteristics belonging to the idea, besides posing the
secondary sense of an intensification of an original idea...that the language
has entirely rejected the idea of a numerical plurality in elohim (whenever
it denotes one God), is proved especially by its being almost invariably
joined with a singular attribute." Gesenius Hebrew Grammar, 398-399
At Psalm 8:5, the angels are also referred to as Elohim. The word Elohim
is also used when referring to idol gods. Sometimes this plural form means
simply "gods." (Ex 12:12; 20:23) At other times it is the plural of excellence
and only one god (or goddess) is referred to. However, these gods were
clearly not trinities.-1Sa 5:7b (Dagon); 1Ki 11:5 ("goddess" Ashtoreth);
Da 1:2b (Marduk).
"It is exegesis of a mischievous kind, if pious, sort that would discover
the doctrine in the plural form 'Elohim,' of the Deity's name, in the recorded
appearance of three angels to Abraham, or even in the ter sanctus of the
prophecies of Isaiah." Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics
German scholar Franz Delitzsch observed that "the idea that the Trinity
is represented in the three is in every point of view untenable."
What then of Genesis 19:24, "Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven."
Are there 2 Jehovahs here? Or, maybe, 2/3rds of the required three
for a Trinity?
A similar expression is used at Ex 24:1, where the Harper Study Bible
NRSV has a footnote that says, "The Lord refers to himself in the third
person as in 19:24." Is this unusual? King Solomon did the same thing,
"Solomon assembled the elders of Israel . . . unto King Solomon."
Gen 49:1,2, " And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: gather yourselves
together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter
days. Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; And hearken unto
Israel your father." Here we another example of speaking of yourself in
the 3rd person.
This was common back then, so it can be dismissed as the New English
Bible has in its reading of Gen 19:24, "The LORD rained down fire and brimstones
from the skies on Sodom and Gomorrah." (see also Revised English Bible,
Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NIrV, Bible in Basic
English, New Century Version-ICB, New Living Translation)
The name 'Jehovah' does not exist anywhere in the original manuscripts of Scripture. What does exist is the tetragrammation 'JHVH'. This is used to signify the incommunicable name of the One True God. It has been rendered both as Jehovah and Yahweh; however, by definition neither is the correct name. Many translations render "JHVH" as LORD, and LORD in a smaller print. This has lead to a lot of confusion among readers of the Bible. With each version, or translation, of the Bible subtle, and some not so subtle, changes have been introduced to God's Word the Holy Bible. One translation, the New World Translation, has undertaken to rewrite various key verses of Scripture to support their own beliefs.Reply: Is neither Jehovah or Yahweh by definition a correct name? To say this is intirely misleading, and somewhat dishonest and unfair. It is just as correct for me to say that Jesus is incorrect, since nobody actually called him that in Bible times. For more on the pronunciation of the Divine Name click here. There have been glosses introduced into the Bible, but by far, the majority of these have been introduced by people trying to promote a Trinity (see The Orthodox Corruption by Bart D. Ehrman, the Comma Johanneum, and The Text of the New Testament-It;s Transmission, Corruption and Restoration). We can be thankful though that God has seen fit to help us uncover the many thousands of manuscripts so that we have virtually have the Bible that God gave us. The interpolations can be weeded out. As for the New World Translation, those against it are often guilty of religious prejudice and bigotry, as can be seen by following these links.
What about the various verses that flatly proclaim :there is one God"?Reply: Again, the above is a lie. ECHAD is indeed used to denote a single entity. Even Abraham is referred to as ONE(Echad) at Isaiah 51:2. Exekiel 33:24, "`Abraham was only one (ECHAD) man, yet he possessed the land." NIV
A study into the original manuscripts, or at least checking Concordances & Lexicons, reveals that the word translated as "one" is "echad" this word was not used to denote a singular entity. It was however, used to denote a unit composed of more than one- for example, it would be used in the context "One Army" but would NOT be used in the context of "One Person." Since, "All Scripture is God-breathed" it is no mistake that the original wording is "echad".
When the LXX translators made the first translation into another language,
Greek, they rendered the word ECHAD with the singular "hEIS." Deut 6:4
"KURIOS O QEOS HMWN KURIOS EIS ESTIN" LXX/Septuagint. This was carried
over into the NT. Consider Mark 12:29:
"KURIOS O QEOS HMWN KURIOS EIS ESTIN." That which was a characteristic
of the Hebrew language, was not carried over into the Bible by the pre-Christian
Jews nor the 1st century Christians. God is simply ONE...not THREE. Sorry.
Trinitarian professor of theology Gregory Boyd admits, "Even weaker
[than the argument for Elohim] is the argument that the Hebrew word
for "one" (echad) used in the Shema...refers to a unified one, not
an absolute one. Hence some Trinitarians have argued, the Old Testament
has a view of a united Godhead. It is, of course, true that the meaning
of the word may in some contexts denote a unified plurality (eg Gen. 2:24,
they shall become one flesh). But this really proves nothing. An examination
of the Old Testament usage reveals that the word echad is
as capable of various meanings as our English word one. The context must
determine whether a numerical or unified singularity is intended." Oneness
Pentecostals and the Trinity, 47, 48