Understanding:
The Father
Son
Holy Spirit

Index

• Introduction
• The Holy Spirit
• Jesus the Messiah
• The New cannot contradict the Old
• God sends Jesus the Messiah
• How did Jesus become God?
• Who benefits from Jesus becoming God?
• Questions to ponder
• But what about these proof texts?

The New cannot contradict the Old

The New Testament was not written to contradict the Old Testament. Jesus says that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, (which is the Old Testament) but to fulfill them. So we can safely say that the same God of the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament. I do not think that anyone will contest that thought. So lets see whom the God of the Old Testament is, and then, we will compare Him to who the New Testament says He is. They should be exactly the same. If they are not, then something is definitely wrong.

The core conviction of the Jews is their belief in that there is one, and only one, supreme creator God worthy of worship in the universe. The Jews have never thought of God as three in one, and one in three. There is not one verse in the Old Testament that claims God to be anything but one. I challenge anyone to find one.

Some people have used the word "elohim" to suggest that it is plural for God. A Dictionary of the Bible states:

"The fanciful idea that ‘elohim’ referred to the trinity of persons in the Godhead hardly finds now a supporter among scholars."

Elohim literally means "gods" as in more than one, as it is used in Judges 2: 17:

"But abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods" (elohim).

It is also used in the singular to refer to only one god. But it does not by any form mean that God is plural. The American Journal of Semetic Languages and Literature says of "elohim":

"It is almost invariably construed with a singular verbal predicate, and takes a singular adjectival attribute."

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible states the following on "elohim:"

"Since the plural word Elohim when used for God in the Old Testament is most emphatically singular in meaning, there is real probability that the Hebrews looked on it as a plural of Majesty."

Examples:

Judges 11: 24

"Will you not take what your god (elohim) Chemosh gives you?"

1 Samuel 5: 7

"When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "the ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god (elohim)."

Exodus 7: 1

"Then the LORD said to Moses, " See, I have made you like God (elohim) to Pharaoh..."

In these verses nobody would contend that elohim is plural. It is used for the god Chemosh, Dagon, and for Moses. I do not think anyone considers Moses to be more than one person.

The Jews have always thought of God as only one.

Examples:

Deuteronomy 6: 4

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one."

Deuteronomy 4: 39

"Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other."

Deuteronomy 32: 39

"See now that I myself am He! There is no God besides me."

Isaiah 45: 5

"I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God."

There are an incredible amount of verses like the ones above.

The New Testament also claims God to be only one. Nowhere is God described as plural, although theologians have gone to extremes in trying to prove that view. Lets see who Jesus and the writers of the New Testament say God is.

Examples:

When Jesus is asked which commandment is the most important, Jesus answers in Mark 12:28 - 29 by quoting Deuteronomy 6: 4.

"Hear, O Israel the LORD is our God, the LORD is one."

Jesus did not say the Lord is three in one, and one in three. He was in complete agreement with the Old Testament view of God. As a matter of fact, it is not just a commandment to know that God is one, Jesus says it is the greatest commandment (Mark 12: 28 - 29).

John 17: 3

"This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

Jesus says eternal life depends on knowing the only true God, AND Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 8: 6

"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father."

Paul cannot be clearer on this subject. There is no, "God the Son," or "God the Holy Spirit." Only, God the Father.

The New Testament agrees completely with the Old Testament about God being only one. If you take any other view that makes God plural, you will be contradicting the Old Testament no matter how you dress it up.

Index

This page copyright © 2000 by Juan Baixeras