Which Is It: One GOD or the Trinity?

Question

There are many bible verses that explicitly state that GOD is "ONE". None on par with him, none sharing his glory, none above him. My favorite verse is: "I am Yahweh, and there is none else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me" (Isaiah 45:5)

Mk. 12:32 "You are right in saying God is one and there is no other but him."

Mk. 12:29 "The Lord our God, the Lord is one."

1 Tim. 2:5 "For there is one God …"

1 Cor. 8:4 " … and there is no God but one."

Gal. 3:20 " … but God is one."

James 2:19 "You believe there is one God. Good! …"

Ps. 86:10 " … you alone are God."

Deut. 6:4,5 "The Lord our God, the Lord is one …"

Isa. 44:8 "Is there another God besides me?"

Isa. 45:21 "There is no God apart from me … there is none but me."

Isa. 45:22 "For I am God and there is no other."

Isa. 46:9 "I am God, and there is no other"

Isa. 45:5 "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God."

Isaiah 45:18 "I am the Lord, and there is no other."

Mal. 2:10 "Did not one God create us?"

Is it me or does it get any more clear than this? He explicitly tells us that He is "ONE". So if this is the case, where does the Trinity come from or is it that the trinity is a misinterpretation of Christ (The Word) and the Holy Spirit? I have not seen any biblical reference in the bible regarding acknowledgement of the "Trinity"? Is it sinful to not accept that there are three in one when Elohim explicitly states in his words that "I Am One"?

Answer 1

God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the same person as the Son; the Son is not the same person as the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the same person as Father. They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God. Each has a will, can speak, can love, etc., and these are demonstrations of personhood. They are in absolute perfect harmony consisting of one substance. They are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. If any one of the three were removed, there would be no God

http://www.carm.org/trinity



Another Look at the Trinity

http://www.carm.org/christianity/christian-doctrine/another-look-trinity



What is the Trinity?

http://www.carm.org/what-trinity



Response to criticism of "What is the Trinity?"

http://www.carm.org/christianity/christian-doctrine/response-criticism-what-trinity



Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth," (John 1:1-2,14). Because the word was with God and was God and became flesh, we then state that Jesus has two natures: divine and human. Therefore, Christianity teaches that Jesus is both God and man at the same time. The reason that he is God in flesh is because only God can atone for our sins; we can't do it on our own because we are finite, sinful beings and we cannot please an infinitely holy God. Jesus had to be a man to be able to die for humanity. This means that Jesus took our place on the cross; that is, He took our place and suffered the wrath of God the Father. If you trust in what Christ has done, then you will be saved from the righteous judgment of God.



http://www.carm.org/jesus



The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. He is fully God. He is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, has a will, and can speak. He is alive. He is a person. He is not particularly visible in the Bible because His ministry is to bear witness of Jesus (John 15:26).



Some cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses say that the Holy Spirit is nothing more than a force (Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985, pp. 406-407). This is false. If the Holy Spirit were merely a force, then He could not speak (Acts 13:2); He could not be grieved (Eph. 4:30); and He would not have a will (1 Cor. 12:11).



The truth is that the Holy Spirit is a person the same as the Father and the Son are within the Trinity.

http://www.carm.org/holy-spirit

Answer 2

That Jesus is divine is evident from verses like Colossians 2:19 ("For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily") and 1 Timothy 3:16 ("God was manifest in the flesh"), and Revelation 1:8, 11 and 22:13 with Isaiah 44:6 (Jesus said, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" and "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last"; Jehovah said, "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.")



The problem with most teaching on the deity of Jesus Christ is that people interpret it through the "lens" of Trinitarianism. All of these Scriptures prove the deity of Christ; however, none of them prove the trinity. Unlike man, God is everywhere-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful; hence, He is able to maintain a divine existence and a distinct human existence and yet still remain indivisibly and absolutely One (Deuteronomy 4:6). "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). When God became a man, He took on a completely distinct human existence, while continuing to exist as God omnipotent, apart from His human existence.



To sum it up, God the Father is the only true God (John 17:1, 3), and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God the Father, the only true God, manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). To further expound on this point, the Holy Spirit is not another "person" in an alleged "trinity," but rather is the Spirit of God the Father, the only true God (Matthew 10:20). The Spirit of God is no more a distinct "person" than is the spirit of man.



Apostolic Believer in One God, Jesus

Answer 3

I don't really believe in a God anymore, but when I did I never bought into that trinity idea. It's just my personal opinion, but to me God was one and God was whole. He didn't manifest himself in different ways, because why would He need to? I mean apart from the odd historical event, I never believed in the bible either. It's just man trying to write a story about the unexplainable to try and convince people to convert to their religion. And most of the bible when you look at it, is just plain ridiculous and if God was real and this was His word, then why couldn't he come up with some more believable and convincing stories if he wanted people to believe in him. Stories that meant something, other than look - I am God so I will walk on water. Jesus and the Holy Spirit just felt like ridiculous ideas, used to embellish that fairy tale known as the bible. I never and still do not get, why there is this idea that God comes in 3 forms. WHY? Why would he need to?

Answer 4

Christ made it clear that God is a Family. He constantly called us Sons and daughter of God, children, Christ the first of many brethren, God our Father, Christ the Son, etc.



If you are a Smith and your father is a Smith, you're both Smiths, but two separate people in the same family. God said in Genesis, "Let US make man in OUR image". The word for God in the Old testament is very often Elohim--a plural noun!



God is One with Christ just as a husband and wife become One--two people in the same family with the same values, goals and ideals.



Christ also said about us, "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" John 10:34 We are to become part of that God family!

Answer 5

My answer is simply this...



The bible is more correctly translated as saying "God is a unit" not God is one.



Saying that God is one is like saying a family is one. That our military is one. It is a unit that works as one to complete one goal.



Jesus hated hypocrites. He preached against hypocricy always. But what is hypocricy? The term litterally means acting. In other words to act out or play out a part would be to be a hypocrite.



So, when Jesus prayed to the father was he just acting? Or was he really praying to a seperate being? When the Holy spirit decended upon Jesus like a dove was that really himself coming into himself or was it really a seperate being giving him the power of God?



When Jesus said "if you blasphime the father you will be forgiven, if you blaspheme the son you will be forgiven, but if you blaspheme the holy spirit you will not be forgiven" was he just losing his mind and pretending that three seperate beings that make up God exist?



When Jesus cried out in pain "My God my God why have you forsaken me?" was he really talking to himself? Was he losing his mind? Was he just putting on a show?



When the bible says that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father is that just some imagery or is he just making that up?



Or in the book of mathew when he says that even he does not know the time or the day the end will come but only the father knows that was he just speaking in riddles? Was he just trying to pretend that he is not the son and the father? Was jesus really the father, the son and the holy spirit? is he just a scitzophrenic being?



In the book of revolation when Jesus comes back he rules the earth for a thousand years. But when the father comes he decends upon his throne and heaven receeds like a scroll the stars fall from the sky and the earth flees from his presence because there is no place for any of them. Explain why that didn't happen in Jesus' presense?



Or when Jesus told the deciples that he had to go but that soon he was sending another who would do even greater things than he did (refering to the Holy Spirit) did he really mean that he would be sending himself back while he was yet away at the same time?



Or in genisis when God said "Let US make man in OUR image" was God being schitzoprenic? Was he speaking to the other people that he made up in his head?



You decide:

a)Was Jesus a hypocrite?

b)Was Jesus schitzophrenic?

c)Did the people writing the bible even know what they were talking about?

d)Or are there three beings that make up one God?

Answer 6

1 John 5 5-12



"Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

Answer 7

Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew says 'In the beginning GODS created the heavens and earth.'



EDIT: Wow. Lightning from the East really knows how to spew nonsense. To sum up his post: 1 equals 1. 1 equals 3. 1 does not equal 3. 1 does not equal 1. 3 does not equal 3. 3 equals 3. WTF!?

Answer 8

Yep

Answer 9

technically, you are right, but the christian religion did not begin for a while, there have been many before that, and all of the religions that believe in one god. The classical times(ancient rome, ancient greece, and ancient egypt) believed in multiple gods, same with everyone before them.

Answer 10

Its both. You can see this throughout natural, one thing that can be into two or more things. One prime example is water. Water is one thing that can be a solid, liquid, or gas depending on the surrounding conditions.



For more information please visit my sources below:

Answer 11

Well, see......all those dozens of times where it said "one"....it's just a clever code that *really* means 3 - in - 1.



Yeah...that's it.

Answer 12

Dude as long as you keep quoting the bible your life will continue to be delusional.

Answer 13

a Father with a Son and a Ghost = a Haunted House!

Answer 14

You are correct, God is one and not three.

Answer 15

You are correct! There is ONE God.

Answer 16

There are 2 gods: OT and NT.

Ask any christian.