Monday, March 05, 2007
5. Are there more Gods than one?
There is but one only, the living and true God.
Twice a day, Jews throughout the world will recite the Shema, the words of Deuteronomy 6:4, as part of the daily prayers reminding them of the oneness of God, and of the command to and rewards of loving him with the whole heart and soul and mind and strength.
Although we worship God as a Trinity, the Bible and Christian doctrine are clear that God is one. We do not worship several gods but one God who exists exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are no other gods (Isaiah 44:6, 45:21-22).
Although many gods are worshipped today, whether explicitly as in false religions or more implicitly with idols of money or power (1 Cor 8:4-6), God is the only true and living God (1 Thess 1:9-10). He is the only eternal King (Jeremiah 10:10), being our Creator rather than being made from created things (Exodus 20:3-6). It is only because he is the true and living God that we can trust in him and receive eternal life (John 17:3, 1 John 5:20).
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad
Deuteronomy 6:4
Twice a day, Jews throughout the world will recite the Shema, the words of Deuteronomy 6:4, as part of the daily prayers reminding them of the oneness of God, and of the command to and rewards of loving him with the whole heart and soul and mind and strength.
Although we worship God as a Trinity, the Bible and Christian doctrine are clear that God is one. We do not worship several gods but one God who exists exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are no other gods (Isaiah 44:6, 45:21-22).
Although many gods are worshipped today, whether explicitly as in false religions or more implicitly with idols of money or power (1 Cor 8:4-6), God is the only true and living God (1 Thess 1:9-10). He is the only eternal King (Jeremiah 10:10), being our Creator rather than being made from created things (Exodus 20:3-6). It is only because he is the true and living God that we can trust in him and receive eternal life (John 17:3, 1 John 5:20).
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad
Deuteronomy 6:4
Labels: catechism
9 Comments:
Amen! Amen! Very well said. thank you.
The way I like to explain the Trinity to those who can't seem to grasp it, is to comare God to water. Steam = water, ice = water, liquid water = water. It has really helped a lot of people to understand that God is one God existing as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
living in a land of idols, a land where false gods are worshipped on a regular daily basis . . . the moment I read your title on bloglines tears sprung to my eyes.
For, I know the answer.
living in a land that is foreign, a land that is not mine nor where my family is lends itself to bouts of feeling like "I am the only one" . . . reading your resonse was refreashing to my soul as my inner-me drank in truth and was comforted to know that I really am not alone at all.
Thank you, Keziah!
Hey Keziah, very good.
From a previous article I posted...
From his family run website, the late Walter Martin points out that the Bible in Isaiah clearly states that there is just one God in Chapters 43:10-11, 44:6, 8; 45:5, and 21–22. Martin also mentions that the Lord is called one Lord in Deuteronomy 6:4.Martin further explains that others are called god in the Bible such as Moses to Pharaoh in Exodus 7:1, but this is a metaphorical use and is not claiming that Moses is the one and only true God. In Psalm 82 and John 10:34, the judges according to Martin are not intrinsic deity, but became mighty ones like Gods in the eyes of the people. In Psalm 82 and John 10:34 the judges are shown to be sinful men that were in no way to be confused with the God of the Bible in nature. The Bible in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament is not only stating that there is only one true God to worship, but that there is only one God in existence period.
I am not going to heavily discuss Trinitarian theology within this article, but I shall state that it is believed within Christianity that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons of one, substance, nature and essence, and therefore are not three eternal Gods, but one eternal God. In Hebrews 1:3, the Son is called the exact representation of God’s nature, and in Acts 5:3-4 the Holy Spirit is called God. Philip Edgcume Hughes writes that in Hebrews 1:3, the Greek word translated “nature” denotes the very essence of God. Christ is the representation of the Father and shares the same substance as God. So whatever distinctions can be drawn concerning the Father and Son, Biblically it must be concluded that from Hebrews 1:3 they are of the same nature (υποστασεως ) and substance. They are not two Gods, but two distinctions within one God, and the Holy Spirit from Acts 5 is also shown to be God sharing in the same nature and substance as the Father and Son. Jesus Christ as both God and man has a human body, but shares the same spiritual substance as the Father and Holy Spirit.
If anyone needs more info on mormonism, please feel free to check out my blog, I cover the issue of one God verses many and the Trinity. I serve the Lord and my minstry is sharing Jesus with the LDS. Rick b
Thanks for your thoughts there. The sixth question of the Catechism deals with the Trinity, so what you've written will be really useful to me as I study that over the next week or two.
Rick B - Thanks for visiting. I'll have to come across and have a look. We had a large Mormon contingent coming along to our church for a while, but they were more coming to try to convert people rather than to listen to the Bible preached faithfully. It made for some very interesting conversations with them after church and when we bumped into them in the street.
We had a large Mormon contingent coming along to our church for a while, but they were more coming to try to convert people rather than to listen to the Bible preached faithfully.
Hmm, it would be amusing for them to try that at our church! Keziah, I shall patiently await the Aberdeen photos you offered since you apparently disliked my photo with the Religious Dialogue article!;) I hope your job search is blessed.
Cheers:)
Russ - I'm not sure if they realised that they were in one of most conservative evangelical denominations in Scotland! Apparently, it was impressionable young women they were after - we however don't have anything of them! I'm glad they did come, because it means they really have heard the Gospel preached.
I'll get on to the photos next week. I just couldn't believe the photo you used - there are so many lovely places in Aberdeen!
Amen. This post was like a drink of cold water in the internet-desert. Thanks for visiting my blog, BTW. Hope to see more of you.
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