are three monotheistic religions in the world: Judaism, Christianity, and Mahommedanism. The second is a development of the first; the third is an outgrowth of both.
The doctrine of the Unity of God is held in contradistinction to Polytheism, which is belief in a multiplicity of gods; Tri-theism, which teaches that there are three Gods—that is, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are, specifically, three distinct Gods; and to Dualism, which teaches that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, the one good, and the other evil, as set forth especially in Gnostic systems, such as Parseeism.
a) The Scriptures Assert the Unity of God.
Deut. 6:4—"Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord"; or, "The Lord our God, the Lord is one." Isa. 44:6–8—"First … last … beside me there is no God." Isa. 45:5—"There is none else, there is no God beside me." 1 Tim. 2:5 "There is one God." 1 Cor. 8:4—"There is none other God but one."
That God is one, that there is no other, that He has no equal is the forceful testimony of above fifty passages in the Scriptures. The fundamental duty of life, namely, the devotion of the entire being to the Lord, is based upon the Unity of God: "The Lord … is one … therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," etc.
No other truth of the Scripture, particularly of the Old Testament, receives more prominence than that of the Unity of God. This truth is clearly pronounced also in the material universe; it is the introduction and conclusion of all scientific researches. Any other representation contradicts both creation and revelation. Its denial is a proper object for the ridicule of every thinking man, and of the disbelief of every orthodox Christian. Let this, then, be our first and necessary conclusion—that Deity, whether creating, inspiring, or otherwise manifesting itself, is one God; one, and no more.—Cerdo.
A multiplication of Gods is a contradiction; there can be but one
God. There can be but one absolutely perfect, supreme, and almighty
Being. Such a Being cannot be multiplied, nor pluralized. There
can be but one ultimate, but one all-inclusive, but one God.
Monotheism, then, not Tri-theism, is the doctrine set forth in the Scriptures. "If the thought that wishes to be orthodox had less tendency to become tri-theistic, the thought that claims to be free would be less Unitarian."—Moberly.
b) The Nature of the Divine Unity.
The doctrine of the Unity of God does not exclude the idea of a plurality of persons in the Godhead. Not that there are three persons in each person of the Godhead, if we use in both cases the term person in one and the same sense. We believe, therefore, that there are three persons in the Godhead, but one God. Anti-trinitarians represent the evangelical church as believing in three Gods, but this is not true; it believes in one God, but three persons in the Godhead.
(1) The Scriptural use of the word "One."
Gen. 2:24—"And they two (husband and wife) shall be one flesh." Gen. 11:6—"The people is one." I Cor. 3:6–8—"He that planteth and he that watereth are one." 12:13—"All baptized into one body." John 17:22, 23—"That they may be one, even as we are one … that they may be made perfect in one."
The word "one" in these scriptures is used in a collective sense; the unity here spoken of is a compound one, like unto that used in such expressions as "a cluster of grapes," or "all the people rose as one man." The unity of the Godhead is not simple but compound. The Hebrew word for "one" (yacheed) in the absolute sense, and which is used in such expressions as "the only one," is never used to express the unity of the Godhead. On the contrary, the Hebrew word "echad," meaning "one" in the sense of a compound unity, as seen in the above quoted scriptures, is the one used always to describe the divine unity.
(2) The Divine Name "God" is a plural word; plural pronouns are used of God.
The Hebrew word for God (Elohim) is used most frequently in the plural form. God often uses plural pronouns in speaking of Himself, e.g., Gen. 1:26—"Let us make man." Isa. 6:8-"Who will go for us?" Gen. 3:22—Behold, man is become as "one of us."
Some would say that the "us" in Gen. 1:26—"Let us make man," refers to God's consultation with the angels with whom He takes counsel before He does anything of importance; but Isa. 40:14—"But of whom took he counsel," shows that such is not the case; and Gen. 1:27 contradicts this idea, for it repeats the statement "in the image of God," not in the image of angels; also that "GOD created man in HIS OWN image, in the image of God (not angels) created he him." The "us" of Gen. 1:26, therefore, is properly understood of plural majesty, as indicating the dignity and majesty of the speaker. The proper translation of this verse should be not "let us make," but "we will make," indicating the language of resolve rather than that of consultation.
4. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY: (Vs. Unitarianism).
The doctrine of the Trinity is, in its last analysis, a deep mystery that cannot be fathomed by the finite mind. That it is taught in the Scripture, however, there can be no reasonable doubt. It is a doctrine to be believed even though it cannot be thoroughly understood.
a) The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Old Testament.
This doctrine is not so much declared as intimated in the Old Testament. The burden of the Old Testament message seems to be the unity of God. Yet the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly intimated in a four-fold way:
First: In the plural names of the Deity; e.g., Elohim.
Second: Personal pronouns used of the Deity. Gen. 1:26; 11:7;
Isa.6:8.
Third: The Theophanies, especially the "Angel of the Lord." Gen.16 and 18.
Fourth: The work of the Holy Spirit. Gen. 1:2; Judges 6:34.
b) The Doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament.
The doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in the New Testament; it is not merely intimated, as in the Old Testament, but explicitly declared. This is evident from the following:
First: The baptism of Christ: Matt 3:16, 17. Here the Father speaks from heaven; the Son is being baptized in the Jordan; and the Spirit descends in the form of a dove.
Second: In the Baptismal Formula: Matt. 28:19—"Baptizing them in the name (sing.) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Third: The Apostolic Benediction: 2 Cor. 13:14—"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ … love of God. … .communion of the Holy Ghost."
Fourth: Christ Himself teaches it in John 14:16—"I will pray the Father … He will give you another Comforter."
Fifth: The New Testaffignt sets forth:
A Father who is God, Rom. 1:7.
A son who is God, Heb. 1:8.
A Holy Spirit who is God, Acts 5:3, 4.
The whole is summed up in the words of Boardman: The Father is all the fulness of the Godhead invisible, John 1:18; the Son is all the fulness of Godhead manifested, John 1:4–18; the Spirit is all the fulness of the Godhead acting immediately upon the creature, 1 Cor. 2:9, 10.
III.
