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JESUS ONLY???
(Holiness.com Response)
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Dear Elder XXXX:
Approximately
3 months ago, you wrote me addressing your difficulty regarding my
statement that the one God is revealed in three persons. It has
taken me some time to get to your letter; However, I could not let
your invitation to share scripture references go unanswered. Thank
you so much for the gracious invitation; You may be the only person
of your religious persuasion who has ever been willing to
objectively look at the breadth of scriptures which cause me to
believe the way that I do. You see, I am familiar with, and have
encountered previously, individuals who hold to Sabellianism/modalist
thought (e.g. God is one person who existed in three different forms
or manifestations).
Let me first say that I think we are in agreement that the entire
Bible is inspired by God, noting your reference to II Timothy 3:16.
This being the case, any scriptures that I give must be accepted as
fact irregardless of any codified belief system (mine or yours).
In addition to giving you scripture, I feel that I need to further
expound to you what I believe regarding God revealed in three
persons; Because, it is important in a discussion for you to clearly
understand what my position is.
IS GOD SINGULAR OR PLURAL?
In the
first page of your letter, you ask "…how can He [God] being
singular, be them?" Let me provide some food for thought and then
answer your question:
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Genesis 1:26 King James Version says: "And God
said, Let us make man in our image…" Now, forgive me if some of the
things I say here seem obvious to you. Since we have not met in
person, I am not sure of your biblical training. The Old Testament
was not originally written in English, but was first set forth in
Hebrew and Aramaic. "God" in the above verse is translated from the
Hebrew word <el-o-heem>. In First-Year Biblical Hebrew education one
learns early that el-o-heem is a plural noun; "heem" is the suffix
which makes masculine nouns plural. If you can read Hebrew
characters/words, let me know and I can send you this verse in the
Hebrew; Otherwise, check with your local divinity school Library. If
you accept the English translation, you must accept the Hebrew from
which it was derived.
Let us look further at this verse which says "Let us make man…" Who
is this "us?" No, it cannot be the angels (or any other creature)
because the very next verse, Genesis 1:27 says: "So God created man
in his own image" And again, Jeremiah 27:5 demonstrates that God
made man by his own "power."
Thus, we have shown instances where the Bible has referred to God in
the plural. Yet, God is one (see Deuteronomy 6:4). So, for the Bible
to be consistent, God must be plural in one sense, and at the same
time singular in another sense.
How can God be singular and plural at the same time? It is really
pretty simple biblically speaking. If we look at the composition of
the church it shows a glimpse of how something can be both singular
and plural at the same time:
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