1/20/12- Monotheism

Q. How many God's are there?
A. There is only one, the living and true God.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4)


But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. (Jeremiah 10:10)


There is only one God.  Romans 3:30


For there is one God.  1 Timothy 2:5

(Idols in a store)


Thoughts: Many in our day of post-modernism say it doesn't matter what you believe.  Such a thought is very close to polytheism- or henotheism (the worship of one God while acknowledging there may be more).  But the Bible mentions that God is one in Himself.  Such internal unity and jealousness of other gods (1st and 2nd of the Ten Commandments), tells us that God, is single in focus, love, purpose and will.
    The unity of God is not disturbed by His own majestic internal plurality.  God is multi-faceted- but one in essence and substance (homoousios).  The idea of trinity recognizes three persons in one essence (as H2O is ice, water, steam; as sun, heat, and energy are all separate but are all one; as father, husband, worker maybe all one person with different roles).
    The unity of God is also not disturbed by the making of creation.  Some cannot separate creation from God, recognizing that God's imprint is on what God has made.  But scriptures separate creation as truly as a father is separate from a son (perhaps this is one reason why scripture's adjectives for God are male rather than female).   God is not everything, though everything bears his signature as its author.  A book is not the author, though surely it is dear to the author, and traits of the author are evident in it.
     The unity of God is not disturbed by the diversity in life- for God is separate from creation and the diversity in life may still be under a single purpose.  Someone may think that rain is a blessing but fire a curse.  But the fire (like the ones in Yellowstone 12 years ago) may make things grow better and faster. The same rain that causes the crops to grow may cause a flood.  The evil and harm we see in life is not out of control of God (as some may suppose), but are limited by Him and in fact point people to a need for help and a Redeemer. It was a man made Zoroastrianism that had an evil god making evil things and a good god making good things- while no one knew who was really stronger.  There is only one true God who is truly powerful and purposeful. In that sense we do not pray to Him with an eye that maybe He cannot help us, or that there maybe another god to pray to that we do not acknowledge.  We do not need to guess at such things. God has spoken and told us of His oneness and singularity.  


Prayer: May my focus be singularly on you, O Lord.  Give me grace to worship you solely and fully.  





[Modern translation- Douglas Kelly]

Q. 5. Is there more than one God?
A. There is only one, the living and true God

[1647 WSC]
Q. 5- Are there more God's than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.