The Strand Study Bible

DEUTERONOMY DEUTERONOMY Sadly, some religious movements (such as, Judaism , Islam , Unitarianism , Apostolic Church , Seventh-Day Adventists , Jehovah’s Witnesses , and others) that have tried to use this Scripture to teach that God is “ one ” numerically speaking. However, this word ( ‘ ehad ) deals with the subject of unity (not numerically). In his treatise against Praxeas, Tertullian (c. 160 – 225 AD), a prolific early Christian author from Carthage, once noted that the Son is distinct from the Father, and the Spirit from both the Father and the Son: These three are one substance, not one person; and it is said, ‘I and my Father are one’ in respect not of the singularity of number but the unity of the substance. 2 Note how this same word ( ‘ ehad ) is used in Genesis 2:24:: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Whenever couples marry, they don’t become one in “number.” They become one in “unity.” Note how this same word ( ‘ ehad ) is used again in Genesis 11:6: And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one , and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. The people spoken of here in Genesis 11:6 did not become one in “number.” They became one in “unity.” Genesis 11:6 could easily read this way: And the LORD said, Behold, the people are unified ( is one ), and they have all a unified (one) language; There are other religious movements (such as, the United Pentecostal Church , Worldwide Church of God , House of Yahweh , and others) that have tried to use this verse to prove their “oneness” doctrine. The Oneness Movement (people who believe Jesus plays all three roles within the Trinity) is the product of men like William Branham ( II Tim 4:3 ). Neither the “numerical” view or the “oneness” view is correct. Again, this word that is translated “ one ” deals with the subject of unity and could have easily been translated: Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God ( Elohim - Father , Son , and Holy Spirit ) , the LORD alone . Now some religious movements would argue that since the word “trinity” is nowhere to be found in the Bible that it cannot be a doctrine. However, the word “sovereignty” is not found in the Bible, yet we would all agree that God is Sovereign ( Eph 1:11 ). Whereas the word “trinity” may not be found in the Scriptures, the word “Godhead” is ( Rom 1:20 b, Acts 17:29 and Colo 2:9), and the idea and doctrine are its foundation and are evident throughout the entire Scriptures ( Gen 1:26 a & 3:22 & 11:7, Isa 6:8 & 48:14 ,16, Ezk 3:24 and Mt 28:19 c ). Lewis Sperry Chafer in Major Bible Themes notes: The very idea of a “compound” Trinity was common in Hebrew thought and is reflected for us in the very first verse of the Bible ( Gen 1:1 c ). Moses, the Hebrew writer of Genesis, records the creation of the heavens and the earth by God. Yet, he uses the plural name for God ( Elohim ) with a singular verb rather than the singular name for God ( Jehovah ). Whereas the normal laws of grammar demand that the plural form of a noun must agree with the plural form of its verb, Moses uses the plural name for God more than 500 times in the first five books of the Old Testament with the singular form of the verb. This unusual grammatical construction has only one logical solution. The plural name for God ( Elohim ) must refer to the plurality and nature of God as a Trinity. And it does. Not only was the teaching of the Triune Godhead common in Hebrew thought, but our early Church fathers upheld this biblical doctrine as well. Tertullian (late second century) in a refutation of Praxeas wrote: 359 The many indications in both the Old and New Testaments that God exists or subsists as a triune being have made the doctrine of the Trinity a central fact of all orthodox creeds from the early church until modern times. Any departure from this is considered a departure from scriptural truth. Although the word “trinity” does not occur in the Bible, the facts of scriptural revelation permit no other explanation. 3 Hermas, the brother of Pius, the bishop of Rome, stated in his work Shepherd of Hermas that “The Son of God is more ancient than any created thing, so that He was present in council with His Father at the creation.” 4 Justin Martyr (c. AD 150) declared in his Dialogue With Trypho that wherever God appears or converses with any man in the Old Testament that we should understand that the passage is referring to Jesus as God the Son. 5 With unwavering support the early Church writings verify the doctrine of the Trinity. The Athanasian Creed , also known as Quicunque Vult or Fides Catholica, is named after Athanasius, a bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius was famous for defending orthodoxy against Arianism. Written c. AD 350, the Athanasian Creed is the oldest existing identification of the Trinity. It states: We worship one God, in Trinity, and Trinity is unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. 6 Skeptics of the Trinity, state dogmatically, that this doctrine did not exist until the 1800’s. However, the Koran (c. AD 657) informs us that Christians were Trinitarians from the beginning. Sura 4:171 says: If the number of the Trinity also offends you, as if it were not connected to simple unity, I ask you how it is possible for a Being who is merely and absolutely One and Singular, to speak in plural phrase, saying, “Let us make man in our own image, and after our own likeness”; whereas He ought to have said, “Let me make man in my own image and after my own likeness…” 2

O People of the Book (i.e., Christians), exceed not the limits in your religion nor speak anything about Allah, but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only a messenger of Allah and His word which he communicated to Mary and a mercy fromHim. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you. Allah