Defining The Oneness of God-Part 4
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“One”
Used of the Testimony of God
The
inspired record of the testimony of the Father to the Sonship of Jesus Christ
is found in the fifth chapter of I John. This passage contains a verse
that is often quoted by those who hold the Trinitarian view of God.
While this verse appears to support the argument for a “three in one”
God, these words are actually not part of the inspired Scriptures! This
spurious verse was inserted into the text many centuries after the apostle
John wrote his epistle.
Here
are the actual historical facts concerning this verse, which is printed as I
John 5:7 in most editions of the Bible today: “The texts read, ‘The
Spirit, and the water,’ &c., omitting all the words from ‘in heaven’
to ‘in earth’ (v.8) inclusive. The words are not found in any Gr.
ms. [Greek manuscripts] before the sixteenth century. They were
first seen in the margin of some Latin copies. Thence they have crept
into the text” (Bullinger, The Companion Bible, p. 1876).
The
record of history plainly states that I John 5:7 is not found in any of the
original Greek manuscripts, yet these words are found in most Bibles
today. In order to differentiate the inspired words of the apostle John
from the spurious words that were added fifteen centuries later, the
words that were wrongly inserted into the text have been printed in italics
and enclosed in brackets in the example
below.
“Who
is He that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son
of God? This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not
by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear
record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth],
the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one [Greek
hen, one in essence; i.e., “the three to the one [point] are”
(Berry, The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, p. 616): all
three testify that Jesus is the Son of God]. If we receive the witness
of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which
He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar;
because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son” (1 John
5:5-10).
In
these verses, the apostle John is proclaiming the “witness of God”—the
testimony that God the Father gave of His Son Jesus Christ. This
testimony was given through “the Spirit, and the water, and the blood.”
The first public testimony was given at the dedication of the infant Jesus in
the temple, where the Spirit of God inspired two witnesses—Simeon and Anna—to
testify to His Messiahship (Luke 2:26-38). The second public testimony
was given at Jesus’ baptism in the waters of the Jordan River, when the
Spirit descended like a dove and a voice from heaven testified, “Thou art My
beloved Son... (Luke 3:22). The third public witness was given at Jesus’
crucifixion, when His blood was shed, and the hand of God the Father shook the
earth and split the veil of the temple (Mat. 27:51).
Thus
it was that God the Father testified of His Son through “the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood.” These inspired Scriptures do not reveal God as
a Trinity or as a single divine Being, but as two divine Beings—the Son of
God, and the Father Who sent Him and testified of His Sonship.
Many
Scriptures in both Old and New Testaments reveal the eternal existence of
these two divine Beings. One Old Testament reference to these two Beings
is especially revealing. It is found in Genesis 3:22, where God Himself
is speaking. Let us examine this Scripture closely, and we will find
additional evidence to verify the true nature of God.
“As
One of Us”
Referring to Godlike Characteristics
In
the book of Genesis we read, “And the Lord [Hebrew Jehovah] God
[Hebrew Elohim] said, ‘Behold, the man is become as one [Hebrew echad]
of Us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand,
and take of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:’—“ (Gen.
3:22).
The
phrase “as one of Us” is a unique expression that reveals much about the
nature of man—and the nature of God. These are the words God Himself
used to describe the man, who had newly acquired a characteristic of
God. Jehovah Elohim was concerned that man had acquired the
“Godly” characteristic of knowing good and evil. Man had become like
God in this sense, or as God put it, “as one of Us.”
This
Scripture has stirred much controversy among both Christians and Jews.
Many Christians claim that the words “one of Us” support the doctrine of a
unified Godhead. The Trinitarian Christian interprets these words as
evidence that God is three “Persons” or “distinctions” in one “divine
Substance.” To the Modalist Christian, the words “one of Us” mean
that God is three “modes” or “manifestations” of one divine
Being. But the truth is that the context does not support either of
these views.
In
Genesis 3:22 the word “one” is not referring to composition or “divine
Substance.” The man, who had become “as one of Us,” was still
a mortal human being, as the verse itself shows: “...lest he...live forever.”
The man had not acquired the “Substance” of God, but only a
characteristic of His nature.
The
word “one” in this Scripture in no way supports the definition of God as
one “divine Substance” or one divine Being. A careful study of the
Hebrew text reveals that the word “one” in Genesis 3:22 cannot be
interpreted as only one in number. The Hebrew word that is used
in this verse is specifically marked to signify one of a related number.
Oxlee quotes the Hebrew authority Aben Ezra: “As often as the
numeral, one, is pointed
with a Segol under the Aleph, it is accompanied with an accent, and its
signification [meaning] is absolute [only one]; but when it is pointed with a
pathach [as it is in Genesis 3:22], it is in regimen [linked to a related
number]; and thus we read it in the passage, As one of the tribes of
Israel [Gen. 49:16]. It ought not, therefore, according to the rules
of grammar, to be here expounded [in Genesis 3:22], as though it were one
absolute [only one in number]” (The Christian Doctrines of the
Trinity and Incarnation, p. 102).
The
Hebrew word translated “one” in Genesis 3:22 is identical to the word used
in Genesis 49:16, where we read, “Dan shall judge his people, as one of
the tribes of Israel.” Here is a clear Scriptural example to verify
that the true meaning of “one” in Genesis 3:22 is one of a number of
like entities.
The
Hebrew text leaves no room for interpreting “one of Us” in Genesis 3:22 as
only one divine Being or “Substance.” These words spoken by God
cannot properly be understood unless we are willing to accept a plurality of
divine Beings. Oxlee quotes Aben Ezra further to confirm that the true
meaning of the pronoun “Us” in Genesis 3:22 is “of us, in the plural
number; just as it occurs in the expression, A man of us [Num. 31:49]”
(Ibid., p. 102).
Genesis
3:22 is not the only Scripture where God speaks in the plural. The
plural pronoun “Us” is found in a number of Old Testament passages where
God is speaking. In Genesis 1:26 we read, “And God said, ‘Let Us
make man in Our image, after Our likeness....” And in Genesis
11:7 we find these words of God: “Go to, let Us go down, and
there confound their language....” The book of Isaiah shows the same
usage: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom
shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ “ (Isa. 6:8.)
Some
claim that the plural pronouns used in these verses are not referring to more
than one divine Being but to the various modes or operations of a single
divine Being. This claim is not only without Scriptural support but is
contrary to the rules of language. As Oxlee states,”...in no
language with which we are acquainted, is the human mind ever expressed in the
plural number on that account; and, therefore, affords no reason why the noun
Elohim, should be so used, on account of the multiplicity and variety of its
operations” (The Christian Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation,
p. 94).
Christians
and Jews alike have argued that “Us” does not necessarily indicate more
than one divine Being because it is customary for potentates to speak of
themselves in the plural. This argument is totally without Scriptural
foundation: “Indeed, there is not the smallest authority for it in
the compositions of the Old Testament; which, being penned with that
simplicity peculiar to the early ages of the world, introduce all princely
characters expressing themselves in their own proper number [singular], and
with the strictest grammatical propriety: nor does it distinguish, in that
respect, between the most potent of sovereigns and the very lowest of the
human species” (Ibid., p. 96).
Realizing
that this argument can not be supported by Scripture, some have adopted
another theory to explain the use of “Us” in reference to God. This
Jewish fable, which has become popular in some Christian churches, claims that
God was speaking to an angelic council. Although many commentators
support this view, it has no Scriptural basis. As Oxlee states, “That
angels should act as coadvisers and coadjutors in the administration of the
affairs of the world, is not only repugnant to the very meaning of the term
angel, itself; which denotes a being deputed on a mission from God; but is wholly
unsanctioned by any declaration to that effect, either in Moses or in the
prophets” (Ibid., p. 97).
Not
only does Oxlee show the emptiness of this Jewish fable, but he also shows how
illogical it is when he tells us that “the sovereign creator of the
worlds, by being supposed to confer with the angels, on every weighty and
important occasion, is absolutely debased and insulted; and suffers a
higher indignity from this erroneous interpretation of the Jewish church, than
man could possibly do, by being supposed to confer with quadrupeds and
reptiles, on the design and propriety of human actions” (Ibid., p. 98).
To
interpret the plural pronoun “Us” as referring not to two Supreme Beings
but to one Supreme Being and a council of angels makes no sense. If we
believe that the Creator was conferring with angels instead of another Supreme
Being when He used the word “Us,” then we would have to believe that
angels had a part in the creation of man. We would have to believe that
man was made in the image of angels and not God alone when God said, “Let Us
make man in Our image, after Our likeness... (Gen.
1:26). Such an interpretation of Genesis 1:26 would be contrary to all
that the Scriptures reveal concerning the creation of man. The following verse
plainly declares that God created man in His Own image (verse
27).
That
the God Who created man was a plurality of divine Beings is revealed not only
in the first chapter of Genesis but in other Old Testament Scriptures as
well. In the Hebrew text, the word ‘asah (gah-sah’),
or Maker, is found in the plural form in a number of references
to God alone. Notice the correct translation of Isaiah 54:5 according to
the Hebrew text: “For thy Makers are thine husbands; the Lord
of hosts [Jehovah Who became the Father] is His name; and
Thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel [Jehovah Who became the Son];
The God of the whole earth shall He be called.” We find a similar
statement in Psalm 149:2, which is correctly translated, “Let Israel rejoice
in his Makers....”
Noting
these Scriptures, Oxlee states, “The term, Maker, is both equivocal
and common [in the Old Testament]; but what seems most worthy of admiration
is, that in the very texts, in which the deity is exclusively the subject,
it is evidently used in the plural number” (The Christian Doctrines
of the Trinity and Incarnation, p. 73).
These
Old Testament references to the Creator as a plurality of Beings are in
complete accord with the teachings of the New Testament. The apostle
John declared of Jesus Christ, “All things were made by Him; and
without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). The
apostle Paul declared that he, Paul, was sent “to make all men see what is
the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been
hid in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:9).
In
the book of Revelation we find Jesus’ own testimony to His work as
Creator: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginner [Greek arche, the originator or cause; incorrectly
translated “beginning” in most versions] of the creation of God”
(Rev. 3:14).
The
Scriptures reveal that it was Jesus Christ, as the Word of God,
Who said, “Let there be light.” It was He who formed man from the
dust of the ground, and Who created “all things.” He was with
God from the beginning, as the apostle John declares: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God” (John 1:1).
The
Hebrew/Greek Key Study Bible
states that the Greek verb en, translated “was” in this verse, is
more accurately translated “had been,” and offers this paraphrase of the
verse to reflect the actual meaning of the Greek text: “Before
there was any beginning, the Word had been...” (Zodhiates, p. 1315).
The
apostle John is clearly revealing in these words that Jesus Christ had existed
before the creation of the world. John uses very specific
language to convey the eternal existence of Jesus Christ. John
emphasizes His eternal existence as God by repeating in verse 2, “The
same was [had been] in the beginning with God.”
When
John declared that the Word was “with God,” John used the Greek
word pros, meaning “to or toward,” and indicating motion toward
something or someone (Bullinger, The Companion Bible, Appendix 104, XV,
3). Zodhiates translates “with God” as “toward the
God” (The Hebrew/Greek Key Study Bible, p. 1315).
John’s
use of the Greek preposition pros clearly demonstrates that the Word
was not in God but coexisted as a separate Being.
John twice declares that the Word was “with God” (Greek pros
Theos) to emphasize this truth.
John’s
inspired words refute all arguments against the eternal existence of
Jesus Christ and verify the plurality of God as revealed in the Old
Testament. Thus the New Testament confirms the simple truth that is
preserved in the most ancient records of Scripture in the little two-letter
word “Us”: that two Supreme Beings have eternally coexisted as
God.
Those
who claim that Jesus Christ did not eternally exist as God (Greek Theos)
and with God (Greek Theos) are blinding their eyes to the plain
statements of Scripture. They are following the error of the Jewish
church in refusing to acknowledge what God Himself reveals in His Word.
The
Jewish church has never accepted the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ,
and adamantly refuses to accept the New Testament as inspired Scripture.
Moreover, its officials have attempted to remove from the Old Testament every
reference to Christ’s eternal pre-existence as God. Under the guise of
reverence for the name of God, the Jews of antiquity who were entrusted with
the keeping of the Hebrew text made illicit alterations to the Old
Testament. They changed the original names of God in key references
which reveal the plurality of God. Before this alteration, these
Scriptures made obvious reference to the existence of two Jehovahs
Who were both God.
Because
the record of these changes has been preserved, we can know the truth that God
has revealed about Himself in the Old Testament. A study of the original
Hebrew names of God as used in the Old Testament bears witness to the
existence of two Supreme Everliving Beings Who were both known as Jehovah.
This undeniable Scriptural evidence of the plurality of God will be presented
in a sequel to this paper.
©
Carl D. Franklin
March 1994
Click
here to read the sequel, The Two Jehovahs of the Psalms.
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