Is God One or Many?

MUSLIMS attack the Bible by citing an alleged contradiction in the Bible where in one verse it said that there is one God and in several others it supposedly portrayed God as being many.

Detractors of the Bible use Deuteronomy 6:4 against Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, Genesis 18:1-3 and 1John 5:7.

They say Deut 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” So, the Bible says that there is one God.

On the other hand, they say Gen 1:26, 3:22, 18:1-3 and 1Jn 5:7 (KJV) indicate that there are “many Gods.”

For example, Gen 1:26 says: Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.”

They stress the use of “US” and “OUR” which indicate a plurality or which involve many—as Muslims say “many Gods.”

So, using Deut 6:4 and Gen 1:26 and the other verses, Muslims say the Bible contradicts itself on the number of God or Gods.

Muslims are simply mistaken. There is no contradiction in the Bible. Muslims just do not understand what the verses and the Bible are saying.

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A. RESPONSE:

THE verses cited by Muslims only point to the TRUTH that God is ONE and He has MANY PERSONS.

Muslims do not understand this truth because they choose to confuse themselves by insisting that being ONE GOD is “CONTRADICTORY” to GOD having MANY PERSONS.

No, there are no contradictions there. In fact, there are many in God’s creations that are ONE and yet MANY.

Take the family for example. The family is ONE, but it has MANY MEMBERS.

Muslims even have their UMMAH as an example of ONE but HAVING MANY MEMBERS.

Sadly, Muslims ignore facts so they could continue with their wrong idea about God, who is ONE but having MANY PERSONS—a TRINITY.

The declaration of Deut 6:4 that God is one shows the fact that God is NOT a ABSOLUTE ONE, but a UNITED ONE.

The Hebrew word in Deut 6.4 that is translated as “one” is “ECHAD.”

Let is note that “echad” is the same word used by God in Genesis 2:24, where He said that “a man … clings to his wife, and they become ONE flesh.” This refers to marriage.

Notice that TWO: a man and a woman, are JOINED to form ONE (echad) flesh. So, the ONE referred to is NOT an ABSOLUTE ONE but a “UNION of TWO.”

That is the same condition referred to in Deut 6:4, when it says, God is ONE. It is not saying that God is an absolute one, but a UNION of MANY, such as a union of MANY PERSONS or individual members.

Now, this UNION of MANY PERSONS is also indicated in one of the Hebrew words for God—ELOHIM.

Elohim means God. It shows ONE God, but the word itself is PLURAL, which indicates the MANY in the ONE God.

This PLURALITY in the ONE God is the truth expressed in say Gen 1:26, 3:22, 18:1-3 and 1Jn 5:7 (KJV).

In Gen 1:26, God is ONE but is shows Him TALKING to His other members: "Let US make humankind in OUR image, according to OUR likeness.”

The same is shown in Gen 3.22 where God says, “the man has become like one of US,” again indicating that there are MANY MEMBERS in the Godhead.

At first, in the Old Testament, people did not understand this PLURALITY in the ONE God. It was only fully revealed when the Lord Jesus, the Second Person of the One God, became man and introduced God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

Man also began to understand that God is a Trinity when the Third Person of the One God came upon the first Christians on Pentecost day.

Thus, Christians believe in One God who has 3 Persons: The Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.

Again, there is NO CONTRADICTION in regard to that as Muslims claim.