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Monotheistic or Onegodness

Xeno.of.athens

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Okay, I am playing with words. Monotheistic is a borrowed word, made from mono (one) and theos (god). English has its linguistic roots in northern European languages. So, onegodness might be a fair English roots word for the same concept as monotheism. Anyway, that's the play part. The theology part comes with consideration of what it means to be monotheistic.

Monotheism is the belief in the existence of a single God or deity, as opposed to the belief in multiple gods or deities (polytheism). Monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach the existence of one God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and the creator of the universe. In monotheistic religions, the one God is typically considered to be the ultimate source of morality and authority, and believers may seek to develop a personal relationship with this deity through prayer, worship, and other forms of religious observance. Monotheism stands in contrast to other forms of religious belief and practice, such as animism, pantheism, and henotheism, which hold different conceptions of the nature of the divine or the ultimate reality.

Christians are monotheists yet Christians believe in the most holy Trinity and this has caused many people some difficulty.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a central tenet of Christianity and is the belief that there is one God who exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This concept can be difficult to understand, and some people might argue that it contradicts the idea of monotheism.

However, from a Christian perspective, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is fully consistent with monotheism. While there are three distinct persons within the Godhead, they are not three separate gods. Instead, they are three distinct persons who share one divine essence or substance. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God, but they are not separate beings. They are different expressions of the one God. (Do you think that last sentence is right? "different expressions" doesn't really sound quite right.)

Thus, from a Christian perspective, the belief in the Holy Trinity does not contradict monotheism, as it affirms that there is one God who is worthy of worship and obedience, and that this one God has revealed himself in three distinct persons.
 
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BobRyan

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Okay, I am playing with words. Monotheistic is a borrowed word, made from mono (one) and theos (god). English has its linguistic roots in northern European languages. So, onegodness might be a fair English roots word for the same concept as monotheism. Anyway, that's the play part. The theology part comes with consideration of what it means to be monotheistic.

Monotheism is the belief in the existence of a single God or deity, as opposed to the belief in multiple gods or deities (polytheism). Monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach the existence of one God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and the creator of the universe. In monotheistic religions, the one God is typically considered to be the ultimate source of morality and authority, and believers may seek to develop a personal relationship with this deity through prayer, worship, and other forms of religious observance. Monotheism stands in contrast to other forms of religious belief and practice, such as animism, pantheism, and henotheism, which hold different conceptions of the nature of the divine or the ultimate reality.

Christians are monotheists yet Christians believe in the most holy Trinity and this has caused many people some difficulty.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a central tenet of Christianity and is the belief that there is one God who exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This concept can be difficult to understand, and some people might argue that it contradicts the idea of monotheism.

However, from a Christian perspective, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is fully consistent with monotheism. While there are three distinct persons within the Godhead, they are not three separate gods. Instead, they are three distinct persons who share one divine essence or substance. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God, but they are not separate beings. They are different expressions of the one God. (Do you think that last sentence is right? "different expressions" doesn't really sound quite right.)

Thus, from a Christian perspective, the belief in the Holy Trinity does not contradict monotheism, as it affirms that there is one God who is worthy of worship and obedience, and that this one God has revealed himself in three distinct persons.
True.

Deut 6:4 "One God"
Matt 28:19 In three persons

Co-eternal, co-equal having all the full attributes of deity.

What I tell people who claim that three persons must be three gods - is that the concept of God - is a higher order than the concept of person. So one God can be in the form of 3 persons.
 
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Mark Quayle

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Christians are monotheists yet Christians believe in the most holy Trinity and this has caused many people some difficulty.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a central tenet of Christianity and is the belief that there is one God who exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This concept can be difficult to understand, and some people might argue that it contradicts the idea of monotheism.

However, from a Christian perspective, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is fully consistent with monotheism. While there are three distinct persons within the Godhead, they are not three separate gods. Instead, they are three distinct persons who share one divine essence or substance. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God, but they are not separate beings. They are different expressions of the one God. (Do you think that last sentence is right? "different expressions" doesn't really sound quite right.)

Thus, from a Christian perspective, the belief in the Holy Trinity does not contradict monotheism, as it affirms that there is one God who is worthy of worship and obedience, and that this one God has revealed himself in three distinct persons.
True.

Deut 6:4 "One God"
Matt 28:19 In three persons

Co-eternal, co-equal having all the full attributes of deity.

What I tell people who claim that three persons must be three gods - is that the concept of God - is a higher order than the concept of person. So one God can be in the form of 3 persons.
Logically, philosophically, the Aseity and Simplicity of Omnipotent God demands that if there are three, that they be one. The problem comes with trying to prove there are three. The notion that there are three is hard to prove philosophically, but I think it can be done. The problem with doing so, is that it tends toward a deification of one's merely human constructs.

The simplistic teaching of the 3 "parts" of the human —variously: body and soul and spirit, or body and spirit and mind— as pictures of the Trinity, to me are not just logically weak, but insulting or disrespectful to the nature of God. And God is not made of parts.

I agree completely with BobRyan in the usefulness of the fact that God is of a higher order than creatures. This relates to many debates, such as the nature of freewill in the face of God's decree (predestination).

There are many different kinds of Modalism, at least, in my opinion, that are difficult to avoid in attempting to describe the Trinity. To call the three persons mere distinct "presentations", or, "energies", or "expressions", or "duties" or even "personalities", all run too close to modalism for me. As is often the case, in theology, it is easier here to say what something is NOT, than what it IS.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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I agree completely with BobRyan in the usefulness of the fact that God is of a higher order than creatures. This relates to many debates, such as the nature of freewill in the face of God's decree (predestination).
@BobRyan Didn't say "creatures" he said "persons". Person is quite distinct from creature. God is three persons but definitely not three creatures.
 
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BobRyan

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@BobRyan Didn't say "creatures" he said "persons". Person is quite distinct from creature. God is three persons but definitely not three creatures.
Both you and Mark appear to be agreeing that God is not "Three creatures".

So we can all agree that God is three persons but not three creatures, and on a side note the term "creature"

"Creature" means something that has been created, either animate or inanimate

God the Father is uncreated - has no beginning -- is from all eternity past. The same is true for God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

They are tree distinct beings - and as "God" are a higher order of being than would be a person who is human. They are one and Christ prays that we too may be one even as they are one. However the reality of what a God being is, and what dimensions they exist in or manage or ... is beyond our reason. We can't limit God and we can't imagine details that define His existence (that He has not specifically given to us to understand) without being in some sort of error.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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They are tree distinct beings - and as "God" are a higher order of being than would be a person who is human.
God is one being in three Persons.
This is what the Catholic faith teaches: we worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity.
Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance.
For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit.
But the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty.
What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is.
The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is boundless, the Son is boundless, and the Holy Spirit is boundless.
The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal.
Nevertheless, there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal being.
So there are not three uncreated beings, nor three boundless beings, but one uncreated being and one boundless being.
Likewise, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, the Holy Spirit is omnipotent.
Yet there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent being.
Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
However, there are not three gods, but one God.
The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord.
However, there as not three lords, but one Lord.
For as we are obliged by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person singly to be God and Lord, so too are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords.
The Father was not made, nor created, nor generated by anyone.
The Son is not made, nor created, but begotten by the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit is not made, nor created, nor generated, but proceeds from the Father and the Son.
There is, then, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
In this Trinity, there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less. The entire three Persons are coeternal and coequal with one another.
So that in all things, as is has been said above, the Unity is to be worshipped in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity.
He, therefore, who wishes to be saved, must believe thus about the Trinity.
 
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Mark Quayle

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@BobRyan Didn't say "creatures" he said "persons". Person is quite distinct from creature. God is three persons but definitely not three creatures.
True, I didn't quote him. It was my paraphrase. Yes, I hadn't noticed that he had made that distinction.
 
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