Well I did some searching in history and found where your view spawned from Franklin. It wasnt until about AD 318 Arius an elder of Alexandria, had problems accepting the teaching about the nature of Christ. So he began to teach that Jesus was different in essence from the father. I cant find anything before this time period teaching your view. Then this view was debated over for about 400 years after that but the majorty of Christians hold the triune nature of God view.
I would like to add my comments to the following verse.
John 14:28 "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and
coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice
because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is
greater than I.
Jesus is speaking about his willing submission to the Father. Note the writting of Paul.
Philp 2: 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the
death of the cross.
Jesus was equal to the father in nature, but voluntarily took upon himself the form of a servant. Again the word God or theos, denotes deity.(Thayer) There is but 1 divine nature. Hence, there is but 1 God. There are, however, 3 persons who possess this divine nature, the father, the son, and the HS which make up the GodHead.
What about these verses Franklin.
Mat 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated,
"God with us."
John 17:5 "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Mic 5:2 " But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little
among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come
forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth
are from of old, From everlasting."
Now lets look at Gen 1:26-27. You try and say that because Jesus was in the image of God that that some how proves that he was a created being. I ask what other image could Jesus be in if not human? Of course he was the image of God in his human form we already learned from Gen that we to being human was made in the image of God. I don't see any strength to your arguement at all. However it is important for us to look at the plurality used there showing that there are more than one in the GodHead. Even in the very first verse of The bible the plural Heb word is used for God elohim. This occurs over 2000 times in reference to the plurity or triune nature of God.
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" --
Gen 11:7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here <I>am </I>I! Send me."
These types of verses could be multiplied but this should be sufficeint enough to show that there is a plurality of persons in the GodHead.
The bible also teaches that Christ is God in Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,<B></B> Prince of Peace.
Obiviously these verses are talking about Jesus. This verse demands a recognition of the fact that the child born of Mary was/is deity. He is as much God as God the father.
Now consider Zech 13:7 " Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion," Says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones. This should be compared to Mat 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' Also in Mark 14:27 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.' The Shepherd is God Psalm 23 and Jesus is the the Shepherd: therefore Jesus is God.
Finally, concerning Christ being God (deity) Notice Acts 20:28 "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. The vese calls the flock (members of the church) the church of God. It also points out that God shed his blood for the church. This means that the one who shed his blood for the church is God. Who shed his blood for the church? Jesus did Mat 26:28. Therfore Jesus is God.
I still have not seen you refute the Holy Spirit not being a person. There has been tons of verses and info presented showing that he indeed is a person seperate and distinct from the Father and son but possessing the characteristics of deity. Look forward to your response.
Cougan