Monotheism = Belief in Only One God

[Worshipping Jesus]

Hi All

There are some that claim there is Only One True God, but there are other “true Gods” in scriptures.

The definition of  Monotheism is

[Istari]

WJ,
Not sure what you are asking because I believe that there is ONLY ONE 'True' God and His name is 'YHVH' (in Hebrew) and 'I Am' (By English translation).

This 'YHVH' is one God alone above All else called 'Gods' of whom there are many because the word or term 'God' is a designate of 'One who is Supreme over all others – in their Class'.

There is ONLY ONE who is Supreme in the class of all classes called 'God' therefore YHVH is the ALMIGHTY GOD, the God of all Gods, The Most High God.

And there can ONLY BE One who is Supreme above all supremes.

So, yes, YHVH, is that ONE and Only TRULY GOD over all things called Gods.

For clarification:
– a Heroic person can be called 'A God'
– a King can be called 'A God'
– a 'Mighty One' can be called 'A God'
– Some one supreme in their class can be called 'a God'

Why? Because 'God' – is NOT A PERSON… it is a TITLE given to a person.
Moses was 'A God' – God, the Almighty God, God, the God with the name 'YHVH' himself called Moses 'A God'… But we know He was not claiming that Moses was an ALMIGHTY GOD because we know that Moses was flesh and blood – an cannot possibly have been ALL MIGHTY.

Even Jesus – NEVER ONCE EVER – claim to be God Almighty – not even 'a God' but 'The Son of God'.

And why? because he was Sinless and walked in the way of his God and father, YHVH.
furthermore, He scriptures clearly tells us that ALL who walks in the way of God ARE ALSO Sons of God.
And we know there were many who came close: Adam (when he was created), Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David…more… More…

But, we also know that despite this, they all sinned in one way or another and fell short of the glory of God – except ONE… an exemplary ONE – Jesus Christ.

Jesus was prophecied to be 'a Mighty God' – now, please… 'A' Mighty God…
Even without an indefinite article ('Mighty God') it is clear that the TITLE does not mean that he WILL BECOME GOD Almighty… A Prince cannot become King until the present King is no longer ruling.

Even if the Prince is given to rule for a time AS KING.. he is NOT KING but only ACTING AS KING – the King …. Is still … The King!

Can the 'acting King' make love to 'The Queen'… I think not!
Can the 'Acting King' make use of the King's harem – I think not!
Pharoah said to Joseph: Apart from my throne – everything is yours TO COMMAND…
Scriptures is repeated for our understanding – and that, and other events – are designed to give a human version of what was to follow in the Spiritu version – Jesus ruling in place of his father OVER His father's Kingdom (Notice that the KINGDOM still belongs to the FATHER!)

So if Jesus were GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF – why does he not also own that kingdom?
Why is he only GIVEN the kingdom to rule OVER?
and why does he HAND IT BACK to the Father?

Additionally, Jesus says that those that rise in the first resurrection will become SPIRITUALLY BEGOTTEN SONS OF GOD…. like himself…
Ummm… But you say Jesus IS GOD… so… the 144,000… Ummm!
144,000 SONS OF GOD (Plus one)
144,000 Heirs to God (Plus one)
144,000 Brothers of Christ

Hmmm…!

[Worshipping Jesus]

JA

If the scriptures teach there is “Only One True God” then how can you say there are other “gods”?

“Monotheism' is “the belief in ONE God. “Polytheism” is the belief in more than “One God”.

YHWH clearly says “There are none other gods beside him”, period.

WJ

[Istari]

WJ,

A quick question?
Who is 'the Father of God'?

I mean,
We know of 'The Son of God'
And
We know of 'The Holy Spirit of God'
But
We never hear of 'The Father of God'

Does that seem strange to you? (Sorry that's not a real question! Kinda, rhetorical!)

[Worshipping Jesus]

JA

No it is scripture!

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord, am THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS, stretching out the heavens BY MYSELF, and spreading out the earth ALL ALONE.” Is 44:24 KJV

I am the LORD, and “THERE IS NONE ELSE, THERE IS NO GOD BESIDE ME“: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that “THERE IS NONE BESIDE ME“. I am the LORD, and “THERE IS NONE ELSE“. Isa 45:5, 6

Are you going to claim these scriptures (there are many more) are rhetorical and not literal like Mike?

WJ

[Istari]

WJ,
I don't understand what you are saying…
I don't understand what point you are making…
I don't understand what you don't understand about the WORD or TERM 'God'.

I am not saying, never have ever said – that there are more than one 'Almighty God'.
I have never ever said there are more than one 'One True God'
I have gone over and over in HN to say that 'God'is a TITLE.

WJ, how can you have misunderstood me to think I was saying that there was more than one PERSON who is ALMIGHTY, who is YHVH, who is THE MOST HIGH.

There is ONLY ONE who is MOST HIGH – can Only ever be ONE who is MOST HIGH – and that is YHVH.

And Jesus – is not – YHVH
And Jesus – is not – God Most High
And Jesus – is not – Almighty God
And Jesus – is not – GOD above All Gods

[Istari]

In fact, WJ, I uphold the Scriptures that y

[shimmer]

Quote (WorshippingJesus @ May 05 2011,08:34)

If the scriptures teach there is “Only One True God” then how can you say there are other “gods”? “Monotheism' is “the belief in ONE God. “Polytheism” is the belief in more than “One God”. YHWH clearly says “There are none other gods beside him”, period.

I agree with this completly WJ. Though my beliefs may differ. Good topic!

Jesus was a monotheist. And He taught obediance to the law which says there is only one God.

“Say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.“

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life”

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven:
but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

“Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.”

“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.“

Me and my mother were talking about this yesterday. She thinks believeing there were two equal Gods is silly, and that it doesnt say that. She believes God is spirit and soul and that Jesus was the flesh, just as we have three parts. I believe different, but she sees my point of view.

[Istari]

In fact, WJ, I uphold the Scriptures that you posted for this.

It CLEARLY states that GOD is ONE  – Not TWO (or THREE like Trinitarians say)

Never ever is it ever said that GOD IS THREE – the One God is three…
Never ever is it said 'We, the Three Gods of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, are (is?) One'

[Istari]

WJ,

Is Jesus next to God?
Does Jesus sit on a throne at the right hand of the Father?

WJ, what does it mean to be 'at the right hand' of some one?

[Worshipping Jesus]

Quote (shimmer @ May 04 2011,16:39)

Quote (WorshippingJesus @ May 05 2011,08:34) If the scriptures teach there is “Only One True God” then how can you say there are other “gods”? “Monotheism' is “the belief in ONE God. “Polytheism” is the belief in more than “One God”. YHWH clearly says “There are none other gods beside him”, period. I agree with this completly WJ. Though my beliefs may differ. Good topic! Jesus was a monotheist. And He taught obediance to the law which says there is only one God.

Then why do you teach there are “other gods” in the scriptures?

All other so-called gods are not gods at all but merely gods made in the hearts and minds of men, false gods and idols.

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living!

Paul said…

…and that there is NONE OTHER GOD BUT ONE.

NONE OTHER GOD BUT ONE means there are “no other gods”, period!

WJ

[shimmer]

Wj, what about this:

(wikipedia on Monotheism)

“-Monotheism is related to henotheism (worshiping a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities) and monolatrism (the recognition of the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. -“

Jesus worshipped God, and Jesus taught us to pray to God the Father. His God and our God, His Father and our Father.

So how could Jesus be God?

Either Jesus was God or He wasnt. IMO.

[Istari]

Good post Shimmer.

Good to see us working together on this!

[shimmer]

Thanks Istari, yours too. I understand what your saying with God as a title.

[shimmer]

Wj,

John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”.

This is clearly saying there is still one true God YHWH, as it says the one only true God! And this was the words of Jesus himself!  

There is so many more verses, it is so clear from reading through scripture that Jesus showed us what the perfect son was, and what we should be, and that is being in humble submission to God. And to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and spirit.

————————————–

And more on monotheism:

Shema — 'listen' or 'hear.' The word also implies comprehension.

Yisrael — 'Israel', in the sense of the people or congregation of Israel

Adonai — often translated as 'Lord', it is used in place of the Tetragrammaton

Eloheinu — 'our God', a plural noun (said to imply majesty rather than plural number) with a pronominal suffix ('our')

Echad — 'one'

In this case, Elohim is used in the plural as a form of respect and not polytheism.

Gen.1:26 And Elohim said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Elohim is morphologically plural in form in Hebrew, but generally takes singular agreement when it refers to the God of Israel (so the verb meaning “said” in this verse is vayyomer ויאמר with singular inflection, and not vayyomru ויאמרו with plural inflection), and yet in this case the “our” and “us” seems to create a presumption of plurality, though it may just be God talking to angels and not another god.

Judaism, however, insists that the “Lord is One,” as in the Shema, and at least two interpretations exist to explain the Torah's use of the plural form. The first is that the plural form “Elohim” is analogous to the royal plural as used in English. The second is that, in order to set an example for human kings, Elohim consulted with his court (the angels, just created) before making a major decision (creating man).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism

—————————-

Working out who Jesus was previous though is harder IMO.

[Istari]

Keith,

Please can you confirm that the word or term 'God', is a TITLE.

It is important to realise this to further understand more tortuous aspects of Scriptures.

I mean, you may say that 'God' is a person. And that is true.
But why say:
-'My God', (The 'personal' God of the speaker – and commonly, an ASTONISHED OUTCRY)
– mein Gott!!)
-'Your God', (The God of target person – Your God may be the same as My God)
-'Our God', (The God of the speaker group – Our God can beat up Your God (Except if he's the same God!!))
-'The God' (E.g. The God of the Philistines, the God of the Abraham, the God of the Jews)

Now, it cannot be said, 'Our YHVH is mightier than your YHVH!' – because 'YHVH' is the PERSONAL NAME of a God (The One True God).

In the Scriptures, the TITLE of 'God' is used predominantly to indicate 'YHVH' – the Most High, and One True God, therefore that title is exclusified by CONTEXT to mean 'YHVH'.

Of course, other usages of the title (God) must be interpreted down to the specific individual 'Mighty One' – real, or apparent.

God, The Most High, had no problem using the title concerning foreign Gods of the pagan nations.
Seeing that the pagan nations saw these 'false' God(s)'s as 'Their God(s)' it cannot be denied that those false deities were 'real' to THEM'!

And finally, since the title of 'God' is a referral to 'A Supreme entity' (Real or apparent) then a stone figure could be called 'A God' albeit a FALSE GOD, just as Man of reknown can be called a God, just as the head of the household can be said to be 'the God OF THAT household' (And we toy with the phrase: 'She – who must be obeyed' as a jocular saying for a 'Matriachal and revered 'Mother' figure – a [Mother] God!')

[kerwin]

Keith,

A god is either one that has received the Spirit or God or is credited with the same because of their faith.

A fallen god is one that has obtained those heights but fallen from them.

A pretender is, at the least, a false god.

God is the God of gods and Jesus is their King.

[shimmer]

WJ.

Was Jesus, as Son of Man and as Son of God, a Jewish Monotheist?

[mikeboll64]

Quote (WorshippingJesus @ May 04 2011,15:50)

Paul said… …and that there is NONE OTHER GOD BUT ONE. NONE OTHER GOD BUT ONE means there are “no other gods”, period! WJ

Apparently not.  For in the very next verse, Paul says there are many gods and many lords in heaven and on earth.

Keith, Paul also says Jesus is our “ONE Lord” in that scripture.  Does this mean there are no other lords, period?  If not, then why would the “god” part be literal but not the “lord” part?  They were both merely titles applied to ones in power – god being the higer title.

Kar, to answer your concerns about this thread:  Keith thinks that if he can eliminate all others in the scriptures that were called “god” by asserting they were “false gods” or “idols”, then he has a chance to say that if there literally IS only ONE god, and Jesus can't be a “false god”, then Jesus must be that ONE god.

But Keith forgets that Jehovah is the God OF gods, which would be a pretty stupid title if there weren't any other gods for Jehovah to be the God OF.  Keith forgets that God presides in the assembly of gods and passes judgement on these other gods. (Psalm 82:1)  He apparently thinks that God Almighty holds assemblies where He hangs out with “false gods” and “idols”.

But most importantly, Keith forgets that Jesus tells us who the “only true God” is in John 17:3 and Paul tells us who it is in 1 Cor 8:6.  They both tell us it is THE FATHER.  So if Keith, who willingly admits that Jesus is NOT the Father, wants to follow his “no other gods, period!” policy through honestly, he must also apply his terms “false god” or “idol” to Jesus.

mike

[shimmer]

Hmmm good one Mike.

[Author]

Posts