- Jul 7, 2012
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ALTER2EGO to MARK S:The Triune God
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, Elohim created. . .”
The basic Hebrew word for God is EL, and this is a singular form. Hebrew has two plural suffixes, for dual and plural (3 or more). Elohim is the plural form for “God”, which is a very strange way to speak of Him.
You are in error. Elohim is not merely the plural form for God. Elohim can be singular or plural.
ALTER2EGO to MARK S:In Deuteronomy 6:4 we read “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
In Hebrew, this is “YHWH Elohim, YHWH echad” – echad means, at its root, to be unified. It’s first usage in the Bible is Genesis 1:4 “and there was evening, and there was morning, one day” – a day made of two parts that were unified. Echad is used of one object or person, but is also used of compound unities, such as the first day. Echad is used of the married couple “the two shall become one (echad) flesh”
“YHWH Elohim (Plural God) YHWH unified” This leads us to the doctrine called The Trinity, or Triune God.
Correction: What led to the doctrine called Trinity was the Roman Catholics' adoption of pagan trinities, which they then gave a "Christian" twist. There were pagan trinities in existence for centuries before Jesus Christ appeared on the earthly scene. In fact, there were pagan Trinities in existence during the 1st century AD, while Jesus was here on earth. Below are three such examples.
1. In the 2nd century B.C.E. (two centuries before Christ came to the earth), Egypt had a triad of gods consisting of (1) Horus, (2) Osiris, and (3) Isis.
2. In the 2nd century B.C.E. (two centuries before Christ came to the earth), Babylon had a triad of gods consisting of (1) Ishtar, (2) Sin, and (3) Shamash.
3. In the 1st century C.E., Palmyra, which was an ancient city in Syria, had a triune god which consisted of (1) moon god, (2) Lord of Heavens, and (3) sun god.