[Pebbles_Nibbles]

The three great historic tests of faith as regards godliness are: first, in the period before the incarnation, the test of "one God" versus polytheism, and God's right to rule, with the law as the standard and the Sabbath as the sign; second, as to whether, at Christ's first advent, those who had met the first test would accept jesus as the divine Son and Redeemer; then, third, having accepted the first two, as to whether we will submit fully to the Holy Spirit to make efficacious in us all that has been wrough out for us.

These, I believe, are broad fundamentals that sweep everything vital to the divine plan of salvation into their embrace. How so?

Some lunatic would suggest that Christians believe in three gods. Not so! Let me clarify. The plurality of the Godhead is first indicated in Genesis 1:26, when God said, "Let us make man in our image." The Father is the source, the Son the intermediary, and the Holy Spirit is the medium through which the creation came into being.

I know that it is hard for those who have no spiritual discernment to fathom this fact because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. However, our God is one God (Deut. 6:4); but there are three persons in the one Godhead. Our difficulty arises from trying to conceive of spiritual beings in terms of the physical. Perhaps you would allow me to give a crude but worthy illustration. A triangle is one figure, but it has three sides. So the Godhead, being one, is manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. See John 10:30

Pebbles says, Monotheism works.

[KEMINOKANA]

You are extremely intelligent and I wish you would help us with your knowledge to battle the philosophers spreading blasphemy and lies in the forum. That three triangle example should forever shut the pagans.

[Msoto]

>You are extremely intelligent and I wish you would help us
>with your knowledge to battle the philosophers spreading
>blasphemy and lies in the forum. That three triangle example
>should forever shut the pagans.

Mono or Poly why not monopoly?

[reggie_woic]

Nice one Msoto.

I don't think i've heard of a person who thought or believed that there are 3 Gods. That's preposterous even for a pagan.

I'm for Mono (it goes without saying). As for whether or not this mono exists is still debatable.

[Pebbles_Nibbles]

@ Msoto,

>Mono or Poly why not monopoly?

Because the subject matter is about "theism"! Does that work for you?

[mwananchi_]

There has to be one God and only one God. I cannot think of a situation where there would be 2 or more gods. If they are more than one I don't know what they are but I'm sure they are not God. It is logically inconceivable to have 2 beings that are almighty, all-knowing, and all-powerful.

Let's assume just for the sake of argument that there were 2 Gods. God1 would be all powerful and be in control of everything everywhere at every time. But if God2 was to have similar qualities then God1 would not be in control of God2. Neither would God2 be in control of God1. In that case none of them would be in TOTAL control of EVERYTHING. I mean God2 could do what He wants without consulting God1 and he might do things that God1 hates. Likewise God1 could do stuff to annoy God2 and God2 would have to just accept it or not.

Which explains why Jesus Christ was crucified by the Jews. First he said he was the Son of God which was in itself blasphemous enough. But when he claimed to be God the Jews had to flat out kill him because they knew only one God. And that was Jehova, Yahwe; God of Abraham, God of Jacob, God of Isaac; God that delivered them from Egypt.

The overemphasis on Jesus Christ by Christians is the one issue most non-Christians have with Christianity. They cannot for love or money figure out why people would give someone so much glory and honor and adoration to a person who is NOT God. They literally worship Jesus and thereby break the First Commandment that God gave to Moses.

Another tough pill for most to swallow is the verse. "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Try tell that to people who have seen God do miracles in their lives from their childhood. They have communicated with God directly for generations and someone is to now tell him that he is the only way. I am surprised they did not stone him to death for encouraging people to break the very first Commandment: "I am Jehova your God. You must not have any other gods before me" Exodus 20:3"


Back to the topic though. If you have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That sounds like 3 separate entities to me. I know there are many angels and saints and agents for God but there is only One God. Call Him what you may but He's only one. The Son and the Holy Spirit might come pretty high on the rank of importance but they are still light years below the glory of God.

Which is why there's a huge majority of people who know and love God but cannot stand to go near a church given the huge attention and energy devoted to Jesus. That Christians claim exclusive rights to God and treat non-Christians like pagans just adds salt to the injury. I would love for anyone to give me a good reason why I cannot pray and get to my good and merciful God directly without having to go through Jesus or any other proxies.

[ATLian]

>There has to be one God and only one God. I cannot think of a
>situation where there would be 2 or more gods. If they are
>more than one I don't know what they are but I'm sure they are
>not God. It is logically inconceivable to have 2 beings that
>are almighty, all-knowing, and all-powerful.

Mwanainchi,

that's an interesting observation, but you make one fundamental flaw at arriving at your conclusion - you assume that there has to be a god out there. Maybe there is NO god.

[sexy gal]

Mwananchi mimi napeda wewe lol..

Pebbles i have to disagree. The trilogy is what turned me off Christianity. It seems to me like some "pagan" who was a polytheist f..ed around with the Bible because he/she could neither understand nor sell the concept of an all powerful supreme God and thus the concept of combining three separate entities..The Father, The Son and the Spirit, and confusing everybody into believing it is the ONE TRUE GOD. (Isn't it historically accurate that them dayz, people believe in may gods?)..I believe this is how the idea of the Trilogy came about.

Now after saying that..TO EACH HIS OWN!

http://www.threewisheslingerie.com/images/sexyshoes.jpg


war doesn't determine who is right, war determines who is left

[Zelda]

Dear Friends,
I can easily think of religions with 2, 3 or even more gods. let's start with one close to "home", gnosticism:
http://www.helsinki.fi/teol/hyel/gno...nosticism.html

@Pebbles_Nibbles, I have only met one person who has been able to explain how the trinity fits into monotheism using simple language:

She referred to "the plurality of the Godhead" as the complexity of the divine being. According to her, because God has several attributes and a greatness which is impossible for humans to grasp, Christians use the number 3. 3, being a plural number, shows the plurality of God's attributes and His abilities.

I don't think it's out of LUNACY that someone would suggest that Christians believe in a triune God. I think that the problem is linguistic: the language used to describe the Trinity and other aspects of Christan dogma is very complicated and confusing. Someone from outside the Christian tradition (or even within the church) cannot understand the finer details of Christianity unless they are given a key to unlock the code.

Mind you, I am not talking about a spiritual key. I am talking about simple language that is accessible to ppl from any background.