How many gods are there?

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Scripture is emphatic: there is one God -- yet this one God exists eternally as three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Witness of the Old Testament The very first verse of the Bible already hints at this mystery. A. J. Pollock draws attention to the Hebrew: Take the first verse in Genesis 1 -- "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Why did Moses write the name of God in the plural? The Hebrew language has singular, dual and plural numbers, so that the plural must designate three at least. In the word God, being in the plural, we have undoubtedly a reference to the Holy Trinity -- three persons, yet one God -- the blessed Triune God, far beyond our comprehension, yet not beyond our faith and adoration. Further, the word -- God -- in the plural is followed by a singular verb -- created. Why singular? Should not a plural noun be followed by a plural verb to be good grammar? Yet in the very first verse in the Bible we get bad grammar in order to give us good theology. Though the word God is in the plural, indicating as we have said, the Trinity, yet there is but one God -- a plural unity, if we may use the phrase with reverence. A. J. Pollock In Bible Testimony to the Son of God, Pollock adds the crucial Old Testament confession: "Hear, O Israel; the LORD [Jehovah, singular] our God [Elohim, plural] is one LORD [Jehovah, singular]" (Deut. 6:4). This clearly shows that whilst Scripture affirms that there are three distinct Persons in the Godhead, yet there are not three Gods, but one; not a trinity of Gods, but a triune God. Pollock Morrish's Bible Dictionary on the Trinity Morrish's Bible Dictionary gives a concise summary under its entry for God: THE TRINITY. The Father is God. Phil. 2:11; 1 Thess. 1:1, etc. The Lord Jesus is God. Isa. 9:6; Matt. 1:23; John 1:1; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:8. The Holy Spirit is God: "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen. 1:2. Ananias lied to 'the Holy Ghost,' 'unto God;' and Sapphira unto the 'Spirit of the Lord,' Acts 5:3-4, 9... There is but one God. Morrish's Bible Dictionary "To Us There Is But One God" F. B. Hole, commenting on 1 Corinthians 8, shows how Paul answered the pagan world's many gods: What is the truth about the idols themselves? The truth is that they are nothing in the world. Deluded men may venerate these strange objects and treat them as gods, but we know them as but the work of men's hands, and that there is no other God but one. Pagans may venerate many gods and lords, but to us they are nothing. We know but one God and one Lord. There is the Father, the Originator and Source of all, and we are for Him. There is the Lord Jesus, the great Administrator in the Godhead, and all things, ourselves included, are by Him. F. B. Hole Hole also highlights the force of James 2:19 -- that even believing in one God must be living faith: In verse 19 the very fundamental point of faith in the existence of the one true God is raised. "Oh, yes," we each exclaim, "I believe in Him!" That is good; but such faith if real is bound to affect us. We shall at least tremble, for even demons, who know right well that He exists and hate Him, go as far as that. Hole The Full Revelation in the New Testament T. W. M. Mawson traces how the coming of Christ brought this truth into full light: The revelation of God is complete, and we know God now as Father, Son and Holy Ghost: three Persons yet one God. It was this that came into full manifestation when Jesus was here, for "in Him all the fulness (of the Godhead) was pleased to dwell" (Col. 1:19), and "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16). T. W. M. Mawson He then summarises the distinct work of each Person: The Father is the source of all blessing for men. The Son has brought the blessing to men. The Holy Ghost makes the blessing good in men. F. B. Hole, commenting on 1 Timothy 2:5, shows how the oneness of God bears directly on the gospel: "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." He is, indeed, that "Daysman" whom Job sighed for, who "might lay His hand upon us both." F. B. Hole Synthesis There is one God. The great confession of Israel -- "Hear, O Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut. 6:4) -- is carried straight through into the New Testament: "there is no other God but one" (1 Cor. 8:4). Yet this one God has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- three distinct Persons sharing one divine nature. The plural noun Elohim paired with a singular verb in Genesis 1:1 already pointed to this "plural unity," and the full manifestation came when the Son became man and the Spirit was sent from heaven. The gods of the nations are nothing; there is one God, and He has made Himself known.

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