I have tried to avoid writing an article about this, only because it seems like this is an overstated victory. It seemed so blatantly obvious that Christianity is a monotheistic religion that there is no need to even argue it anymore. But a few nights ago, 'Jesus and God' mysteriously began to trend on twitter.
After this, I became completely appalled at the belief system held by so many people that believe in the Christian Bible. It has always been my contention that no reputable theologian could actually read the New Testament and state that God is anything other than a single Entity. But it would seem that this is the belief system that is actually being taught throughout Catholicism and even some of Christianity.
I find it almost too easy to dismiss this belief. In John 8:58, Jesus said "I tell you true. Before Abraham was, I am." Jesus stated very plainly that He existed before Abraham did. Further, 'I Am' seems just a tad derivative of another famous verse. In Exodus 3:13, God told Moses, "Tell them I Am has sent you."
Also, Jesus sent the disciples out to the villages to preach the Good News and he commanded that everybody be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So they went out and baptized people in the name of Jesus. When disciples were reunited with Jesus, does it not stand to reason that if they did make a terrible mistake, Jesus would have corrected them? Yes! He would have said, "Hey guys, you're not giving my Father props. What's the deal?"
If this is so easy to understand, why is there so much confusion?
If you understand the term 'lost in translation' then before you finish reading this sentence, you likely know the answer to that question. In John 3:16 it is stated that Jesus is God's only begotten Son. In English, begotten means that it is produced or created. But the Bible was not originally written in English, therefore when it comes to an important issue such as this one, we need to analyze the Greek translation.
It means "pertaining to the only one of its' class; unique in character." John was the only New Testament writer to use this term. He applied it to demonstrate the difference between the Son of God, and the everyday sons of God.
Wait a minute! A plural is used to describe God throughout the Old Testament, including the sixth day of creation! Genesis 1:23 "Let us make man in our image."
The concept of one God in three should not be foreign to anybody. Consider that marriage entails two people in one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Consider that we are all one body of Christ, one member of another (Romans 12:5).
Catholicism claims that they take the conservative approach the Bible, and assume that everything is literal rather than figurative. With this being the case, I do wonder why there are not more one-handed Catholics walking around. Mark 6 "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off."
Viewing the Bible as completely literal presents some real problems because there are so many parables. Further, I do not see how the conclusion 'There are three Gods' derived from the task of viewing the Bible as completely a literal element. It indicates this in not a single verse. The Old Testament and the New Testament indicate only that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three faces of one God.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. Colassians 2:9
A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. Galations 3:20
The Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4
Now that we have a better understanding of our theology, I will determine the Christian denominations which have misinterpreted it.
Mormons The thing about Mormonism is that they did not only misinterpret it. Joseph Smith went far and beyond and said that God and Jesus visited him as two separate beings and told him that none of the churches were accurate.
Joseph Smith's version of 'Jesus and God' were in error. They said that all churches were wrong essentially on the basis that they taught only the Old Testament and the New Testament. The churches were only in error when held the the standard of the Mormon Bible. But the Mormon Bible had not existed at the time that 'Jesus and God' approached Joseph Smith. It seems completely unreasonable that 'Jesus and God' would hold the world to a standard that does not yet exist.
In support of this, a Mormon apologist of 42 years claimed, "I can argue the pro-Mormon side just as effectively as I can argue the con-Mormon side. The difference is that the pro-Mormon side makes no sense."
(Source) There is literally nothing conclusive that can make us believe this book has any historical reliability. Couple this with the indoctrine of the 'Jesus and God' claim, and you can summarily dismiss this religion.
Some other faith groups that reject the '3 in 1' doctrine:
Jehovah's Witness
Christian Science
Armstrongism
Christadelphians
Unification Church
Unity School Of Christianity
Catholicism
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