Are Christians monotheists?

The word ‘monotheism’ stands for the belief that there is only one God (mono = one and theos = God). That is not a question of quantity, but of quality. Multiple gods, by definition, cannot be absolute. For what one god decides or does can be undone by another god. It does not matter whether there be a thousand, hundred, ten, or only two gods. As soon as God has to share his deity with others, He no longer is GOD. There is either one God or no God. The Greek phrase “monos” and “theos”, we meet a few times in the “New Testament”‘. Paul uses it in 1 Tim.1:17 and Jude at the end of his letter:

to THE ONLY GOD, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might and authority… -Jude 25-

Both, Paul and Jude bring an ode to the only God. God is not only one (i.e. integer; complete in Himself), but also the only One; whereby Jesus Christ is the instrument through Whom the glory, majesty, dominion and power of God is realized. In the formulation of the above text, it is undeniable that the only God and Jesus Christ are not identical. No one has expressed this distinction more sharply than Jesus Christ, Himself. In the so-called “high priestly” prayer (John 17), He speaks to His Father (:1) and says:

Now it is eonian life that they may know Thee, the ONLY true GOD, and Him Whom Thou dost commission, Jesus Christ. -John 17:3-

Jesus Christ, Himself, calls His Father “the only true God”, knowing that by Him He has been sent. Paul also speaks of the Father in this way: “yet for us there is one God, the Father” (1Cor.8:6; Eph.4:6). Where the Scriptures and Jesus Christ, Himself, define monotheism, there is no misunderstanding about the question to Whom the phrase “the only God” refers, namely: to God, the Father. In light of these and similar Scriptures, it is baffling to realize how, already in the early stage of church history, monotheism derailed. The standard formula became: there is one God, even the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; three persons, each of His own, being equally God. They speak of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. But where in Scripture is such terminology used? Dozens of times in Scripture we read the phrase, “God the Father”, but never “God the Son”. Consistently, the Scripture calls Him “the Son of God.” That is perfectly logical, since the Father, indeed, is the only God. However shocking it may be, it is absolutely right that Jews, as well as Muslims, accuse Christians to be no real monotheists. Orthodox Christians (Nicea, Athanasius) teach a disguised polytheism (= multiple deities). The writers of the “New Testament” knew nothing of a “trinity” and associated terms attached to it. That concerns concepts that have, within a few centuries, under the influence of pagan philosophy (multiple deities), infiltrated into Christendom. The primary confession of the only, one God had to make room for the confession of a triune God. That concept is not only foreign to Scripture, but also lacks all that is logical. No one understands it; it is impossible to explain, and to conceal this bizarre idea it is called a mystery. But it is a smokescreen. For the truth of monotheism is so simple that it does not even need an explanation. A child can understand it: “there is one God, the Father.” Christians, who has bewitched you?

Delen: