What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - God Is One, Not Three

THE Bible teaching that God is one is called monotheism. And L.L. Paine, professor of ecclesiastical history, indicates that monotheism  in its purest form does not allow for a Trinity:  "The Old Testament is strictly monotheistic.  God is a single personal being. The idea that a trinity is to be found there. . .  is utterly without foundation. 

Was there any change from monotheism after Jesus came to the earth? Paine answers: "On this point there is no break between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The monotheistic tradition is continued. Jesus was a Jew, trained by Jewish parents in the Old Testament Scriptures.  His teaching was Jewish to the core; a new gospel indeed, but not a new theology. . . And he accepted as his own belief the great text of Jewish monotheism: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God." 

Those words are found  at Deuteronomy 6:4.  The Catholic New Jerusalem Bible  (NJB)  here reads: "Listen, Israel: Yahweh our God is the one, the only Yahweh.  "In the grammar of that verse, the word "one" had no plural modifiers to suggest that it means anything but one individual.

Next time: What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus? - Conclusion of God Is One, Not Three

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