Christians have fallen victim to a massive lie perpetuated throughout most of the Christian era.
The lie is this: "The Bible clearly teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one being".
Meaning, you are OK believing that that is true doctrine, but you can't justify that doctrine with an appeal to the Bible.
(One Being = One Essence = Consubstantial = Homoousis)
This lie is so ridiculously easy to expose that many Trinitarian biblical scholars readily admit it.
In order to expose this lie, let me start by pointing out the 3 and only 3 places in the Bible where it even gets close to this doctrine, and why those passages do NOT mean what they seem to mean in context.
1. The Shema Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:" (KJV) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone." (NRSVue) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (NIV)
2. Isaiah 43:10 (and surrounding passages of similar effect): "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me." (NIV, others very similar)
3. John 10:30: "I and the Father are one"
RE the Shema: As you can see, the NRSVUE translates the word "one" as "alone". Why? Because God is distinguishing himself from the other gods mentioned in Deuteronomy. In fact, Deuteronomy 33, especially in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, describes how El Elyon (The Most High God) has divided the nations, giving them each their own God, and giving Israel to YHWH. Therefore, YHWH and YHWH alone is the God of Israel.
RE Isaiah: Reading Isaiah in context shows (1) That God is explaining that he alone will redeem / save Israel and (2) That they shouldn't be following the other gods. Importantly, the exact phrasing that is used by God saying "I am the only God" is the exact phrasing used to describe how Babylon thinks that they are the bestest city forever. (Isaiah 47:10)
RE the Old Testament / Hebrew: Scholars must contend with Genesis 2:24, which says husbands and wives should "become one flesh". If there ever was a verse teaching homoousis, this is probably it, and it's not describing the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Finally, as far as the Old Testament goes, the Holy Ghost isn't clearly represented as a separate person. The text uses words that suggest it is the breath of God, or a wind, or something like that, rather than a person.
Thus, I close the Old Testament confident that not only is the Holy Ghost not clearly represented as a different person of the Holy Trinity, but it is nowhere ever taught that they are of one essence / consubstantial / homoousis. I think pretty much everyone who reads the Old Testament would agree with me there.
In the New Testament, we contend with John's representation that Jesus said "I and the Father are one". This is easily refuted because in John 17, Jesus clearly states that he wants the disciples to enjoy the same oneness that he experiences with the Father. Rather than citing specific verses, I encourage you to read the whole thing so that you can see for yourself how explicit it is.
Conclusion: The only thing "clear" in the Bible is that the doctrine of the Trinity, specifically, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one being / one essence / consubstantial / homoousis, is NOT taught.
(If you're upset that I didn't mention the Johannine Comma (1 John 5:7-8), you should go look that up first before trying to use it. Not only is it not part of the oldest copies, but it doesn't mean what you think it means in light of John 17.)
PS: The reason why I am bringing this up is because Christianity is under attack, and you guys who are saying these absurd things are creating HUGE vectors of attack. You need NOT defend against these particular attacks! IE, you DON'T HAVE TO JUSTIFY THAT THE BIBLE IS INERRANT BECAUSE IT IS NOT! Defend things that can be defended!
The lie is this: "The Bible clearly teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one being".
Meaning, you are OK believing that that is true doctrine, but you can't justify that doctrine with an appeal to the Bible.
(One Being = One Essence = Consubstantial = Homoousis)
This lie is so ridiculously easy to expose that many Trinitarian biblical scholars readily admit it.
In order to expose this lie, let me start by pointing out the 3 and only 3 places in the Bible where it even gets close to this doctrine, and why those passages do NOT mean what they seem to mean in context.
1. The Shema Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:" (KJV) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone." (NRSVue) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (NIV)
2. Isaiah 43:10 (and surrounding passages of similar effect): "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me." (NIV, others very similar)
3. John 10:30: "I and the Father are one"
RE the Shema: As you can see, the NRSVUE translates the word "one" as "alone". Why? Because God is distinguishing himself from the other gods mentioned in Deuteronomy. In fact, Deuteronomy 33, especially in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, describes how El Elyon (The Most High God) has divided the nations, giving them each their own God, and giving Israel to YHWH. Therefore, YHWH and YHWH alone is the God of Israel.
RE Isaiah: Reading Isaiah in context shows (1) That God is explaining that he alone will redeem / save Israel and (2) That they shouldn't be following the other gods. Importantly, the exact phrasing that is used by God saying "I am the only God" is the exact phrasing used to describe how Babylon thinks that they are the bestest city forever. (Isaiah 47:10)
RE the Old Testament / Hebrew: Scholars must contend with Genesis 2:24, which says husbands and wives should "become one flesh". If there ever was a verse teaching homoousis, this is probably it, and it's not describing the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Finally, as far as the Old Testament goes, the Holy Ghost isn't clearly represented as a separate person. The text uses words that suggest it is the breath of God, or a wind, or something like that, rather than a person.
Thus, I close the Old Testament confident that not only is the Holy Ghost not clearly represented as a different person of the Holy Trinity, but it is nowhere ever taught that they are of one essence / consubstantial / homoousis. I think pretty much everyone who reads the Old Testament would agree with me there.
In the New Testament, we contend with John's representation that Jesus said "I and the Father are one". This is easily refuted because in John 17, Jesus clearly states that he wants the disciples to enjoy the same oneness that he experiences with the Father. Rather than citing specific verses, I encourage you to read the whole thing so that you can see for yourself how explicit it is.
Conclusion: The only thing "clear" in the Bible is that the doctrine of the Trinity, specifically, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one being / one essence / consubstantial / homoousis, is NOT taught.
(If you're upset that I didn't mention the Johannine Comma (1 John 5:7-8), you should go look that up first before trying to use it. Not only is it not part of the oldest copies, but it doesn't mean what you think it means in light of John 17.)
PS: The reason why I am bringing this up is because Christianity is under attack, and you guys who are saying these absurd things are creating HUGE vectors of attack. You need NOT defend against these particular attacks! IE, you DON'T HAVE TO JUSTIFY THAT THE BIBLE IS INERRANT BECAUSE IT IS NOT! Defend things that can be defended!
Deuteronomy 4:35,39 KJV
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. [39] Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Deuteronomy 32:39 KJV
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Mark 12:29 KJV
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
So now we have these verses plus verses where it seems God is acting in different roles or different entities. A paradox from a human perspective, but if you trust God with things beyond human understanding, then you have nothing to worry about.
That's using the same word "one" that you're citing in the OT passages. (And the source of the Mark verse).
You can't pick and choose when to interpret "one" as "one being" or not. Either God is one being AND married couples are literally ONE FLESH or God is UNITED and man and woman are UNITED flesh.
Matthew 12:11 KJV
And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have **one** sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Matthew 18:5 KJV
And whoso shall receive **one** such little child in my name receiveth me.
Matthew 26:21 KJV
And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that **one** of you shall betray me.
Substituting united for one in these verses wouldn't make any sense, and there wouldn't be anyway of rephrasing the verses that could make it make sense. I think one means one, even in the husband and wife verses. But also, sometimes it just says there are no other gods besides me, so in those cases one isn't even used.
You're fighting an uphill battle, unless you can explain why the same word has two completely different meanings in two different places in the OT, yet translators decided to translate it into the same word in English.
The passages in the NT are not Hebrew, they are originally in Greek (or Aramaic, but translated into Greek early on.) Since it doesn't say "married couples are one flesh" in Greek, I can't make the same argument using those verses.
Instead, I'll refer you to John 17, where the Lord EXPLICITLY says that he wants his disciples to be one with him in exactly the same way he is one with the Father, leaving NO ROOM for interpretation there. Either the Father and the Son are two separate beings, exactly like the disciples and the Son are, or the disciples are part of the "one being" that make up the Trinity. You can't have it both ways.