How many Gods are there? One or more than one?

Question

"Let US make man in OUR image according to OUR likeness."(Genesis 26)

God speaks of himself in the plural sense making it seem like there are more than one of him and yet most claim there is only one. Why would a single entity refer to himself in the plural sense? Or how could multiple entities be viewed as one entity?

Also "Behold, the man has become like US, knowing good and evil."(Genesis 3:22)

(the first quote was from Genesis 1:26)

Answer 1

i have the encyclopedia of gods and it says there are over 2500 of the little things running around out there somewhere

Answer 2

The short answer is: none.

But to explain the apparent discrepancy in the bible? If you read the original Hebrew text for Genesis 1:1, you see that the word "elohim" (which is plural) is used, rather than the singular form, "el".

That is, the first line of the bible SHOULD be translated as: "In the beginning, the GODS created the heavens and the earth..."

Answer 3

Well, first of all, there are plenty of other references in the bible that make it clear there is only one God. Also, the bible was written in Ancient Hebrew, so maybe that had something to do with it. No matter how you look at it, there is only one God, and that's what the Jews believed, and Christians have beleived since the beginning. Even before the Torah/Bible, were written down.

I'm not an expert on this, but I think God was either refering to the Trinity, or the fact that in essence God is a family. Keep in mind that it is impossible to truly grasp and understand His true nature.

Answer 4

It depends on who you ask. Some will say there is only one, but they won't agree on which god is the only one. Some will deny that others believe in their same god. Yet, others believe in multiple gods. They argue/fight with those that believe in one god. Then you have a bunch of people who believe in no god(s) at all, and they are the most hated by everyone. Though they are often filled with hatred themselves because they have a chip on their shoulder. I often wonder how atheists would persecute others for practicing their faiths... ironic, isn't it?

The world is f-ed up. People create religions, people create atheism, people create ideas and people refute ideas. Though in the end people are still animals... feeding, fighting, fleeing, mating.

Answer 5

How many Christians here are trying to read a Christian doctrine (trinity) into a prechristian work (Genesis)?


The Torah uses the plural "elohim" because Judaism was originally polytheistic.

Answer 6

I don't believe God is an entity like we are so it's kind of pointless to try and imagine how many entities God is. God is beyond our comprehension and we need to get used to that idea and the sooner the better :-)

Answer 7

Zero. None. Zip. Zilch. Squat. Nada. A rien. 0. <1.
( Equidistant between positive and negative infinity. )
( Tons and tons of FableGods, though. )

Answer 8

Begging to differ with "Question Everything"...

If you ask a Hindu the answer will be 1!

One God but many deities. Each of the Hindu deities reflects a few facets of "The one God who has many names and forms."
.

Answer 9

There is one God. He is speaking in plural referring to the TRINITY ---> the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in ONE god. It's called The Mystery of the Trinity in full term. It's too complicated for human minds to completely understand. But I do completely believe it.
St. Patrick taught it to the Irish people by using a clover. There are three leaves, but it is still one clover. Another is an apple. There is the skin, the seeds, and the fruit, but it is still one apple.

Answer 10

it all depends on the interpretation you take.

if you want another point to further confuse you, one of the Hebrew words for god is "Elohim" which is technically a plural tense.

Answer 11

None. Religious are all made up to control the masses & explain things that were unexplainable before science kicked in.