gen 1:26 says Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.?

Question

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

WHO IS US AND WHO IS OUR. I THOUGHT S CHRISTIANITY IS MONOTHEISTIC

by the way,i've debated & heard the "trinity arguments", but whatever you think, please come with some serious knowledge.

no lame arguments & if u use the holy trinity deal, please back it up with scriptures!!! not what ur sunday school teacher/pastor/mom taught you!!!!!

Answer 1

The Us- is God addressing his partner in creation- HUMANKIND. The way it is understood is this. God created man to be partners with him in creation. Thus in the spiritual realm- it is incomplete without the observance of the Sabbath day by people- and thus we partner with God in the spiritual realm. In the physical realm- we learn that God intended for us to be his partners in creation with him as well. He thus addresses himself to the souls of the future generations, telling us that there will be something for us to do in the completion of the creation of man. (It is the Jewish belief, expounded on by the Ramban in his commentaries to bereishis, that God in essence only created two things, both on the first day. From the one- everything physical evolved- from the other- everything spiritual, thus the souls of mankind were already in existence by the sixth day- albeit not in bodies. God's intervention is needed here to combine the physical with the spiritual since naturally the two would not combine.

So, what is the physical act of creation that we do in order to be partners with God in creation? that is seen in the Bris Milah- circumcision. Just as the Sabath day was the Jews sealing of their spiritual covenant with God and becoming his partner in spiritual creation- so the Bris Milah is the physical covenant through which we become God's partners in his creation of the physical world.

Answer 2

The Hebrews were adament about only ONE true God that is in existence. However, the word they used for God in this text is plural.

God created the angels, and he had not yet made mankind...so he was speaking with the Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are the only other beings who have the power to "create" with God because they are also God. Not three gods, but one God.

There are dozens of references made to this effect not just in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament. Three personages in ONE God.

Jesus said, "Before Abraham was born, I AM." John 8:58 (stating he has been around since the begining of time)

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father except through me. If you knew me, you knew my Father as well. From now on, you DO know Him and you have SEEN Him ." (John 14:6-7) Jesus was refering to himself and God being separate beings, but ONE God.....

Jesus, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

Jesus, "Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?" John 14:10

Jesus, "And I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth. The world can not accept Him, because it neither sees Him or knows Him. But you know Him, for he lives with you and will be IN you." John 16-17 (The only being that can be IN you is God)

Now there are dozen more references to the fact that There is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and they are three persons in One God.

The Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language. The New Testament was written in Greek.
Though these languages are several thousands of years old, the meanings of the words used 2000 years ago mean the same today and meant in the same context. We have the "dead Sea Scrolls" to prove this.

One only needs to understand these ancient languages to see how the truth of the bible shines through today.

Answer 3

God made the first man Adam and plan for him to rule over the earth, but Adam falled And later God had to sent Jesus Christ to save man alive.

In the very beginning there was the Word and the Word was with God the Father. There was two only two, Later the Word became Jesus Christ and came down to earth to save man.
John1:14.
There never was a trinity, only two, God the Father and the Word, now there is God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. they are both Spirit(Holy Ghost). The Holy Ghost is not a person, its what God is.
A Christian is, one onr that follows Christ. they were frist call. The Way. Christianity is the flowers of Christ.

Answer 4

So you think that a monotheistic religion has three gods? You take the hors d'oeuvre and reject the main mean. If you studied the characteristics of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as described in the New Testament you would find that they are identical. To take an analogy from cricket - like three stumps making up one wicket.

Answer 5

Interesting question! What about the dominion over space??

The original scripture had long lost after the destruction of Jerosalem.

Judaism claim Monoethism - one God theory - but with certain reservations and corruptions.Jew God is just like Big-human having face, hands, legs and body because present Torah - the Old Testament is based on human memories. The recompilation is based on human immagination.The utimate result is that they could not get beyond their immaginations.

christians did the same mistake and adopted Incarnation theory from Indo-Greek culture. They went beyond this and divided this image into three persons (Trinity) as one entity. Recently a prominent religious group has presented a new version of Bible ( RSV ) wherein the Trinity has been rejected and thrown away!!

The Holy Quran clearly point-out these changes & amendments in the old scriptures!

According to other Holy Scriptures God has no image, shape or likeness.

Hindu Vedas insists on one God (OM) who has no image, shape or likeness. This oldest source has also been corrupted by human intervensions and personal desires but Hindu Vedas still contain this concept of one God.

The religious authorities (Berhaman cult) do not allow other Hindu casts to read or even touch these sacred books! The result is that in spite clear verses Hindu worship more than 3 Million Gods & Goddesses and literally every thing is God!

The Almighty God has corrected this corruption in his Last and Final word - The Glorious Quran.

Read Quran (verse 114:1-4) and you will know the facts that God has no image, shape or likeness!

Visit: www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/Quran>

Answer 6

If you read in Proverbs 8 of the Old Testament you will find that the Son of God is an eternal being. He was with God in the beginning and is God. There is no separation one from the other just as there is no separation from God and his people. This because they are made in the image of the Father and the Son relationship.
God is in him and he is in God.
We can see it again as the tabernacle gives us the image of the indwelling of the Spirit. There is the outer court (the body/carnal man), the inner court (our soul/thought/emotions/and inner man), and the holy of holies (the spirit). The Holy of holies is where man and God are connected as God comes to meet with man in our spirit. When our spirit is joined with his then we become one and have been redeemed to the original place of the Garden of Eden. We are beginning to be like him and the longer his Spirit dwells in our spirit the more we learn his character. The more we learn his character the more we look like his image.
Jesus is the first born of this relationship and he has shown us the way to follow after these truths.
Thus, the "we and us" in these passages reflect the relationship that man must attain to be redeemed back to God.

Answer 7

Well, they were influenced by the religions around them which were polytheistic in nature. And, another interesting note, the first civilization on earth out of which sprung Judaism, the Sumerian's did not believe in an afterlife for mankind. They were around for thousands of years before the Jewish folk made their first appearance in history as brigands and thieves and shepherds. Their first writings now accepted by Christianity were written and modified over hundreds- even thousands of years -picking and choosing what they wanted to take from each religion.
Sargon of Akkad provides the birth and abandonment story for Noah- only hundreds of years earlier. And the flood is provided by the epic of Gilgamesh- though it appears all over the world as a universal archetype.
The idea of a resurrection was clearly stolen from the Greeks.
Keep reading if you're interested... comparative religion is a fascinating field of study.

Answer 8

"For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one" - (1 John 5:7 NKJV).

Most of the confusion regarding the number of beings composing the Godhead (by the way, you can't find the word trinity in the Bible coz it just NOT there) springs from a simple misunderstanding of the word one. Simply put,one in the Bible does not always mean numerical quantity. Depending on the Scripture, one can often mean unity.

We see this principle established very early in Scripture. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24, emphasis added). One flesh here does not mean that a married couple melt into one human after their wedding, but rather they are to be united into one family. Jesus prayed that the apostles would be one, saying, "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one (John 17:22, 23).

There are numerous accounts in the Bible that you can find relating to the character and being of our God, one of the most common is when Jesus was baptized by John the Babtist... have you read that? "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16,17).


US = Our God. OUR = the Father, the Word which is JESUS, and the Holy Spirit.


True Christianity requires an open heart... how can we say we love God and not take time to know him and understand who HE really is?

....thats why, i thank you for asking this question. God bless your heart.

Answer 9

I have carefully read through each of the answers given to your question and am amazed at the confusion that exists concerning the creation of mankind. I am amazed that so many different theories can originate from the same source.

I do understand how it can happen. First, the Old Testament, especially the first five books originally penned by Moses, were passed down through centuries. Copies were made by hand which allowed for errors, as the centuries came and went the righteousness of the Hebrew people came and went also, as witnessed by their prophets calling them to repentence or destruction. The scribes and rulers of the people and religious leaders were not always righteous and they made changes to the texts to promote their power and philosophies.

The New Testament is a collection of the writings of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Copies of the original letters that were written by the apostles were sent to the various churches they established in their travels. These also were copied and recopied and not collected until several hundred years after they were written. This collection was done by the church in Rome under the authority of the Roman Emperor. Again these scriptures were debated and altered to suit the philosophies of the times. What is truely a miracle is that we have them at all. By the way there were many more scriptures but they were not included because they were not understood or contradicted current thinking.

In the days of the prophets and apostles men went to them for the answers to their questions and they in turn asked for and received revelation. There are those who now say we need no revelation because we have the Bible, in fact they say the heavens (revelation has ceased) are closed to man in our day. How can that be unless God and Christ are liers, as they have said they are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and that they are no respector of persons? If the people in the Bible could have the blessing and enlightenment of revelation why can't we?

We can! It started in 1820 with Joseph Smith in New York and continues even today! The answer to your question is in the Book of Mormon and other modern revelations from God himself.

On last thing, a quotation from the Book of Mormon:

Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken even that which they have.

Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible. we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save for the Jews?
Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those that are upon the isles off the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?
Wherefore murmur ye, because ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.......

Your answer can be found in the Book of Mormon if you really wan't to find it.

Answer 10

gen 1:26 takes place in the 2nd earth age. the one where dinos went extinct and man is being made flesh. prior to that, in the 1st earth age, dinos did roam the earth and man was in spiritual body. that verse takes place on the 6th day. on that day man made both males and females of all races flesh. adam was created on the 8th day btw. ok so God was referring to Himself and the angels. in other words God and the angels look considerably like man. there are a few diffs tho. angels have spiritual bodies as does God. but they are similar to these except no physical tangible "feelable" if you will body. you can see a spiritual body but not with flesh eyes. but you will recognize your loved ones in the eternity if they, and you, make it there.

Answer 11

The royal "we" concept was adopted from scripture by royals, and not the other way around.

The problem is how mankind tries to understand the nature of God. Man tries to anthropomorphise God to be like man.

Just because man cannot reconcile his belief that a trinity cannot be monotheistic does not negate the possibility.

Jesus said he and the father are one; that if one has seen the Son, they have seen the Father.

What might help is to think of this image as being more spiritual in nature.

Think of the Father as being mind with thoughts and ideas.

The Son being the arrangement of thought into a coherent spoken statement that comes from thought.

The Spirit being the One who carries out the action of the thoughts and what is spoken.

It isn't a perfect analogy, but it can help in understanding.

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