An enquirer to Biblical Frameworks has asked how we can help him to understand why Christians believe in three gods.
We have tried to reply in a simple way.
"We don't believe in three gods.
That is a common misunderstanding - especially from people with an Islamic or Jehovah's Witness background.
The Bible teaches that the one LORD God is a unity.
In Deuteronomy 6:4 the Hebrew word used is "echad" - which means "unity".
It is the word used to show how Adam & Eve are one flesh in marriage - or it is the word used to describe a bunch of grapes.
Unity means several joined together.
One person on their own cannot be a unity!
So, the one LORD God of the Bible is a unity of the Father, Son and Spirit.
They are united so completely that they do not act individually - everything the one LORD God does is always from the Father through the Son and by the Spirit.
Analogies are not very helpful. They tend to create more confusion and often lead to outright heresies.
It is best to stick to the simple language of the Bible itself and avoid speculation.
In the 4th century, many Church leaders from north Africa, western Asia and Europe tried to develop an agreed, shared language to speak about the way that the one God is three.
Although Church leaders had spoken about this threefold unity of God for hundreds (thousands) of years, they were trying to settle on one set of words to use.
So, they agreed to say that God is one "ousia" and three "hypostases".
The LORD God is one "being" who is a unity of three "persons".
So, no Christians believe in three gods.
That is heresy - a serious departure from the most ancient Biblical faith in God.
In the same way, no Christians believe that the LORD is one person - a solitary agent, consciousness. That is an equally serious heresy, another serious departure from the most ancient Biblical faith in God.
We believe in the one God of the Bible who has always shown Himself to be a unity of three."