Genesis has more than one God?

[Confused]

Genesis 3: 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

This has always bothered me. If there is only one God, and He is the one speaking in this passage, then two things pop out at me.

1) Who is he speaking to?

2) Why does God refer to Adam and Eve becoming one of US? In the plural sense.

[Cogitoergosum]

The other Gods, in my view, had as much existence as the one surviving God, none.
From the point of view of the myth writers, the other Gods never did exist which is why they wanted to remove all reference to them.
One theory that has been put forth by Karen Armstrong, a former Catholic who has studied and written on the development of religion, is that Yahweh was perceived at one time as the national (or tribal) God of the Hebrew people, Baal was the tribal God of the Canaanites, etc and El was the supreme God who presided over the council of gods. Over time, as the idea of monotheism gained acceptance, the Jewish theologians merged Yahweh with El and relegated the other gods to non-existence. I am not qualified to support or attack her position, but I do find her writing to be quite interesting and accessible.

I am currently reading, The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions by Karen Armstrong which deals with this idea at length.

I am reading karen amrstrong's book:" a history of god", who like u said was a catholic, but u forgot that she was a catholic nun before she became an atheist or agnostic, which for me makes her ideas somewhat more valuable. she was a hardcore believer.

If we start looking for contradictions in the bible we'll never finish. think of the bible as a novel, maybe like moby dick, but not as well written
Just the fact that GOD has a name means there are other GODS. or else y would he have a name? y would u have a name if it wasn't a fact that there are other humans and if i was talking about u, i would use your name so those humans know whom i am referring to. If there was only one tree in the world, u will call it THE TREE, not the CEDAR TREE, but the TREE.

[otseng]

The trinity includes the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Correct? But in Genesis Christ (the son) didn't exist yet. Was he not created to save mankind per se (yes I am simplifying a complex issue for the sake of keeping the focus on this thread) after the fall of adam and eve, after Noah, etc.... So how could the Son already exist at the time of the Garden of Eden.

Jesus existed before the world began, but was not incarnate until he was born on earth.

Jhn 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

Jhn 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Col 1:15-17 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

[McCulloch]

Jhn 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

You really should have included John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

[Easyrider]

Genesis 3: 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

This has always bothered me. If there is only one God, and He is the one speaking in this passage, then two things pop out at me.

1) Who is he speaking to?

2) Why does God refer to Adam and Eve becoming one of US? In the plural sense.

Because God is a triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Plurality in personal pronouns (such as "us" and "our") when used in reference to the Lord, lends additional documentary evidence for the plurality of God. A good case in point is Genesis 1:26:

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let have dominion over the fist of the sea, and over the birds
of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth."

Here, we see a conversation that is taking place prior to the creation of man. Who is this person or persons with whom God is conversing? First, this 'person' or 'persons' is able to communicate with God in His own realm of timeless eternity. Because man had not yet been created, He was not speaking to someone of earthly intelligence, but someone in the heavenly, supernatural and eternal realm.

Secondly, this person or persons with whom God is communicating apparently has the same kind of creative ability as God ("Let us make"). This clearly implies a cooperative effort between God (Elohim - plural) and the person or person with whom God is speaking.

And finally, the person or persons with whom God is speaking is comparable, or identical, with God ("Let us make man in our image, after our likeness").

When confronted with this passage, modern Jewish rabbis or skeptics often claim that God is speaking with angels. However, this explanation fails to address a number of problems. First, there is no indication found anywhere in the Bible that says angels can create life. Secondly, nowhere is it indicated that angels were ever made in the image and likeness of God. And finally, there is no indication from scripture that mankind was ever made in the likeness of angels.

Just one more example. In Genesis chapter 11, God is looking down at man's attempt to build the Tower of Babel to make a name for themselves. In verse 7 God states:

"Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will
not understand one another."

Once more, the personal pronoun "us" is used as a reference to God. Note that in verse 11:5 it is "the Lord" that is referred to when "us" is later used ("The Lord came down to see the city").

[Confused]

The only answer ive heard to try and explain this one is that god is using the plural sense as in the royal 'we'. way back then, kings used to pluralize themselves. that is, they used to say 'we' instead of 'me'. or 'us' instead of 'i'.

I thought it was thee, thou, and thy for us, you, and I?

[Goat]

Jhn 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

You really should have included John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Both Raymond Brown and Randel Helms fele that the phrase 'The word Became Flesh' was added by a redactor. (see "who wrote the gospels" by Helms

[Easyrider]

Jhn 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

You really should have included John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Both Raymond Brown and Randel Helms fele that the phrase 'The word Became Flesh' was added by a redactor. (see "who wrote the gospels" by Helms

Many scholars disagree. But Brown is on record as acknowledging a number of other scriptures attest to the deity of Christ.

[Goat]

Jhn 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

You really should have included John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Both Raymond Brown and Randel Helms fele that the phrase 'The word Became Flesh' was added by a redactor. (see "who wrote the gospels" by Helms

Many scholars disagree. But Brown is on record as acknowledging a number of other scriptures attest to the deity of Christ.

Yes, he was a reasonably conservative Catholic.

He disagreed about 90% of everything you say though.

[Confused]

Genesis 3: 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

This has always bothered me. If there is only one God, and He is the one speaking in this passage, then two things pop out at me.

1) Who is he speaking to?

2) Why does God refer to Adam and Eve becoming one of US? In the plural sense.

Because God is a triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Plurality in personal pronouns (such as "us" and "our") when used in reference to the Lord, lends additional documentary evidence for the plurality of God. A good case in point is Genesis 1:26:

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let have dominion over the fist of the sea, and over the birds
of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth."

Here, we see a conversation that is taking place prior to the creation of man. Who is this person or persons with whom God is conversing? First, this 'person' or 'persons' is able to communicate with God in His own realm of timeless eternity. Because man had not yet been created, He was not speaking to someone of earthly intelligence, but someone in the heavenly, supernatural and eternal realm.

Secondly, this person or persons with whom God is communicating apparently has the same kind of creative ability as God ("Let us make"). This clearly implies a cooperative effort between God (Elohim - plural) and the person or person with whom God is speaking.

And finally, the person or persons with whom God is speaking is comparable, or identical, with God ("Let us make man in our image, after our likeness").

When confronted with this passage, modern Jewish rabbis or skeptics often claim that God is speaking with angels. However, this explanation fails to address a number of problems. First, there is no indication found anywhere in the Bible that says angels can create life. Secondly, nowhere is it indicated that angels were ever made in the image and likeness of God. And finally, there is no indication from scripture that mankind was ever made in the likeness of angels.

Just one more example. In Genesis chapter 11, God is looking down at man's attempt to build the Tower of Babel to make a name for themselves. In verse 7 God states:

"Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will
not understand one another."

Once more, the personal pronoun "us" is used as a reference to God. Note that in verse 11:5 it is "the Lord" that is referred to when "us" is later used ("The Lord came down to see the city").

Ok, once again, my ignorance will show through. You speak of trinity, correct? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So which is God? Is he a single entity with three personalities or are there three entities with separate personalities? If they are three entities, which are we praying to? If He is a single entity, then why speak to himself in the plural form?

[Confused]

The trinity includes the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Correct? But in Genesis Christ (the son) didn't exist yet. Was he not created to save mankind per se (yes I am simplifying a complex issue for the sake of keeping the focus on this thread) after the fall of adam and eve, after Noah, etc.... So how could the Son already exist at the time of the Garden of Eden.

Jesus existed before the world began, but was not incarnate until he was born on earth.

Jhn 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

Jhn 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Col 1:15-17 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

My response to Easyrider could easily be applied to this post as well. Any insight?