Malachi 2:10 - Is there not one father to us all? Has not one God created us? Why do we act deceitfully, each man with his brother, to profane the covenant of our fathers?Malachi 2:10 is often cited by trinitarians as proof that there is "one God". We agree that there is "one God" (one Being who is Supreme); however, the trinitarian seems to read into Malachi that the "one God" is more than one person. Their reasoning is that since, as they claim, Jesus is also called God and the Holy Spirit is also called "God", that there "one God" of Malachi 2:10 must be three persons. The fact is that no scripture ever presents the "one God" as being more than one person, and the further fact is that any idea of God existing as more than one person has to be imagined and assumed beyond what is written, and what is imagine and assumed has to be added to, and read into, what is actually written.
Many translations have "God" (with a capital "G") applied to Jesus in John 1:1,18 and several other scriptures. I will not discuss these scriptures here, but one can see my discussions regarding them elsewhere. I will simply here point out that the the captitalization of any word in the Bible is done by later copyists and translators. Neither the original Hebrew or Greek denote capitalization of a first lettter was is often done in many languages. "God", with a capital "G" in English most often means "Supreme Being". But in the Hebrew and Greek the words often rendered as "God" or "god" do not always have the meaning of "Supreme Being" or false god. Application of forms of the Hebrew word often transliterated as "EL" (Strong's #410, #430, etc) or forms of its corresponding word in Greek (theos) to Jesus does not necessarily mean that Jesus is being designated as being Supreme in his Being. For more related to this, see my study:
Hebraic Usage of the Titles for "God"
Some of the same trinitarians, however, who point to Malachi 2:10 for proof that there is "one God", also point to the same verse as showing God as being the Father that Jesus spoke of in the New Testament. While this is true, it would actually negate the usage of Malachi 2:10 to support the claim that "one God" is more than one person. It would designate the "one God" of Malachi as being the God and Father of Jesus only. This harmonizes with what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:6, where he designates the "one God" as being only the Father, and further shows that he meant this to mean the Supreme Being by designating only the Father as being the source of all.
There is indeed only "one God", and there is no need to imagine and assume that the "one God" is more than one person, or that Jesus is ever spoken of as being that "one God" spoken of in Malachi 2:10.
While the Bible never actually refers to the Holy Spirit of God as being "God", one could do so in the sense that God's Holy Spirit is spoken of figuratively as God's finger or mouth. God’s holy spirit is likened to God’s finger (as the power of God). (Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20) As the instrument of the revealing of truth, the holy spirit is likened to God’s “mouth”. (Deuteronomy 8:3; 1 Kings 8:24; 2 Chronicles 6:4; 36:12,21; Ezra 1:1; Isaiah 1:20; 40:5; 45:23; 48:3; 58:14; 62:2; Jeremiah 9:12,20; Ezekiel 33:7; Micah 4:4; Matthew 4:4; Mark 12:36; Acts 1:17; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 9:8; 10:15,16; 2 Peter 1:21) Are we to think of God’s finger or his mouth as a separate and distinct person of God (using trinitarian terminology)? Is your finger, or your mouth, a separate and distinct person of yourself?
Some oneness believers may point to Malachi 2:10 and imagine and assume that it is saying that Jesus is the Father. No scripture, however, ever presents Jesus as being the God and Father of Jesus, as is claimed by the added-on oneness dogma. Like the tinitarian dogma, the oneness teaching likewise depends on a lot of assumptions that have to be added to, and read into, whatever is stated in any scripture of the B
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