The Great Doctrines of the Bible | Page 8

another, is from the hand of
God.
What do we learn from these scriptures regarding the relation of God to
this universe, to man, and to all God's creatures?
First. That all things are held together by Him; if not, this old world
would go to pieces quickly. The uniformity and accuracy of natural law
compels us to believe in a personal God who intelligently guides and
governs the universe. Disbelief in this fact would mean utter confusion.
Not blind chance, but a personal God is at the helm.
Second. That the physical supplies for all God's creatures are in His
hand: He feeds them all. What God gives we gather. If He withholds
provision we die.
Third. That God has His hand in history, guiding and shaping the

affairs of nations. Victor Hugo said: "Waterloo was God."
Fourth. Consider with what detail God's care is described: The
sparrows, the lilies, the hairs of the head, the tears of His children, etc.
See how these facts are clearly portrayed in the following scriptures:
Matt. 6:28-30; 10:29, 30; Gen. 39:21, with 50:20; Dan. 1:9; Job 1:12.
Statement: The personality of God is shown by His active, interest and
participation all things, even the smallest things, in the universe, the
experience of man, and in the life of all His creatures.
THE UNITY OF GOD: (Vs. Polytheism).
There are three monotheistic religions in the world: Judaism,
Christianity, and Mahommedanism. The second is a development of
the first; the third is an outgrowth of both.
The doctrine of the Unity of God is held in contradistinction to
Polytheism, which is belief in a multiplicity of gods; Tri-theism, which
teaches that there are three Gods--that is, that the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost are, specifically, three distinct Gods; and to Dualism,
which teaches that there are two independent divine beings or eternal
principles, the one good, and the other evil, as set forth especially in
Gnostic systems, such as Parseeism.
a) The Scriptures Assert the Unity of God.
Deut. 6:4--"Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord"; or, "The
Lord our God, the Lord is one." Isa. 44:6-8--"First.... last.... beside me
there is no God." Isa. 45:5--"There is none else, there is no God beside
me." 1 Tim. 2:5 "There is one God." 1 Cor. 8:4--"There is none other
God but one."
That God is one, that there is no other, that He has no equal is the
forceful testimony of above fifty passages in the Scriptures. The
fundamental duty of life, namely, the devotion of the entire being to the
Lord, is based upon the Unity of God: "The Lord....is one .... therefore
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," etc.

No other truth of the Scripture, particularly of the Old Testament,
receives more prominence than that of the Unity of God. This truth is
clearly pronounced also in the material universe; it is the introduction
and conclusion of all scientific researches. Any other representation
contradicts both creation and revelation. Its denial is a proper object for
the ridicule of every thinking man, and of the disbelief of every
orthodox Christian. Let this, then, be our first and necessary
conclusion--that Deity, whether creating, inspiring, or otherwise
manifesting itself, is one God; one, and no more.--Cerdo.
A multiplication of Gods is a contradiction; there can be but one God.
There can be but one absolutely perfect, supreme, and almighty Being.
Such a Being cannot be multiplied, nor pluralized. There can be but one
ultimate, but one all-inclusive, but one God.
Monotheism, then, not Tri-theism, is the doctrine set forth in the
Scriptures. "If the thought that wishes to be orthodox had less tendency
to become tri-theistic, the thought that claims to be free would be less
Unitarian."--Moberly.
b) The Nature of the Divine Unity.
The doctrine of the Unity of God does not exclude the idea of a
plurality of persons in the Godhead. Not that there are three persons in
each person of the Godhead, if we use in both cases the term person in
one and the same sense. We believe, therefore, that there are three
persons in the Godhead, but one God. Anti-trinitarians represent the
evangelical church as believing in three Gods, but this is not true; it
believes in one God, but three persons in the Godhead.
(1) The Scriptural use of the word "One."
Gen. 2:24--"And they two (husband and wife) shall be one flesh." Gen.
11:6--"The people is one." I Cor. 3:6-8--"He that planteth and he that
watereth are one." 12:13--"All baptized into one body." John 17:22,
23--"That they may be one, even as we are one ... that they may be
made perfect in one."

The word "one" in these scriptures is used in a collective sense; the
unity here spoken of