Is God Gods?

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I’ve been talking to this strange chap who calls himself a Christian, but holds to a set of beliefs that even he admits that no other Christian (save his wife and a couple that he converted to his views) he has ever met or read of maintains. For example, he believes the God of Israel is Gods. That’s right, plural! (Never mind the fact that God is Gods is a logically invalid statement. This person doesn’t accept that God is limited by the laws of logic.) Anyway, as proof of his “Gods” doctrine, he cites 1 Samuel 4:7-8, and Joshua 24:19 (which, he claims, inaccurately translates God in the singular), and the various references in Revelation to the Seven Spirits of God (Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, etc.), Now, I don’t know a jot or tittle of Hebrew (does Hebrew even have jots and tittles?), so I’ve come here looking to have this issue cleared up for me. Is there any truth to these references to God being “Gods” in Hebrew? Also, has anyone else come across any Christians with similar beliefs to this guy? This sort of talk was new to me. I have heard some Christians/quasi-Christians claim that there are gods, but never that God is Gods. I’ll take whatever help I can get. Cheers.
 
What he is saying is partly ‘‘true’’, but he is interpreting it the incorrect way. The very Hebrew word “Elohim” is plural for God. In the Creation story, it states: “"Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26). When God wanted to confuse the language of Babylon, he said: “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other"” (Genesis 11:7).

What these “plural” verses indicate is the existence of the Trinity - that God is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Hence the use of pluralistic words, which Christian theologians have said is an indication of the existence of the Trinity. Christian theologians believe that God is One however from several other biblical verses: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). There are also a number of examples in the Bible of God punishing those who worshiped multiple gods, most exemplary in Ancient Egypt through the symbolic nature of the 10 Plagues: “"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn–both men and animals–and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD” (Exodus 12:12). Why would he punish those who are worshiping multiple gods unless it was the correct way to worship? The answer is clear: “for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) and “"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8). Most theologians dismiss polytheism because it makes no logical sense. St. Thomas Aquinas was very notable in this regard, because he launched a number of stinging critiques against polytheism.

You should tell your friend to stop confusing the Trinity with multiple gods. Mainstream Christianity holds that there is only one God. Mainstream theologians hold that there is only one God. No one worthy of respect in academia acknowledges the existence of multiple gods. Polytheism is often mocked today; it’s gone to ash heap of history, and that’s where it will remain.
 
TheObstinateAss said:
Is there any truth to these references to God being “Gods” in Hebrew?
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The Hebrew word in question is *elohim. *Elohim can be used as a singular noun (god) or as a plural noun (gods). There is a long article on “elohim” at wikipedia.com, here.

Here are the meanings of elohim from Strong’s Lexicon:
  1. (plural)
    … a. rulers, judges.
    … b. divine ones.
    … c. angels.
    … d. gods.
    2 (plural intensive-singular meaning)
    … a. god, goddess.
    … b. godlike one.
    … c. works or special possession of God.
    … d. the (true) God.
    … e. God.
That elohim can be used as a singular noun or as a plural noun reminds me of the English words sheep, deer, moose, and fish, which can also be used as singular nouns or as plural nouns.

Your friend’s choice of 1 Samuel 4:8-9 does not really further his argument since in those verses the sacred author merely records the words of the pagan Philistines who mistakenly refer to the one true God as “gods,” as though the Israelites were pagans like themselves.

The “seven spirits of God” could refer to seven created spirits or angels. In Tobit 12:15, the angel Raphael refers to himself as “one of the seven who stand before the Lord.”
 
Thanks for the quick replies. They satisfy me, but I doubt they’ll satisfy the guy in question. He rejects the Trinity because the word Trinity doesn’t appear in the Bible, and as for God condemning the worship of other gods, he says, “Yes. Amen. Those are false gods; not the real God, who is Gods.” He makes a distinction between imaginary pagan gods and the true God(s). So, when I quote (as you did) the Shema, he simply says, “Amen. God is One and He is Gods.” And, like I said, if I point out that God is Gods is a nonsensical statement, philosophically speaking, he replies, " Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). Also, he doesn’t care what MOST Christians believe, because (and he quotes this every time): “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14). So, for him, the fact that MOST Christians agree on something is pretty much proof that it is false. As for 1 Samuel 4:8-9, I used that same argument about the Philistines, but he dismissed it since God is referred to as Gods in other passages, saying that the Philistines understood the Jews beliefs correctly: they believed in God(s). Lastly, he rejects Tobit out of hand as being non-Biblical and therefore not worth consideration. Do you guys think it would be better to take Chesterton’s advice on this one and give this guy air rather than argument?
 
TheObstinateAss said:
" Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
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First, Isaiah 45:5:
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.

Second, look again at the Proverb he has quoted for you. Is LORD plural or singular there?

😉 It’s a bit of a “gotcha” answer, but it miiight give him pause. Honestly, I would recommend not discussing it 😦
 
Mark 12:29
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
 
1 cor. 8:5, 6

{For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth-as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.}

–only one God, with at least two Persons, “through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

Matt. 28:19

{Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,}

It’s just one Name, not Names. It just God, not Gods.
 
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