In article , Bob says...
>
>
>
>Throughout the bible, God is referred to in the singular tense.

What was _that_ supposed to mean? It is _number_, not _tense_ that is singular,
dual or plural.

> Yet in
>Genesis 1:26 God is referred to in the plural sense.

Famously so. This verse has been at the heart of controversy between Jews and
Christians since at least the early 4th century.

>
>And God said, "Let *us* make man in *our* image after *our*
>likeness."  (KJV)(NAB)
>
>Then God said "And now *we* will make human beings; they will be like
>*us* and resemble *us*. (GNB)


And how did you fail to notice that the very next verse switches back to the
singular??

>If the bible is literally and truly the "Word of God", as many
>Christians believe, these words appear to say that God is a collection
>of spiritual beings rather than a singular spiritual being.

No. You forget that the very next verse switched back to the singular.

> And if we
>try to explain away the meaning of the plural pronouns, are we not
>doubting the Word of God?

Of course. But who is trying to do this? Besides: aren't _you_ guilty of this
when you ignore the switching back and forth between singular and plural?

Let's mark the English translation with [sg] for singular and [pl] for plural to
show what the author is really doing:

   And God said:[sg] 'Let us make[pl] man in our image, after
   our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of
   the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
   and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
   that creepeth upon the earth.'  (Gen 1:26 JPS)

   And God created[sg] man in His[sg] own image, in the image of God
   created[sg] He him; male and female created[sg] He them.  (Gen 1:27 JPS)

Ever since at least Sts. Augustine and Basil the Great, Christians have seen
this  switching back and forth as a hint to the Trinity. And the hint occurs
here precisely because of the special dignity God bestows on Man in the Creation
of Man. Here as in _no_ other creation, the Trinity is visible.


 


-- 
---------------------------
Subudcat se sibi ut haereat Deo
quidquid boni habet, tribuat illi a quo factus est.
(St. Augustine, Ser. 96)

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