Simple but wrong. The plurality of God is an assumption that cannot be established in the OT. It is simple grammar. If the OT taught God is three in one then all the personal pronuns used with "elohiym" in all Scriptures would be "we", "our", and "us". The fact is the pronouns in all Scriptures except Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:7, and Isaiah 6:8 where God (elohiym) is speaking are first person. Now unless you believe God is playing word games your understanding of the plurality of God is incorrect. When Moses asked God His name the response was I AM WHO I AM, not WE ARE WHO WE ARE. "I" is not plural.
please tell me, what is it that you feel these verses are saying? if He is referred to in both singular and plural, or refers to Himself in both singular and plural, what does that mean?
can God being a complete monad ever refer to Himself in the plural? no.
can God being a single God of three persons in unity, refer to Himself in the singular? yes. plural? yes.
your conclusions are too simplistic. you pose questions to us, while there's no answers for the same questions when applied to your beliefs.
One of Jesus' titles is the Lamb of God. God supplied the sacrifice and since God choose the Lamb who would die on the cross the Lamb had to be a human being because God cannot die.
of course God cannot die since God is Spirit (John 4:24).
but how can a finite created being (as you say Jesus is) ever cover our infinite sin against an infinite God? our sin is infinite because God is infinite, and we have sinned against Him. the sacrifice of a created being isn't sufficient to atone for that. you don't seem to understand that.
And BTW, absolutetruth I have addressed all your questions.
really? you didn't answer this one:
now could a man be a man and be God as well? of course not. but could God, become a man, and still be God? certainly, since God is Spirit (John 4:24).
you can't just grab verses that seem to deny the claim to Divinity without looking at the ones that affirm it. and the negative stance is the more difficult stance since a mere man, a creation, claiming to be One with God would be blasphemy of the highest order. however, there's nothing blasphemous about God coming in human form.
or adequately respond to this:
as far as i know in the OT God is THE Judge (Judges 11:27):
"I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites."
it seems false to think that God would relinquish His position of Judge to a mere creation. He IS the Judge. He needs no one to Judge but Himself. in essence He IS the Judge anyway, even if Jesus were appointed to be Judge (if Jesus was created as you say) because Judgment comes from God's very nature and Person when dealing with us.
to say that someone besides God is the Judge is to say something that is intrinsically impossible. Judgment comes from God and ultimately leads back to God. to introduce this "middle-man" would be for God to add an unnecessary step concerning His judgment. To say that Jesus Christ is the Judge, is simply to say that God is the Judge, and therefore that Jesus Christ is God (or Divine).
or this:
the problem with your position is that it is an absolute negation, or an existential proposition (as Dallas Willard calls it). in order for your position to be right, EVERY SINGLE VERSE has to deny Divinity. not just the ones you've presented (although when properly understood in their CORRECT context don't help you anyway).
Jesus claims to be the eternal "I AM", He claims to be the Truth (who is the Truth but God?), He is resisted and threatened with being stoned to death by the Jews for "Claiming to be God". if He even claims, or its demonstrated, that He was Divine, then either He was, or He was the ultimate blasphemer.
i don't see how it's possible to have Him not be Divine considering all He did and said, and all that was said about Him, while denying that He was not a blasphemer. it doesn't make sense to me.
or this:
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 doesn't help you either. since other "gods" are being contrasted to the one true God, the verse juxtaposes false "gods" with the real God. one side of the verse you have "false gods" and the other side you have God, and Jesus Christ. this demonstrates His Divinity, not the opposite.
or most of these:
Jesus said Himself:
Mark 2:28 Jesus claims to be Lord of the Sabbath. who is Lord of the sabbath but God Himself (Exodus 20:10)?
Mark 2:1-12 Jesus claims authority to forgive sins and performs a miraculous cure to prove it. The scribes are angered because they believe that only God has the authority to forgive sins. These claims are quite extraordinary for someone who is "humble in heart." (Matt 11:29)
John 8:58-59 The full meaning of His statement in John 8:58 is best understood in connection with Exodus 3:14. In Exodus God reveals His name to Moses (Exodus 3:14). In John 8:24 & 58, Jesus is referring to Himself with God's name. The scribes understand Him as such and respond by throwing rocks at Him. They wanted to stone Jesus for blasphemy - referring to Himself as God (John 5:18 ).
John 10:30-33 Jesus tells the Jews that He is One with the Father. they pick up stones to stone Him for blasphemy of claiming to be God. they clearly understood the implications of what He was saying.
Revelations 1:7-8 Jesus is seen as the one who was "pierced" and claims that He is the "Alpha and Omega". surely He is claiming Divinity there. John calls Him "Lord God", and Jesus claims to be "The Almighty".
Revelations 1:17-18 Jesus says again that He is the "First and the Last". and clearly this is Jesus speaking here for He says He was dead, but is alive.
John 5:17 Jesus says that He works on the Sabbath just like the Father works. meaning that He isn't under the law of the sabbath since it was made for men (Mark 2:27). clearly demonstrating His Divinity. which is why the Jews sought to kill Him because He broke the law of the sabbath and made Himself equal with God (John 5:18 ).
i haven't been given answers or responses to any of those.
Jesus is our Lord, Savior, Judge, and etc. because God appointed Him to be our Lord, Savior, Judge, and etc. If you have read what I posted with any understanding and know what both the JW's and Mormon's believe you would understand I do not support or agree with either one of those cults.
like i said before:
it seems false to think that God would relinquish His position of Judge to a mere creation. He IS the Judge. He needs no one to Judge but Himself. in essence He IS the Judge anyway, even if Jesus were appointed to be Judge (if Jesus was created as you say) because Judgment comes from God's very nature and Person when dealing with us.
to say that someone besides God is the Judge is to say something that is intrinsically impossible. Judgment comes from God and ultimately leads back to God. to introduce this "middle-man" would be for God to add an unnecessary step concerning His judgment. To say that Jesus Christ is the Judge, is simply to say that God is the Judge, and therefore that Jesus Christ is God (or Divine).
As to how we can honor the Lord as we honor God
we can't without being idolaters. i explained this already:
no? well, the Father is honored with worship and praise and communication of prayer. apply those things to Jesus and we are idoloters (taking the praise and worship that belongs to God and giving it to someone or something else) be He not God. you've merely said words not reality.
Now, you have not addressed the Messianic prophecies that I posted.
what is it i haven't addressed? they speak of a man, i don't disagree. please be more specific and tell me what you want me to respond to. thanks.
BTW, Jesus tells us that many are called but few are chosen. The fact that 2 billion people profess to be Christians is no guarantee they are saved or have a true knowledge of God's word.
that's true. i agree with that. however, we would expect that the Word He has given us is clear enough that the majority of those who read it and understand it, aren't completely false in what they believe. to say that SO many are mislead by what (you claim) a few people around the time of Christ have falsely told us and led us to believe, seems a bit hard to swallow.
the people closest to the actual time of Christ believed in His Divinity. they had a better understanding than any of us. how you can be so bold as to say they were completely mistaken is beyond me.
Now what did Moses prophecy about the Lord? You can read it in Deuteronomy 18:15ff, which is one of those Messianic prophecies you have avoided addressing.
avoided? i love that prophecy. i defend it against Muslims all the time.
Is God a prophet like Moses?
you're just setting up straw-men all over the place because you're DELIBERATELY ignoring the fact that we believe that Jesus, being fully Divine, took on Human form and added human nature onto His being. so if you're asking "Could God take on human form and show Himself to us as a Prophet like Moses?" my answer is "Yes."
UNDERSTAND what we believe before you go making silly accusations and asking misguided questions.
If your answer is no, then I suggest you rethink Jesus is God since none of the Messianic prophecies tell us God is going to die on a cross.
we think that Jesus is Divine, and He took on Human nature (which is CONSISTENT with the messianic prophecies) and sacrificed Himself on the Cross for us.
your problem is that you don't understand what we believe in the fist place, so it's easy for you to make a mockery of it. you set up, and knock down straw-men of your own making.