The simple truth is that there is only one Christian God, one original Person of God, contrary to the well-founded criticism of Islam that Roman Catholicism, with its "Triune God," is indeed quite non-biblically (this being my added emphasis, rather than that of Islam) albeit ambiguously and rhetorically rather than "paradoxically" polytheistic in form. What about the traditionally-argued claim that God had originally been referred to in the plural, via the term "Elohim" (Genesis 1:26)? Actually, if the angels were present at the creation of the physical universe (Job 38:1-7), then it is hardly a far cry to assume that they were also present at the creation of man; just as, for that matter, it would have proved "awkward," to say the least, had God not addressed the angels themselves, directly, in the second person, on that very occasion! But, then, what about John 1:1-15, in which Christ is referred to as "The Word," who, in the beginning, was with God, and was God? In the beginning was the Creative Power of God, and the Creative Power of God was with God, and the Creative Power of God was God. As for John 1:2? Before Christ's physical conception as a separate manifestation, He was with God, but in the same way any offspring is "with" his parents before conception (Hebrews 7:9-10), but not as a separate identity. Christ was, again, with God, and was God. Christ represents the Creative Power of God (Colossians 1:15-19), the Distinctive Person of God; which can have no coherent meaning apart from the concept of a beginning, and His creation of that which is not God (Revelation 1:8). This Creative Power of God had eventually produced (or, more accurately, reproduced) a created and separate manifestation, or Perfect Reflection, of this very Creative Power. Christ, as a separate and mortal individual, per se, with a distinctive Identity, did indeed have a beginning. But, then, what about still other statements, from Christ Himself, which seem to indicate the "pre-existence" of a "Second Person" (John 17:5)? This is rather a reference to predestination! Cross-reference it with, for instance, Ephesians 1:4! And, if one still insists upon more, then try Revelation 13:8! Moreover, one can only praise the heavens, the way Jesus did, in Matthew 11:25-27, upon marveling no less at the, at bottom, no less merely political in motivation than childishly pseudo-religious wrangling (Colossians 2:1-10) (I Corinthians 1:10-29) of those who finally concluded the current "Trinity" Doctrine! While you're also glimpsing through I Corinthians, Chapters Two and Three, concerning even the "wonders" of the current "non-denominationalism," too, for that matter (1:12d), please try taking particularly special note of 3:10-20! . . . But, then, what about statements to the effect that "Before Abraham was, I Am" (John 8:58)? Actually, the Spirit is Indivisibly One, and it is only in this sense, along with the fact that Christ is an Exact Duplicate of the One who thereby became His Father, that Christ, as a separately mortal individual, had been "Pre-Existent" as such. Even scriptures such as Matthew 19:17 quite symbolically serve to reinforce this point, as Christ therein attributes His Own Goodness, distinctively enough (from Himself), to God. Moreover, Christ very explicitly disavows any claim, as a still mortal individual, to Omniscience as well (Matthew 24:36). As a separately mortal individual, Christ did indeed have a beginning, when He was miraculously conceived (quite distinctively, in this sense, John 1:14, next only to the first Adam) minus a human father (although Satan had been capable of siring offspring through human females, too, Genesis 6:1-4, like right out of Rosemary's Baby!). The only real paradox, here, is that of how such a thing could have occurred per se, of how Christ could have been (the Son of) God, and yet also not God (the Son of Man), too (Matthew 26:64; 27:40); rather than in the form of how God could have been "One," and yet "Three Separate Persons," before the advent of Christ's conception in Mary's womb. Christ, as distinct from God, rather sits at the Right Hand of God (Romans 8:34). He is God, in the sense, also, that all authority has been handed unto Him (Hebrews 1:1-6). Similarly, those who shall rule with Him (Revelation 3:9), in their Immortally Transfigured States, likewise share in this very distinction, albeit to various degrees, from beneath Him (Matthew 25:14-23) (Luke 19:11-19). The simple, rhetorically uncluttered truth, is that God the Father had a Son, with a beginning, and yet no end (Isaiah 9:6-7) (Hebrews 1:8-12). All the rest of the ultimately redeemed, with their mortally human fathers, shall yet be, each in their own order (I Corinthians 15:20-25), imperishably transfigured, but as spiritually adopted Sons (Romans 8:14-15). Unlike only Jesus Himself, even the "Natural Branches" (Romans 11) share merely in His maternally biological lineage; which ultimately, individually profits nothing, in and of itself (Luke 3:8). See the second and final part of this critique in Impact: The Passion of the Christ
