Linguistic reasons for the Trinity

Gorgoll2 wrote: Thank you, JW. But, wouldn´t speaking about more than one god wouldn´t be polytheism?

From a linguistic standpoint (since this is a language forum) I find that the only way to accurately categorize the Biblical data is via the Doctrine of the Trinity. This is because the data say that God is a plurality but also a singularity.

For example, John 1:1 says that the Word was πρὸς τὸν θεόν (pros ton theon) "with God" i.e., distinct from God but also that θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos en o logos) "the Word was God" i.e., one and the same with God.

Another example is that in John 10:30 Jesus said:

ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν (ego kai ho pater hen esmen)
I and the Father are one

On the surface, this appears to conflict with the Great Shema of the Jews in Deut 6:4:

שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה ׀ אחד ׃(shema yisrael Yahweh eloheinu Yahweh echad)

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one

and this apparent contradiction, God being one yet more than one, is why the Jews were outraged at Jesus' statement:

31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
32Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
33The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

They simply did not understand how the "one" in John 10:30 could be reconciled with the "one" in Deut 6:4. This is because this truth, God as "a singularity that is also a plurality" was a μυστήριον (mysterion - mystery) in the Old Testament--it was there but not understood--until it was fully explained in the New Testament, the clearest statement of which is Matt 28:19:

πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος,

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

This is how I see the Biblical data on the subject coming together from a linguistic standpoint. Of course others with strong linguistic skills in the Greek and Hebrew would (and have) disagree(d) with me but they seem, at least to me, to be engaging in eisegesis rather than exegesis, i.e., they are letting their theology influence their hermaneutic, rather than simply interpreting from the Hebrew and Greek based on linguistic consideration alone.

After all. the very first verse of the Bible starts out representing God linguistically as a "singularity that is also a plurality" via a plural noun with a singular verb:

בראשית ברא אלהים
bereshit bara elohim
In the beginning God created

Elohim is a plural noun
bara is in the singular