According to Scripture, there is only one God. This fact is evidenced in passages like Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:32, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 and others. However, the Bible also reveals that this One God consists of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Hence, God is one God in three divine Persons (i.e., Trinity or Godhead).
On the surface, it might seem contradictory to say that God is one God yet three Persons because it implies God is not One. However, "who" someone is and "what" someone is are two distinct things.
Theologian James R. White wrote, “It is vitally important that we recognize the difference between the words Being and Person. Being is what makes something what it is. Person is what makes someone who he or she is” (Loving the Trinity, Christian Research Journal, Volume 21, Issue 4).
Similarly, Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe penned, “God is one in essence, but three in Persons. God has one nature, but three centers of consciousness. That is, there is only one What in God, but there are three Who’s. There is one It, but three I’s. This is a mystery, but not a contradiction. It would be contradictory to say God was only one person, but also was three persons. Or that God is only one nature, but that He also had three natures. But to declare, as orthodox Christians do, that God is one essence, eternally revealed in three distinct persons is not a contradiction” (When Critics Ask, 1992).
As such, the Trinity does not contradict the Bible's declaration that God is One. It simply denotes all the facts revealed in Scripture about Him. For more commentary on this topic, click here. For Scripture references about the Trinity, click here.
