You Asked Us

Q: In Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (NIV) and in Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

Who is God talking to? Were those verses translated properly? The use of of the plural has confused me. It sounds like God is talking to a being that is the same as he is. Is he talking to his angels? Please clarify.

A: Great question. We believe the verses have been translated properly, and we agree that it sounds like God is speaking to beings like Himself. We view the "us" in these verses as expressions of the trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The word, "trinity," does not appear in the Bible, but has been adopted to describe the unique concept of God as one, yet three in person. If you have trouble wrapping your head around that idea, you aren't alone, but we believe that this is how God reveals Himself in Scripture.

For a discussion of these verses see:

http://www.gotquestions.org/God-plural.html

or, for an overview of the concept of "trinity," see:

http://www.gotquestions.org/Trinity-Bible.html

or, for a more detailed discussion of the concept of "trinity" see:

Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson (a copy is available in the church library).

Hope this helps,

Sue and Peter