OK, so there's no actual evidence that the community described in the NT believed in anything other than God is One. So we can Hitchens that suggestion.
Since we have a Bezos level of wealth of evidence the NT community did believe in the Oneness of God, implicit and explicit evidence, multiple attestations and multiple forms of attestations, given the somewhat obvious (monotheistic) Jewish roots of Xianity, I suggest we move on, and examine the issues raised by the OP.
You'll no doubt be aware of the Shema:
Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One
The fiercest expression of monotheism in Judaism, it remains to this day the centrepiece of Jewish prayer. So it's actually a bit of a shock when Paul writes in 1 Cor 8: 4-6
What Paul has done, in the course of a robust defence of monotheism, is rework the Shema to include Jesus within it. We must have monotheism, but we now have a better understanding from what Jesus has shown us of the nature of God. God is One, but it is appropriate to use Kyrios (Lord) to refer to Jesus, a description used in the Shema of YHWH. This is how the Trinity is best understood; WLCraig's Cerberus probably isn't helpful here (OP).
What is also striking is that Paul doesn't feel the need to argue the point. He goes to great lengths to justify his attitude to Torah, because it's very controversial and splitting the Church. He calls out the personality based factionalism in 1 Corinthians 1. But including Christ within a description of God seems to create no problems and needs no commentary.
Anyway, I would value people's thoughts, although it'll be a week or two before I can respond to them.
Since we have a Bezos level of wealth of evidence the NT community did believe in the Oneness of God, implicit and explicit evidence, multiple attestations and multiple forms of attestations, given the somewhat obvious (monotheistic) Jewish roots of Xianity, I suggest we move on, and examine the issues raised by the OP.
You'll no doubt be aware of the Shema:
Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One
The fiercest expression of monotheism in Judaism, it remains to this day the centrepiece of Jewish prayer. So it's actually a bit of a shock when Paul writes in 1 Cor 8: 4-6
Quote:So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
What Paul has done, in the course of a robust defence of monotheism, is rework the Shema to include Jesus within it. We must have monotheism, but we now have a better understanding from what Jesus has shown us of the nature of God. God is One, but it is appropriate to use Kyrios (Lord) to refer to Jesus, a description used in the Shema of YHWH. This is how the Trinity is best understood; WLCraig's Cerberus probably isn't helpful here (OP).
What is also striking is that Paul doesn't feel the need to argue the point. He goes to great lengths to justify his attitude to Torah, because it's very controversial and splitting the Church. He calls out the personality based factionalism in 1 Corinthians 1. But including Christ within a description of God seems to create no problems and needs no commentary.
Anyway, I would value people's thoughts, although it'll be a week or two before I can respond to them.
