Objection · Case 04 · The Trinity
1 Corinthians 8:6 says “one God, the Father” and then separately “one Lord, Jesus Christ.” Paul is distinguishing the one God from Jesus, and 1 Timothy 2:5 calls the mediator “the man Christ Jesus.”
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
This is the strongest unitarian reading and it deserves a direct answer. In 8:6 Paul is reworking the Shema itself (the LORD our God, the LORD is one), splitting its two divine titles between the Father and Jesus and then attributing creation to both: from whom all things, and through whom all things. Attributing creation to Jesus places him on the Creator’s side of the line for a Jew. As for 1 Timothy 2:5, calling Jesus a man is what the incarnation requires; the Trinity has always held that the mediator is fully human. The texts show distinction between Father and Son, which the Trinity affirms, not inequality of nature, which it denies.
About this exhibit
This objection is to Paul keeps monotheism, 1 Corinthians 8:6 and 1 Timothy 2:5.
Even while naming Jesus as Lord in the same breath, Paul insists “there is one God, the Father,” and elsewhere that there is one God and one mediator. He never trades the one-God claim away.
Under Claim 01: The whole Bible, Old Testament and New, teaches that there is only one God.