The Supreme Being Is Unique

THE SUPREME BEING. Do you believe in him? Despite a widespread drift from the churches in many lands, millions still believe in an all-powerful, benevolent Being to whom they can turn, especially when they are in distress.

For example, in Africa there are many local, traditional religions that differ considerably from one another and that worship deities of many names. Yet, most of the people firmly believe in a Supreme Being who is “unique” and “the absolute controller of the universe.”

As related in Dr. Peter Becker’s book Tribe to Township, an elderly Sotho lay preacher of South Africa said: “My old father and his father . . . knew about God, the Molimo, long before the coming of the missionaries, God the Supreme Being who created all things . . . Does it matter that we [the Basuto] call God, Molimo, the Zulu, Nkulunkulu, the Xhosa, Thixo . . . ?”

Of course, a multiplicity of names is confusing. You would likely agree that a universal God should be the same for all people and should have a universal name. The inspired collection of ancient writings, the Bible, is respected around the globe. It declares: “That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18) So, according to the Bible, the Supreme Being has a unique name.

What kind of Being is this one God, as revealed by the Bible? “All his ways are justice”; “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth”; “very tender in affection and merciful”; “a God, not of disorder, but of peace”; “God is love.”​—Deuteronomy 32:4; Exodus 34:6; James 5:11; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 John 4:8.

The Bible also reveals that Jehovah is the only one who should be worshiped. Yes, being unique, he justly demands exclusive devotion. (Exodus 20:5) Jesus Christ said: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”​—Matthew 4:10.

Nonetheless, most Africans, while claiming to believe in a Supreme Being, worship many deities. Would that not seem to you to suggest some confusion about the identity or nature of God? But even in most parts of Christendom, the clear, majestic, person of God is blurred by considering him to be a triune God. You may have heard of this as the Holy Trinity, a dogma that is mysterious and hard to understand. For example, the booklet The Blessed Trinity says: “The dogma of the Blessed Trinity . . . is a mystery . . . It cannot be proved by reason . . . It cannot even be proved to be possible.”a (Italics theirs.) The booklet adds: “Proof, therefore, of a mystery consists in showing that it is contained in revelation, in Holy Scripture.”

But does Holy Scripture really teach this doctrine? Is the Supreme Being three persons in one God?

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