The Testimony of Singular Pronouns

Anyone who has at least a grade school education knows that a pronoun is defined as “a word that takes the place of a noun.”[1]  Pronouns, whether singular or plural are not complicated things.  Indeed, child development experts tell us that by the age of “36 months, toddlers have mastered most pronouns.”[2] 

In Scripture, what do the pronouns used to refer to God tell us about who He is?  Do they support the doctrine of the Trinity which states, in part, that there is one God who exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit?  Or do the pronouns tell a different story?  Let’s examine Scripture to find out.

As we explored in the post entitled, “The Uniqueness of God,”  the Bible clearly and repeatedly states that God is one.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB) “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!  (emphasis added)

John 5:44 (NASB) [Jesus speaking] “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (emphasis added)

This one God is identified in Scripture as the Father[3].  Take note of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 where he acknowledges that the Father is the only true God.

John 17:1 and 3 (NASB) Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father...³  “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (emphasis added)

That God is one is further evidenced by the thousands of singular personal pronouns that are used in reference to Him.  For example, in the following verses God uses the singular pronouns “I” and Me” to refer to Himself.

Isaiah 45:5-6 (NASB) “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; ⁶  That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. (emphasis added)

Six times in this passage God refers to Himself as a singular person. 

Additionally, there are countless other verses that refer to God using other singular pronouns. For example,

Deuteronomy 4:35 (NASB) “To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him. (emphasis added)

We would all agree that grammatically “Him” refers to one person. 

Another example of the use of singular pronouns in reference to God is found in the following passage:

Psalm 86:10 (NASB) For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God. (emphasis added)

In the original Hebrew, the word “You” in the above passage is a singular personal pronoun, not the plural or collective pronoun “you. ”  As such, the singular “you” represents only one person.[4]

Time and time again, Scripture uses singular pronouns to refer to God.  This is quite surprising given that the doctrine of the Trinity states God is a plurality of persons.  If the one God of the Bible was actually three persons, we would expect to find God described in a way that would reflect this multi-person dimension. Instead of singular pronouns we should find countless instances where the three-person God is spoken of in terms of plural pronouns such as “we,” “our,” “us,” “they” or “them.”  Instead, we find the consistent testimony that God is one person as evidenced by the consistent and emphatic use of singular pronouns.

Many Trinitarians overlook the thousands of instances in Scripture where God is described in terms of singular personal pronouns to focus on a mere four passages where plural personal pronouns are used in conjunction with God.[5]  Genesis 1:26 is one of the passages:

Genesis 1:26 (NASB) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

However, Trinitarian scholars admit that the pronouns “us” and “our” in this and the remaining three passages[6], do not refer to a triune God, but rather to God and His angelic court. For example, Gordon J. Wenham, in his Word Biblical Commentary on Genesis writes, “From Philo onward, Jewish commentators have generally held that the plural [in Genesis 1:26, ‘Let us make man….’] is used because God is addressing his heavenly court, i.e., the angels (cf. Isa. 6:8).”  Wenham reveals that this view changed in the second century with the advent of certain church fathers when he writes, “From the Epistle of Barnabas and Justin Martyr, who saw the plural as a reference to Christ, Christians have traditionally seen this verse as foreshadowing the Trinity.” Nonetheless, Wenham powerfully concludes that, “It is now universally admitted that this was not what the plural meant to the original author.” [7]  In other words, there was a time when the second century church fathers deviated from the original Biblical interpretation of the “let us” passages.  Rightly, Wenham notes today’s scholarship has corrected the errant course.

We must ask the question, why, if God is comprised of three persons, does Scripture never refer to God using plural pronouns?  Quite simply because the doctrine is not to be found in the Bible, a truth to which even Trinitarian scholars will attest.  For example, The Encyclopedia of Religion states, “Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity.” [8]  In addition, The Encyclopedia of Ethics and Religion is in agreement when it states, “There is in the Old Testament no indication of distinction in the Godhead; it is an anachronism to find either the doctrine of the Incarnation or that of the Trinity in its pages.”[9]  

Not only is the doctrine not to be found in the Old Testament, it is also absent from the New Testament.  Anthony T. Hanson, professor, theologian and prolific author, writes, “No responsible New Testament scholar would claim that the doctrine of the Trinity was taught by Jesus, or preached by the earliest Christians, or consciously held by any writer of the New Testament.”[10]

Perhaps professor and theologian, Charles Ryrie, sums it up best in his respected work Basic Theology, when he writes,

“Many doctrines are accepted by evangelicals as being clearly taught in the Scripture for which there are no proof texts. The doctrine of the Trinity furnishes the best example of this. It is fair to say that the Bible does not clearly teach the doctrine of the Trinity… In fact, there is not even one proof text, if by proof text we mean a verse or passage that ‘clearly’ states that there is one God who exists in three persons”.[11]

How then did the one God of the Bible become a tri-personal God?  The historical record reveals that the doctrine of the Trinity was developed over almost four centuries.  Again, a truth to which Trinitarian scholars will attest.  Professor Hanson states the doctrine was, “in fact slowly worked out in the course of the first few centuries in an attempt to give an intelligible doctrine of God.”[12]

Furthermore, The New Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on the Trinity, explains,

“Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament… The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies. . . . It was not until the 4th century that the distinctness of the three and their unity were brought together in a single orthodox doctrine of one essence and three persons”[13]   

Language, in order for it to be understood, must use words that have an agreed upon meaning.  When a singular personal pronoun is used in place of a noun, we all understand that it refers to a singular person.  “He” refers to a singular male person, and not to a “they.”  As stated earlier, according to childhood development experts, even a three year old understands this basic principle. 

When Scripture, which is inspired by God,[14] refers to God using singular personal pronouns, we must rightly accept that “He” means God is a singular person, especially when it is affirmed throughout Scripture that God is one.  The doctrine of the Trinity may claim that God is three persons in one essence, but the pronouns tell a different story.  A testimony to which we would do well to heed.

[1] https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/pronoun.asp

[2] www.theroadmap.ualberta.ca/understandings

[3] While there are far too many Scriptures that identify God as being the Father to reference them all,  here are some: Malachi 2:10; John 6:27; 8:54; 20:17; Romans 1:17; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2,  etc.

[4] Compare to Deuteronomy 4:1 where the plural form of “you” is used in reference to a plurality, namely the people of Israel

[5] Genesis 1:26, 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8

[6] Genesis 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8

[7] Gordon Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary on Genesis, (Word Books, 1987), p. 27

[8] The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed.  Mircea Eliade (Macmillan Publishing, 1987), Vol. 15., p. 54.

[9] The Encyclopedia of Ethics and Religion.  Edited by James Hastings. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, Vol. 6, 1919), p. 254

[10] Anthony Tyrrell Hanson, The Image of the Invisible God. (London: SCM Press, 1982), p.87

[11] Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. (Moody Publishers: Chicago, IL, 1999), p. 89

[12] Anthony Tyrrell Hanson, The Image of the Invisible God. (London: SCM Press, 1982), p.87.

[13] The New Encyclopedia Britannica (1985 edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 11, p. 928).

[14] 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 3:16