Pope Shenouda affirms that faith in the one God is rooted in the Holy Bible (such as the Ten Commandments and Isaiah’s prophecies) and that even the demons acknowledge one God but with an intellectual, not a practical, faith.

Rational reasons to reject multiple gods:
He presents logical arguments: multiple gods lead to conflicts of authority, or to limiting each god’s power so they become limited, which contradicts God’s attribute of omnipotence, being the sole ruler and judge.

Distinguishing pagan trinitarianism from Christian Trinity:
He explains that pagan “trinities” differ from the Christian Trinity — they involve marriage and gender or a time before birth; in the Christian Trinity there is no temporal begetting but hypostases that are eternal and equal in essence.

The Son as Logos (the rational word):
He interprets the word “Logos” (the Word) as the rational utterance and the rational mind; he shows that the Son is the hypostasis of mind, wisdom, and knowledge in the divine being, and that creation was through the divine mind/word.

Scriptural statements and affirmation of eternality:
He cites passages from the New and Old Testaments (such as Hebrews, Psalms, Corinthians, Colossians) to affirm that mind, wisdom, and spirit existed in God from eternity, and that claiming the Son or Spirit are created misunderstands the Trinity.

Illustrative analogies with caution against literalism:
He uses analogies (like the sun and its light and heat, and fire) to explain unity of being with differentiation of functions, while warning that some human and ancient analogies can mislead if taken literally.

Refutation of heresies:
He criticizes those who said the Son or the Spirit are created (Arius and Macedonius), explaining that the presence of mind or spirit in God from eternity makes that claim illogical and contradictory to the nature of the living, unchanging God.

Spiritual conclusion:
The Trinity does not negate unity, rather it opens a deeper understanding of God’s being: one in essence and three hypostases in relation and function; therefore the Christian is called to a spiritual relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit while distinguishing essence from hypostases.

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