There cannot be any belief in the unity of God except by admitting that He is one simple substance, without any composition or plurality of elements: one from whatever side you view it, and by whatever test you examine it: not divisible into two parts in any way and by any cause, nor capable of any form of plurality either objectively or subjectively. (Moses Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 1.51)I find it the epitome of irony that the great Rambam is enlisted by some Trinitarians in defense God's unity, as though he hadn't also severely condemned the "mystery" of the Trinity.
Here is what he wrote, elsewhere:
When the master of the prophets [Moses] intended to to inform us us that Almighty God is One, and that there is no second unto Him, and to remove from our minds [lit. "erase from our hearts] the false view of the dualists [Hebrew: mishniyim from sheney meaning two, i.e., those who believe im two gods], he clearly stated the following fundamental principle: Hear o Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one [Deut. 6:4]. The Christians cite this Biblical phrase as proof of their contention that God is three, in that they assert: it is stated the Lord, and it is stated the our God, and it is stated the Lord, there are thus three names; [sic!], then it is stated One, proving that they are three and that the three are one. Heaven forbid! [I.e. may God preserve us from such false and evil interpretations of Scripture]. (Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Resurrection, pp. 21-22)Maimonides, in the very same paragraph, affirms the Oneness of God (on the basis of Deut 6:4) and condemns the (ab)use that Christians make of the same Deut 6:4 to “prove” that “they are three and that the three are one”.
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