One God, the Father

1 Corinthians 8:6

Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
1 Corinthians 8:6

“Clear as day,” they say. “Paul says that there's only one God: the Father. That must mean that Jesus isn't God.”

And yet, we ought to ask if that logic really holds up. If “one God, the Father” means that Jesus is not God, are we going to interpret “one Lord, Jesus Christ” in the same way? If Jesus is the only Lord, does that mean that the Father is not Lord? It seems pretty unlikely to me that Paul's intention was to teach that the Father is not Lord. So, if the fact that there is only “one Lord, Jesus Christ” doesn't exclude the Father's Lordship, it must also be true that the phrase “one God, the Father” doesn't exclude Jesus' deity. On the contrary, 1 Corinthians 8:6 is a powerful Trinitarian text.

Let's go back a bit to understand the context. In this chapter Paul addresses the subject of food offered to idols. On the one hand Paul affirms the theological basis for those who believe they can eat these foods, but on the other, he criticizes their practice as a potential stumbling block to their brothers and sisters in the faith. In verses 4-6, Paul confirms that the gods represented by pagan idols do not exist; he refutes the multitude of gods and lords among pagans with the biblical fact that there is only one God and Lord:

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It's true then that Paul is affirming monotheism, but the contrast is not between the divine Father and the non-divine Son, but between the multitude of pagan gods and the uniqueness of the God of Israel. Yahweh alone is God and Lord, and if Paul attributes one of these titles to the Father and the other to Jesus, it's because both are, in some way, the same Yahweh.

This reading is confirmed by two texts from Deuteronomy evoked by Paul's words. Firstly, there is a link between 1 Corinthians 8:5 and Deuteronomy 10:17, since they are the only two verses in the whole Bible that speak of “gods” and “lords” in the plural.

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

Same as in 1 Corinthians 8, there is here one God, one Lord, who is set in opposition to many gods and lords. Yahweh alone is the one God and the one Lord. And so the “one God, the Father,” is Yahweh, just as the “one Lord, Jesus,” is Yahweh.

In speaking of one God, one Lord, Paul evokes another more famous verse from Deuteronomy:

Hear O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.

It needs to be understood that in the Greek translation read by the Corinthians, the word Yahweh was translated as Kyrios – Lord.¹ When they would read Deuteronomy, they read:

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

In this declaration of monotheism, the Israelite reminds himself emphatically that for him there is one God, one Lord. 1 Corinthians 8:6 repeats this statement, refuting the existence of Greek gods by affirming that for us there is “one God, [...] one Lord.” “Lord” is therefore a divine title just as “God” is, and far from denying the deity of Jesus, Paul dramatically affirms it, saying that the one Yahweh of Deuteronomy, the God worshipped by Christians, is the Father and the Son.

1. This tradition is followed most English versions that put “the LORD” for Yahweh.