Pagan And Christian Polytheism

The true Biblical Trinitarianism, if one calls it that at all, is not that Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all manifestations of the same being that still somehow have their own independent wills and roles.  It is not the case that the Bible teaches that the "Trinity" is just one being revealing itself in different ways either.  The first of these is logically impossible unless God actually had three different personalities within the same overall mind, like a human with dissociative identity disorder (once called multiple personality disorder).  This is not what most Trinitarians affirm, at least when pressed.  As for the second, standard Trinitarianism entails that Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are distinct, yet that they are still somehow the same being.  This is not the same as one being manifesting itself in different ways as if the other two members of the Trinity are momentary constructs of the first.

However, evangelical/traditional Trinitarianism is logically impossible.  This is not Biblical, but God could be just one being presenting a front of sorts with two alter egos or there would have to be three separate metaphysical entities, unless the Holy Spirit is only an expression of the others' power, in which case there would be two.  There could also be multiple divine beings, which is what the Bible actually teaches.  What is impossible whether or not Christianity is true, since it is a logical contradiction, is the version of "three in one" that is popularly held to by many Christians who are desperate to gratuitously oppose polytheism for its allegedly inevitable pagan nature.  Jesus is not the Father and repeatedly differentiates himself from him.  He says God is good and not himself in Mark 10:17-20, says that he did not know the exact time of his return though the Father did in Matthew 24:36-41, and submits his will to Yahweh's in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:39-44.

The Bible is not at all reluctant to clarify that they are different beings, and other New Testament authors do the same simply by referring to them independently in the same sentences--not even evangelicals can reference the Trinity without speaking in contradictory ways.  This is not the same as pagan polytheism although it is indeed a form of polytheism all the same.  While the Olympians of Greek mythology, for example, are created beings with differing dominions and conflicting attitudes that are still erroneously called gods or goddesses, even if Jesus was created by Yahweh as some verses suggest (after all, he is called God's begotten son more than once), he is a being in unity with the Father (John 10:30).  Biblical Christianity is polytheistic, but its kind is scarcely like that of the Greco-Roman pantheons.

Yahweh and Jesus created the universe together according to the Bible (John 1:1-3) and have the same purpose for humanity: that of moral betterment to the point of perfection and that of punishing sin with the cosmic justice of the second death.  Whether or not Jesus was created, the two are still separate beings with divine power, with the Son deriving his power from the Father if he was truly begotten.  However, they are one in intention and moral character either way (again, see John 10:30), the Father giving the Son his approval for the latter's righteousness and sacrificial commitment to human salvation.  Christian polytheism is actually a very core doctrine of Biblical philosophy in the sense of being very foundational to its teachings.  Jesus cannot have his own existence and will if he is the same as the Father.