From Ryan:

...I am hoping to prove to my friend that Elohim does not actually mean there are multiple, all-powerful beings, aside from the one true God.

My response:

Oh! This is an easy one.  Several Hebrew nouns which are singular have masculine plural endings.  As a result they are often translated (mistakenly) as plural nouns.  Examples are the word "sh'mayim" meaning "heaven."  The reason for the plural ending is to express the expansiveness of heaven or outer space.  Another such word is "mayim" meaning "water."  This too expresses the expansive nature of water as in the ocean or in the clouds above.  Likewise, "elohim" is only used in the plural when referring to pagan deities or human judges.  In Hebrew you have verb matching -- a plural noun must have a plural verb and a singular noun must have a singular verb.  At no time is "Elohim" ever used with a plural verb when referring to the Creator.  Even in the much quoted verse, "And Elohim said, 'Let us make man in our image'" the verb "said" is singular.  Is the Creator talking to himself, or possibly to the heavenly host?  We do not know.  The one thing that we do know is that only one Elohim is speaking.  All you need to really know is that the Sh'ma says that "YHVH is one" [echad].  It does not say that "YHVH is a unity"[yachad] or any other such nonsense.

More comments:

I am amazed at how many variations of polytheism try to claim that they are monotheistic.  The very earliest beginnings of the trinity doctrine were not even proposed until more than a hundred years after the crucifixion and it was considered to be heresy at the time.  The latest variation on the trinity doctrine is the "compound unity" thesis.  This too is nonsense!  It flies in the face of the historical record.  Unless, of course, you believe in progressive revelation.  Progressive revelation says that more was revealed to the "church fathers" than had been revealed to the writers of the New Testament and more yet was revealed to successive popes.

For a real grasp of the history and development of church dogma and how it has influenced what we believe please read Origins of Our Faith.  http://www.originsofourfaith.com/bkordr.html

Kol tov,
Shomeir