Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 1. God in Christianity
What the doctrine of the Trinity actually claims
In short
- 1.The creedal formula itself is post-biblical: the word (Latin *trinitas*) is first used by Tertullian around 200 CE, over 150 years after Jesus (PBUH).
- 2.The Athanasian Creed concedes the doctrine is incomprehensible — 'the Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, the Holy Ghost incomprehensible'.
- 3.Ask which of the three Jesus (PBUH) was praying to in Gethsemane, and what was being addressed when he cried out on the cross.
- 4.Islam's alternative is not a simpler version of the same claim — it is a different claim: one God, undivided, unbegotten.
The claim being examined
Christianity confesses one God in three co-equal, co-eternal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit — three who are each fully God, yet not three Gods.
The Islamic position
Islam affirms that God is one in essence and in person. The Qur'an addresses the directly and calls believers back to an undivided oneness that needs no philosophical qualification.
Analysis
The as it is stated today is the settlement of a long argument in the fourth and fifth centuries, not a formula on the lips of Jesus (PBUH). The New Testament writers use "Father", "Son" and "Spirit" in Jewish idiom. The words that make the doctrine hold together — *ousia* (being or substance) and *hypostasis* (person) — come from Greek philosophy and only enter Christian language at the councils. Even the Church's own creeds present it as a mystery to be accepted rather than a statement to be understood, which is exactly the point of the Qur'anic critique: revelation should make God clearer, not harder to see.
From the Qur'an
يَـٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ ۚ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌۭ مِّنْهُ ۖ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ ثَلَـٰثَةٌ ۚ ٱنتَهُوا۟ خَيْرًۭا لَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّهُ إِلَـٰهٌۭ وَٰحِدٌۭ ۖ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌۭ ۘ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًۭا
yāahla l-kitābi lā taghlū fī dīnikum walā taqūlū ʿalā l-lahi illā l-ḥaqa innamā l-masīḥu ʿīsā ub'nu maryama rasūlu l-lahi wakalimatuhu alqāhā ilā maryama warūḥun min'hu faāminū bil-lahi warusulihi walā taqūlū thalāthatun intahū khayran lakum innamā l-lahu ilāhun wāḥidun sub'ḥānahu an yakūna lahu waladun lahu mā fī l-samāwāti wamā fī l-arḍi wakafā bil-lahi wakīlan
Do not say 'Three' — stop, it is better for you. God is only one God.
قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ
qul huwa l-lahu aḥadun al-lahu l-ṣamadu lam yalid walam yūlad walam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥadun
Say: He is God, the One; God, the Eternal Refuge; He begets not, nor was He begotten; and there is none comparable to Him.
From the Bible
ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ, κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one — Jesus quoting the Shema as the first of all commandments.
Read it in their Bibleἵνα γινώσκωσιν σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν
That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Read it in their BibleSources
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