Islam and Trinity

The God of the Bible is revealed as one God. Both Old Testament and New Testament confirm the fact that there is but one God. (Deut. 4:35,39; 6:4&5; Exodus 20:3; I Sam. 2:2; II Sam. 7:22; Isa. 43:10; 44:6,8; 45:18). Each of these verses show clearly that there is but one God. The New Testament definitely declares the unity of God (Mark 12:29,32; I Cor.8:4; Gal.3:20; Eph.4:6; Jam.2:9; I Tim. 2:15).

The word for “God” in Old Testament is “Elohim” plural of the Hebrew word “El”. It is a uni-plural word, denoting plurality of divine Persons without stating the number, but which subsequent Scriptures in the New Testament show to be three divine Persons, even the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, each active in creation. They are not three separate Gods, but three Persons in one God, distinguishable but indivisible.

The revelation of God in three persons is the distinctive ministry of the blessed Son of God. The only way God could be known to man in His inner nature and being of Tri-unity was by revelation. God had to reveal Himself. Who could bring or give this revelation? What patriarch, prophet, or saint could reveal God to mankind? No angel nor created being could unveil God in His glory, in the truth of eternal Godhead as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The only Person who could reveal God to man was the very One who dwelt in the bosom of the Father. It had to be one of the Persons in Elohim, one in the eternal Godhead who alone could reveal God to man. In the counsels of the Godhead, it was the Eternal Son (Word) who was to come and declare God in His Tri-unity behaviour.(Heb. 1:1-2; Matt.11:27; John 1:18)

The doctrine of Trinity is very crucial in the Christian understanding of God. The word "Trinity" never appears in the Bible, yet Christians believe in a Triune God. There are verses in the bible that tell of three distinct Persons, each has distinct ministry and function, yet one in mind and will, one in essence, and one in the purpose, plan, and operation of redemption. These three fully share one divine nature.

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” II Corinthians 13:14

“Through Him (Christ), we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father". Eph.2:18.

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Baptism is also to be done in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 1 John 5:7-8

The Quran denies the Trinity apparently because it thought that this meant three gods which were a kind of holy family. Q5 v.116 "says 'take me and my mother as two gods beside God.’ This, of course, would be a heresy in Christianity as well.

Judaism and Islam express that God is one. It is done with full prophetic force. It is also done with philosophical insight in Hindu monism - the doctrine that only one supreme being exists. All these religions believe in a divine intelligence which gives meaning to life. We have to be careful because these special interpretations can lead, on the one hand, to a Deistic view whereby God is thought of as a distant and so isolated that man is a mere slave with little possibility of communion with or love to God.

On the other hand, the monistic view teaches the nearness of God, but at the risk of so identifying  god and man as to destroy all the relationship of worship and devotion. Here comes Christianity with her doctrine of God, teaching about the Trinity, the Unity in Diversity.

To the Muslims this sounds like teaching three gods whereas God is one. Mohammed thought of the Trinity as Father, Mother and Son. He, (Mohammed) rightly repudiated any notion of the physical birth of the Son from the Father. No instructed Christian ever thought of this. The word ‘Son’ is metaphorical; the second ‘Person’ of the Trinity is eternal and uncreated according to the creeds. Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds.

One difficulty in the common understanding of the Trinity lies in the word ‘Person’. This comes from the Latin persona, an actor’s mask which showed different aspects of his character. But it is the same being, and there is unity behind the persons. In English, we take ‘person’ too literally, identifying it with ‘men’ or ‘individual’.

It is perhaps more helpful to speak of one God in three ‘aspects’. God as Creator, as Redeemer, as Spirit, as if God were first Father, later Son, and then Spirit. These are eternal aspects of the one God who is always the same. In the Trinity, both the Unity and the Diversity of the Divine Being are affirmed. God is the Creator Spirit, manifested in Christ and present always in Spirit.

I better say it here what Muhammad said here about Jesus Christ. Prophet Muhammad borrowed freely from both Judaism and Christianity. In almost every case, he adapted what was pleasant to the Arabian understanding and conditions. In the Quran, he either refers to or tells something of the stories of Adam and Eve (the fall), Noah and the ark, the flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, Lot and Sodom, Jacob and Joseph, Moses and Pharoah and many others.

Muhammad was fascinated by the stories from the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke. He referred again and again to Zechariah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Mary Joseph. We should bear in mind that Muhammad was born  about 570A.D., and those personalities he referred to had lived and died. He heard about them, he did not see them. He had another erroneous idea that Mary was the Sister of Aaron. Muhammad also took Mary to mean Miriam. He told more than once of the Virgin birth, and he had no doubt it. Q19:16-28

Muhammad accepted the story from the New Testament Apocrypha that Jesus talked in his crib and made mud pigeons come alive and fly. He rejected the idea that Jesus died and rose again. He said that they did not kill Him and did not crucify Him. It appeared so unto them, for they only had his likeness. Allah took Him up unto Himself. Allah was ever mighty and wise.

His theory was that Jesus ascended straight to heaven, leaving behind a likeness to be crucified. In all his revelation he insisted that Jesus was a true messenger or Apostle of God who will be an important figure in the last days before the end of the world. He denied fiercely that Jesus could be the “Son of God”. For as we have seen, he was firm in denying that God can be the third of the three. Muhammed believed that Jesus Christ was one of the messengers of Allah; and that ‘The Injil’, a contraction of Evangel or Gospel, was made known to Jesus. They are to be accepted as genuine revelations.

I want to add that the sense of history is very strong in Islam. First place is given to prophets and Lawgivers who have actually appeared in history and who are regarded as the messengers by whom God has made His will known to man. To Islam and Christianity, God is the undisputed Lord of history, men remain men.

Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. This is going beyond the point reached by the Muslims to take a position in a sense like that of the Hindus and Buddhists, but there is a difference. This difference is in the conception of God. To Christians, God is not an impersonal world ordering principle, but a warm, personal God who loves (in Spirit) men personally. This personal encounter is made through the mediation of Jesus Christ, for without Christ, we would not know God for what and who He is.

It is the basic Christian belief that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16) for God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Jesus Himself  did not leave those who believe in Him comfortless. He gave us the Holy Spirit – Parakletos – the One of the same Kind who comes along to help us in this world.  John 14:16 says “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.”