The Trinity
Christian and Ahmet discuss what the Bible and Quran say about the nature of God.
Christian: Hi Ahmet, how was your weekend?
Ahmet: It was good Christian. What did you do this weekend?
Christian: Well, I was at my youth club on Friday night, it was good fun.
Ahmet: What did you do?
Christian: We played some games and had some teaching from the Bible about what God is like.
Ahmet: I think we believe in the same God, right? Islam is pretty much the same as Christianity. We both believe in one God.
Christian: Well, that’s what I thought, we looked at the fact that our God is one, but he has always existed in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Ahmet: Ah, no we don’t believe that. Actually, did you know that the whole Trinity thing was created by Paul hundreds of years after Jesus?
Christian: Yes, there were lots of debates about the Trinity up until the 4th century about how to understand the truths of the Trinity, especially in response to false teaching, but actually you can see aspects of the Trinity in the first verse of the Bible. It says, “In the beginning God (the Hebrew is plural) created (the verb is singular) the heavens and the earth”. And in the first few verses we see the three persons of the Trinity, God (the Father), the Spirit and God speaking through his Word (that is Jesus).
Ahmet: But I didn’t think the word Trinity is in the Bible!
Christian: It isn’t, but we both use lots of different words to communicate theological ideas. Am I right in saying that Muslims use the word “Tawhid” to describe God?
Ahmet: Yes, that’s the word we use to describe the oneness of Allah.
Christian: …yes, well that’s not in the Quran as far as I know.
Ahmet: I’d be surprised if that were the case. I’ll have to check that out. But, this whole Trinty thing, it doesn’t make sense, I mean 1 + 1 + 1 equals 3 not 1!
Christian: Well, God is much greater than a maths equation, although 1 x 1 x 1 does equal 1! But, he created everything including mathematics, so he must be greater than everything, even our own ability to understand him fully. But that’s what the Bible teaches, there is one God, who has always existed in three persons, who the Bible says are each fully God. I don’t understand how each of those things fit together, but the Bible clearly teaches this.
Ahmet: But don’t you think that a God who is one and not three is just much more logical and simple? Why bother with something so complicated? The Quran says, ‘He is God the One, God the eternal. He begot no one nor was He begotten. No one is comparable to Him.’ (Quran 112.1-4) I mean how simple can you get?
Christian: Actually, it’s not quite as simple as you might think. Do you believe that the Quran is the Word of God?
Ahmet: Yes, it’s called the Kalām Allāh, we believe that the Quran is God’s uncreated word.
Christian: But the Quran is not Allah, right?
Ahmet: No it’s his word, but separate from him in some way.
Christian: So, don’t you really have two eternal beings then? Allah and his Word the Quran? In fact, this was such a big issue in early Islam, that many Muslims were imprisoned, flogged and even executed because they didn’t want to believe that the Quran was uncreated. That was called the Mihna (the Inquisition). If the oneness of Allah in the Quran is so simple, why did that happen?
Ahmet: I don’t really know about that… But the Quran is clear, the Trinity is wrong and people shouldn’t believe it. I think it says, “don’t say three”…
Christian: Yes, I’ve read that verse. There are a couple of other verses in the Quran that I read and that surprised me. Quran 5.73 says that the Trinity is three gods, and Quran 5.116, suggests that Christians believed that the Trinity was God, Jesus and Mary. No Christian has ever believed that. Surely, if Allah is all knowing, he would know what Christians actually believed?
Ahmet: Look, you seem to know more about the Quran than I do. I need to look into this more… But for now, can you show me one verse that proves the Trinity?
Christian: Like I said the Trinity is a concept taught from many verses in the Bible. However, a favourite verse of mine is Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. There you have the three persons of the Trinity but they share the same name. One name, three persons. That’s the Trinity in a nutshell: three persons who are in relationship with each other, who share the same name, or nature. I don’t fully understand it, but I think it’s beautiful.
Ahmet: How do you mean beautiful?
Christian: Well, we believe that God is a loving God.
Ahmet: We believe that too…
Christian: But think about this. If God is not a Trinity, how can he really be a God of love?
Ahmet: What do you mean?
Christian: Before God created anything, he is perfect in his being, right, not lacking anything?
Ahmet: Yes, of course, he is not dependent on anyone or anything to be who he is.
Christian: Well, to love, or to be in relationship means that you need another person. You can’t love on your own. So, that means in Islam for God to be able to love, he is dependent on creating someone to love. In eternity isn’t he alone? We don’t have that problem. He has always been in a perfect relationship of love between Father, Son and Spirit, without the need to create anyone or anything. That’s why the Bible says, “God is love”.
Ahmet: Christian, you seem to know your Bible really well, and the Quran too! Anyway, let me look into the points you raised and I’ll get back to you.