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INTRODUCTION
“You just have to take it on faith. It’s a divine mystery, and human reason and logic cannot comprehend it.” Those are never very satisfactory answers to the devout seeker of religious truth. Yet, almost any discussion of the trinity inevitably boils down to the proponent of this doctrine having to resort to the above statements.
In all fairness, there is probably no doctrine in all of Christianity as difficult to fathom in any meaningful way as that of the trinity. Attempts to discuss the trinity in any depth inevitably become bogged down in fruitless efforts to specify the interrelationships of the “three in one.” How does the Father relate to the Son and the Holy Spirit? Which parts of the trinity proceeded from what other parts? Which parts of the trinity, if any, are subservient to the other parts? Which parts of the trinity did what in divine history, e.g., which part created the universe? The more one delves into such questions, the more one has to fall back on escape from reason by claiming that the doctrine is a “divine and ineffable mystery.” Needless to say, this state of confusion is hardly a satisfactory conclusion, and appears to contradict the following Biblical verse.
For God is not the author of confusion… (I Corinthians 14:33)
A PROBLEM WITH THE TRINITY
Traditional Christianity portrays the virgin birth of Jesus in terms of Jesus being the “begotten” son of God. For example, Matthew 1:18 states that Mary was “with child of the Holy Ghost”, and Luke 1:35 has an angel telling Mary that the “Holy Ghost shall come upon thee”. While these Biblical verses may be seen as rather ambiguous by some, the Nicene Creed of Christianity allows for no such ambiguity when it states: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.” Further, the so-called Apostles’ Creed holds that: “I believe in God the Father Almighty; maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost…”
As can be seen from the above listing of New Testament verses and creedal formulations, one of the fundamental problems confronting the Christian concept of the trinity is trying to decide whether the alleged father of Jesus Christ is the Father or the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 says that Mary was “with child of the Holy Ghost,” not the Father. Luke 1:35 says that Mary was told that the “Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,” not the Father. The Apostles’ Creed says that Jesus Christ was the Father’s “only Son,” but “was conceived by the Holy Ghost.” Even the Nicene Creed, which says that Jesus was “begotten of the Father,” goes on to say that Jesus “was incarnate from the Holy Spirit.” So who was the father of Jesus Christ? Was it the Father or the Holy Spirit?
NO BIBLICAL BASIS FOR TRINITY
Given the confusion regarding the trinity, one does well to ask where and how the doctrine of the trinity ever originated. It certainly did not originate in the Bible, because the word “trinity” and its cognates and derivatives never appear in the text of the Bible—not even once! While there are a few scattered references in the New Testament to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, e.g., Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7, these passages can be shown to be later interpolations into the text of the Bible.
For example, the only part of 1 John 5:7 that even exists in the oldest texts of the Bible is the phrase “(f)or there are three that bear record,” which refers to the three witnesses described in the next verse. Analysis of Biblical texts indicates that the reference in 1 John 5:7 to “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one” first appeared in a Bible text in the fourth century, initially in Spain circa 380 and then later in the Latin Vulgate. As a few of the later Greek texts of the Bible have this fourth-century interpolation, it was picked up and included in the King James Version of the English Bible. In contrast, recent scholarly translations of the Bible, including the Revised Standard Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Jerusalem Version, rightly omit this reference to “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost” as being a late editorial insertion.
Furthermore, with regard to the “great commissioning” reported in Matthew 28:19, in which the “risen Jesus” reportedly told his disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” this can also be seen as a statement drawn from the early Christian church and not from the sayings of Jesus. As proof, one needs only note that Acts 2:38, 8:16, and 19:5 specifically state that the disciples of Jesus, the earliest Christians, and even Paul baptized in the name of Jesus, not in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Either all of them deliberately disobeyed Christ’s order in the “great commissioning” or the order had never been given. Certainly, the latter appears to be the more realistic explanation. Furthermore, Luke 24 claims that Jesus ascended into heaven on Easter Sunday and could thus not have been present to state what was recorded in Matthew 28:19.
THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR UNITY
While there is no firm Biblical support for the doctrine of the trinity, the Bible is quite explicit in teaching the Unity and Oneness of God. For example, the Shema of the Old Testament is quite clear in rejecting any concept of the deity other than the Unity of God.
Hear, Israel: the LORD is our God. The LORD is one.… (Deuteronomy 6:4)
Further, the emphasis on the Unity of God is not limited to the Old Testament portion of the Bible. One also finds expression of the Unity and Oneness of God in the New Testament.
You believest that God is one; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19)
Furthermore, as reported by the New Testament, the Unity of God was also emphasized in the very words of Jesus Christ.
And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one… (Mark 12:28-29)
The above are only a few examples of the Unity of God recorded within the Bible. At the risk of belaboring the point, the following verses provide further Biblical support for the concept of the Unity of God.
It was shown to you so that you might know that the LORD is God. There is no one else besides him. (Deuteronomy 4:35)
See now that I, I am HE, And there is no god with me; I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal, And there is none that delivereth out of my hand, (Deuteronomy 32:39)
That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him. (I Kings 8:60)
Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any… I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God, besides me: I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me: That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else…Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me. Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all ye ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 44:8b and 45:5-6, 21-22)
The reader is urged to note the constant and repetitious use of singular pronouns in referring to God in the above passages, not with the plural pronouns that would have been appropriate if there were “three in one.”
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY
As should be clear by now, the doctrine of the trinity developed gradually over several centuries and not without substantial controversy and rejection. Throughout its first several centuries, early Christianity struggled to maintain a strict monotheistic outlook, while still paying homage to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. One solution, represented primarily by the various Adoptionists (see the chapter entitled “Jesus: Man and God?”) was to subordinate Jesus to God. A second solution, represented by modalism was to seek for some way of representing the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as simply three different functions or modes of self-disclosure of God, with there being no distinctive “persons” within the nature of God.
It was only with the Council of Nicaea in 325 that the doctrine that Jesus was of one substance with the Father began to be formulated in any real sense, although even at Nicaea, precious little was said about the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, there was little unity at Nicaea, and what there was occurred only under the force of arms provided by Emperor Constantine. In reality, the Christian doctrine of the trinity was not really accepted until the Council of Constantinople in 381, at which time the Council concluded that the Holy Spirit was not subordinate to the Father and the Son, was a distinct “person” from the Father and the Son, but shared the same divine substance as the Father and the Son. As such, it was only towards the end of the fourth century that the traditional trinitarian concept of Christianity started to become “official” doctrine.
The Athanasian Creed of circa 500 states that God consists of una substantia—tres personae (one substance—three persons). But, the controversy was still far from over. As Augustine noted in De Trinitate (On the Trinity):
…our Greek friends have spoken of one essence (ousia) and three substances (hypostases), but the Latins of one essence or substance (substantia) and three persons (personae).
CONTINUING CONFLICT ABOUT THE TRINITY
The conflict regarding the trinity between Western or Latin Christianity and Eastern or Greek Christianity was not just confined to the issue of whether the trinity was three persons in one substance or three substances in one essence. Beginning in the sixth century, the Western Church gradually began to introduce the Filioque (and from the Son) clause into the Nicene Creed, directly following the words “the Holy Spirit…who proceedeth from the Father”, thus rendering the Nicene Creed as “the Holy Spirit…who proceedeth from the Father and the Son”. While the Filioque clause did not become official Roman Catholic doctrine until papal acceptance in the 11th century, the Eastern Church considered this insertion into the Nicene Creed to be a theological error. The Anglican Church and most Protestant churches have subsequently followed the lead of the Roman Catholic Church in accepting the Filioque clause.
This conflict over the insertion of the Filioque clause into Western Christianity’s understanding of the trinity is not to be minimized. In at least partial response to this conflict, the Photian Schism of 867 divided Western and Eastern Christianity into two warring camps, with Pope Nicholas I refusing to acknowledge Photius as the bishop and patriarch of Constantinople and with Photius declaring Nicholas I deposed from the papacy. In 1054, the war between Western and Christianity reemerged. Once again, the Filioque clause was at least partially to blame. The end result was that Pope Leo IX excommunicated Michael Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, on July 16, 1054. In quick response, Michael Cerularius excommunicated Pope Leo IX. Of note, these excommunications remained in place until lifted on December 7, 1965, by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I.
How can a doctrine that results in the mutual excommunication of two of the highest leaders in Christianity be seen as anything other than mass confusion?
ISLAM AND THE NATURE OF GOD
One of the divides separating Islam from contemporary Christianity concerns the nature of God. Islam, like Judaism and several branches of early Christianity, teaches a strict and uncompromising monotheism, with God being seen as One and Indivisible. The Qur’an is most adamant in insisting on Tawheed (Oneness of God).
Followers of Earlier Revelation! Don’t go to extremes in your religious (doctrines), and don’t make statements about God that aren’t true. Jesus, the son of Mary, was a messenger from God and His (creative) word bestowed upon (the virgin) Mary and a spirit sent from Him. So believe in God and His messengers (who were mortal men). Don’t say, “Trinity.” Don’t do it, as that would be best for you. Truly, God is just one God, glory be to Him! He’s (far above) having a child! He owns everything in the heavens and on the earth, and God is quite enough to take care of matters (for Himself)! (Quran 4:171)
Those who say that God is Jesus, the Messiah, the son of Mary, are covering over (the real truth)…Those who say that God is the Messiah, the son of Mary—they’re covering over (the truth)! The Messiah, himself, said, “Children of Israel! Serve God, the One Who is my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever makes partners with God, well, God will forbid him entry into the Garden, and instead the Fire will be his home—and the corrupt will have no one to help them. Those who say that God is one of three in a trinity are covering over (the truth, as well), for there is no god but the One God. (Quran 5:17a, 72-73a)
Say (to them), “He is only one—God the Eternal Absolute. He neither begets nor was He begotten, and there is nothing equal to Him. (Quran 112:1-4)
(Excerpt from book "Easily Understand Islam")
Click to read sample chapters from the book below
Table of Contents
Why is there Evil and Suffering?
Why I Believe in God — A Muslim Speaks
The Quran, Modern Science, and More
Islam & Racism
Islam: A Solution for America’s Social Problems?
Some Muslim Virtues (Sayings of the Prophet)
Section IV: Islam & Christianity
Common Ground: Judaism, Christianity & Islam