May peace and blessings be upon you all.
Thank you sister Hana for answering the questions of our Christian brothers. Now it's interesting that Paul was mentioned and I taught we should first study how the doctrine of the Trinity got started. Since the topic is about Jesus' divinity, it's interesting to know that this concept was formulated a few hundred years after his [PBUH] death. Here is a brief history of events leading to the establishment of the doctrine:
Who invented the trinity?
The three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -
all purport to share one fundamental concept: belief in God as the
Supreme Being, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Known as
"tawhid" in Islam, this concept of the Oneness of God was stressed by
Moses in a Biblical passage known as the "Shema," or the Jewish creed of
faith: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4)
It was repeated word-for-word approximately 1500 years later by Jesus
when he said: "...The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel;
the Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark 12:29)
Muhammad came along approximately 600 years later, bringing the same
message again: "And your God is One God: There is no God but He, ..."
(The Qur'an 2:163)
Christianity has digressed from the concept of the Oneness of God,
however, into a vague and mysterious doctrine that was formulated during
the fourth century. This doctrine, which continues to be a source of
controversy both within and without the Christian religion, is known as
the Doctrine of the Trinity. Simply put, the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity states that God is the union of three divine persons - the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - in one divine being.
If that concept, put in basic terms, sounds confusing, the flowery
language in the actual text of the doctrine lends even more mystery to
the matter:
"...we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity... for there is
one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost
is all one... they are not three gods, but one God... the whole three
persons are co-eternal and co-equal... he therefore that will be save
must thus think of the Trinity..." (excerpts from the Athanasian Creed)
Let's put this together in a different form: one person, God the Father
+one person, God the Son + one person, God the Holy Ghost =one person,
God.
It is said that Athanasius, the bishop who formulated this doctrine,
confessed that the more he wrote on the matter, the less capable he was
of clearly expressing his thoughts regarding it.
How did such a confusing doctrine get its start?
2. Trinity in the Bible
References in the Bible to a Trinity of divine beings are vague, at
best.
In Matthew 28:19, we find Jesus telling his disciples to go out and
preach to all nations. While the "Great Commission" does make mention of
the three persons who later become components of the Trinity, the phrase
"...baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost" is quite clearly an addition to Biblical text - that is, not
the actual words of Jesus - as can be seen by two factors:
1) Baptism in the early Church, as discussed by Paul in his letters, was
done only in the name of Jesus; and
2) The "Great Commission" was found in the first gospel written, that of
Mark, bears no mention of Father, Son and/or Holy Ghost - see Mark
16:15.
The only other reference in the Bible to a Trinity can be found in the
Epistle of I John 5:7, Biblical scholars of today, however, have
admitted that the phrase "...there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" is
definitely a "later addition" to Biblical test, and it is not found in
any of today's versions of the Bible.
It can, therefore, be seen that the concept of a Trinity of divine
beings was not an idea put forth by Jesus or any other prophet of God.
This doctrine, now subscribed to by Christians all over the world, is
entirely man-made in origin.
3. The Doctrine Takes Shape
While Paul of Tarsus, the man who could rightfully be considered the
true founder of Christianity, did formulate many of its doctrines, that
of the Trinity was not among them. He did, however, lay the groundwork
for such when he put forth the idea of Jesus being a "divine Son." After
all, a Son does need a Father, and what about a vehicle for God's
revelations to man? In essence, Paul named the principal players, but it
was the later Church people who put the matter together.
Tertullian, a lawyer and presbyter of the third century Church in
Carthage, was the first to use the word "Trinity" when he put forth the
theory that the Son and the Spirit participate in the being of God, but
all are of one being of substance with the Father.
4. Formal Doctrine is Drawnup
When controversy over the matter of the Trinity blew up in 318 between
two church men from Alexandria - Arius, the deacon, and Alexander, his
bishop - Emperor Constantine stepped into the fray.
Although Christian dogma was a complete mystery to him, he did realize
that a unified church was necessary for a strong kingdom. When
negotiation failed to settle the dispute, Constantine called for the
first ecumenical council in Church history in order to settle the matter
once and for all.
Six weeks after the 300 bishopsfirst gathered at Nicea in 325, the
doctrine of the Trinity was hammered out. The God of the Christians was
now seen as having three essences, or natures, in the form of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
5.Church Puts its Foot down
The matter was far from settled, however, despite high hopes for such on
the part of Constantine. Arius and the new bishop of Alexandria, a man
named Athanasius, began arguing over the matter even as the Nicene Creed
was being signed; "Arianism" became a catch-word from that time onward
for anyone who did not hold to the doctrine of the Trinity.
It wasn't until 451, at the Council of Chalcedon that, with the approval
of the Pope, the Nicene/Constantinople Creed was set as authoritative.
Debate on the matter was no longer tolerated; to speak out against the
Trinity was now considered blasphemy, and such earned stiff sentences
that ranged from mutilation to death. Christians now turned on
Christians, maiming and slaughtering thousands because of a difference
of opinion.
6. The Debate Continues...
Brutal punishments and even death did not stop the controversy over the
doctrine of the Trinity, however, and the said controversy continues
even today.
The majority of Christians, when asked to explain this fundamental
doctrine of their faith, can offer nothing more than "I believe it
because I was told to do so." It is explained away as "mystery" - yet
the Bible says in I Corinthians 14:33 that "... God is not the author of
confusion..."
The Unitarian denomination of Christianity has kept alive the teachings
of Arius in saying that God is one; they do not believe in the Trinity.
As a result, mainstream Christians abhor them, and the National Council
of Churches has refused their admittance. In Unitarianism, the hope is
kept alive that Christians will someday return to the preachings of
Jesus: "...Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou
serve." (Luke 4:8)
7. Islam and the Matter of The Trinity
While Christianity may have a problem defining the essence of God, such
is not the case in Islam.
"They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity, for
there is no god except One God." (Qur'an 5:73) It is worth noting that
the Arabic language Bible uses the name "Allah" as the name of God.
Suzanne Haneef, in her book WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ISLAM AND
MUSLIMS (Library of Islam, 1985), puts the matter quite succinctly when
she says, "But God is not like a pie or an apple which can be divided
into three thirds which form one whole; if God is three persons or
possesses three parts, He is assuredly not the Single, Unique,
Indivisible Being which God is and which Christianity professes to
believe in." (pp. 183-184)
Looking at it from another angle, the Trinity designates God as being
three separate entities - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If
God is the Father and also the Son, He would then be the Father of
Himself because He is His own Son. This is not exactly logical.
Christianity claims to be a monotheistic religion. Monotheism, however,
has as its fundamental belief that God is One; the Christian doctrine of
the Trinity - God being Three-in-One - is seen by Islam as a form of
polytheism. Christians don't revere just One God, they revere three.
This is a charge not taken lightly by Christians, however. They, in
turn, accuse the Muslims of not even knowing what the Trinity is,
pointing out that the Qur'an sets it up as Allah the Father, Jesus the
Son, and Mary his mother. While veneration of Mary has been a figment of
the Catholic Church since 431 when she was given the title "Mother of
God" by the Council of Ephesus, a closer examination of the verse in the
Qur'an most often cited by Christians in support of their accusation,
shows that the designation of Mary by the Qur'an as a "member" of the
Trinity, is simply not true.
While the Qur'an does condemn both trinitarianism (the Qur'an 4:17) and
the worship of Jesus and his mother Mary (the Qur'an 5:116), nowhere
does it identify the actual three components of the Christian Trinity.
The position of the Qur'an is that WHO or WHAT comprises this doctrine
is not important; what is important is that the very notion of a Trinity
is an affront against the concept of One God.
In conclusion, we see that the doctrine of the Trinity is a concept
conceived entirely by man; there is no sanction whatsoever from God to
be found regarding the matter simply because the whole idea of a Trinity
of divine beings has no place in monotheism. In the Qur'an, God's Final
Revelations to mankind, we find His stand quite clearly stated in a
number of eloquent passages:
"...your God is One God: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work
righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as
partner." (Qur'an 18:110)
"...take not, with God, another object of worship, lest you should be
thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected." (Qur'an 17:39)
"...Because, as God tells us over and over again in a Message that is
echoed throughout All His Revealed Scriptures:
"...I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore, serve Me (and no other)..."
(Qur'an 21:92)
-- Aisha Brown
Towards better understanding. Until then,
peace and blessings.