Islam and the Holy Trinity
Understanding Islam: Jesus and the Holy Trinity according to Quran. Photo credit; youtube
SOME Muslims keep asking questions about the divinity of Christ and the Holy Trinity whereas some Muslim scholars have made it very clear that the issue of the Holy Trinity is a closed chapter in Islam. This does not mean that Christians and Muslims cannot co-exist in peace in spite of the disagreement on the Holy Trinity.
In the spirit of dialogue, I feel the urge to engage in the conversation. Sometime ago, Mallam Tijjani needed me to be honest in my answer to his questions concerning the Holy Trinity and what the Christians think about the prophet of Islam. I hereby present the dialogue.
Mallam Tijjani: “Father, do you believe that Muhammad (SAW) is a true prophet?”
Fr. Cornelius: “Is this question open to public discussion in Islamic theology?
Mallam Tijjani: It is good to know what the Christians believe about the Holy Prophet.
Fr. Cornelius: I would not like to discuss this topic in the way and manner of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. I too have a question for you. Your answer would determine the direction of this conversation: “Do you now believe that Jesus is the son of God the Father?”
Mallam Tijjani: I do not believe in the Holy Trinity because God has no wife. According to the Glorious Qur’an, God cannot be a father and he cannot have a son.
Fr. Cornelius: There goes the difference! Many Christians would not respond to your question about your prophet the way you have reacted to Jesus Christ. The Bible provides the criteria for defining a true, false or professional prophet. The name of the prophet of Islam is not clearly and categorically mentioned in the Holy Bible like the prophets of Judaism to provide a biblical basis to assess and judge his prophetic mission in Christianity. Moreover, the witness of the terrorists who claim Islam as their religion further compounds the problem. However, I cannot say that Muhammad (SAW) is not a true prophet because of some bad Muslims. I accept him for who the Holy Qur’an and the tradition of Islam profess him to be. Nonetheless, the surest argument to convince others about your faith is witness of life. No argument can contradict this because it is like “the evidence before me” in the law court.
Mallam Tijjani: Do every Christian imitate Jesus Christ?
Fr. Cornelius: The ideal Christian strives to be like Jesus Christ. In Christianity, it is believed that if you commit sin, you are crucifying Jesus Christ again. Jesus says: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this everybody will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). After washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus said to them: “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet. I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you” (John 13: 14-15). No Christian can justify his or her evil activity from the life of Jesus Christ because Jesus is absolutely perfect and sinless. Jesus told his detractors: “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me” (John 8:45-46)? The Holy Qur’an also affirms that Jesus is sinless, perfect and holy (Qur’an 19). Thus, Christians do not pray for Jesus.
Mallam Tijjani: Thanks Father, I understand what you are trying to prove. I was only answering based on what the Holy Qur’an said about Jesus. Islam highly respects Jesus as a prophet. But can you please enlighten me more on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity?
Fr. Cornelius: The Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. Given that you do not believe in the Holy Trinity in obedience to the Holy Qur’an, I will begin by telling you why this teaching is difficult for the Muslims to comprehend in the context of the Arab culture. The term, “Son of God”, is understood in Islam only in terms of sexual reproduction but in Christianity, the analogy is far from thinking that God has a son through sexual intercourse. For Christians, the eternal Son of God is one with the father from all eternity, united to him in one Spirit, “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He took “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7).
The Muslims’ concept of the Holy Trinity is based on the Qur’an: “They say: “Allah has begotten a son”. Glory be to Him! No, To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to Him” (Qur’an 2:116). “The Christians say the Messiah is the Son of God, that is a saying from their mouths” (Qur’an 9:30). Before the advent of Islam, the Arab pagans believed in idols as offspring of Allah. In Mecca, the idols, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat were worshipped as daughters of Allah. Christians do not understand the term “Son of God” in the way the Arab Pagans understood their idols. God has unlimited power and with him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Qur’an 58:7).
The expression “Son of God” indicates origin, a close association, or identification. In Christian theology it describes the relationship of two persons of the Triune God. It expresses an intimate relationship between two persons: God the Father and God the Son is expressed by Jesus in the Scriptures. Jesus told Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8-10). He prays: “And now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:13-20). “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days, He has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
In the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, the second person possesses the same essence as the Father; hence he could do the mighty works that he did. God the Father is the Creator, God the son is the Redeemer and God the Holy Spirit is the advocate who sanctifies humanity. The Holy Trinity is a mystery that cannot be fully explained in human categories, but by way of analogy we can say that a biological father, mother and child share in the same humanity. The relationship of the Holy Trinity is a unity of persons that should be a guide to how humanity should be united. We cannot exhaust this topic in a single conversation.
• Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua (omonokhuac@gmail.com / www.omonokhua@blogspot.com)
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11 Comments
INSTEAD OF TELLING HIM THAT ISLAM IS FROM SATAN AND MUHAMMED AGENT OF LUCIFER THE SATAN HE IS BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH. YOU ARE ONLY BOLD IN SPEAKING AGAINST GAYS AND LESBIANS BUT AFRAID IN SPEAKING AGAINST IMMORALITY OF POLYGAMY AND SATANIC NATURE OF ISLAM. HYPOCRISY I HIGH PLACES
To argue, one has to study, watch documentaries, and listen to organised debates on this subject. As far as I have studied and listened to debates on Christianity and Islam, I would say both religions are fundamentally different. I use the words fundamentally different because the foundations of Christianity (Jesus’ divinity, resurrection, universality, the description of heaven/hell, the rewards in heaven/hell e.t.c e.t.c) are at variance with Islam. In actual fact, when you study both religions (and the more you do) you come to the conclusion that they have different ‘Almighty God’. Some examples: (1) In Christianity, the Almighty God is God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whereas it is Allah to Islam. (2) The Almighty God of Christianity says all Liars shall have a place in hellfire but Allah allows a Muslim to lie for the sake of saving his life or in order to spread Islam. (3) In Islam, men marry 70 virgins when they get to heaven, but in Christianity there is no marrying or giving into marriage in heaven. (4) Islam regards committing suicide for Allah’s sake as righteousness whereas Christianity condemns suicide for any reason but encourages perseverance for the faith even until death. (5) Islam admonishes subjugation and even death for being Christian and Jew but Christianity directs that prayers should be said for the unbelievers and forgiveness must be made to any for prayers to be acceptable to Almighty God.
Cut through the chase and consider this:- All living organisms are addaptive and this where the trinity of these entities lies. For example, my mother and father created me biologically (1st point on the trinity or triangle) into an environment in the rurlal Urhobo environment complete with all other living and non-living matters (second point of the trinity) and the environment and the biological predisposition interat to produce me (the final point of the trinity). All points in thius trinity are equal as non can exist without the other – all must go together for life to be sustainable. The moment any one point in the trinity is not in harmony with one or the other, a conflict arises and we either have ilhelath or termination of the trinity (death). Bear in mind that the biological point of the trinity is the center of this trinity. I often hear of people talking of the body, mind and the spirit as the trinity in an effort to make religions that espouse this to be relivant to the fate of the being. I don’t go along with this as you can have the trinity without any religion whatsopever. This because, once the true trinity is established, the living organism can proceed to change the environmental elements of the trinity. This is why the elephant can chose to pull down a tree, a tree may bend in response to the storm and thus shape the effort of the wind upon it. ISIL may wish to demolish art and incur the wroth of the artists who may wish to take action to prevent a repetition. A reader of this cposting might feel to put out and close off any stimulus caused by reading this. A religious person may wish to protect his/her flock from what it may see as false information without any attempt to post its position outside the usual dogma.
Muslims would never ever understand the Holy Trinity. This is because the tenets of Islam seems to be quite contrary to those of Christianity. The actions of Muslims seems to be characterized more by intolerance. All the atrocities committed all over the world including terrorism, arson, mahem, killings, maiming, cutting of throat, etc are all significant characteristics of Islam and these things seem to be derived from their quar’an which enjoins them to kill the so called INFIDELS – anybody who doesn’t believe in their Allah and in their so called Jihad. Though genuine Muslims try to deny these things, but they are very glaring evidences of their agents. It is evil for Islam to authorize the formation of groups like Isis, Al-Shabah, Boko Haram, Alkaida, etc WHOSE stock in trade are destruction. No matter how good hey try to paint these evil actions. these attributes are of the devil whose focus is to steal, kill and destroy. Provisions in the Sharia law itself are bundles of wickedness – authorizing cutting of arms, cutting of limbs, legs, blinding of eyes depending on levels of offense. Muslims should learn to stop being hypocritical about PEACE. They should in the true sense, preach and propagate peace and good neighbourliness (co-existence instead of intolerance).
The Rev. Father should have emphasized on these areas because I don’t think there is any basis whatsoever to compare Islam with Christianity (Holy Spirit). Christians should be bold enough to shout it to the high heavens that the Trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost represent everything love, peace, joy care, protection from evil and caring for others even more than ourselves. It teaches us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, spirit and body and also to love our neighbours as ourselves, including loving the Muslims. Muslims kill at the slightest provocation. There are the problem of the World.
This I believe: “BUT THE NATURAL MAN RECEIVES NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD, FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS TO HIM, NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED” 1 COR 2:14. No Muslim can understand the Holy Spirit. Period. Rev Cornelius knows this but is just trying to be diplomatic.
If trinity is not possible scientifically according to this documentary, then the birth of Jesus that narrated in the Holy Quran 3: 45 – 51 is not possible scientifically. The trinity like the birth of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is far beyond human knowledge and cannot be proved scientifically. What most Muslim scholar failed to realize is that by saying anything contrary about Trinity, they are contradicting the Holy Quran upon which the Muslim faith solely depend.
Is this a politico-religious debate or strictly debate based on what the Bible says? If it is the former, then there is room for what the columnist and most of the commentators say. If it is on the later (i.e. based on what Bible says), then most of what has been said is begging the issue. (1) Strictly, the Bible reveals Jesus of Nazareth as Son of God; not ‘God the Son’. The expressions ‘God the Son’ and ‘Trinity’ DO NOT OCCUR AT ALL IN THE BIBLE. The concept of Trinity is also absent. The biblical God is strictly monotheistic, jealous and refuses to share his worship with any other person(s) or things. He is named uniquely as Yahweh (or variant Jehovah). He is the Almighty, Creator and Universal Sovereign and brooks no opposition to his Rule since he is the Owner and Former of everything. Therefore, Trinitarian God is obnoxious to him.
Jesus presented himself as a Son of God, taught, empowered and sent into the world by the Almighty Yahweh. As fully accredited representative of the Almighty, he exercises some of Almighty’s power delegated to him. He claimed no equality with the Almighty but prayed for the help of that One and carried out the purpose of that One though it was not at times convenient for Jesus.
There is no mystery in Father-Son relationship. I have a son through biological birth or even by adoption. Surely the Almighty can have a son by creation. And Jesus is revealed in the Bible as the First Creation of God! (Rev. 3 : 14) If the Muslims limit their Allah to having a son ONLY through human-like procreation, then it is their business. Yahweh cannot be limited by anything since he is Almighty. Strictly, the Bible recognizes no other HOLY BOOK, that is inspired by Yahweh, other than itself. If the Muslims seek a biblical basis for their faith, they will be looking in vain.
Islam and Christendom have a lot in common in terms of shedding human blood. Islam and Muslims are currently in this saga of blood-shedding in the name of Allah. Christians should remember the Crusades and the 30-year war in Europe when they engaged in the same sanguinary orgies. Yahweh hates shedding of innocent blood and decreed that anyone who does that will have his own blood shed because he created man in HIS own image. My take is that both Islam and Christendom will soon face judgement from Yahweh for their heinous crime against humanity and God
Salam alaykum waramatullahi wabarakatuhu to all like my brothers and sisters in d house. Islam is a religion of peace that preaches tolerance, perseverance, equity, justice, good morals, peace, unity and harmony. It Is d complete way of life dt no researcher of d world can have an infinitesimal doubt in it.
In response to d arguments put 4ward above by my dear honorable member in d house, ds I hv to say:
1. Allah (God) is one.
2. He beget not nor He is begotten.
3. He has no partner, helper, Adviser, let alone family/relatives.
4.Allah hate liars as against ur argument above.
5. Lastly, Allah stated in d Qur’an dt True Muslims should marry when they a capable of doing so to hv children and to save themselves from committing adultery and He (Allah) didn’t say compulsorily we must marry 2, 3 or 4 but if condition warrant us to do so and and we a double, triple, and quadruple sure dt we a capable of doing so, then we a allowed but if we a not it is better to stick to one. Even if we hv the capability to do so and condition warrant dt a Muslim must do so, Allah set a limit to the number of wives a Muslim sshould have in his possession ( e.g 4) no matter how rich or capable u are.
The argument here is between Islam and Theology not Christianity. The two are religions which is mans way he thinks to get to God. In Christianity God came to look for men who are lost in worship of what they know nothing about-church or mosque. Christianity by the Scriptures talk about The Godhead which dwells in Christ bodily not “Holy Trinity”(UN-scriptural word) which is theological teaching of some church. HEB 1:1-3 Makes it clear “God has in sundry times and in times past spoke to the fathers by the Prophets (Isaiah,Jeremiah,Muhammad,… etc) Has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds”. The Jews knew the “son of God” must be God the reason they said he made himself equal with God. That’s what He is.The Laws by the Prophets could not save man. It took (Grace) the Blood of God (The Lord Jesus Christ) to save any soul (Heb 2:14-15) To hold to the PAST OR PROPHETS is to play religion and get lost.Without the shedding of the Blood(PURE ONE/SINLESS ONE) there is no remission of sins. Forget grammar or religious argument and save your soul from the damnation coming upon the world. God Bless you the Reader, Repentance towards God is the way out.
Can we see the remaining responses of Mallam Tijjani if Fr. Cornelius is not trying to sell his views.
“Truine God” – Holy Trinity – that’s man-made doctrine! Moses said, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.” (Deut. 6:4). There is nothing like Holy Trinity – made up of God the Almighty Father, Jesus the only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit! Even if you took the three as a triad of persons, the Holy Spirit should not be included because it cannot
manifest as human, whereas Jesus (like other angels) can manifest in human form and God the Almighty Father also can. Yes, God the Almighty can manifest as human; remember that he says he is “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE”(Ex 3:14), i.e. he
will become whatever he wants to be in order to achieve his purpose!
“…the Holy Spirit is the advocate ….” No. Jesus is the advocate – being referred to as the Word. (John 1:1)
We will review and take appropriate action.