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1.2.2: The "Trinity,"
or 1+1+1=1
"Opeople of
the book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of
Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was
[no more or less than] a messenger of Allah, and His
word, which he bestowed upon Mary, and a spirit preceding
from Him: so believe in Allah and his messengers. Say not
"Three": desist!, it is better for you, for Allah is one
god, Glory be to Him, Far exalted is He above having a son.
To Him belong all things in the heavens and the earth. And
enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Nissah(4):171
"Or have they (mankind) chosen gods from the earth who
raise the dead If there were therein gods besides Allah then
verily both (the heavens and the earth) would have gone to
ruin. Glorified be Allah, the Lord of the throne from all
they ascribe (unto Him)"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Anbia(21):21-22
"Allah coineth a similitude: A man in relation to whom
are several partners quarreling, and a man belonging wholly
to one man. Are the two equal in similitude? Praise be to
Allah, but most of them know not."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Zumar(39):27.
In other words, which would be more conducive of harmony:
For an employee to have two bosses quarreling over him, or
for each employee to have only one boss?
"Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): If there were
other gods along with Him, as they say, then they would have
sought a way against the Lord of the Throne. Glorified is
He, and High Exalted above what they say! The seven heavens
and the earth and all that is therein praise Him, and there
is not a thing but hymns his praise; but you understand not
their praise. Lo! He is ever Clement, Forgiving."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Israa(17):42-44.
"And say: Praise be to Allah, Who has not taken unto
Himself a son, and Who has no partner in the Sovereignty,
nor has He any ally through dependence. And magnify Him with
all magnificence."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Israa(17):111.
"Allah has not chosen any son, nor is there any God
along with Him; else would each God have assuredly
championed that which he created, and some of them would
assuredly have overcome others. Glorified be Allah above all
that they allege. Knower of the invisible and the visible!
and exalted be He over all that they ascribe as partners
(unto Him)!"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Muminoon(23):91-92.
The concept of the "Trinity" as originally adopted by
Christianity three centuries after the departure of
Jesus (see historical details at the end of this chapter)
and taught to Christians ever since is the merging of three
entities into one similar entity while remaining three
distinct entities. In other words: Three bodies fold, blend,
or merge into one body so that they become one entity while
at the same time exhibiting the characteristics of three
distinct and separate entities. It is described as "a
mystery." As we just read, the first definition of the
Trinity was put forth in the fourth century as follows:
"...we worship one God in the 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 saved
must thus think of the trinity..." (excerpts from the
Athanasian creed).
When the Church speaks of worship, God, Jesus, and the
Holy Ghost are claimed to be one being. This
is because verses such as Isaiah 43:10-11 and countless
others are very explicit in affirming that God Almighty is
ONE. However, when they speak of "the death of God" it is
Jesus (pbuh) who is claimed to have died and not God or the
"Trinity." Now the three are separate. When God is
described as having "begotten" a son it is not the "Trinity"
nor Jesus (pbuh) which has begotten, but a distinctly
separate being from the other two... there are many
such examples. So how do we resolve this problem? Do we
simply have blind faith or do we "love the Lord thy God
with all thy mind,"?. If we chose the later
course of action then we shall first need to specify what
authority we shall accept in our recognition of the true
divine nature of God Almighty.
When God Almighty sends down a revelation, He addresses
it to the common man, the carpenter, the blacksmith, the
local merchant. God does not reveal His scriptures in a
language that only the deep thinkers, the most learned
scholars, and those with Ph.D.s in rocket science alone can
understand. This is not to say that it is not necessary to
consult people of authority in this scripture in times of
difficulty regarding matters of secondary importance,
however, if it were impossible for the common man to even
recognize from his scripture who is God, or "who do I
worship?" without extensive external influences from learned
clergymen, then I am sure you will agree that not very many
people shall ever be guided to the truth of this scripture
and the basic message contained therein.
The matter of "who do I worship" is without a doubt the
hands-down most important, nay crucial, piece of information
that must be provided a reader of a divine scripture before
they can accept a single word of this scripture. This matter
must be made exceedingly clear to them before they can
accept a single commandment. If I wish to work for a company
but I do not know who is(are) my boss(s) then how can I know
what he(they) want me to do? How can I know which commands
to follow and which not to?
For the same reason, we would be justified in expecting
that if we were to present a native of the jungles of
Zimbabwe with a copy of a divine scripture in it's original
language, and we were to leave without saying a single word
to him, then we would expect that at the very least, this
person should be able to extract from this scripture the
nature of the One who inspired this book.
Therefore, let us begin by drawing a table and including
in this table some commands of the Bible where we are
explicitly commanded to recognize that God is
one, and also all verses where it explicitly
commands us to believe that He is three. Once the Bible
commands me to believe that God is three in one then I shall
not ask for an explanation or a justification. I do not need
God to explain "how" He can be "one" and also "three" at the
same time. All I want is for the Bible to command me to
believe that this is so and then command me to have blind
faith. Here is our table:
-
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Explicit Statement
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God is ONE
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-
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God is THREE
|
-
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Now that we have built this table we are ready to
proceed. Let us begin by filling in the first line.
In the Bible we read:
- "Know therefore this day, and consider
[it] in thine heart, that the LORD he
[is] God in heaven above, and upon the earth
beneath: [there is] none else." Deuteronomy
4:39.
- "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
Exodus 20:3
- "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the
LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a
jealous God:" Exodus 34:14
- "Ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD,
and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and
believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before
me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me. I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and
beside me [there is] no savior." Isaiah
43:10-11.
- "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his
redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am] the first, and
I [am] the last; and beside me [there is]
no God." Isaiah 44:6
- "That they may know from the rising of the sun,
and from the west, that [there is] none beside
me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none
else." Isaiah 45:6
- "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens;
God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath
established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it
to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there
is] none else." Isaiah 45:18.
- "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of
the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is]
none else." Isaiah 45:22
This is only a brief sampling, however, it is sufficient
for now. So let us fill in the table.
-
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Explicit Statement
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God is ONE
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Isaiah 43:10-11, Deuteronomy 4:39, Isaiah 45:18,
Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 45:6, Isaiah 45:22, Exodus
20:3, Exodus 34:14
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God is THREE
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-
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So now let us move on and fill in the second line. Let us
start with the verses quoted by Mr. J.
Mr. J. has presented us with Matthew 28:19, I Corinthians
12:4-6, II Corinthians 13:14, and Jude 1:20-21 as proof of
the claim that God Almighty is three-in-one. Let us study
them. But first, let us clearly define our goal. When I
asked for a verse wherein God is explicitly claimed to be
"three in one," what I wanted was a verse that says
something like "God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are all
gods, however, they are not three gods but one God," or
"God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are the same being,"
or "God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are one and the
same" etc.
Just because the words "God," "Jesus," and "Holy Ghost"
might appear together in one verse does not mean this verse
requires a "Trinity," or "merging of three into one." Even
if this verse also contains the word "one" this still does
not necessarily require a "Trinity." For example, if I say
"Joe, Jim, and Frank speak one language" this is not
the same as saying "Joe, Jim, and Frank are one
person." As we shall see, the examples Mr. J. has
presented are all at best implicit statements, so let us
begin by modifying our table and inserting these verses:
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Explicit Statement
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Implicit Statement
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God is ONE
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Isaiah 43:10-11, Deuteronomy 4:39, Isaiah 45:18,
Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 45:6, Isaiah 45:22, Exodus
20:3, Exodus 34:14
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-
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God is THREE
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None so far
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Matthew 28:19, I Corinthians 12:4-6, II
Corinthians 13:14, Jude 1:20-21
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Let us now study Mr. J.'s examples:
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