Aisha Brown
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 the What? Is this English or is this gibberish? 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?
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.
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.
A FORMAL DOCTRINE IS DRAWN UP
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 bishops first 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.
THE 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.
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)
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)
