Defense of the Trinity and Deity of Christ

The Light Shines in the Darkness...

The three major doctrines of the Christian faith that are denied by Islam are the crucifixion of Jesus, the Deity of Jesus Christ, and the Trinity. A historical defense of the crucifixion was dealt with in the defense of the accurate transmission of the Bible. The other two will be dealt with here.

There are two types of objections to the Trinity and the Deity of Christ. The first and most self-defeating is the Biblical objection. The second type which will take up most of this article to answer is the philosophical objection.

The Biblical Objections

In attacking the Deity of Christ and the Trinity, most Muslims have a tendency to use the arguments of Jehovah’s Witnesses against the two doctrines. However, in their haste to find any argument from the Bible, a book that most of them are not familiar with, they forget that the Jehovah’s Witnesses actually do believe that Jesus is the “Son of God.” [The Jehovah’s Witnesses, an Arian cult, believe that Jesus is a god but not God Almighty; see the article on the Deity of Christ.] Therefore, the Muslim is in an odd position of trying to prove from the Bible that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God when in reality, the Bible clearly states that Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 8:29, 14:33, 16:16, 26:63-64, 27:43, Mark 1:1, 1:11, etc.). Thus, their attempt to use the Bible against Christianity is completely in vain. This is why they have to attack the accurate transmission of the Bible in the first place!

As to Christ’s full Deity, the Bible clearly states, both implicitly and explicitly, that Jesus is YHWH, God Almighty. The article on the Deity of Christ goes through all the passages that prove this. In another article, the Deity of the Holy Spirit is proven, and thus, having shown that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, the Trinity is proven Biblically.

The Philosophical Objections

Most of the philosophical objections to the Deity of Christ and the Trinity come from misunderstandings of the two doctrines. Other philosophical objections stem from Philosophical Rationalism, the belief that man can know what reality (including the metaphysical) is like with the use of unaided human reason. I will answer objections to both doctrines in a question and answer format:

The Deity of Christ:

Q. Jesus was clearly a man. If He was a man, then how could He be God?

A. According to Scripture, Jesus was both man and God. So, while there are many passages in the Bible that show His humanity, there are also many that show His Deity. He was the descendant of David and the Son of Mary according to the flesh, but He was also the incarnation of God the Son by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Q. How can Jesus be both 100% God and 100% man? Isn’t that impossible?

A. The question assumes that if something is incomprehensible to the human mind, then it must be impossible. However, just because one cannot completely understand something in its entirety by the use of a finite human mind does not mean that it is impossible. Such a doctrine as the Incarnation is called a “mystery of the faith” (i.e. it is a truth which man cannot fully comprehend). One example that a Muslim would understand is creation itself. How did God create everything out of nothing? Such an event seems incomprehensible to us, but it happened. Also, in Islam, the Koran teaches that men have free-wills, but it also teaches that Allah directly causes all things to happen including the actions of men. So, unless the Muslim is going to give up Islam, he would have to meld these two seemingly contradictory doctrines together into a mystery. If God is infinite in His power, then don’t you think that not everything that He does will be within the comprehension of our finite minds?

Q. God is infinite. Man is finite. Isn’t it impossible for God to become finite because He wouldn’t be God anymore?

A. First, the question assumes Unitarianism. When God the Son was incarnated into human flesh, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit still existed in their infinitude. [Note: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are not three separate beings. See the questions on the Trinity below.] Second, the Incarnation is a mystery of the faith. Just because an event of infinite proportions seems incomprehensible to our finite minds does not mean that it cannot take place.

Q. If Jesus was God, then how could He die on the cross?

A. Jesus was both fully man as well as fully God. He had to eat, drink, sleep, grow in knowledge and wisdom, and obey the laws of nature just like everyone else. Therefore, He could die. However, God cannot and did not die because God is Spirit.

Q. If Jesus was God, then Who ran the universe while He was in the grave?

A. The question assumes Unitarianism. The Bible teaches Trinitarianism (i.e. another form of monotheism). While God the Son was in Abraham’s Bosom (where the sprits of the righteous went after death), God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were still there to run the universe. Also, who says that God the Son couldn’t run the universe from Abraham’s Bosom? [Note: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are not three separate beings. See the questions on the Trinity below.]

The Trinity:

Q. If you have a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit, then doesn’t that make three gods? After all, doesn’t 1 + 1 + 1 = 3?

A. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three separate beings, but rather, they are three separate persons. The word ‘person’ (as used to describe the Trinity) comes from the Greek word hypostasis, and in the Greek language, there was a distinction between person and being. The Trinity may be compared to many things:

1. A Triangle: It is a single triangle, but it has three separate sides.

2. A Three Leaf Clover: It is a single clover, but it has three leafs.

3. A Substance at ‘Triple-Point’: At a certain temperature and pressure for a

certain substance, all three states (i.e. solid, liquid, and gas) are present at the

same time.

Thus, to answer the second question, a mathematical representation of the Trinity would be more along the lines of 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. Sometimes, Muslim apologists will try to attack the Trinity with the use of the ‘3 pales of water’ metaphor. However, such a representation of the Trinity is completely inaccurate. The metaphor would be more accurate if it compared the Trinity to a single pale divided into three porous sections.

Q. How can God be three and yet one at the same time?

A. God is three and one but not in the same sense. He is one in being and three in person. Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb comment:

“Further, the Trinity is not the belief that there are three natures in one nature or three essences in one essence. That would be a contradiction. Rather, Christians affirm that there are three persons in one essence. This is not contradictory because it makes a distinction between person and essence. Or, to put it in terms of the law of noncontradiction, while God is one and many at the same time, he is not one and many in the same sense. He is one in the sense of his essence but many in the sense of his persons.”

-Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1993), p.265.

Q. The Trinity is irrational. It just doesn’t make any sense. If something is irrational or incomprehensible, then doesn’t that mean that it can’t be true?

A. Just because one cannot completely understand something in its entirety by the use of our finite human mind does not mean that it is impossible. Such a doctrine as the Trinity is called a “mystery of the faith” (i.e. it is a truth which man cannot fully comprehend). One example that a Muslim would understand is creation itself. How did God create everything out of nothing? Such an event seems incomprehensible to us, but it happened. Also, in Islam, the Koran teaches that men have free-wills, but it also teaches that Allah directly causes all things to happen including the actions of men. So, unless the Muslim is going to give up Islam, he would have to meld these two seemingly contradictory doctrines together into a mystery. If God is infinite in His being, then don’t you think that the way He exists could be outside the comprehension of our finite minds?

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Some helpful online reading can be found here:

http://www.answeringislam.org/Who/index.html

http://www.answeringislam.org/Trinity/index.html