Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

When the Muslims and the Jews talk to the fellow Christians about Trinity they invariably talk over each other’s head. Here a genuine effort at understanding what the Christians are trying to say and engage with their ideas rather than creating a strawman argument.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) had the following to say about Trinity today:

Christians believe in the Trinity, which is the idea that God is one being that can be experienced in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The word “trinity” comes from the words “tri” meaning “three” and “unity” meaning “one”. 

Here are some things to know about the Trinity: 

• The Trinity is a central belief: The Trinity is a fundamental belief in most Christian sects. 
• The Trinity is not three gods: The Trinity is not the belief in three gods, but rather that God is one in essence and three in person. 
• The Trinity is a controversial doctrine: Many Christians admit that they don’t understand the Trinity, or that they think they do but don’t. 
• The Trinity was formulated by early Christians: The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated in the mid-2nd century and later by early Christians and fathers of the Church. 
• The Trinity is important: The Trinity helps Christians understand God and how to relate to him. 
• The Trinity is referenced in the Bible: Many Christians believe that Jesus spoke of the Trinity in Matthew 28:19 and John 10:30.

If the Muslims were to engage with the most precise articulation of Trinity by thoughtful Christians, the following video will be of help:

The first Christian philosopher tackling the question in the above video is Peter Van Inwagen. I will offer his views without any commentary from me.

Next we meet Oliver Crisp. He explains some and then acknowledges that Trinity is a mystery. Moderator Robert Lawrence Kuhn raises the concern that how can son be eternal if he is begotten to which Crisp replies that this problem arises because as humans we have the limitations of human language. I will leave it there.

Michael Rea next offers a constitutional trinitarianism.

Sometimes lay people think that Christians take Jesus to be God, but when believing philosophers want to precisely articulate it they say that the second person of Trinity became one with the man, Jesus of Nazareth. It is because of this articulation Jesus is called perfect man and fully divine.

With this concept we have to then try to understand when and how this merger happened? Can humanity mix with divinity and in so doing would they retain their own features like all the finite characteristics of humans and the infinite attributes of God?

Next in this video we meet former professor of theology at Oxford University, Brian Leftow. He introduces the metaphor of time travel to make sense of the mystery of Trinity. He strengthens monotheism by weakening the three persons in Trinity and for that I will applaud him. A step closer to Islam or Judaism.

Last but not the least is another former professor of theology at Oxford University, Richard Swinburne. He argues that God’s perfect generosity requires Him to share and so he suggests that God creates … If God creates something then that will not be eternal? On a lighter note, he suggests that the minimum number of persons required for unselfish love is three. Coming from one of the best philosophers and from a top university, I think in future men will be able to use this argument to find a second wife.

I applaud Robert Lawrence Kuhn for a nice summation at the end of the video.

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