Read Journeys, chapter 10

Tawhid and Trinity

Introduction

A confrontation with Ahmad

• He shouted: “Tawhid means I must oppose the Trinity because Trinity is shirk (giving God associates).”
• I exclaimed: “Trinity means that we should love one another.”

1. Muslims proclaim: God is one!

1.1 Tawhid refers to the oneness of God.

1.2 The worst sin that a person can commit is to give God associates.

• That is the sin of shirk.
• Hell is the sure destiny of those guilty of shirk.

1.3 God’s will is also tawhid.

1.4 This is the basis of the Iranian revolution: an attempt to unite the whole nationunder the one will of God.

1.5 The Muslim desire that all society and culture be united within tawhid creates very serious stresses within many Muslim societies.

1.6 God as tawhid is compassionate, but He never comes down to save us.

2. Christians refer to God’s revelation of Himself as Trinity.

2.1 God as Trinity is the God who comes down to save us, God who reaches out to usin reconciling love.

2.2 The term Trinity is not in the Bible.

• The term was introduced into the Church in the second century by a North African called Tertullian.
• We use the term Trinity to try to express in human language our experience of God as three-in-one.

3. Bearing witness to God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

3.1 God is love; within God there is loving fellowship, community, and unity.

3.2 God reveals Himself as Father, our righteous personal creator who encounters usand reveals Himself personally to us.

3.3 God as Son has entered human history as our redeemer and savior.

3.4 God as Holy Spirit lives with us revealing truth and empowering us.

3.5 God as Trinity means that there is diversity bonded in loving fellowship and unity within God. Therefore, we are invited to love one another as God loves within Himself.

3.6 Diversity with unity is a wholesome expressions of our humanity as created in God’s image. That is one reason for diversity of churches; they demonstrate diversity within unity.

3.7 God as Trinity also means that God is reaching out to us in order to redeem us.

4. Interpreting the Trinity to Muslims

4.1 We do not believe in three gods!

4.2 God as Trinity is a surprise and a mystery. Mystery does not mean that it is illogical or stupid; it just means that it is so wonderful and profound that human words are not adequate to explain the wonder of it all.

4.3 We do experience God as Father (personal loving creator), Son (the Word of God and Redeemer), and Holy Spirit (present with us and within us) united in loving fellowship.

4.4 The Quran does talk about the Holy Spirit and the Messiah as the Word of God (4:171). The Quran states the Jesus is the Spirit of God and the Word of God. One cannot separate God from His Word or His Spirit.

4.5 We do not suggest that these terms mean “Trinity” within the Quran, but we do invite our Muslim friends to hear the witness of the biblical Scriptures concerning the mystery of God.

Conclusion

God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is God who seeks us and redeems us!