Why Might the Christians Have Made This Groundless Claim?

Trinitarianism has been the cause of considerable debate from the time of its appearance right up to the present day. In fact, these arguments have spread to ever wider areas since the eighteenth century. Biblical researchers of that time first asked why belief in the trinity was not openly expressed in the Gospels, and then questioned under what conditions it appeared. Today, many theologians, scientists, researchers, writers, and independent Christian movements reject many traditional beliefs, particularly the trinity and the belief in the atonement for sins. Some of them, examples of which we shall consider in due course, adopt an Arianist understanding instead of trinitarian belief based upon the Bible and research into surviving works by the earliest Christians.

Following the decisions taken at the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Chalcedon (451),  belief in the trinity became Christianity's foundation stone, and refusal to accept it made one a heretic. Those who said that such an idea contradicted faith in a monotheistic God, who maintained that the trinity did not appear in the Gospels or who had reservations on the subject, were either silenced or pressured into acceptance. In his Articles of the Apostolic Creed, Theodore Zahn says that "the article of faith up until about 250 AD was, 'I believe in God, the Almighty'. Between 180 and 210 AD the word 'Father' was added 'the Almighty'. This was bitterly contested by a number of the leaders of the Church … since they regarded it an unthinkable sacrilege to add or subtract any word to the Scriptures."45

Duncan Heaster, known for his Biblical research, set out his views in a debate on the trinity in 1988:

I would suggest to you that the Trinity is a conception of God which is impossible to understand and which completely contradicts the clear teaching of the word of God. Can you understand a God who is one and yet three and three and yet one? Can you conceive of a son who existed before he was born? A son who is as old as his father? I suggest that the doctrine of the Trinity finds no place at all in the Word of God. There is no mention of the word trinity in the Bible, and it was introduced into Christianity, as most of us here will be aware, in the 3rd century A.D. … The word "God" occurs about 1,300 times in the New Testament, and in not one of those passages where the word "God" occurs is there any suggestion of a plurality of persons in the Godhead... But that God, I submit, is unknown to the pages of the Scriptures."46

Heaster's words are unequivocal, and many other scholars today express the same views. John Hick, for example, author of The Rainbow of Faiths, reaches the following conclusion: (Surely God is beyond all the expressions in the following summary):

1. When we look at the research carried out in recent years, we see that Prophet Jesus did not teach that he was God, or the Son of God, the second element in the Trinity. In complete contrast to that belief, he always taught that he was the son of Man.

2. Christian authorities and theologians are unable to expound the traditional Christian belief that Prophet Jesus is both fully God and also fully human in a comprehensible manner.

3. Belief in incarnation does irreparable harm to Christians' relations with other religious traditions and their adherents. That is because this belief implies that Christianity is superior to other religions.47

One matter needs to be clarified here. This book does not seek to judge either those people who first proposed this belief or those sincere Christians who adhere to it, but to reveal the truth about trinitarian belief according to the Qur'an and to explain how it came to be produced and adopted. It must not be forgotten that true Muslims believe in all of the prophets and books sent by God, and respect Christians beliefs and values. Muslims feel great affection for all Christians who sincerely believe in God, fear and respect Him, are sincerely devoted to Him, and who respect His messenger, Prophet Jesus (pbuh), and approach such Christians in a spirit of friendship and tolerance.

There may be people who propagate belief in the trinity with secret designs of their own, who look to only their own interests. In much the same way, others of sincere intent may possibly have moved away from the true path gradually, without being aware of it. The belief in question, originally expressed in a different form, may have become distorted over time. Communities of individuals who supported beliefs similar to the trinity and played a role in its becoming accepted must have held very different ideas from one another. Some may well have supported such claims, with the aim of emphasizing the superior moral values of Prophet Jesus (pbuh), while others may have misinterpreted metaphorical expressions. Still others, influenced by the prevailing political and cultural conditions of the time, may have wanted to ensure a more rapid spread of Christianity. In rejecting the trinity, therefore, we need to bear in mind the possibility that the first Christians may have fallen into error through being influenced by the historical, political, and cultural conditions of their time, or else may have been adversely affected by the persecution and oppression to which they were subjected. The probable reasons for the claim about the trinity being put forward are revealed in this chapter. (Surely God is beyond all the superstitious expressions employed in this chapter to describe Christians' mistaken beliefs. We once again state that Prophet Jesus [pbuh] has nothing to do with such ascriptions.)