In the fourth of this series, we look at what Muslims regard as the great 'gotcha' against Christians, in the claim that "the Trinity is irrational'.
Often the glib comparison: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 ? is offered (opening the way to 1 * 1 * 1 = 1 ! reply).
This is of course nonsense and misunderstands the distinction between 'class' and 'member of the class', or 'set' and 'member of the set' if you want to play maths games. or between the general philosophical problem of 'the one as against the many'. That is, how can one unified reality exhibit a diversity of elements, 'things' or members.
Exilic religions overcome it by absorbing all diversity into an impersonal amorphous finality, while mimetic religions handle it by making the many utterly subservient to and interoperably components of the one with no finally differentiated being: we are all 'part' of the one in terms of an absorbed individuality.
Islam has no answer to this because its 'god' is a monad and not amenable to encompassing the 'many' of its alleged creation. It is also an irrelating monad: which it must be because it can have no diversity, and therefore no foundational relational capacity.
Very simply, the scriptures tell us that God is a 'complex' being of three (many). He is represented throughout scripture as Father, Son and Spirit all equally in their God-ness but differentiated in their who-ness.
As I mentioned previously, this article discusses the issue.
However, the concept of 'trinity' is not 'irrational', as Muslims often claim. We have many examples of the concept of a 'class' or 'set' and its members in ordinary life.
Humanity is the class, the 8 billion individuals are its members. All equally human, and all inter-communicatively human.
Family is the class, the (2-n) members are...its members. All equally members of the particular family, and all inter-communicatively within the family.
If you are an engineer, you will appreciate the trinity as a divine multiplex: one channel transmitting many signals; except the trinity transmits a fully inter-communicatively coherent 'signal'.
BUT!
The Quran also has a 'trinity'; but Muslims, because they misunderstand the Biblical trinity, fail to see it in the Quran.
The Muslim misunderstanding derives from the early Quranic writers own misunderstanding:
Surah 5:116 Saheeh International
And [beware the Day] when Allāh will say, "O Jesus, Son
of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides
Allāh?'" He will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that
to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know
what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is
You who is Knower of the unseen.
Surah 5:73–75 Saheeh International
They have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allāh is the
third of three."1 And there is no god except one God. And if
they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the
disbelievers among them a painful punishment.
So will they not repent to Allāh and seek His forgiveness?
And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other]
messengers have passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth.
They both used to eat food.1 Look how We make clear to them the
signs; then look how they are deluded.
But the Quran in its misunderstanding of the Trinity, creates one of its own:
Surah 4: 171 Saheeh International
O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allāh except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus the son of
Mary, was but a messenger of Allāh and His word which He directed to
Mary and a soul [created at a command]* from Him. So believe in Allāh and
His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you.
Indeed, Allāh is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him
belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And
sufficient is Allāh as Disposer of affairs.
Here there is Allah (God), and Yeshua (whom the Quran insults by reversing his name to "Issa") who is Allah's word, and a spirit proceeding from Allah.
Now we see Allah's word is eternal (the Quran is said to be an eternal book on tablets in 'heaven'), and his spirit is eternal. So here we have three eternals: all must be equally eternal, but are identified in three specifics: Allah, Allah's word, and Allah's spirit.
*The comment in brackets is added by the translator and not 'revealed'.
