The triune God of the Bible and Islam

One of the most essential doctrines of the Bible is also one of the hardest to understand and articulate—the Trinity. At the same time, this is the single most offensive element of the Christian faith to Muslims. So it is utterly important that we properly understand the Trinity, especially as we share the gospel with our Muslim friends. In this post, we will try to briefly describe and give evidence of the Trinity.

Helpful and unhelpful ways of understanding the Trinity
Muslims typically do not have a proper understanding of what we mean when we say God is a Trinity. Typically, a Muslim assumes Christians believe God had a relationship with Mary that produced Jesus, the Son of God. As Christians who desire to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel, we must correct a Muslim’s erroneous understanding by both speaking and demonstrating the truth of what God’s word says. However, in our attempts to share the gospel, there are many unhelpful and wrong examples for explaining the Trinity, such as comparing how water exists as solid, liquid and gas, or how one individual can be a father, a son, and a husband. These kind of examples are inadequate and even heretical when used to describe God. In fact, there is really no human analogy that can fully explain the doctrine of the Trinity. For when we refer to the Trinity we mean:

God is one being
God is three persons
Each person is different
Each person is fully God

While no example is able to completely display the reality of the Trinity, there are some helpful ways to express how we believe that God is both one being and three persons. The following illustrations demonstrate that oneness does not inherently entail unitarian oneness. Take the example of marriage. Two individuals become one flesh. Wherever one spouse goes, and whatever one spouse says, it can be understood as coming from both as they are now one unit and one body. There is also the example of music. Music can be represented as notes on a page, as something played or conducted, and something listened to. Also, the essence of language is conceptualized in the mind, spoken by the mouth, and listened by the ear. Time also, though one essence, can refer to the past, present, and future. Even the first example of “one” in the Bible is composed of two presentations: one day is evening and morning. While these examples are also not perfect in explaining the Trinity, they do help make the point that things are not as neatly divided, limited, and singularly one as you would like them to be–not every individual entity is a unitary oneness.

But perhaps a better way to help demonstrate and explain the Trinity is through examples seen in the world. For woven into the very fabric of the universe is the concept of the Trinity. While the following examples also do not prove the Trinity or comprehensibly explain the Trinity, I believe these five distinctions do not make sense without the Trinity. Consequently, I believe these five fundamental realities in the universe cannot be explained by any other worldview or religion than the triune God of Scripture.

Five Trinity Distinctions in Christianity

1 – Creation

Only the triune God of the Bible can justify the existence of creation. If you don’t have the Trinity, you lose the ability to explain why God created the universe. For the triune God creates the universe as an overflow of the relationship he has within himself; within the three persons of the Trinity communing with each other.

Only with the Trinity does God stay the same before and after creation. God creates the world because that is who he inherently is by nature. He is always generating through the eternal begetting of the Son, he is always giving life through the eternal spiration of the Holy Spirit. So the creation of the universe is simply an overflow of his eternal begetting nature. It is fitting for God to give life to creation because it matches his eternal character, for he has always been giving life in eternity past.

However, if you believe God is a perfect and unchanging being, if you believe God is absolutely single and solitary, as Muslims do, then did he not change at the creation of the universe? Without the Trinity, the reasons given for why God would create the universe are ideas like he was lonely, he was bored, he needed fellowship, he desired worship, or you simply claim that it is too mysterious and you can’t truly understand why God would create the universe.

A singular God has no reason to make the world. If a singular God created the world, the creation would change him and he would consequently no longer be God. So we must ask, is the Muslim God a creator by nature? No. There is nothing in his nature creating in eternity. For the God of Islam to create the universe would inevitably lead to a change in his character and nature, which is incongruent and impossible with who God is. God is communicating who he is, displaying forth his eternal nature—namely, that he is triune in nature—by creating the world. So, is the Muslim God a creator by nature? The answer has to be no.

2 – Communication

Only the triune God of the Bible can justify communication. Both the communication we participate with each other and the communication we have with God (from God and to God), is only possible because God is Trinity. For all communication has its ultimate source in the Trinity. The triune God is an eternal communicator by nature. He always has his word with him. He is always and eternally speaking. The Son is eternally the Word God speaks. Without the Trinity, it is impossible to know God or to have any communication with God.

And it is through the triune nature of God we receive his word. The Word of God comes to us by the Holy Spirit. The Bible was not dictated, but it was inspired by the Holy Spirit working through a person. The Holy Spirit is working compatibly with a person, inspiring the author to write so that the words written are genuinely given from God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in an individual person. God’s Word does not come through memorization, a trance, a dream, or dictation. It is illogical to think that God could impersonally and forcibly insert his word to an entirely passive individual, as is claimed by Islam.

Understanding the triune nature of God is thus foundational for why we translate the Word of God. God is an eternal communicator within himself as the three persons of the Trinity communicate with each other. Consequently, every other form of communication and language is capable of expressing the word of God, and should have the word of God translated in their language. Muslims do not place a priority on translating the Quran because within Islam’s understanding of God is an impersonal, non-communicating eternal oneness.

If you take away the Trinity then, you not only have the problem of not being able to answer why God would create the world, you also have the problem for why would God then reveal himself to his creation, for that would also be inconsistent with his eternal nature before creation. So if you reject the Trinity, you must ask, did God say a word before creation? The answer is obviously no. Who would God be speaking to in eternity past? Consequently, if he started speaking to his creation, then that would also imply a change in his character since he is not an eternal Speaker.

3 – Conversion

Only the triune God of the Bible can justify how a person can be converted and given spiritual life. Becoming a Christian is radically different from someone becoming a Muslim or converting to any other religion. This is because conversion is rooted in the triune nature of God, specifically the fellowship and enjoyment of the Holy Spirit in relation to the other members of the Trinity. Thus, conversion is never forced upon someone or external in nature. Conversion always comes about through an individual’s personal choice from being persuaded of the truth. No one becomes a Christian because they are told to, or taught to, or forced to, or to simply gain worldly advantages.

However, in other religions, including Islam, the way you are converted is through external rituals and sacraments. You simply have to proclaim the Shahada and you will then become a Muslim. The situation and disposition of the heart is basically irrelevant. But this is not the case for true conversion.

In Christianity, our ambition is to persuade the heart, such as Acts 18:4 and 2 Cor. 5:11, describe. We desire the spirit of a person to become alive through faith in Jesus Christ. But we can never force someone to do that. This demonstrates that conversion is an example reflecting the nature of the Holy Spirit, who is joyful, who has life and affections. If you don’t understand the Trinity you will not understand why Christians persuade hearts rather than use physical force or authoritarian commands, like other religions commonly use.

4 – Communion

Only the triune God of the Bible can justify the fellowship and friendship found among believers, which is explicitly absent outside the church. Within the church, we have a self-sacrificial love for another. We refer to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We see our union in Christ as spiritually and mutually edifying for our relationships with each other. The essence of our fellowship and common identity is not in asserting certain statements, it is not by undergoing the same rites, it is not by claiming the same title, it is the love and fellowship we have with each other. Acts 2:42 and 2 Cor. 13:13 describe the communing nature of the church and roots it in the inherit communing triune nature of God.

So, if you reject the Trinity, you must ask, is your God encouragement and communion by nature before he created the world? If you answer yes, then he was lacking something before creation. If you answer no, then he changed at the creation of the world. But with the Trinity, you understand God has personal relations within himself, which then extends and overflows to the loving relationships we have with each other and with God. So it is only fitting that the church should be marked by fellowship since fellowship is inherent in the nature of the triune God. Relationships only make sense in light of the Trinity.

5 – Compassion

Only the triune God of the Bible can justify the love and compassion we express towards others and the love God has for us. Self-giving love only makes sense in light of the Trinity. For if God is not Trinity, you must ask, is God a God of love by nature? If so, who does he love before creation? Without the Trinity, you must come to the conclusion that God changed at creation when he started loving or showing mercy to his creation since that would not be possible before creation. There would also be no foundation to love others since love would not be an inherent, eternal characteristic of God—there is no ultimate justification for love without the Trinity.

God has eternal love for himself within the Trinity. As a result, he desires to love and have a relationship with his people. This also explains the incarnation. The Son came in order that the eternal love God has for himself might also be experienced and known by his people. In Islam, God is distant and impersonal. There is no possibility for God to be compassionate and loving because that is not part of his eternal nature.