THE CHRISTIAN
ERROR OF THE TRINITY
Harun Yahya
The Qur'an specifically points to the positive beliefs and
moral characteristics of Christians. God has revealed that
for Muslims, Christians are "the people most affectionate
to those who believe" and "not arrogant." (Qur'an, 5:82) According
to Islam, Christians are not deniers, but are a People of
the Book, together with the Jews. In other words, they are
faithful people who believe in God's earlier revelations.
However, the Qur'an does point to one major error by Christians.
That is the error of the Trinity, the ascribing of divinity
to Jesus. God warns Christians in this regard in the Qur'an:
O People of the Book! Do not go to excess
in your religion. Say nothing but the truth about God. The
Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God
and His Word, which He cast into Mary, and a Spirit from Him.
So believe in God and His Messengers. Do not say: "Three."
It is better that you stop. God is only One God. He is too
Glorious to have a son! Everything in the heavens and in Earth
belongs to Him. God suffices as a Guardian. (Qur'an, 4:171)
Indeed, when we look at the historical facts, it can be seen
that the Trinity is a myth which entered into Christianity
at a later date.
Monotheism: The Essence of Christianity
Christianity was originally born among the Jews living in
Palestine. All of those around and who believed in Jesus were
Jews and lived according to the laws of Moses. The most fundamental
feature of Judaism was monotheism, the belief in one God.
However, Christianity began to grow rather different after
the ascension of Jesus into the presence of God and with its
spread from the Jewish world into the pagan one. Monotheistic
belief, the essence of the law of Moses, underwent a great
change and Christians began regarding Jesus as divine.
The belief in the "Trinity" emerged at the end of this process.
This concept describes, for Christians, a three-way belief
in God as "Father, Son and Holy Ghost." The Trinity is one
of the fundamental conditions of faith for traditional Christians.
The belief in the Trinity regards our Almighty Lord from a
superstitious perspective and is a mistaken concept which
ascribes divinity to Jesus, sent by God to mankind as a prophet.
Despite harboring a great many inconsistencies and being totally
incompatible with monotheism, it occupies a central role in
the Christians' corrupted system of beliefs. Someone who does
not believe in the Trinity, and therefore that Jesus is the
son of God, is not regarded as a real Christian by the supporters
of traditional Christianity.
The Pressure on Those Who Denied
the Trinity
One interesting point is that the various individuals and
movements which have opposed belief in the Trinity and maintained
that Jesus was only a prophet of God were subjected to great
pressure during the course of Christian history. These monotheists
fiercely opposed those who said that Jesus was the son of
God, and openly stated that this was "ascribing partners"
to God. For that reason, they were for hundreds of years described
as "heretics" and even "enemies of Christianity," and those
who supported them met with the same reception. Yet those
who believe in the oneness of God have always been in a minority
compared to the proponents of the Trinity in the Christian
world.
Even those neutrals who have researched the subject have
established that real Christianity is the monotheistic Christianity
that was suppressed throughout history. A large part of the
independent Bible researchers, which began in the 18th century
in particular, concluded that the Trinity, confession of sins
and other Christian dogmas had no place in true Christianity.
In their studies of the Old and New Testaments and other Christian
sources, experts have revealed that traditional Christianity
has very different features to that of the time of Jesus,
and was shaped centuries after that time.
Christians Who Have Denied the Trinity
It is under the influence of these sources that some Christian
sects today reject the Trinity. The Unitarian Church, for
example, which maintains churches all over the world, is one
major Christian community which rejects belief in the Trinity.
Although they may hold various different views, the members
of that congregation deny that Jesus is the son of God and
say that Christianity demands belief in a single God. Many
of them emphasize the mistaken nature of the claim that Jesus
was crucified to redeem the sins of the world.
One can find opponents of the Trinity among Christians of
various different persuasions and churches. The opponents
of the Trinity are growing in numbers, particularly in America,
every day, and there is a rapid rise in the numbers of people
who are openly expressing the truth in the Christian world.
Among these, the "Worldwide Church of God" is particularly
noteworthy. Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the church,
maintains that the Trinity is a pagan doctrine which entered
Christianity from pagan cultures.
The most noteworthy point on this subject is that there is
no trace of the belief in the Trinity, portrayed as the foundation
of Christianity, anywhere in the Bible. It appears neither
in the Old Testament, the holy book of the Jews, nor in the
New Testament, the Christian sacred text. Belief in the Trinity
depends on the interpretation of a number of statements in
the Bible, and the word itself was first used by Theophilus
of Antioch at the end of the 2nd century. This belief became
fully incorporated into Christian belief long after that.
For that reason, Bible researchers and those opposed to the
Trinity concentrate on the questions of "Should not belief
in the Trinity, described as the basis of the Christian religion,
be openly stated in the Bible?" and "If this belief were really
true, should not Jesus have openly spoken of it?" The
answer they provide is clear: No belief which does not appear
openly in the Bible and was thus unknown to the first Christians
can form the basis of Christianity. This is nothing more than
a myth which formed after Jesus and under the influence of
Greek culture. It has nothing to do with the essence of Christianity.
This truth can be seen from a careful reading of the Bible.
The Basis of the Bible Is Also "Belief
in One God"
It is revealed in the Qur'an that Jesus issued the following
message to the Jews:
..."O Tribe of Israel! Worship God, my Lord
and your Lord…" (Qur'an, 5:72)
The expressions of Jesus calling to oneness of God are present
even in the gospels of the New Testament, which were exposed
to distortion and falsification. For instance, Jesus answered
a teacher of law who asked him, "Of all the commandments,
which is the most important?" as "The most important one is
this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' (Mark
12:28-30)
The following passage, again from the gospel according to
Mark, shows that Jesus prevented not just the ascription of
divinity to him but even praise of him:
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell
on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what
must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me
good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-except God alone."
(Mark 10:17-18)
In fact, this passage alone is sufficient to show that belief
in the Trinity is a violation of the New Testament. Rejecting
praise and stressing that only God is worthy of praise Jesus
openly stated that he too was a servant of God.
In fact, Jesus is a prophet of God, sent to tell people of
the oneness of God following the corruption of the revelation
brought by Moses and that there is no other god but him. He
called upon the Jews, who had corrupted the true religion
brought by Moses, to abandon their bigoted traditions and
superstitions and to submit solely to God. This message of
Jesus to the Children of Israel is revealed thus in the Qur'an:
And when Jesus came with the Clear Signs, he
said, "I have come to you with Wisdom and to clarify for you
some of the things about which you have differed. Therefore
fear God and obey me. God is my Lord and your Lord so worship
Him. This is a straight path." (Qur'an, 43:63-64)
"I come confirming the Torah I find already
there, and to make lawful for you some of what was previously
forbidden to you. I have brought you a Sign from your Lord.
So fear God and obey me. God is my Lord and your Lord so worship
Him. That is a straight path." (Qur'an, 3:50-51)
It is the duty of Muslims, Christians, Jews and everyone
in the world to abide by this divine call.
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