From our human understanding the trinity may seem impossible but is it impossible with God? ‘But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” Luke 18:27
The Qur’ân proceeds to incorrectly describe Christians as believing in a Trinity made up of the Father, Jesus, and Mary:
And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?’” (QS 5:116)
Even when you park aside the New Testament scriptures, the Jewish scriptures (Tanakh) ALONE clearly express this beautiful relationship of the three persons of God. The trinity is unique to the human mind seeing that we see the world in different dimensions to that of God. However, if you can believe that God is EVERYWHERE and ALL KNOWING then you can also begin to understand the triune nature of God, since that is what is expressed IN the scripture and not outside it.
The trinity exists in eternity and was already clearly expressed in Jewish scripture long before the Roman Empire, Paul, the Popes and the council of Nicea! So how do we understand the 3 PERSONS in the Godhead: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? The three persons share the same essence of God. They are unified together as God and function in harmony in the universe as well as in the lives of mankind. While the members of the Godhead have common goals and purpose, as well as shared attributes and functions, each person of the Trinity also has unique roles and responsibilities. In the relational nature of God, The Father directs and delegates the activities of the other two persons. The Father directs and has authority over the Son. The Son obeys and is responsive to the directives of the Father. The Son is SENT. The Holy Spirit is obedient to the directives of both the father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is SENT.
Is it possible with God for two or three persons to be ONE? God tells us, in a sense, it’s possible: Look at this verse for example which already dismisses the human logic of restricting God into our limited dimension of 1+1+1=3
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be ONE flesh.” Tanakh Jewish Bible Genesis 2:24
If in his authority God can command the sum of two people :1+1=1, what prevents him from being 1+1+1=1?
Before God destroys Sodom and Gomorrha two angels visit Lot; later, one of the angels is referred to as ‘LORD’ . “Then the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;” Tanakh Bible Genesis 19:24
Here the Lord is represented as present in the heaven , from where the storm of destruction comes, and on the earth where it falls. A clear example of God being ONE but more than one person!
“HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.”Tanakh Jewish Bible Deuteronomy 6:4
And Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is , Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:” Mark 12:29 KJV
Jesus said :”I and My Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.John 10:30-31 NKJV
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?John 14:8-9
Does God have a son?
“Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in his garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest?” Tanakh Jewish Bible Proverbs 30:4
We can still easily find who Jesus was even if we park aside the issue of whether Jesus was crucified or not by asking itself the questions: why did the high priests ask Jesus, “… tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63)? Why did they want to have him killed if not for saying he was the Son of God and was ONE with the Father (as in God being ONE)?
How many persons are in the Tanakh verse below?
“Come ye near unto Me, hear ye this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord GOD hath SENT me, and His spirit.”Tanakh Jewish Bible Isaiah 48:16
Who are SENT? ‘Me, and His spirit’. By whom? The Son (Me/I ) and Holy Spirit are separate persons and are SENT by the Father (Lord God) The ‘Me’/’I’ says “from the time that it was, there am I”. The Messiah (Me/I) who is the Son and Word of God, declares that he has always existed with the Father from everlasting.
“Behold, I SEND My messenger, and he shall clear the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the COVENANT, whom ye delight in, behold, he cometh, saith the LORD of hosts.” Tanakh Jewish Bible Malachi 3:1
The above verse is important in understanding the nature of the Son of God. In the verse, Yahweh God is speaking, and He says that the messenger (John the Baptist) would prepare the way “before me.” So, it is the LORD God Himself who was coming. Then, God says it is “the Lord” who will come, “the messenger of the covenant.” So, Yahweh is EQUATED with the Lord who was to come, and as we know, the prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus. Therefore, “Yahweh” and “the Lord” are equated with Jesus. It is one of many occasions Jesus is called “God”
‘Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”John 20:27-29
In this Tanakh scripture, the FATHER gives the SON dominion, glory and an everlasting kingdom. The ‘son of man’ is the Messiah (‘Messiah’ in Greek means ‘Christ’) and Son of God and the Ancient of Days is God the Father. The Father gives the Son an EVERLASTING kingdom:
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and he was brought near before Him. And there was given him DOMINION, and GLORY, and a KINGDOM, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his DOMINION is an everlasting DOMINION, which shall not pass away, and his KINGDOM that which shall not be destroyed.”Tanakh Jewish Bible Daniel 7:13-14 3.
If Jesus/the Messiah as Son of God is not part of the THREE PERSONS of the one God, how is it that he will judge, REIGN and be SERVED in heaven by ALL creation for eternity? He will be given a THRONE, GLORY, DOMINION and an EVERLASTING KINGDOM.Are you suggesting a prophet will reign in heaven and all nations will SERVE and GLORIFY him? WHY is he given so much power and an everlasting kingdom? Can you show me in the Qur’an where Allah gives Isa these attributes?
“Thou hidest Thy face, they vanish; Thou withdrawest their breath, they perish, and return to their dust.Thou SENDEST forth THY SPIRIT, they are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth.” Tanakh Jewish Bible Psalms 104:29-30
“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon ME; because the LORD hath anointed me to bring good tidings unto the humble; He hath SENT me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the eyes to them that are bound;” Tanakh Bible Isaiah 61:1
We find the trinity of God in this one verse again [(the Spirit of the Lord God, the Messiah (Me) and the Father (the Lord God)] The Messiah is speaking through the prophet Isaiah as ME. Jesus repeats this purpose of his annointing in Luke 4:17-21:
“and the SPIRIT of the LORD shall REST upon him…” Tanakh Jewish Bible Isaiah 11:2
This is exactly what is recorded happened to Jesus:
‘And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the SPIRIT of GOD DESCENDING like a dove, and LIGHTING UPON HIM : and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 KJV
The Messiah spoke of these three persons when he instructed to:”Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [Matthew 28:19]
The trinity in the Old testament https://youtu.be/6ZID3ez34zk
Jesus (the arm of the Lord), the Holy Spirit and Trinity in the old testament https://youtu.be/9kttWxluMUQ
Jesus: the angel of the Lord in the Trinity The Holy Spirit in the Old testament https://youtu.be/X5IF7ScEuQI
Jesus and God are one https://youtu.be/HJwSUvuY_vk