Needless to say, trinity is one of the most controversial creeds,
over which the three divine religions disagree. It is ironic that even
Christians themselves did, do and will continue to differ about such a
creed.
According to Judaism, the belief that Jesus is God, the son of God, or a person of the Trinity, is incompatible with Jewish philosophical tenets. The same applies to belief in Jesus as the Messiah or a prophet of God: those beliefs are also contrary to traditional Jewish views. The idea of the Jewish Messiah is different from the Christian Christ because Jews believe Jesus did not fulfill Jewish Messianic prophecies that establish the criteria for the coming of the Messiah. Authoritative texts of Judaism reject Jesus as God, Divine Being, intermediary between humans and God, Messiah or even saint. The belief in the Trinity is also held to be incompatible with Judaism, as are a number of other tenets of Christianity.1
In Judaism, the idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical — it is even considered polytheistic by some rabbis. According to Judaic beliefs, the Torah rules out a trinitarian God in Deuteronomy (6:4): “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”
On the other hand, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons or hypostases: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; “one God in three persons”. The three persons are distinct, yet are one “substance, essence or nature”.2
According to this central mystery of most Christian faiths, there is only one God in three persons: while distinct from one another in their relations of origin (as the Fourth Lateran Council declared, “it is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds”) and in their relations with one another, they are stated to be one in all else, co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial, and “each is God, whole and entire”.3 Accordingly, the whole work of creation and grace is seen as a single operation common to all three divine persons, in which each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, so that all things are “from the Father”, “through the Son” and “in the Holy Spirit”.4
In the synoptic Gospels, the baptism of Jesus is often interpreted as a manifestation of all three persons of the Trinity: “And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” [Mt 3:16–17] Baptism is generally conferred with the Trinitarian formula, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” [Mt 28:19]
According to Islam, trinity is a false creed and Trinitarians are seen as polytheists and disbelievers. Allah says in the Qur’an:
O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, “Three”; desist – it is better for you. Indeed, Allah 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 Allah as Disposer of affairs. Never would the Messiah disdain to be a servant of Allah, nor would the angels near [to Him]. And whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant – He will gather them to Himself all together. (An-Nisaa’ 4:171-172)
Allah also says:
They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the third of three.’ 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. (Al-Ma’idah 5:73)
Historical Background
Scripture does not expressly contain a formulated doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine did not take its definitive shape until late in the fourth century.5 During the intervening period, various tentative solutions, some more and some less satisfactory were proposed.6 Trinitarianism contrasts with non-trinitarian positions which include Binitarianism (one deity in two persons, or two deities), Unitarianism (one deity in one person, analogous to Jewish interpretation of the Shema and Muslim belief in Tawhid), Oneness Pentecostalism or Modalism (one deity manifested in three separate aspects).
The first recorded use of this Greek word in Christian theology
(although not about the Divine Trinity) was by Theophilus of Antioch in
about 170. He wrote:7
In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are
types of the Trinity [Τριάδος], of God, and His Word, and His wisdom.
And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be
God, the Word, wisdom, man.8
Tertullian, a Latin theologian who wrote in the early 3rd century, is credited as being the first to use the Latin words “Trinity”,9 “person” and “substance”10 to explain that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “one in essence—not one in Person”.11
The first of the early church fathers to be recorded using the word “Trinity” was Theophilus of Antioch writing in the late 2nd century. He defines the Trinity as God, His Word (Logos) and His Wisdom (Sophia)12 in the context of a discussion of the first three days of creation. The first defense of the doctrine of the Trinity was in the early 3rd century by the early church father Tertullian. He explicitly defined the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and defended the Trinitarian
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Trinity is a false creed and Trinitarians are seen as polytheists and disbelievers.
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