This painting depicts a meeting of the believers in Qumran
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." (Surat al-Ma'ida,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. (Surat an-Nisa, 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…" (Surat al-Ma'ida, 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." (Surat az-Zukhruf,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." (Surah Al 'Imran, 50-51)
It is the duty of Muslims, Christians, Jews and everyone in the world to abide by this divine call.
