Sura 112 and the Trinity, part 7 - the last one!

Here are the final paragraphs. The paper itself runs around 4.5 pages single-spaced, excluding works cited.

Finally, let us examine the fourth, final Qur’anic requirement for godhood: the claimant must be absolutely unique. This is the strictest in the eyes of Muslims, who have claimed that, since Jesus Christ was a man, He could not possibly have been God too, since God does not look like anything or anybody a person can imagine or see. However, this allegation becomes somewhat shallower upon closer examination. Following, but by no means complete, is a short series of attributes of the Christian God that, when taken individually, may not be unique; however, when taken together, they make the total triune God absolutely unique.

· The Christian God is love and loves everyone unconditionally (e.g. John 3:16; 1 John 4:8).

· The Christian God chose to manifest Himself as a man (e.g. Isaiah 9:6; Matt. 3:17).

· The Christian God is at the same time three Persons and yet one Godhead (e.g. Matt. 28:19).

· The Christian God commands believers to actively love their enemies as Jesus Christ demonstrated, not only to turn the other cheek (e.g. Matt. 5:44-47; John 3:16; 1 John 3:16, 23; 4:19).

· The Christian God sent Jesus Christ to sacrifice Himself in the place of all people because of His sinless life (e.g. Eph. 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 2:14-18; Qur’an 3:35-36; 19:13, 19).

Although this list only scratches the surface of Christianity, it is clear that the Christian God is like no other, for no other, man-created deity has all of these attributes. Thus, surveying the results of the examinations of the other three conditions for godhood as described in Sura 112 of the Qur’an, one sees that the God of Christianity meets all of the given requirements. If this is true, then it leads to several other possible conclusions: (1) that Allah and the Christian God are the same; or (2) that, if the Qur’an is false on this point, then the Bible is also false; or (3) that either Allah or the Christian God is the true one if they are not the same; or (4) that the Qur’an testifies about Christianity here, not about Islam. Each of these possibilities is controversial and has serious implications; all of them cannot be simultaneously true. Since numerous sources demonstrate that conclusion (1) is false (e.g. M.; “Adam”) and Rhodes, not to mention many other scholars, casts doubt on conclusion (2) (“Inspiration”; “Manuscript”), that leaves only conclusion (3) true and (4) as having a good possibility of being true.

Continuing with this logic, the crux is to demonstrate that, since the Bible has been reliably transmitted (Rhodes), then conclusions (3) and (4) are both true. If they are both true, then the religion of Islam is proved false. If conclusion (4) is false, however, then logic and the Bible count for nothing. Since logic does not count for nothing but rather works in a great variety of circumstances, it follows that conclusion (4) is likely true. This may startle many; however, it is as Jesus Himself said: “…[S]earch the Scriptures…which testify of Me” (John 5:39). Even if the Qur’an is not wholly deserving of being classed with the other texts of the “People of the Book” (i.e. Jews, Christians, and Muslims), it may here unwittingly testify of Jesus Christ, the unique Son of God.

What do you think? None of you have ventured to comment on the paper so far.