Published by Out of all my periodic discussions over the last 40 years with Muslim people and their objections to Christianity,
one encounter left this Christian cleric simply tongue-tied…for a time.
As a Bible professor at a Christian university in Oklahoma City, I was excited that a young Muslim woman was a student in my New Testament class. What she contributed in class discussion seemed to be a precise
knowledge of Christianity, even quoting New Testament verses on faith and salvation. Other students, many
raised in church, said she had a better understanding of the Bible than they did. (They were right!)
The one task she lacked in getting an “A” in my class, by her own admission, was her the inability to cite the
biblical references for the answers she gave on homework. That seemed odd. Why memorize verses, yet fail to simply write the book, chapter, and verse? As that needed investigation, we agreed to meet in my office after
class to help her with this part of her assignments.
I opened by complimenting her with my amazement at how well she seemed to know Christianity. She
shrugged, “As a Muslim, I believe almost everything that you believe as a Christian and that we are virtually the same in our belief.”
There was only one thing hard for her to swallow: Jesus being God.
To help with that, I readdressed our class discussion of John 10:30, “What do you think about Jesus
proclaiming, ‘I and the Father are One?’ The Jews recognized that Jesus was proclaiming that He was one
person with God in Heaven and took up stones to kill him for blasphemy.”
“Oh we Muslims believe that Jesus said that!”
“The Koran also teaches that after Jesus ascended into heaven, he stood before Allah and denounced His claim to divinity, saying that only Allah was God.” (Koran 3:51)
She then followed with a comment, leaving me feeling helplessness toward her. “In all my talks with Christians,
the one thing no one can explain to me is the Trinity, how can God be three separate persons, yet still be one at the same time. Jesus can’t possibly be God.”
I recited the illustration of the three forms of water, namely ice, liquid, and vapor, all three had the same elements of water, but she quickly refuted that all three aren’t occupying the same space at the same time. The help I offered seemed completely predictable to her.
Finally, I had to admit that “Some mysteries you simply have to accept by faith.”
“That’s what we’re told you would say,” she added with a sheepish grin, “That is the problem. Even you, a college professor, can’t explain it to me, so I have to just accept it. That isn’t good enough.”
After this meeting, in subsequent homework submissions, she kept mentioning her struggle to reconcile the
idea of the Trinity. Whether she was truly seeking truth or challenging this position, I felt it my responsibility to
struggle and find a simpler and more complete explanation. .
My studies began with the first chapter of Genesis, the creation of mankind. I knew the clues to God’s nature
would be found in what God self-proclaimed, “Let us create man in Our image, in Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26-
27) I already knew that the Hebrew word, “Elohim,” (Us/Our) is plural. Even though He alone is God, this
reference indicates plurality. I knew that many would refute that, as I thought the student would.
Digging deeper, I asked: “Do we completely and perfectly resemble our Creator? If mankind is created in the
image of God, then is MAN a trinity, three in one, simultaneously?
As I tested my theory, I wrote this explanation to her question on her final exam:
“Man occupies the same space as Mind, Body, and Soul/Spirit. There is a “traditional Muslim’s website” that
verifies that same belief, http://www.yursil.com/blog/category/other-religions/. Since both Muslims and Christians can agree at that point, what a wonderful place to start, with mutual understanding.
“A person is still singular, but can he have three separate and unique identities, yet still maintain oneness?
“First, a human has a body. A man or woman has a physical nature. To survive, she has to have a working head, heart, lungs, and other vital organs. Humans are recognized, physically, by facial and body characteristics unique to that individual. However, even though a person is in a coma and can’t communicate, she can still be recognized or have a name. In this case, her body maintains her identity, even though the mind and spirit may not appear to be present. Body is one separate identity.
“Second, a human has a mind. When I speak on the phone, write a text message, or as you are reading this
explanation, it would appear that I am a person. I have an identity that is recognizable as coming from my mind or thoughts, even though you don’t actually see me. These words alone are strong evidence that I exist, through the workings of my mind, without my body. The mind is one other separate identity.
“The third piece is a bit more challenging, defining the human spirit. Emotions, passions, fears, and “being,” are reflective of the spirit. The spirit may not be as observable and identifiable as the other two manifestations of the human and ones values do influence the mind and the body, but is it a separate identity?
“Again, considering the case of a person in a coma, if the person appears to have no brain activity, is that person actually dead? There are documented cases demonstrating that following cessation of consciousness, people have returned from the dead. Is it possible that if the heart stops (hence, the body) and electrical impulses ceased in the brain (hence, the mind), yet the spirit or soul lives on and that dead person can be revived?Although medical science can’t explain this, we are left to grapple with the fact that the spirit, or soul, could be yet a third separate identity of a person.
“Three separate identities, all occupying the same space and time: Man as trinity, created in God’s image. God
must be Trinity in no conflict with monotheism. It adds up: God is still one, just as man is still one.”
At the end of the last class, I pulled her aside privately and asked if she read it. She had. Did it make sense? It
did. In the pursuit of finding truth, could I verify it by meeting with her mullah? No. “He would dismiss it and not likely listen to what I had to say.”
Would she? No. That ended the conversation.
In the same referenced blog above, “Mind, Body, and Soul,” voices that the problem with Christians is that we
can’t explain the Trinity. Yet in their own title, coincidentally, it reveals that the nature of man is in reality a reflection of who God is, simply, Trinity. To deny the divine Trinity would cost disbelieving that God created man in the first place.
Did she earn an “A” in my class? That she did – but the true reward is knowing that man and God, share the exact same nature; we are both trinity.
Sometime later, while watching a travelogue about Crater Lake in Washington, I was struck by the idea of the importance of uncovering that both man and God are trinity. The video showed a pristine lake, whose glassy surface perfectly reflected the sky above, making the point of connection between sky and water almost negligible to the eye. The narrator so aptly observed, “This beautiful body of water is often referred to as the mirror of God.”
As human beings, no matter the religion, politics, sex, or nationality, we ALL mirror God’s image, that of the Trinity.
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