Answering questions from Facebook about the Trinity

Aboobucker Sidheq

Logical demanding questions:
1. When Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – died on the cross. Did he die as a " MAN " or did he die as a " GOD " ?
2. To be " GOD " means freedom from finite forms and from helplessness , and to be " MAN " means the absence of divinity. Can you have the FINITE and INFINITE at the same time?
3. Is God three-in-one and one in three simultaneously or one at a time?
4. If God is one and three simultaneously, then none of the three could be the complete God. Granting that such was the case, then when Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – was on earth, he wasn’t a complete God, nor was the"father in Heaven" a whole God. Doesn’t that contradict what Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – always said about His God and our God in heaven, his Lord and our Lord? Does that also mean that there was no complete God then, between the claimed crucifixion and the clai...med resurrection?
5. If God is one and three at a time, then who was the God in heaven when Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – was on earth? Wouldn’t this contradict his many references to a God in Heaven that sent him?
6. If God is three and one at the same time, who was the God in Heaven within three days between the claimed crucifixion and the claimed resurrection?
7. Christians say that: "The Father (F) is God, the Son (S) is God, and the Holy Ghost (H) is God, but the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is not the Father". In simple arithmetic and terms therefore, if F = G, S = G, and H = G, then it follows that F = S = H, while the second part of the statement suggests that F ¹ S ¹ H (meaning, "not equal"). Isn’t that a contradiction to the Christian dogma of Trinity in itself?See More

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Answers:

First off let me clarify that logic  in the most simple, cut and dry definition is; reasonable thinking free of contradiction. Contradiction; you can say is to claim opposite things about the same thing at the same time in the same way. Logic is not what you personally believe or what makes sense to you, something can make sense to you and be illogical and vise versa. 

To address your first question, A true deity is the type of being that is self-existent, non-contingent, and has the attribute of beginningless eternal life. For a being to be considered a God it can not have begun at a certain point in history nor could it's existence ever end at any point in history. 

 Death in this context means the end of human life by the spirit being separated from the physical body. Based on this definition a divine being could not experience death, because a divine being is not made up of a spirit and physical body. If that divine being took upon itself human nature then in that human nature it could experience death.

The doctrine of Incarnation states the divine eternal Word of God who in very being is God(John 1:1) took upon himself an additional nature, that of a man and lived on the earth. What is not being said for clarifications sake is that the Word transformed into human nature and stopped being fully divine in being. Thus Jesus Christ was a person who had two beings, divine and human. When Jesus died on the cross he died like any other human being dies in regards to his human nature, his divine nature did not cease to exist nor could it.  

¹⁴ 

John 1: 14

The Word became flesh^[k]

and took up residence^[l] among us.

We observed His glory,

the glory as the One and Only Son^[m] from the Father

As for your second question, I can not be finite and infinite at the same time, nor could you or any other created being. The real question here is could God take upon himself finite human nature and at the same time maintain divine infinite nature? My answer would be yes, in fact I do not think it would be hard or difficult for God to accomplish. God is a being who is so capable and powerful that he can act within nature(or the spiritual world) in supernatural ways that defy the laws of nature and what we consider normal. 

To answer your third question, it is clear you do not have a proper understand of the doctrine of the Trinity and this is causing confusion.  The doctrine of the trinity teaches God is one simple unified being(meaning a life form, existence, type of living being, nature). God's one being is a total unity and indivisible, but God's being came be described as having distinguishable aspects and attributes. The Bible teaches God is a personal being, not merely a thing without mind and consciousnesses. Yet the Bible goes one step further in teaching God is not just one mind or center of conscientiousness but three. 

The fourth question is rather long and made up of more then one question, let me address that now.  Let me correct any possible misunderstanding you(or the reader) may have,  as I stated in question three's answer God is one being and indivisible.  What is being said is not that God is three gods in one God, or one God in three gods, in fact such a belief is not the doctrine of the Trinity, that belief is called Tritheism. Tritheism is considered a heretical teaching in mainstream orthodox Christianity, people who believe such things are not true Christians. 

The Trinity does not represent "pieces" of God or parts of God, such a idea violates the doctrine of Divine Simplicity i.e God being one indivisible being without parts. So the first part of your questions is not relevant to the doctrine of the Trinity. 

As for the second half of your question concerning how the distinct persons of the Godhead interrelate, before or after the incarnation, let us focus on that from here. When terms like Father and Son are used to describe God this is an attempt to describe the relationship within the Godhead in a way we as human beings could possible comprehend. Ultimately all human language fails to give God's being and nature justice, and it will always be impossible for finite human beings to ever completely understand God fully in this lifetime. 

God is one being who is three persons,  being is not person and person is not being. For example God has attributes  God is all knowing, all wise, all powerful , most merciful etc. God's attributes are not divisions in God's being, having infinite distinguishable attributes does not change the fact God is one being. All of God's many attributes are only aspects of one unified being. The same principle is being applied to the subject of person-hood,  persons are not divisions in God's being but aspects of God's being. The Father is God the Son is God and the Spirit is God, aspects of one being, not third's of God's being. The same way the attributes of omnipotence, omnipresent, and omniscient could not be characterized as thirds of God. 

When God the Son incarnated and took on human nature, in order to fulfill his mission and the many prophecies made concerning the Messiah, he willing choose to act from his human nature and subject his divine nature to the Father. Only using his divinity in accordance to the Father's will. This is a issue of relation and operation not of being or nature. His willing subjection did not alter his divine being in any manner. After his death on the cross and resurrection(The Glorification) he declared to his disciples that he no longer was acting as a mere humble servant but was king of the universe having all power in his hand.

Matthew 28:17-19

¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped,^[a] but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of^[b] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

As for questions five, six and seven I refer you back to the answers given for the previous questions. The Father, Son and Spirit are not parts of God nor are they gods separate from each other or God's being, so again such questions are not relevant to the doctrine of the Trinity.


God Bless

C.L

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Answering a Muslims question " who told you to be Christian " ?

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  Faizal Kizza YES, YOU pretend to follow the Bible, when it come to ask you for evidence you beat around the bush, give us the proof from your Bible, Who told you to be Christians??

  10 minutes ago · Like
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  CL Edwards Faizal Kizza al miskeen 
  
  this is one textual evidence
  
  Matthew 28:16-20
  16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
  
  To worship Christ, to obey him, to be baptized in is name along with the name of his Father and the Spirit is to be Christian, the word Christian summarizes these things into one word.

  about a minute ago · Like

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Answering a Muslim's concerns about dietary laws

Question  to any Muslim if you are so troubled by Christians eating pork then why are you not troubled by Muslims eating other unclean animals as well? 

Abdulmalik Adamu ChindoIslam vs Christianity © World Largest Religious Discussion Facebook Group

BIBLE FORBADE EATING PORK BUT CHRISTIANS ARE STILL ENJOYING IT. WHY???
Leviticus 11:7-8, ''And the pig, because it parts
the hoof and is cloven-
footed but does not chew
the cud, is unclean to you.
You shall not eat any of their
flesh, and you shall not
touch their carcasses; they
are unclean to you.''

Like ·  · Share · 30 minutes ago via mobile · 

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  CL Edwards God forbid camel Muslims are eating it why? The ceremonial and ritualistic aspects of the law were types and shadows of Jesus Christ, when Christ came they were fulfilled, a New Law and covenant is in effect.
  
  31 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
  —Jeremiah 31:31–34
  
  If there is a NEW covenant then why would we be expected to follow the OLD one ?
  
  What you eat or don't eat doesn't make you a good person or holy before God. Only the pure in heart will enter Jannah your food doesn't make your heart pure or impure. The dead useless rituals of Islam or any other religion will do nothing for you on the day of judgment.So no Timou Aymen if you think God is going to be impressed becuase of your diet or rubbing tap water on your body or any other ritual you are lost in superstitions. Tap water will never wash away all your sinning.
  
  Now I find it odd that Muslims are so concerned about this when your prophet has violated so much of God's law , instead of only reading the small quotes your Imam told you to read you should be a independent thinker and read the whole passage. 
  
  "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Say to the Israelites: "Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you."’" Leviticus 11:1-4
  
  The camel is unclean yet Muslims blind follow behind Muhammad and eat while hypocritically trying to accuse Christians of violating God's law. This was not the only law Muhammad violated and changed.

  a few seconds ago · Like

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The Master's Seminary Chapel lecture series on Trinitarianism

The Master's Seminary Chapel lecture series on Trinitarianism

Psalm 119:66

Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.

To listen click on one of the links below:

Feb, 5 2013

Trinitarianism & Creationism Selected Scriptures

Dr. Bryan Murphy

Feb, 7 2013

Trinitarianism & Inspiration Selected Scriptures

Dr. William Barrick

Feb, 12 2013

Trinitarianism & Salvation/Sanctification Selected Scriptures

Dr. Andrew Snider

Feb, 14 2013

Trinitarianism & Eschatology Selected Scriptures

Dr. Michael Vlach

Feb, 19 2013

Trinitarianism & Church History Selected Scriptures

Professor NathanBusenitz

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Believers and those with civilized compassionate hearts pray for Nigeria: " 'Boko Haram on verge of seizing control of state' "

Believers and those with civilized  compassionate hearts pray for Nigeria: " 'Boko Haram on verge of seizing control of state' "

From : http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2013/05/2486398/

President’s 'state of emergency' decree fails to stop murder of Borno State CAN Secretary

Rev. Faye Pama Musa, CAN Secretary for Borno, was killed in his home by suspected Boko Haram members.

World Watch Monitor

Borno State in Northern Nigeria has been teetering on the brink of a takeover by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, warned its Governor, Kassim Shettima, a few days before the declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan of a “state of emergency” in Borno and two neighbouring provinces.

The President’s declaration on Tuesday (May 14), which also applies to Yobe and Adamawa States in the country’s troubled North East region, was followed shortly after by the murder of the Secretary in Borno of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Faye Pama Musa.

Musa, head of REME Assembly in Maiduguri (the Borno State capital) and Chairman of the state’s Pentecostal Fellowship, was reportedly shot at close range by two suspected Boko Haram members in his house, in the presence of his daughter, who pleaded with them to spare her father’s life.

A few days before, Borno's Governor Kassim Shettima had briefed visiting Senators and military advisers in a confidential security meeting on May 7, and warned them Boko Haram was close to seizing power in the state.  

"The future is very bleak for all of us as the current crisis is just an appetizer of things to come. Very soon the youths of this country will be chasing us away."

--Kassim Shettima, Governor of Borno

Shettima also said: “Underneath the mayhem of Boko Haram, beneath the madness lies the underlying cause, which is extreme poverty and destitution which have permeated all spectrums of our society.

“Only and until we address some of these issues, believe me, the future is very bleak for all of us as the current crisis is just an appetizer of things to come. Very soon the youths of this country will be chasing us away.”

Reuters quoted Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi as saying: "What the governor said was frightening. He informed us there is a possibility that this state will be taken over by Boko Haram ... that they have the ability to do whatever they wanted here. I had thought Boko Haram had been subdued to some extent."

On May 14, CAN Chairman in the state, Reverend Titus Pona, who confirmed Musa’s death, said the Christian community in the state capital last week received a death threat from an unknown group to kill or kidnap a pastor, but it was dismissed.

“We never thought that the rumour could turn out to be true, and we’d told the Governor that our area was safe,” Pona told reporters in Maiduguri.

“Of course, there were no killings around this area before and where I am living has also been seen as safe, until they started killing people again. It is very unfortunate that they came to attack an innocent man.

“Our prayer and hope is that the amnesty declared by the President would help to fish out [those responsible] and bring them to justice for the innocent lives they have taken.”

The Governor promised in a condolence message to CAN that the perpetrators would be brought to justice and that Musa’s family would be provided for.

The National President of CAN, Ayo Oritsejafor, and Rev Felix Omobude of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, condemned Musa’s murder and called for improved security following Shettima’s admission that Boko Haram were on the verge of seizing control of the state.

Oritsejafor called for the dissolution of the committee created by the federal government to negotiate with Boko Haram and other violent groups in the country, saying “no reasonable agreements can be reached with terrorists”.

President Jonathan has announced a 'state of emergency' in Borno.

Commonwealth Secretariat / Flickr / Creative Commons

President Jonathan announced controversially last month that an amnesty was being considered with Boko Haram.

Christian organizations and leaders responded almost universally negatively to this idea.

"Why should they be given amnesty?” said Rev. Joshua Ray Mains, Bauchi State Secretary. “Are we congratulating them for the people they have sent to their early graves, or are we encouraging them to continue with their acts so that other groups can take advantage of the amnesty and continue to disrupt the peace of the country?"

However, Bishop Matthew Kukah, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, supported the amnesty, saying in his Easter message it would bring the country closer to a new dawn.

“To reject amnesty is to place oneself at the same level as these miscreants,” he said. “An offer of amnesty is not the same as a declaration of amnesty. An offer of amnesty brings the penitent to the table as a first step. Amnesty is a process, not a destination. The offer of amnesty will not solve all our problems, but it will bring us closer to a new dawn.”

The declaration of emergency across the three states, and the resulting mass deployment of military has been welcomed by many groups in the country.

However, the Progressive Governors’ Forum had earlier “implored Mr. President to be consistent with the combination of dialogue and mediation which he has already set in motion, and [hold back from] action on the planned declaration of State of Emergency in the affected states, which we believe would be counter-productive”.

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C.L will be on ABN's Jesus or Muhammad tonight 5/7/2013 @ 8 PM EST

Christianity is being purged from the Middle East. God willing I will be on ABN's Jesus or Muhammad tonight with Sam Shamoun talking about The Boston bombing and why it is reasonable to fear Islam. Fight or Flight is a natural human reaction to danger, Islam is dangerous to none Muslims that's why you see so much flight and fighting in the middle east. 

ABN link to watch on live-stream 






Here is a clear example

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway.  Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other. 

We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.”  In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/05/07/mass-exodus-christians-from-muslim-world/#ixzz2Sch3BCrf

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