Muslim FAQ

Muslim FAQ

Q1: Concerning the Trinity as polytheism, as the doctrine of aspects, Sabellianism, is considered heretical.

A1: The Greek terms used here (οὐσία and ὑπόστασις)  are generally translated as “being” and “person”, but can also be translated as “essence” and “existence”, so God is one essence with three distinct (though not separate) existences . According to Hebrews 1:3, the Son is not merely an εἰκών (generally translated as “image”) of God, as man is: He is a χαρακτήρ (which means perfect replication) of God’s ὑποστάσεως; so the Son, being a perfect replication of God’s existence, means HE IS (YHWH is archaic Hebrew for “HE IS”); so God the Father begets God the Son, but does not create him, because that would conflict with the Son being a perfect replica of God’s existence, as God’s existence doesn’t begin or end, and is uncreated; the Son also cannot be a distinct being from God, as God’s essence is predicated upon his existence (ὑπόστασις means the underlying support--I AM). So first of all, ask, “Could God furnish (not create, as God is uncreated) a perfect replica of himself?” Then ask what that would entail, and you get the Trinity. Now of course you might ask, “Why would God do that?” Well, even putting aside the divinity of Christ, the Trinity is fundamental to the Christian conception of God as love, and this explains why: http://www.antiochian.org/node/17594 So it's not a matter of God willing the Trinity by motive, it's a matter of God being Trinitarian in nature. This is all beyond really putting into words except in the vaguest of senses, but it makes more sense when factor out spatial and temporal conceptions, though it nonetheless remains a divine mystery.

Q2: Concerning discrepancy in copies of the Bible, in contrast with the uniformity of copies of the Quran.

A2: First of all, most of old testament was an oral tradition from numerous prophets long before it was committed to writing, whereas the Quran was written down directly after Mohammed's death. Of course it will be more unified than the OT. As for the NT, that is not only also a collection of multiple writers, but it was also composed and propagated when Christianity was illegal. By the time the Quran was composed, Islam had its own state, so all copies could quickly and easily be cross referenced and uniformity maintained by the state.

Q3: Concerning the prohibition of graven images in worship.

A3: The word in the commandments is פֶּ֫סֶל (pesel), whereas צֶ֫לֶם (tselem) is what man himself is (God did not create man in his own pesel, but in his own tselem). This distinction is translated as εἶδος and εἰκών, which are the sources of English words “idol” and “icon”. Before God came down in human form, pictorial representation of him would be impossible, so instead the icon of him was the tablets with the Ten Commandments on them (later on, the Torah). Muslims themselves have icons they venerate: they kiss the Quran and the Black Stone. If you would like further elaboration on this, see Q&A3a  of the Protestant FAQ.

Q4 : Concerning God being able to forgive sins prior to Christ.

A5: While Christ’s atonement is the medium of forgiveness in the new covenant, it is about a juridical view of hamartia (generally translated as “sin”, which is iffy). Hamartia is something that corrupts you. Christ’s death cleanses you of that corruption, because nothing short of God’s blood can do it. Even if God forgives you, you’re still caked with hamartia, and so he also needs to cleanse you of it. Notice that Holy Confession and Holy Communion are distinct sacraments.