Headings
Introduction: Christianity completes the Monotheism that is elsewhere suggested
I argue here that all three of the great Abrahamic faiths use scriptural language that implies necessary distinctions inherent in the deity all of which are also predicated of the deity, quite like Trinitarianism. An important feature of the Christian NT is that it takes the additional step of giving these names- divine Father, Son and Holy Spirit. From here, the progress to incorporating these into a Trinitarian formulation becomes seemingly inevitable, while the other two faiths are left to explain these metaphorically, or remaining in them as inscrutable mysteries.
Examples of these are the obscure words of Muhammed himself, which he offers in reply to questioning on the issue: “‘The Spirit is of the bidding of my Lord. You have been given of knowledge nothing except a little.’ (Q 17:85). Equally we have covered the Jewish Talmudic interpretations of this multiplicity associated with the deity in the earlier section. Why would it be that these qualifications are not explicit in Judaism? The obvious answer that seems to present itself is that it is not a finished religion in many other senses as well, for example, Jews are not really told explicitly whether they are going to rise when they die, nor what they are meant to do about the destroyed Temple, missing Messiah and so on.
In this section we examine how the manifest distinctions in the deity parallel each other as preserved in the great three Abrahamic faiths of the present day. It might be asked why I am bringing up the Qur’an here as part of the comparison since the Quran does not bear on how the Bible is interpreted, and this is true, but it provides an interesting study in contrast and commonality.
How could it be that Christianity is anything but monotheistic if all we are doing is admitting that which is already present in the previous Scriptures in shadowy and mysterious form really is divine, on the contrary Christianity is a celebration and final affirmation of monotheism. This is not just a polemical point, it is well-known that there are important instances in the OT where it has been argued that the God of the Israelites is speaking in henotheistic or monolatrous terms rather then strictly monotheistic. Christianity plays the role of putting to an end any doubts regarding this issue of how God is to be viewed- not as the greatest among several, but the only.
Thus when the Holy Spirit speaks and acts as God it is only the Christian religion that will affirm that this is really God speaking, and we have no further need for the obscurity of the Jewish religion, nor of Islam with regards to this.
And when “the Son” speaks and the “Word” acts, we again confirm that this is really God, not the Isa of the Qur’an, a miraculous being that is not created by a human action, and yet can himself give life (see below), nor the similarly creative eternal “Wisdom” of the Jewish literature, nor the “Memra” of the Talmud, as we have previously seen.
The very kinds of discussions that have raged for centuries in Islam and Judaism as to the nature and attributes of God find their answers in the Trinitarian faith.
Divine Agency of the Spirit in strengthening persons
The Holy Spirit is expressed distinctly from God, yet as performing the very roles of God in his actions upon persons- these are in-dwelling, strengthening from within and giving prophecy directly into the soul. It should not be in dispute that only God is capable of such acts.
- Hebrew Tanakh: innumerable times the “Holy Spirit”, “comes upon” persons to enable them to prophesy, or to strengthen them. We’ve already taken a detailed look at these in the section on the Holy Spirit in the OT.
- Qur’an: “we strengthened him with the pure spirit (biruhi l-qudusi)” (Q 4:171). Jesus, a spirit from Allah. We mention the divine roles played by Jesus in the section below.
- New Testament: “filled with the holy spirit” (eg. Jesus in Lk.4:1, 10:21 and Acts 10:8; Stephen in Acts 7:55)
Divine Agency of the Word
Next we see that there are verses in which God’s Word is distinct from him and itself functions as an agent in the world in general. The argument here is that God’s Word, if it is to represent God’s very Wisdom, must be inherent to God, and yet it is expressed as distinct from him:
- Hebrew Bible: We’ve listed an entire section on the agency of the Word of God in the preceding.
- Qur’an: In Surah 4:171 (also see 3:39, 3:45) Jesus is said to be “Allah’s messenger and his Word” and “a spirit from him”. Significantly, Jesus is the only Qur’anic figure to be given these titles of “word” and “spirit” of Allah (the definite article could be implied if there is exclusivity- “my car” is “the car of me”, if I only have one car). Thus Allah’s word and spirit are depicted as distinct from Allah, “personalized” and with agency as Jesus.
- This terminology in relation to Jesus is also confirmed in reliable traditions preserved in “hadith” wherein we even see the use of the definite article “the spirit of Allah” (Muslim 193a, Bukhari 7410).
- Further, Jesus takes on divine attributes like seeming omniscience “he knows what you eat and that which is stored in your houses” (Q 3:49), and creating life and raising the dead. That he does this “with the permission of Allah”, does not necessarily separate it from the Trinitarian paradigm since the Biblical Jesus submits to the Father’s authority at all times anyway.
- Further, not only does Jesus seem to create and grant life, but also he is himself not created through human action, since the virgin birth is attested to in the Qur’an.
- If that were not enough, Jesus’ own mother is “purified” and chosen over all the other women of the world (Q 3:42), and of all human beings, only Jesus and his mother are untouched by Satan in the womb (Bukhari 3431, 3286), as also is he called a “pure son” (Q 19:19)
- Christian NT: Divine agency is ascribed to the Word of God typically in the writings of John (Jn.1:1-4,14, 1Jn.1:1, Rev.19:3). There are innumerable verses of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels acting in a divine capacity as I detail here The Trinitarian Verses in the New Testament.
Holy Spirit predicated of God per se
- Hebrew Bible: We’ve discussed the verses in which the Holy Spirit is predicated of the Divinity itself when we analyzed Isaiah 63:10-14, and we examined several verses wherein the Holy Spirit takes on the role of God himself, enabling prophecy, in-dwelling persons, enforcing God’s Will, enabling obedience, creating and so on.
- Qur’an: “Allah blew of his spirit”. One cannot blow of/from anything that is not inherent to one, thus “spirit” is necessarily predicated of Allah. This terminology is used not once, but four times in key verses.
- Christian NT: “the Spirit of Truth to be with you forever” (Jn.14:17, also in Acts 1:4, 2:33). A “Spirit” of whom both truth and eternal agency are predicated can only be God.
- Again in St. Paul’s Epistles, “the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1Cor.2:10), the Holy Spirit is equated to the Love of God (Rom.5:5).
- There are numerous verses in which the Holy Spirit is described in language which has trinitarian implications as I detail here The Trinitarian Verses in the New Testament. For example Jesus breathing upon the apostles and stating “receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn.20:22) is a divine act which is a direct parallel verses that describe Yahweh sending “his Holy Spirit” upon persons.
Conclusion
Thus we can see that all the religions teach the Holy Spirit as an entity both at once the Deity as well as possessing its own distinction which forces the interpretation that it is a distinction which is inherent within the Godhead. This irrespective of whether the deity is named Yahweh or Elohe, or Elohim or Allah, the Holy Spirit maintains a distinct presence in all cases in every religion.