Hence we conclude that the existence of the three Most Holy Hypostases in the Divine Unity is not opposed to enlightened reason. It is, on the contrary, supported by certain analogies among the works of the great Creator of the Universe; and it is taught in the Word (كَلاَمْ) of God.

There is another matter which must be considered in connexion with this doctrine. One of the Most Excellent Names of God among Muslims is Al Wadud¹ (الودود), "the Lover." This is in complete accord with many passages of the Bible, as, for instance, with Jer. xxxi. 3; John iii. 16; I John iv. 7-11. God's Nature is unchangeable; therefore, as He is now The Lover, He must always have been such. That is to say, the Attribute of Love (الوِدود) must from all eternity have existed in the Divine Nature. But Love implies an object. Before Creation, nothing existed but the Necessarily Existent One (واجِب الْوجود). Unless therefore we admit the heretical idea of a change in the unchangeable Divine Nature, and hold that God began to love only after He had created His creatures, we must acknowledge that in the Divine Unity there exists at least a Lover (وادّ) and a Loved (مَوْدُود). This is the deduction of Reason, and it is in accordance with John xvii. 24, where the Word of God (كَلِمَةُ الله) says to His Father, "Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world." The doctrine that in the unity of the Divine Nature there are three Hypostases of one and the same Nature, Power, and Eternity, explains, and alone explains, the existence of the Attribute of Love in God in a way consistent with our necessary belief in the changelessness of Him who has said, "I the LORD change not" (Mal. iii. 6).

But some one may ask, "What is the benefit of believing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity?"

To this there are many answers, of which we give a few.

  1. Belief in this doctrine removes all intellectual difficulty in believing that God is Self-Sufficing (الكافي) and Independent (الصمد, Surah cxii. 2) and Changeless. This is clear from what has just been said. Reason therefore demands the doctrine.
   2. It enables us to accept the doctrine of the Bible, while it explains certain parts of the teaching of the Qur'an.
   3. It enables us to believe the truth of Christ's claim to be the Word of God, which is asserted both in the New Testament and in the Qur'an. This title (كَلِمَتُهُ, Surah iv. 169, and قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ, Surah xix. 35) must express His true Nature and Office, since it is given Him in the Kalamu'llah (كلام الله). Now the term Kalimah (كَلِمَة, Λογος, Word, Speech) denotes the expression of what is in the mind of the speaker, who in this case is God Most High. If Christ were a Word of God, it would be clear that He was only one expression of God's will: but since God Himself calls Him "The Word of God", it is clear that He must be the one and only perfect expression of God's will and the only perfect Manifestation (مَظْهَرْ) of God. It was through Him that the prophets spoke when He had sent them God's Holy Spirit to enlighten them (Luke x. 22; John i. 1, 2, 18; xiv. 6-9; I Pet. i. 10-12). Since, then, the title Kalimatu'llah shows that Christ only can reveal God to men, it is clear that He Himself must know God and His will perfectly (as He asserts in John viii. 55; x. 15). In this He differs from him who said,¹ "We have not known Thee with the truth of Thy knowledge." Muslim theologians² admit that the Holy Nature of God is too high and lofty and the