The Islamic Perspective

The Quran in Surah 112 (al Ikhlas the

Sincerity), in four simple sentences explains the
entirety of Gods perfect nature:

The

Say, "He is God, the One,

God, the Absolute,
He neither begets nor is born,
And there is nothing comparable to Him.
There is one God, one Person. Absolute in
nature. This means that God does not add to,
nor does He detract from His nature. His
attributes are complete and perfect. Therefore,
when it is said He is all knowing; there is nothing
He does not know. When it is said He is all
powerful, nothing can harm Him, nor can
anything make Him suffer. In verse 2, the term
used for Absolute is Samad which has a
myriad of meanings. Some of these are: without
need, exalted, free from fault, perfect,
complete, eternal, wholly self-sufficient, the
everlasting refuge, the uncaused (without
beginning), the eternal.
God has no son, nor a wife, nor is there any
being equal to Him in existence. He was not
created, and He does not create equals to Him.
There is nothing in existence which can rival
Him, supersede His rank, power or knowledge.
Anything created, is from Him and He is
eternally uncreated. This is what Muslims refer
to as Tawheed or the Absolute Oneness of
God. This is the solution to Trinitarianism.

Ontology
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of God in
Islam
&
Christianity
A Comparison by Br. Ijaz Ahmad

For Free Distribution

Note: This pamphlet contains quotes from the

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What is Ontology?

The Christian Perspective

Christological Conundrums

Ontology refers to the nature of existence or

being. In regard to discussing God, it allows us to
ask question such as, What is God?, Who is
God?, Where is God, and more. The worlds
religions, all have varying perspectives on Gods
nature. Some faiths believe that God exists
within all created matter (pantheism), while
some believe that God can become incarnate (as
in Christianity and Hinduism), while others like
Islam believes that God is distinct and unlike His
creation, but that this distinction does not affect
His ability to communicate or interact with His
creation.

The nature of Christ in Christianity has been a

source of much confusion, debate and
disagreement since the beginning of the Church.
Is there one person of God, with three roles,
as Modalism (Monarchianism) argued? Perhaps
God created the Logos, Christ who is not coeternal nor co-equal with God as the
Adoptionists argued. Then there was
Monophysitism which taught that Christ only
had one nature, which made Christ more than a
man but less than God. While there was also
Nestorianism which argued that Christ had two
distinct natures, which were not united.

The New Testament teaches that the Son suffers

for the sins of the world upon the cross, as per
John 3:16. Given that Trinitarians believe that
God is all powerful (absolute in nature), then
how can it be possible for a God to suffer? Some
would say that the divine nature of the Son did
not suffer but the human nature of Christ did.
Yet, this is the heresy of Nestorianism, dividing
and distinguishing Christs two united natures;
the Trinitarian Hypostatic Union. This has to
mean that the divine suffered along with the
human nature according to Trinitarianism. If a
God is all powerful, then He cannot suffer.

This pamphlet focuses on the disparities

between the ontological perspectives of the
faiths of Islam and Christianity. Well be
examining the strengths and weaknesses of each
faiths concept of God. While this topic may be
relatively unheard of to most people, it is more
commonly known or understood to be the
differences between the doctrine of the Trinity
(in Christianity) and the concept of Tawheed (in
Islam). Before we begin, the term absolute God
needs to be explained given its philosophical
roots.

Proto-orthodox Christianity now known as

Trinitarianism argues that God is three persons,
united by the Godhead, while Christ has two
natures, united in some aspect, but of which are
not distinct. Yet there are problems yet to be
resolved with this trend of thinking. If Gods
nature is absolute (perfect), then how can God
add a new nature; the humanity of Jesus to its
divine nature of the Son? An addition to Gods
nature teaches that God is mutable (changing,
evolving, growing). For God to grow or change,
its a major fault in His nature, ungodly.

Consequently, since the divine did suffer, this

nullifies the belief that Christ can be a God. This
is ontologically impossible. How can an all
powerful being, suffer? The being can only suffer
if there is a stronger power than it, a greater
power. God is also all knowing. In Mark 13:32, it
is said that the Son is ignorant of the hour. If
God is ignorant of something, then by definition
this being cannot be a God, as a God is absolute
in His knowledge; He is Omniscient. The
Christian God is therefore, by all definitions, not
a God given His weaknesses, faults and needs.

The absolution of God, pertains to Gods

immutability (unchanging nature).When we say
that God is absolute, it means He is perfect in
each and every way. His attributes are not
created, nor in need of anything for them to
exist, He is eternal and without fault.

For if He was perfect before and then adopted a

new nature, it necessitates that He was either
missing something before and is now perfect, or
the new nature detracts from His absolution and
thus renders Him imperfect and consequently
not a God, as a God must be absolute in nature.

The easy solution to these problems is to simply

label them as divine mysteries. This however, is
not a solution, its an excuse, a reason, a means
to escape facing and examining these problems
of Gods nature as presented in Christianity.
There is however, a solution.