It is important to understand how Christianity had spread by 600 AD.
The above map shows Christianity in blue. Although there is no indication of Christianity in Arabia on the map, records show that there were Arab tribes which had accepted Christianity.
Hanifs – native pre-Islamic Arabs who "professed a rigid monotheism" – are also sometimes listed alongside Jews and Christians in pre-Islamic Arabia, although scholars dispute their historicity. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a Hanif and one of the descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham.
So, we see that Muhammad was a monotheist.
When Muhammad considered Judaism, he rejected it because of the Ishmael/Isaac split.
When Muhammad considered Christianity, he rejected it because it appeared to be polytheistic.
Why did he see Christianity as polytheistic?
→ because of the doctrine of the trinity
As one can see from the Quran, he makes mention on several occasions that `God does not beget and neither is he begotten`.
Had early Christians understood the nature of man who was created in God`s image they would have understood the nature of God and not concocted the trinitarian error.
Man is fundamentally a spirit with a soul in a body . We are Spirit Soul And Body. We are created in the image of God . Hence, God is Spirit Soul And Body.
See the notes of for a more complete argument but these points clarify the nature of God as SpiritSoulAndBody:
→ the Holy Spirit is God since God is Spirit
→ the Holy Spirit is the Father of Jesus
→ Jesus and the Father are One
→ Jesus is the image of the Father
→ Jesus is the Incarnate Word
→ The Word and the Holy Spirit are One God
→ Jesus is the Spirit Soul And Body of God
→ Jesus has all power in heaven and earth
→ Jesus is the One and Only God of heaven and earth
Pure Christianity, which as its name implies, is all about the Lord Jesus Christ as Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince Of Peace, Saviour, Lord and King of all.
Unfortunately, deniers of the Lord Jesus Christ as God introduced the concept of the trinity so that Jesus is not really God - merely His son.
This was likely a compromise reached because of the resistance by Jews and the prevalence of polytheism in the world.
In any event, the doctrine of the trinity was repulsive to Muhammad because, try as one might to deny it, trinitarianism is polytheistic in its essence.
So, instead of Christianity spreading into Arabia and Persia, the concocted religion of Islam took those areas. And not only that, because Islam was a religious/political/military entity, it was able to change the religious map by 1000 AD as shown below.
The message here is that apostasy has consequences - sometimes those consequences are catestrophic. In the case of Christianity compromising with pagan cultures and Jewish pressure to deny the Lord Jesus Christ as the One and Only True and Living God, millions of people have been lost and continue to be lost.
The weakness in Christianity today is a result of its lack of worship of Christ Jesus as God and the relegation of His Holy Spirit to god third class.
The Holy Spirit is the One and Only Spirit Of God. He is the Spirit Of Christ Jesus.
To deny the Lordship of Christ Jesus is to cut oneself off from the power of His Holy Spirit.
To deny Christ Jesus as Mighty God is to cut oneself off from the authority of Christ Jesus.
No power and no authority is the current state of nominal Christianity in the world.
It is time we understand and respond to the import of the following Words
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. |