Muslims often argue that the Bible is reliable where the Qur’an confirms it, but corrupted where it contradicts the Qur’an. Fair enough. How does the Quran confirm the Bible? Believe it or not, in some very trinitarian ways. In Surrah 3:45 the Quran says "When the angels said, ‘O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, distinguished in this world and the Hereafter, and among those brought near.’ What's interesting is that the Quran itself doesn't provide any explanation of the way in which Jesus is the Word. It's also interesting that this Word is personal and has a name. Since the Quran is confirming the Bible in this passage, I think the natural place to go to understand what it means for Jesus to be the Word, is John 1. That's where we see the Word as both God and with God. So it at least seems like the Quran is confirming that aspect of Jesus' nature. Surrah 4:171 is also very interesting in the way it confirms the Bible. It says "O People of the Book, do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only the messenger of Allah, and His Word which He cast to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and do not say, “Three.” Stop; it is better for you. Allah is only one God." How interesting is this? We get Jesus identified as Allah's Word again, but now we also see the "Spirit from him". Obviously, Him in this verse is Allah. But here's the even more interesting part, the author of the Quran seems to understand the relationship between Allah, His Word (Jesus), and the Spirit. Immediately before this statement, Allah reminds them that there's a boundary to the religion that shouldn't be crossed. And then after it says "Do not say Three." Stop. It is better for you. Allah is only one God." So we see here that even though you have Allah and Jesus, His Word, and His Spirit, we still only have one God. And the boundary that shouldn't be crossed is saying that there are three. That's extremely trinitarian.

Let's start discussing Islam apologetics here. It would be good to share what we've encountered. Let's try to keep each thread on a single topic, and then we can organize the threads into the Islam category to find them later. Let's also try to be mindful of how dense a single comment is. Try to be precise and focused. I will go first because I have something on my mind that I want to work through with you guys. Mark 13:32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, except the Father." So the question I am asking is does the Son actually know in some sense? If so, what sense? And how would we defend that from the Bible? I will tell you upfront that right now I am exploring what it would mean if He actually did not know. I think a plain reading is that He does not know. The fact that His knowledge is lumped with the angels leads me to believe that over other explanations (since we would not try to reconcile the angels knowledge in the same way). So the question is what follows if it's true that the Son doesn't know? The OT passage he's alluding to is Zech 14:7 "And it will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh..." @Tim Tant asked me if I believe the Son can learn a fact. That was a good question and my gut reaction was no. The problem is I don't know why. I think our first instinct is to say God knows everything, so if Jesus is God he must know everything exactly as the Father does. But is that true? Which made me ask why is omniscience rooted in the being of God? So I looked into it. That idea comes from the classical doctrine of divine simplicity, developed through Augustine and later systematized by Aquinas. It's a product of classic theology. Scripture clearly teaches that God knows all things, knows hearts, knows the future, and possesses knowledge in a way creatures do not. But Scripture does not say: 1) God’s knowledge is identical to his essence. 2) Every divine person must therefore possess every item of knowledge identically.