Ask the Rabbi

  • Halacha
  • Christianity and Islam

Christians trinity

undefined

Rabbi Ari Shvat

Av 6, 5781
Question
are there verses in the Talmud that speak against the trinity?
Answer
The Jerusalem Talmud writes, about 200 years after the beginning of Christianity, of how the sage R. Simlai was asked by the "Minim" [=Christians] regarding what they call the trinity. They asked: "How many gods created the world?" And the sage answered: why don't you ask Adam, as it says (Dvarim 4, 32): "Please ask [about] the first days… from the day that God created ["bara" in singular, not "bar'u" in plural] Adam upon earth" as it says (Breishit 1,1), "In the beginning God created ["bara" in singular, not "bar'u" in plural]". They also asked: doesn't it address God repetitiously (Yehoshua 22, 22): "God, God, the Lord; God, God, the Lord, He knows, and Israel, shall know …"? To which the sage replied: the verse itself clarifies there: "He knows…" [in singular], not "They know" in plural], but the different names there, refer to different titles or aspects of One God, like if you would address one king: "Your Highness King Augustus".
את המידע הדפסתי באמצעות אתר yeshiva.org.il