of hell," using the plural. Does not this imply the existence of some kind of plurality, other than that of attributes, in the Divine Unity?

140. M. Certainly not. The "We" is used, as kings use the word, to imply majesty.

C. On what authority do you say this so positively? If the Qur'an is from God, nothing in it can be unmeaning. Whatever God says is true: and this expression, so often repeated in the Qur'an, may contain deep teaching. We observe that, in the use of the plural, the Qur'an agrees with the Bible, since we find, for instance, in Gen. i. 26; iii. 22; xi. 7, the very same expression used. Those parts of the Bible which teach the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity may possibly explain the reason of this, as far as the Bible is concerned. If the Qur'an was revealed to confirm the Torah and the Injil, perhaps this is one of the points in which it does so.

141. M. The Jews explain these passages by saying that God was addressing the angels.

C. That is because the Jews reject the Gospel, which the Qur'an "confirms." But whether their explanation be right or wrong, will it explain the use of the plural in the Qur'an?

142. M. No, it will not: but the doctrine of the Trinity is contrary to the Qur'an.

C. We have seen that what the Qur'an denounces is a doctrine which taught the existence of three Gods. This is not the Christian doctrine of the

Trinity. To worship Mary as God is blasphemy; to call Jesus another God besides God is also heretical. But to say that there is only one God and that in the Divine Unity there are three Hypostases of one substance, power, and eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is quite a different thing. This latter doctrine gives a possible explanation of and justifies the use of the "We" in the Bible, and may explain and justify it in the Qur'an. It cannot therefore be proved that the doctrine of the Trinity is contrary to the Qur'an.

143. M. At any rate it is contrary to Reason. How can three be one and one three?

C. How can you be Spirit, Soul, and Mind, and yet one individual? It is so, and yet we know not how. If then we cannot understand our own nature, how can we understand that of the infinite God? Our Reason is finite as well as created: it cannot comprehend to the full the nature of its infinite Creator. The doctrine of the Trinity is above Reason, not contrary to it. But we can go further and truly assert that Reason demands some such doctrine.

144. M. It will be strange indeed if you can prove that!

C. You will supply the proof if you will kindly answer my questions. Do your theologians believe that God is the "Union of all good Attributes" (مجموع الصفات الحسنة‬ )?