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where the Lord Jesus Christ Himself claims to be the 1 first and
the last and the Living one', and tells us that He has been sent 2 by
His Father, and that God the Father will send His Holy Spirit 3 into
the hearts of true Christians, to guide them to a full knowledge of the truth.
Many other parts of the Old Testament that refer to the same doctrine become
quite clear when we study God's later revelation given in the New Testament,
which perfects 4 the teaching of the Old Testament prophets. There we
see that the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity, which in the Old Testament is
only dimly referred to, is clearly set forth to be accepted by all who truly
believe in God and in what He has revealed in the holy Scriptures. In this as in
many other matters, the light of the New Testament is needed to enable men fully
to understand the Old, because these two divine revelations are one complete
whole. Hence the Jews themselves, though they keep and reverence the Old
Testament, yet are unable fully to understand its mysteries, because they reject
the Gospel.
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DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY
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Although, however, the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity in the divine unity
is clearly stated in the New Testament, yet God who knoweth that which is
concealed
(عَالِمُ
اْلغَيْب), of His boundless wisdom, has not deemed it either necessary or
profitable to reveal to His creatures more of this great mystery of His own
being than what has been already mentioned. God has taught us regarding this and
all other matters, such as the life after death, the resurrection, etc., enough
to enable us to do our duty, not enough to satisfy our curiosity. And, since
man's feeble intellect is quite unable of itself to fathom the deep mysteries of
the infinite nature of God Most High, therefore none of us dare say more about
this subject than what is revealed in God's word
(كلام). Our reason, however, is
able to show us that we must accept as true whatever God who is the Truth
(الحق)
has taught us. Thus we learn that there is only one God, and that in the divine
unity there are three divine Hypostases, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Nor ought it to cause us any surprise to find unfathomable mysteries in
the divine nature: for God is Omniscient
(عليم) and embraces all things within the
compass of His boundless knowledge, yet He Himself cannot be fully known. He is
All-Wise, and of the infinite ocean of His boundless wisdom, the wisdom
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