Is Christianity a monotheistic religion?

[Someone here]

I come from a Hindu background ,so I'm not well informed about Western Christianity.  But I like to study various Kinds of religions and mystical traditions. 

Correct me if my understanding of Christianity and the Holy trinity is wrong .....

 

As I understand, from the Jewish and Muslim theological perspectives Christianity is not a monotheistic religion.

Reason I: The Christian belief that God is more than one in person but one in being.

Reason II: The Christian belief that God is part of the created class.

That is, God (in Judaism and Islam) is “one” in the complete or absolute sense of the word. God is one (in person and in being). Furthermore, God is not (and cannot) ever be part of the created class (e.g., a man).

Such beliefs are nonstarters for most orthodox Jewish and Muslim communities.

The Jewish and Islamic beliefs concerning God are the opposite of Christianity.

Belief I: God is one (in person and being).

Belief II: God is not part of the created class (e.g., any member of the human class of beings).

Therefore, Christianity is not seen as a monotheistic religion and it’s seen as an idolatrous (and pagan) religion.

am I correct ?

Edited May 19, 2022 by Someone here

[Shambhu]

@Someone here Are you wanting to know how other religions interpret Christianity, or do you want to know how they interpret themselves? 

Also, Christianity has many sects, and they all do not agree on the nature of God and the trinity.  Some deny the trinity all together.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

I grew up in a Shia Muslim and Orthodox Christian background, so I think I'm suited to answer this.

The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, are three persons but each come from the same Godhead, that being God.

 

[Husseinisdoingfine]

2 minutes ago, Shambhu said:

Some deny the trinity all together.

In the East Orthodox faith, I've met people who fit this category. Such people tend to be extra compassionate towards Islam, as in Islam they are strict about ''There is no God but God''. Islam does not play the game of having dual entities who are also God, incarnations of God, etc...

Like, the Islam perspective is: There is no; Devi, Shiva, Jesus, etc... There is GOD, end of story.

[Someone here]

4 minutes ago, Shambhu said:

Are you wanting to know how other religions interpret Christianity, or do you want to know how they interpret themselves? 

I want to know the basics of the Christian faith . Which is the belief that God is three persons. Unlike other monotheistic religions which believe that God is one person . Apparently Christianity make a subtle difference than other monotheistic religions.  So I want to understand it more.  How could it be a monotheistic religion while claiming that God is a trinity? 

[Someone here]

5 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, are three persons but each come from the same Godhead, that being God.

 

So 3=1 ? How does that work ?

Do they believe in one God or three gods ?

Is Jesus the godhead himself or just the son of God?  Or maybe both at the same time which is mind  boggling to understand. 

[Shambhu]

31 minutes ago, Someone here said:

I want to know the basics of the Christian faith .

The basis of the Christian faith is not the trinity...it is Jesus Christ, but even that does not mean the same things to all Christians.  Christianity is a broad term for various groups that all profess faith in Jesus to some degree or another, but it's hardly a unified religion.  Many groups believe the other groups are damned to hell.

33 minutes ago, Someone here said:

How could it be a monotheistic religion while claiming that God is a trinity? 

Trinitarians consider it a profound mystery that cannot be comprehended by the natural intellect.  Logic cannot deduce it.

@Husseinisdoingfine

36 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

In the East Orthodox faith, I've met people who fit this category.

There are many other groups as well.  The Jehovah's Witnesses and United Pentecostals come to mind.

[Someone here]

11 minutes ago, Shambhu said:

The basis of the Christian faith is not the trinity...it is Jesus Christ,

Yes but they believe two contradicting things about Jesus. 

The first is that he is God himself in the flesh .

The second is that he is God's only begotten son ,who god sent him on earth to repent all of humanity's sins starting with the original sin .

These two ways at looking at Jesus are contradictory .

Which one is he ? God himself or just his son ?

What about the Holy spirit? 

You see its a very messy and complicated theology. Unlike Islam and Judaism. 

[Shambhu]

18 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Yes but they believe two contradicting things about Jesus. 

The first is that he is God himself in the flesh .

The second is that he is God's only begotten son ,who god sent him on earth to repent all of humanity's sins starting with the original sin .

These two ways at looking at Jesus are contradictory .

Which one is he ? God himself or just his son ?

What about the Holy spirit? 

You see its a very messy and complicated theology. Unlike Islam and Judaism. 

@Someone here I understand your confusion ?

Not all Christians believe the above, but most probably do adhere to something resembling that.

Like I said, trinitarians do not see it as logically justifiable.  It's a matter of faith.

Christianity is more heart based, and less head based ?

[Someone here]

14 minutes ago, Shambhu said:

@Someone here I understand your confusion ?

Not all Christians believe the above, but most probably do adhere to something resembling that.

Like I said, trinitarians do not see it as logically justifiable.  It's a matter of faith.

Christianity is more heart based, and less head based ?

I think all religions are heart based . There is not a single evidence about Yahweh or zeus or Allah etc a separate God who lives in the sky and judges you. ..it's all taken on blind faith . But the problem with Christianity is in addition to lack of evidence. The theology is contradicting. Which makes it even worse . And yet ironically its the world most popular religion lol.

[Shambhu]

15 minutes ago, Someone here said:

I think all religions are heart based . There is not a single evidence about Yahweh or zeus or Allah etc a separate God who lives in the sky and judges you. ..it's all taken on blind faith . But the problem with Christianity is in addition to lack of evidence. The theology is contradicting. Which makes it even worse . And yet ironically its the world most popular religion lol.

All good points ?

[hyruga]

1 hour ago, Someone here said:

Yes but they believe two contradicting things about Jesus. 

The first is that he is God himself in the flesh .

The second is that he is God's only begotten son ,who god sent him on earth to repent all of humanity's sins starting with the original sin .

These two ways at looking at Jesus are contradictory .

Which one is he ? God himself or just his son ?

What about the Holy spirit? 

You see its a very messy and complicated theology. Unlike Islam and Judaism. 

It's similar to oneness. Everyone is one. God is in everyone of us.

23 minutes ago, Someone here said:

I think all religions are heart based . There is not a single evidence about Yahweh or zeus or Allah etc a separate God who lives in the sky and judges you. ..it's all taken on blind faith . But the problem with Christianity is in addition to lack of evidence. The theology is contradicting. Which makes it even worse . And yet ironically its the world most popular religion lol.

Well, you mean there is no lack of evidence in Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism?

So you mean another religion deserve to be the world's most popular religion? Name it and write down the reasons why.

 

[Breakingthewall]

when they say that god is three, they refer imo to the father who is the formless, the son, who is the form, and the holy spirit who is the conscience, and the three are really one. Christianity is a much more advanced religion than it seems.

[thisintegrated]

Yes.

[Someone here]

18 minutes ago, hyruga said:

Well, you mean there is no lack of evidence in Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism.

No. I said clearly that all religions lack evidence for a separate God. 

 

18 minutes ago, hyruga said:

So you mean another religion deserve to be the world's most popular religion? Name it and write down the reasons why.

No .all religions lack evidence. And so they all deserve to be thrown in the trash bag. But I'm just curious about the absurdity of the Christian theology 

 

[AtheisticNonduality]

@Someone here The trinity is composed of God in heaven, as a transcendental aspect; God as a human form, Jesus; and God as a spiritual force in the world (the Holy Ghost/Spirit). But they are all the same entity, the same God. Think of them as body parts of the same person.

[Someone here]

14 minutes ago, Breakingthewall said:

when they say that god is three, they refer imo to the father who is the formless, the son, who is the form, and the holy spirit who is the conscience, and the three are really one. Christianity is a much more advanced religion than it seems.

That's an esoteric interpretation because you are into new age spirituality.  If you say that to a chirstian they will accuse you of being a heretic. They take the Holy trinity literally. That God is divided into three persons. 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Someone here

[Someone here]

1 minute ago, AtheisticNonduality said:

@Someone here The trinity is composed of God in heaven, as a transcendental aspect; God as a human form, Jesus; and God as a spiritual force in the world (the Holy Ghost/Spirit). But they are all the same entity, the same God. Think of them as body parts of the same person.

That's nice analogy but do you think that's what orthodox Christianity teaches about the Holy trinity? 

The problem is that there is a clear contradiction between God being one in essence and yet divided into three persons simultaneously.   The esoteric interpretations of the trinity aren't being taken seriously by orthodox Christianity. 

[Shambhu]

10 minutes ago, Someone here said:

The esoteric interpretations of the trinity aren't being taken seriously by orthodox Christianity. 

He's not wrong.  Ask anyone in a MAGA hat ?

[Preety_India]

All Abrahamic religions are monotheistic religions.