Compiled by Engineer Afsaneh
CooperSome body inquired of Imam Husayn (a.s.)
regarding the Spirit which was breathed into Adam (p.b.u.h.) as are the words
of Allah:
Qur'an (15:28-29)"And when your Lord said to the
angels; See, I am creating a mortal of a clay of mud moulded. When I have
shaped him and breathed My spirit in him fall you down, bowing before
him."
The Imam said, 'This spirit is a
creation of Allah and the spirit breathed into 'isa (jesus - p.b.u.h.), was
also a creation (of Allah).
Some body inquired of Imam Husayn (a.s.)
regarding these words of Allah, to Whom belongs Might and Majesty:
Qur'an (4:171)"People of the Book, go not beyond the
bounds in your religion, and say not as to Allah but the truth. VeriIy,
aI-Masih [the Messiah], 'isa ibn Maryam [Jesus, son of Mary], was only the
Messenger of Allah, and His Word that He committed to Maryam), and a Spirit
from Him. (So believe in Allah and His Messengers, and say not; 'Three'.
Refrain; better is it for you. Surely, Allah is only One god. Glory be to Him -
that He should have a son! To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the
earth."
The Imam said, the spirit referred to is
the created Spirit of Allah which He created in Adam and 'isa (Jesus)."
Some body inquired of Imam Husayn (a.s.)
regarding these words of Allah, to Whom belongs Might and Majesty,
Qur'an(15:29)"And breathed My
Spirit in him."
How did the breathing of the spirit take
place?The lmam replied, 'Verily, the
spirit is mobile as the air is. The spirit has been named 'ruh' because the
word 'ruh' has been derived from (the word) 'rih' meaning air. Hence the word
'ruh' is a derivated of the word 'rih' which means air - for the reason that
the spirits are of the same kind as air. Verily, Allah has ascribed the Spirit
to Himself since He has selected the Spirit (breathed into Adam and Jesus), out
of all other spirits. As out of all other houses Allah has said of one house
'Ka'bah', "My House"; and as out of all prophets, He has said of one
"My friend" (Abraham), and so on and so forth. And all these
(spirits) are the creations created and made later on. They are all brought up
and managed (by Allah).'
Imam Husayn (a.s.): "Six things are
out of man's jurisdiction to do (anything) about them: knowledge of Divine
commandments; ignorance of them; pleasure; anger; sleeping and waking up."
A certain group of people imagined that
Allah, the Hallowed, the High, comes down to the lowest firmament. Imam Husayn
(a.s.): "verily, neither does Allah come down nor does He stand in need of
doing so. Since any view, distant or near, is the same to Him. Neither does
anything near become distant to Him, nor does anything distant become near to
Him. He does not need anything, but all things need Him and He is the
Bountiful. None is god except Him, the Almighty, the All-wise. Those who relate
that Allah, the Hallowed, the High descends, are the people who ascribe
decrease and increase to Allah. Every mobile object is always in need of a
stimulus by and through which it comes into action (thus to think that Allah
descends is to think Him mobile and in need of a stimulus). Thus, whoever
guessed in such a way in respect of Allah met his doom. So, beware in respect
of Allah's attributes lest you should confine Him within any limits by putting
on Him the degrees of decrease and increase or attributing to Him any mobility
or stimulating Him into some action, or taking Him to be liable to decay or abdication,
or thinking Him to be standing up or sitting down. Verily, Allah is too far
above the attributes given to Him by their authors. He is over and above the
qualifications accorded to Him by the qualifiers. He is too far above the
thoughts of the thinkers. Have full faith in (Allah) the Almighty, the
Merciful.
Qur'an(26:217-219)"Who sees
thee when thou standest and when thou turnest about among those who prostrate
(in obeisance unto Allah)."
Some body asked: "If Allah is at
some place and not at the other, the air is bound to join and encompass Him,
since air consists of fine matter and surrounds all things in proportion to its
own mass."According to the above
illustration, how can air (with its limitation) encompass Allah, the Great in
His praise?'
In reply, Imarm Husayn (a.s.) wrote:
"ln this respect, Allah knows better and He is the best assessor of the
place He is at. You must know only this that when Allah is on the lowest heaven
He is, at the same time, on the throne. All things are equally known,
controlled, owned and encompassed by Allah."
John BiddIe, the Father of Unitarianism
in England (1615-1662). He published a pamphlet entitled "Twelve Arguments
Refuting the Diety of the Holy Spirit." It was seized and Biddle was
imprisoned. He was called to appear before Parliament but still refused to
accept the Deity of the Holy Spirit. He reprinted the pamphlet in 1647. On the
6th of September of the same year, Parliament ordered that the pamphlet be
burnt by the hangman, and this Was done. On the 2nd of May, 1648, a
"Severe Ordinance" was passed. lt stated that anyone who denied the
Trinity, or the divinity of Jesus or the Holy Spirit, would suffer death
without the benefit of clergy.
A summary of the "Twelve
Arguments", the cau$e of such extreme measures, follows:
TWELVE ARGUMENTS
1) He that is distinguished from God is
not God.
The Holy Spirit is distinguised from
God.
Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.
Biddle further explained this syllogism
with these words:
The major premise is quite clear
inasmuch as if we say that the Holy Spirit is God and yet distinguished from
God then it implies a contradiction. The minor premise that the Holy Spirit is
ditinguished from God is confirmed by the whole current of scripture. The
argument that the Holy Spirit is distinguished from God if it is taken
personally and not essentially is against all reason:
First, it is impossible for any man to
distinguish the Person from the Essence of God, and not to frame two Beings or
Things in his mind. conseqently, he will be forced to the conclusion that there
are two Gods.
Secondly, if the Person be distinguished
from the Essence of God, the Person would be some lndependent Thing. Therefore
it would be either finite or infinite. If finite then God would be a finite
thing since according to the Church everything in God is God Himself. So the
conclusionabsurd. If infinite then
there will be two infinites in God, and consequently the two Gods whichis more absurd than the former argument.
Thirdly, to speak of God taken
impersonally is ridiculous, as it is admitted by everyone that God is the Name
of a Person, who with absolute sovereignty rulles over all... None but a person
can ruleover otherstherefore to take otherwise than personally
is to take Him otherwise than He is.
2) He that gave the Holy Spirit to the
lsraelites, is Jehova Alone. Then the Holy Spirit is not Jehova or God.
3) He that speakest not for himself is
not God.The Holy Spirit speaks not for
himself.
Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.
4) He that is taught is not God.He that hears from another what he shall
speak is taught. Christ speaks what he is told.Therefore Christ is not God.
Here Biddle quotes John 8.26 where Jesus
says: "Whatsoever I have heard from Him these things I speak."
5) ln John 16.14 Jesus says: "God
is He that giveth all things to all."
He that receives from another is not
God.
6) He that is sent by another is not
God.
The Holy Spirit is sent by God. There
fore the Holy Spirit is not God.
7) He that is not the giver of all
things is not God.
He that is the gift of God is not the
giver of all things.
He that is the gift of God is himself
given.
The gift is in the power and at the
disposal of the giver.
lt is therefor absurd to imagine that
God can be in the power or at the disposal of another.
Here Biddle quotd Acts 17.25: "God
giveth to all, life, breath and all things."
8)He that changes place is not God.
The Holy Spirit changes place.
Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.
Biddle further explained this syllogism
in these words: "If God changes place then he would cease to be where he
was before and begin to be where he was not before, which is against his
Omnipresence, and His Deity. Therefore it was not God who came to Jesus but an Angel
sustaining the Person in the Name of God."
9) He that prays to Christ to come to
judgement is not God.
The Holy Spirit does so.
Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.
10) ln Rommns 10.14 it reads, "How
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard. He in whom men have not
believed, yet were disciples."
He who is not believed in is not God.
Men
have not believed in the Holy Spirit, yet were disciples.
Therefore
the Holy Spirit is not God.
11)
He that hears from God at the second hand, viz the Christ Jesus, what he shall
speak has an understanding distinct from God.
He
that heareth from God what he shall speak is taught of God.
The
Holy Spirit does so.Therefore the Holy
Spirit is not God.
12)He that has a will distinct in number from that
of God is not God.
The
Holy Spirit has a will distinct in number from God.Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.
Here
Biddle quotes Romans 8:26-27 which reads: " Likewise the Spirit also
helpeth...for we know not how to pray as we ought but the Spirit maketh
intercession for us with groans unutterable...he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God."
Biddle
also discussed the one verse in the New Testament which the established church
quoted to support their view of Trinity. It is John 5.7 which reads: "For
there are three that bear record in heaven - the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost; and these three are One." Biddle said the verse was contrary to
common sense. lt contradicted other verses in the scriptures, and it only signified
union of consent and agreement but never of essence. Furthermore, the verse did
not even appear in the ancient Greek copies of the gospel, nor in the Syriac
translations, nor in the very old Latin editions. lt seemed therefore that the
verse had been interpolated, and was rejected as such by interpreters both
ancient and modern.
Milton
(1608-1674) writer of the book of "A Treatise relating to God" was
another famous unitarian. In his book he lists some of the attributes of God:
Truth, Spirit (I am that I am), lmmensity and lnfinity, Eternity, lmmutability
(I change not), lncoruptibility, lmmortality,Omnipresence and finally, Unity, which he says "proceeds
necessarily from all the foregoing attributes."Milton then lists the following proofs from
the Bible:DEU4:35,DEU5:39, DEU 32:39, 1KI8:60, 2KI19:15,ISA44:8,ISA45:5,ISA45:21,ISA45:22,ISA46:9
***For
the biography of the following unitarians in Christianity refer to reference.
Iranaeus (130-200
A.D.), Tertullian (160-220 A.D.), Origen (185-254 A.D.), Diodorus, Lucian (Died
in 312 A.D.), Arius (250-336 A.D.), Michael Servetus (1511-1553), Lelio
Francesco Maria Sozini (1525-1562), Fausto Paolo Sozini (1539-1604), John
Biddle (1615-1662), Milton (1608-1674), John Locke (1632-1704), Sir Isaac
Newton (1642-1727), Thomas Emlyn (1663-1741), Theophilus Lindsey (1723-1808),
Joseph Priestly (1733-1804), William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)