Christianity & Islam
The Trinity Explained: Christians Do Not Believe in Three Gods
A common and understandable question from Muslims is whether Christians worship three gods. The clear answer is no. Christians are fiercely monotheistic: there is one God. The Trinity means that the one God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one Being, three persons, not three gods, and not God, Jesus, and Mary. Islam and Christianity share a deep devotion to the oneness of God; this page explains what Christians actually mean.
What the Qur’an says
The Qur’an rejects the idea of three gods, and 5:116 speaks of taking Jesus and Mary as gods beside God. It is worth noting, honestly, that this is not what orthodox Christianity has ever taught: Christians have never held that Mary is part of the Trinity, and have always insisted there is only one God. So the Qur’an’s rejection of tritheism and of worshipping Mary is something Christians actually agree with.
What Christians believe
Christianity is monotheistic. There is one God. The Trinity is the confession that this one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons who share one divine Being, not three gods.
Where they agree
Both Islam and Christianity confess that God is one, and both reject the worship of three gods and the idea that Mary is divine. The Christian ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one’ stands very close to the Islamic confession of God’s oneness.
Where they differ
Christians confess that the one God is eternally Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the Son became human in Jesus. Islam holds that God’s oneness excludes any such distinction of persons and any son. This is a real and serious difference, but it is not the difference many assume: it is not one God versus three gods, but how the one God is.
Qur’an quotations: Pickthall (1930, public domain); translations vary, compare others at quran.com. Bible: King James Version. Every reference on this page was checked against its primary source.
Frequently asked questions
- Do Christians believe in three gods?
- No. Christians believe in one God. The Trinity means the one God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one Being, not three gods.
- Is Mary part of the Trinity?
- No. Christianity has never taught that Mary is divine or part of the Trinity. The Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On rejecting the worship of Mary as a god, Muslims and Christians agree.
- How can God be one and three?
- Christians say God is one in Being and three in persons, so there is no contradiction of one God. It is a mystery Christians confess rather than fully explain, grounded in how God revealed himself in the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Come and see
The Qur’an itself honours the Injil (the Gospel) as “guidance and a light” (5:46). The most direct way to know who Jesus is, is to read his words for yourself. There is no pressure here, and no one has to know. You are welcome exactly as you are.
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