On Monday night I went along to “The Big Trinity Debate” at Trinity Road Chapel… bit of a spur of the moment decision, but having heard Jay Smith speaking at Cornhill that afternoon, it sounded like a fun evening!

The debate was between James White (see his review) of Alpha & Omega Ministries and Abdullah al Andalusi.

I’ve spent much time recently thinking about debates with Christians vs. Atheists… so refreshing to hear a debate between two Theists, and on a topic at the core of my Christian beliefs.

The debate had two opening arguments, some cross-examination, some rebuttals and then a break, after which there was a Q&A. Sadly I had to leave at the break!

There was a good turn out and good debate, with both sides putting forward fairly sensible arguments. But I left feeling short changed with the Islamic scholar for three reasons:

1. He failed to engage with the Christian understanding of the Trinity, James White noted that the Qu’ran also misunderstands the Trinity. This came about because he did not accept James White’s opening statements about the difference between the nature and personhood of God.
2. He began his opening statement with fallacious attacks on the reliability of the New Testament, not the issue at hand, thankfully James White enlightened him and gifted him with a translation of the Bible which includes the manusrcipt source of every text.
3. He didn’t give any positive reasons, based on the Qu’ran why anyone should believe in Islam…?

What do you think? You can listen to the debate audio here…