The Triune God of the Promise-Plan: Biblical Theology, Hebraic Monotheism, and the Inter-Religious Critique of Islamic Tawḥīd

ARTICLE GUIDE

At a Glance

The essay traces Trinitarian confession through the biblical promise-plan and compares Christian and Islamic accounts of divine unity, revelation, and relational attributes.

How does the promise-plan frame Trinitarian self-disclosure?

Beginning with Old Testament monotheism and theophany, the study follows the New Testament’s treatment of Son and Spirit within divine identity. It then examines Islamic objections, divine relational attributes, and debates over uncreated speech.

Key Claims

• The essay presents Trinitarian confession as a development within canonical revelation.
• Hebraic oneness language, divine speech, and theophany form part of its Old Testament argument.
• The place of Son and Spirit in New Testament confession is central.
• The article compares relational attributes and uncreated-speech debates across the two traditions.
• The Islamic Dilemma is considered alongside incarnation and inlibration.
• Covenantal fulfillment retains Israel’s irrevocable calling.

Primary Textual Anchors

• Genesis 3:15 — the study’s promise-plan starting point.
• John 1:1, 14 — Word and incarnation.
• Qurʾān 4:48, 116; 5:116 — comparative theological discussion.
• Qurʾān 85:21–22 — revelation and the preserved tablet.
• Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36; Romans 11:28–29 — renewal and continuing calling.

Scripture Connections

Genesis 3:15 — the study’s promise-plan starting point. John 1:1, 14 — Word and incarnation. Qurʾān 4:48, 116; 5:116 — comparative theological discussion. Qurʾān 85:21–22 — revelation and the preserved tablet. Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36; Romans 11:28–29 — renewal and continuing calling.

Selected Scholarship

• Walter C. Kaiser Jr. — The Promise-Plan of God (2008).
• Richard Bauckham — Jesus and the God of Israel (2008).
• Larry W. Hurtado — One God, One Lord (1988).
• Harry Austryn Wolfson — divine speech and kalām controversies.

Related Guides

• Biblical Monotheism: Trinitarian Complexity, the Architecture of the Promise-Plan, and the Inter-Religious Critique of Islamic Tawḥīd
• The Uniqueness of Jesus: Christological Prerogatives, the Promise-Plan Architecture, and Contemporary Christian–Muslim Polemics
• The Incarnation Explained

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