GOD LOVETH HIMSELF AND HIS OWN ESSENCE IN HIMSELF JUST AS GOD KNOWETH HIMSELF AND HIS OWN ESSENCE. The lover argument is often used by Trinitarians against Islam and the Absolute Unit God. Answering Islam has argued in the following way:=
The following explanation is actually a very classical one used by St. Augustine in his book "On the Trinity" [De Trinitate] in the 5th century. We read in the Word of God, in 1 John 4:8 that "God is Love". What are the necessary conditions that this can be a true statement? For any event of "love" we do need the subject who loves, we need an object which is loved, and we need an expression of this love in some way, i.e. an interaction between the first two. I cannot love when I am "just by myself". Focussing only on myself is egotism, not love. Now, how can God BE Love if he was solitary in "unitary aloneness" from eternity past? None of the attributes of God are dependent on his creation. If God could only start loving after he had created us then his attribute of love would be dependent on us. He would not be self-sufficient in his attributes. But if he is unitary as Muslims believe, then love necessarily cannot be an attribute of his [nor can justice or mercy or any other relational attribute] because he is not in any relationship for eternity before he creates. If God is not relational, how would he come to the idea to create anything ? How would he come to the desire to have an extension of his relationality beyond the Godhead if relationality is not part of his nature/attributes? No, we all believe God created and he communicates with his creation. God is a communicator. God is love. But this can only be if he is love from eternity and hence there must be some relationality and expression and exchange of love within God himself. That is where the trinity [or some kind of plurality] becomes philosophically necessary for God. Yes there is one God only but this God is love and is relational. And hence there needs to be "interaction of giving and receiving within the Godhead". That is why we need something like the Trinity. Augustine then says that Father and Son are eternally in love with each other, giving and receiving, and that the Spirit is maybe like the personalization of this 'dynamic relationship', the transporting the love of the one to the other. Note again: This is a model, an analogy again. No analogy is perfect. But think about it, and let me know how you think God can have relational attributes if he was a solitary unity from eternity past. 1
ANSWERING ANSWERING ISLAM In Islam Deity/God is An Absolute Unity and there are no Hypostases in the Per Se Subsistent Essence of Deity the Supreme Being. Any how this argument is incorrect and wrong. It appears that Saint Augustine did commit either an error or a fallacy or both. This is probably due to the reasons the classifications of Divine Attributes were not so fine in his time. So it is required to answer The Augustinian Fallacy so that not only Muslims but Judaism and Unitarian Sects Of Christianity and Christiandom may answer the Augustinian Fallacy . Analysis of the fallacy. This fallacy assumes that:=
For any event of "love" we do need the subject who loves, we need an object which is loved, and we need an expression of this love in some way, i.e. an interaction between the first two. This condition may be valid on Love Of Created RationalSupposita eg Human Beings but not on the Divine Love since Divine Love is Absolutely Different from Non Divine Loves. This is the basic fallacy which Augustine Committed. Augustinian Conditions if applied to other Divine Attributes can cause a greater problem then this problem. The following Points may please be noted: # Divine Love is infinitely more different from Non Divine Loves then It is different from Divine Attributes. # Divine Attribute of Love is similar to Divine Attributes of Omniscience and Omnipotence,yet there may be some subtle differences . Omniscience and Love. If the conditions stated above are applied to Divine Knowledge one immediately faces two problems:= 1] God Cannot Know Non Existing Things. 2] God Cannot Know Himself. One may say:= As Divine Attribute of Knowledge requireth two Subjects a) Agent of the Knowledge /Active Participle i.e Knower , b) Object of the Knowledge /Passive Participle i.e Known, in the case when one of the two does not Exist Knowledge ceaseth to be. 2
So if Creations do not exist in Eternity God/Deity cannot Know Non Existents in Eternity. It is clear that if God cannot Love Creations before their creation since they do not exist eternity and Love requireth their existences then the same condition if imposed on Divine Knowledge implies that God Knoweth not Creations before the Beginning. In Divine Case God can Love THINGS which are not Created above. It case of Divine Knowledge it must be said that:= It is agreed upon that God Knoweth all things , Not only things in actual but also things in the Divine Omnipotence , and SOME OF THESE are future contingents to us , it follows that Deity Knoweth Future Contingent things. Similarly it Must Be Said:= Just like Deity/God Knoweth all Things either in Actual or in Potency/Power, God/Deity Loveth All Things , Not only in actual but also the things in Divine Power/Omnipotence , and some of these are future contingent to us, it does follow that Deity Loveth Future contingent thing. This is absolutely correct since the imposed conditions on Divine Love and Divine Omniscience are wrong, incorrect and invalid. So just like Deity is Omniscience in Eternity He is Lover and Love in Eternity . And Augestinian conditions are incorrectly imposed. Some one may apply the Augustinian conditions on Divine Omniscience and may say:= Knowledge of God/Deity is of True things. But Truth and Being are commutable and convertible terms. There fore Knowledge of God/Deity is not of the things that are not. Similarly one can say as follow:= Love of God/Deity is of True things. But Truth and Being are commutable and convertible terms. There fore Love of God/Deity is not of the things that are not. An answer of both objection may be provided as follow:= Those things that are not actual are true in so far as they are in Divine Potency/Omnipotence. For it is certainly True that they are in Divine Omnipotence, and as such they are Known and Loved by God/Deity. This answer does axiomatically Holds that the imposed conditions are invalid and incorrect in the Divine Case. Now we come to the next part.
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Does God Love Himself and His Essence. The claim that God/Deity cannot love Himself and His Essence is incorrect since once again it is based on the same fallacious and invalid conditions. Just as God Knoweth Himself in Himself Seeth Himself in Himself God Loveth Himself in Himself. God Seeth Himself in Himself , because He seeth Himself through His own Per Se Subsistent Essence, He Knoweth Himself in Himself in the similar way, there is no impossibility that God Loveth Himself in Himself because He Loveth Himself in Himself through His own Per Se Subsistent Essence. Now it is argued that To Love one’s own Self is not Love but Egotism or Egoness. This is an incorrect assertion. Self of a Lover at best excludes the Love of the Lover and the domain of the lower in the case the Love is imperfect and Finite. In the case the Love is Perfect and Infinite The Perfect Lover Necessarily Loveth Its Own Self and Its Own Essence by the Per Se Subsistent Essence. Just like It Knoweth It Self. There are two Possible ideas in the mind of any objection maker. A] Love of one’s own Self /Essence is not Love . B] Love of One’s own Essence/Self is the imperfect Love and God is beyond imperfections. In the first Case it is nothing but a consequence of the imposed conditions. If these conditions are dropped this implieth that Love of Own Self is a kind of Love. So to exclude self love from love on the basis of imposing conditions and then arguing that self love is not love is a type of circle and this cycle cannot be accepted. It is a fallacy. Apply this condition on Knowledge and the result shall be that to know one’s own Self is not Knowledge. Drop this condition and every thing becomes very simple. To love one’s own self is imperfect in case of imperfect love since it implies some evils in Imperfect and finite Loves and often implies problems in loving other things for a lover. But Divine Love is the Most Perfect type of love which is infinite and doeth not imply any imperfection . any evil , and any Problem in Loving others. As there fore Per Se Subsistent Essence of Deity Containeth in Itself all the Perfections, containd in the Essence of any other thing and far more , Deity Can Love in Himself not only Himself but all of them with proper Love. Both Divine Knowledge and Divine Love do comprehend His own Self and Essence. 4
Some Consequences of Augustinian conditions. Now we come to the third part. Is it Impossible For God to Love His own Self or Essence or Both. Father Cannot Love Himself. Son Cannot love Himself. God the Trinity Cannot Love Himself. Godhead cannot love God the Trinity. And So On. One may ask if Father cannot love Himself just like Father cannot hate Himself then what hope of Love remains in father? It must be noted that As Deity/God is Absolutely Lovely and Infinitely Loveable Divine Love Loveth It Self since it is the Per Se Subsistent Essence. Divine Love Loveth It Self in It Self. Final comments: If it is assumed that God is Trinity even then this argument is incorrect.
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