Two different religious communities, Christianity and Islam, united for a debate between Christian pastor, Chad Vegas and former Emir of Islam, Emad Meerza at Laurelglen Bible Church on Feb. 24.

Meerza and Vegas are friends who’d known each other for years and had a concern for what was going on between both their communities. lies were being said about the muslim community and many false claims that they share the same beliefs, which lead anger among the groups. The two religious leaders decided to sort things out in a civilized matter, a gathering they call a “friendly debate.”

“I know he wants to convert me, I want to convert him, but you know what that shows, caring, it shows compassion, it shows that he does not want me to fall in the fire and I love him for that,” said Meerza about his friend, Vegas.

The two pastors openly discussed their beliefs, similarities and indifferences to the public.

Vegas, founding board member of Sovereign Grace, began first to describe the definition of who God is in Christianity. God in Christianity is believed to be a Trinity. The Trinity is one undivided God eternally existing in three distinct persons who are equal in power and glory unity of known as the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.

“You cannot understand Christianity if you do not know God as Trinity,” said Vegas.

Vegas describes that God has three distinct persons in one essence and that will always be too much for a human to comprehend and if an individual concludes this idea that makes them a finite (a person) for not being able to comprehend the infinite (God).

Vegas states a finite is not worthy of being called a God because they cannot wrap their mind around the fact that god is three distinct people but not one is the other, however, we can apprehend God, meaning we can get a hold of the idea that there is a god and within, has three different people yet are not the same and that is all our minds can digest, not being able to understand how, who, or why.

Emad Meerza begins by stating that like Christians, Muslims too believe in Monotheism. Muslims do not believe in Trinity. Meerza stated that so much of what the Christians believe is what the muslims believe in as well, like the scripture that Vegas brought up during his speech. The scripture Vegas brought up was from the Quran and it was Mark 12:29. Meerza explains that the same scripture is reiterated in Islam.
“God is the creator of all, all things, god is it’s creator,” said Meerza as he defines who God is in Islam.