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A common argument for the Trinity (or at least the eternity of The Son) is that God is love,

For if there be a being without beginning, existing before all things, was He loving when there was nothing to be loved? If through that unthinkable eternity He is lonely, what is the meaning of saying He is love?

G.K. Chesterton - The Everlasting Man - Part 2 - Chapter 4

and thus there must have been an object that could be loved by him throughout all eternity. The Trinity's idea of fellowship within unity seems an attempt to deal with this issue.

If Jesus the Son of God had a beginning, then it follows that before the existence of the Son, God being solitary, would have no object towards which to express his love. Without having anything to love, it seems God could not rightly be called “love” or possess love from all eternity.

How do non-trinitarian Christian denominations (mainly those who believe in One God the Father) respond to such an argument?

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  • 1
    As Jimmy Kimmel said, “Don't forget to get into a stupid argument in the comments section.”
    – למה זה תשאל לשמי
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 2:20
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    One form of trinitarianism is Binitarianism which is the same as trinitarianism without the Holy Spirit. That is, TWO co-equal and co-eternal beings composing God. Antitrinitarianism comes in several forms. Should we specify which form?
    – user43409
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 3:05
  • "If Jesus the Son of God had a beginning" in time? "before Abraham was made, I AM." (John 8:58).
    – Geremia
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 3:47
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    Thanks for the link. I’ve learned something new today, so it was worth getting out of bed! I understand that Tim Keller and John Piper are part of The Gospel Coalition and support the ‘New Calvinism’. I can see why Muslims struggle with the concept of the Trinity, but that’s mainly because they only perceive Jesus as a man and deny he pre-existed in heaven before he was born.
    – Lesley
    Commented Feb 13, 2019 at 10:37
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    I am a Trinitarian and concur with the last sentence in the article you gave a link to: “But with a biblical understanding of the Trinity we can say that God did not create in order to be loved, but rather, created out of the overflow of the perfect love that had always existed among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who ever live in perfect and mutual relationship and delight.” Found this article about the Gospel Coalition and New Calvinism: gotquestions.org/new-calvinism.html
    – Lesley
    Commented Feb 13, 2019 at 10:38

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The problem with this argument is that it's not based on Scripture. It's based on the unsupported assertion that "there must have been an object that could be loved by him throughout all eternity."

Jehovah's Witnesses are non-trinitarian, but they don't reason on things that the Bible doesn't comment on, such as the details of what God did before the beginning of creation. They do agree, however, that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that his identity and personality does not change. (James 1:17; Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 43:10; 46:4)

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  • So how do JWs explain what it means for God to be loving with nothing else? How would God be different if he wasn't loving before the universe is created?
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 4:27
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    The problem with this objection is that agape love is fundamentally "other" centered. God cannot be "love" (1 John 4:8, 16) if there is no one else. That is fairly basic stuff!
    – user43409
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 9:50
  • Therefore, the argument about agape love is absolutely Scripture based as love is the most basic and fundamental, quintessentially Christian concept we have!!
    – user43409
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 9:53
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    @curiousdannii As I said, the Bible doesn't comment on what God did before creation. The Bible does teach that he has always had the quality of love, and one way he expresses that love is through his creation, but the Bible doesn't say how God expressed love before creation. It may be that he expressed love by means of his thoughts for what he would create in the future.
    – user32540
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 14:09
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    That is not true. The Father chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before Him, in love” (Eph. 1:4). God chose us in love before the foundation of the world (before creation). How is this explained then?
    – pehkay
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 1:59

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