I heard a debate with a member of Islam and he said that Jesus could not have been God, because no human being could kill God.
But, this dives deeper into the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Jesus was fully human and fully divine.
The First Council of Nicaea (year 325 A.D.) confessed that Jesus is “consubstantial” with the Father, meaning one God with Him.
The Second Council (held in 381 A.D. in Constantinople) confessed that Jesus is “the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.”
But, it was the Councils of Toledo (not Toledo, Ohio) that really defined the origin and the eternal nature of the Trinity. And it indirectly clarifies something that the Muslim gentleman did not understand.
The Council of Toledo VI (638 A.D.) defined the Father as “the source and origin of the whole divinity” (CCC 245).
The Council of Toledo XI (in year 675 A.D.) said that the Holy Spirit is God, “one and equal with the Father and the Son, of the same substance and also of the same nature.” But, where the East and the West could not agree on was whether the third person of the Blessed Trinity was of the Father alone or of both the Father and the Son. For the previous Council in Constantinople said, “With the Father and the Son, He is worshipped and glorified.” Notice here that it does not say that “they” are worshipped, because there is one God and not three Gods (as is my understanding of what Mormons believe about the trinity).
Quarrels aside, the important thing to remember is that the divine essence is eternal and the divine unity between the three persons of the Trinity cannot be divided.
The Council of Florence (in year 1442 A.D.) stated the following, “Because of that unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and wholly in the in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son” (CCC 255).
2 Timothy 1:9-10 talk about how this relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ties into God’s plan for salvation, “He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to His own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.”
So, what this Muslim fella did not realize is that when Jesus suffered and died on the cross, the divine essence of God did not die, nor was the eternal relationship between Him divided.
Paragraph 257 says something quite beautiful, “God is blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…” Amen!