Are the People of the Book those who exist in our present time?

The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: Are the People of the Book those who exist in our time, and are they the ones intended by the rulings on dealing with them? Or do these people take the ruling of the mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah) because they have fallen into shirk (associating partners with Allah) and the Trinity?

The Shaykh:
Anyone who claims affiliation with the Jews or the Christians is from the People of the Book, in whatever time. If he claims affiliation with the religion of the Christians, he is a Christian; if he claims affiliation with the religion of the Jews, he is a Jew, in whatever time.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh:
They associate partners with Allah. Even if this had existed at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an—that they say, "Allah is the third of three," and "Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam"—and yet He called them the People of the Book and permitted marrying their women, eating their slaughtered animals, and taking what they recite, even though they say, "Al-‘Azir is the son of Allah" and "The Messiah is the son of Allah." This is something that existed at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an; it is not new. And yet Allah called them Jews and Christians and commanded dealing with them as the People of the Book.