Before you begin to read this, I want to note that this was originally a paper I wrote for a Systematic Theology class about 4 years ago. I am more gracious and open to the view of the Son being subordinated to the Father in some way (cf. I Cor. 15.27-28 and the discussion on it below), but I am still vehemently opposed to the blasphemous heresies of adoptionism or subordinationism. That is while I am open to eternal relational subordination, I am still viserally opposed to onotological subordination that would understand Jesus or the Holy Spirit as being less God or less important or less powerful than the Father. The following is long, if you would prefer a .pdf version, comment a request for it and I will provide it to you by email.
The Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
A. Introduction
In
Christian circles and in the world at large, there is one doctrine that will
forever dumbfound mankind: The Doctrine of The Holy Trinity. No one except God
completely understands it. It is the source of confusion to many an unbeliever.
The opposition to this doctrine comes with opposition to Jesus, for if you do
not get the Person of Jesus right, you get the doctrine of the Trinity wrong
too. Thus, this doctrine has seen heated debate and opposition from the
beginning. However, this also indicates the absolutely crucial nature of this
Doctrine. Because the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the preeminent foundation
of Christianity, everyone must believe this doctrine as it really is, otherwise
you do not truly believe in the True God. If we do not believe in the One and
Only True God, then we can never be saved. Therefore, this is should be what we
seek to know with all gusto and zeal, for getting the Gospel right hangs in the
balance. If we get the Gospel wrong, hell is all we have to look forward too.
Therefore, we must truly believe in the Holy Trinity as He truly is. This is
the foundational doctrine of Christianity. We must believe this before anything
else. You cannot believe in God and not believe in the Trinity. You cannot
trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, but not believe in the Trinity.
Therefore,
I believe and will seek to show that God is the One and Only God eternally
existing in Three eternally co-equal Persons (who are God the Father and God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit) but with an eternal humility in the order of
all three, such that while to some extent the Father is said to be First, the
Son Second, and the Spirit Third, ultimately each of all Three Persons love and
seek the glory of the other Two Persons (thus, the Holy Spirit is not the
shared love between the Father and the Son). The Father glorifies the Son and
the Spirit; the Son glorifies the Father and the Spirit; and the Spirit
glorifies the Father and the Son. They are co-equal in power, being, authority,
love, holiness, wrath, justice, wisdom, omniscience, omnipresence,
omnibenevolence, etc. Absolute and eternal subordination is heretical; absolute
and eternal humility is not. The typical ontological and economical ordering is
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—From the Father, through the Son, in/by the Holy
Spirit. There is a perfect balance in the Trinity between oneness and
threeness. Una Substantia in Tres Personae.
B. Summary of Major Views
I have
chosen to break this section into three sections. The first section will deal
with the ontological aspect of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The second
section will deal with the economic aspect of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
The third section will deal with the various miscellaneous issues that need to
be covered.
Ontological
Modalism
agrees that there is only one God; however, it disagrees as to the distinction
of persons. This view says that God manifests himself in different ways at
different times, but the person of God we see are only differing manifestations
of Him. In truth there are no persons, just what seem to be persons. They are
simply the different roles the one God has. We could say una substantia, non
vera persona. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are conceived as simply
different ways of looking at God.[1]
Sabellius was the major proponent of this. He appealed to Deut. 6:4 along with
Ex. 20:3; Is. 44:6; and John 10:38 to make his point that God is very one,
having only one substance and three names for that one substance[2]
Adoptionism
suggests that in fact there really is only one God, the Father. Jesus was just
a man who God adopted as His son. He was not His Son in substance, only the
Father was God in Substance. Jesus was adopted as a man, so He was not God in
substance just in adoption. The Spirit also was denied deity. The Adoptionists
neglected to apply Matt. 1:20-23; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-18; Phil. 2:5-11; Col.
1:15-19; and Heb. 1:1-5, which deal with the eternal relationships between the
persons of the Godhead.[3]
We could say una substantia Pater est, sed Christus et Spiritus Sanctus
substantiae Patris ei non est.
The
Muslim religion is an less ancient to more modern view that denies the
deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is uber-modalism, really
uber-monotheism. God is viewed as solely one, completely one. There is no
distinction in God, no persons at all. The Trinity is completely rejected.[4] This
is similar to adoptionism in that it tries to keep God as one, but so heavily
so that it denies Christ’s deity. Christ effectively just becomes a really potent
prophet or a really good man, but not God. Deut. 6:4 may be appealed to, but
mainly objections come from the Quran.
Arianism:
This was the view purported by Arius and his followers. This view proposed that
there was only one God, but that Jesus was not Him. In fact, the Christ was a
creation of God before the creation of the universe. The Christ was not
consubstantial with the Father. God also created the Holy Spirit as a lesser
being than the Christ. However, these two were perfect and choose the Good,
even though able to choose evil, in effect seeming as though they were God.
Christ of course did put on flesh and save us. However, they are not worthy of
worship since they are not God. The proponents of this used Deut. 6:4, 32:39;
Prov. 8:22; Matt. 13:21; 18:19, 26:39, 27:46, 28:18; Mark 13:32; Luke 2:52;
John 11:34, 12:27, 14:28, 17:3; Acts 2:36; I Cor. 8:6; 15:28; Phil. 2:9; Col.
1:15; Heb. 1:3-4, and Heb. 3:2 to prove God’s absolute oneness, Christ’s
begottenness, subordination, limitations, and need to exaltation.[5]
A modern
version of this is found in Jehovah Witnesses. Ryrie explains,
“Jehovah’s Witnesses espouse an Arian-like Christology by denying the eternality of the Son and the
doctrine of the Trinity. They, like Arius, see the Logos as an intermediate
being between the Creator and creation.”[6] This
essentially contemporary Arianism except that instead of Christ being the
created Logos, he is now an archangel. The deity of the Holy Spirit as a Person
of the Godhead is likewise denied. The key texts are John 1:1 and I Thess.
4:16.
Mormonism
is also an odd version of contemporary Arianism with a polytheistic twist. The
Mormon religion contends that Christ is a creation of the father, who is really
the creation of another father and so on until one gets to the Father. The sons
are deified. There is also a literal fathering of these divine sons and
daughters who are yet to be deified—that is male and female copulation to some
degree. Each son and father. The sons create their own worlds and populate them,
their progeny eventually becoming deified ad infinitum. Thus, there is one
“father god” with a bunch of created semi-divine offspring. The main verses of
support are John 1:1, and various sections from Mormon books in their canon.
Subordinationism
states that God the Father is God and God the Son is God and that God the Holy
Spirit is God, but God the Father is the source of their Godness. Thus, while
the Son and Spirit are eternally God in substance, there is a heavy hierarchy
within the Godhead, such that Jesus Christ’s divinity is derived from the
Father, the Spirit as well. They do not have Deity in and of themselves; they
only have it from the Father. God the Father is the Highest God, while the Son
and Spirit are God but less so in some sense. Thus, while the Son and Spirit
are not created, they are not equal in nature to the Father. One could use many
of the same Scripture references for this position as the Arian position.[7]
Tri-Theism
suggests that there is not One God existing eternally as three persons, but
rather that God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are
completely distinct in person and substance. That is that there is not one God,
but three. This has not been held widely, except perhaps by some cults or
Gnostics.
The Filioque
issue arose between the Western and Eastern halves of the Church in the
Dark to Middle Ages. The problem began when some western churches at the
Council of Toledo in 589 A.D. add the Latin term filioque (meaning “and
the Son”) to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed after the part that originally
read stated that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father. So, in the West,
the belief was that the Spirit proceeded from both the Father and the Son. This
filioque clause was eventually added to the official
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Western.
The East objected to adding to the Creed. The East believed that the
Father was the primary source of the Deity of the Son and the Spirit and saw
this addition as a threat to that belief by elevating the Son to being a
co-source with the Father. The key texts are John 10:30; 14:16, 26; 15:26;
16:7; 20:22[8]
The Holy
Spirit as Being the Mutual Love between the Father and the Son is a view
that started to some degree in Augustine and has grown over the years. The
hypothesis here is that the Holy Spirit is really the relationship between the
Father and the Son—Love. The Father and the Son mutually love one another and
this Love is the Holy Spirit. This Love can be shared with humanity, pulling us
into divine union. The main passages to support this are Matt. 1:18-2; Luke
1:26-38, 24:29; John 4:14, 7:37-39, 15:26, 19:30, 20:22; Acts 2:33; I Cor.
15:45; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 2:10, 5:8-9.[9]
The view
termed “Eternal Subordination of the Son to the Father” proposes that
while Christ is eternally ontologically equal to the Father, He submits
eternally to Him. This is something that goes beyond just the temporary
submission of Christ to the Father in the Incarnation and His work on earth,
suggesting Christ has always done this in eternity past, is currently doing so,
and will continue to submit to the Father into eternity future. [10]
Also, the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father likely indicates that
doing so would reflect the Son’s ontology, not simply His activity. There is
implied an inequality of the Persons of the Trinity if ontologically the Son
eternally submits.[11]
The major Scripture passages are John 6:38, 8:28-29; Eph. 1:20-23 Phil. 2:5-11;
I Cor. 11:3, 15:24-28; I Pet. 1:18-21[12]
Orthodoxy
is the view held throughout the centuries by true believers. This view
holds that God is One in Substance and Three in Person forever all at the same
time. That is that the One and Only God exists eternally in the Three Persons
of God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. Each
are completely one with one another yet completely distinct. The Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit are all 100% God. They share in the full nature of God
completely all at the same time, yet are distinct. This is called perichoresis.
The Three Persons of God are ontologically intimate with one another. There is
constant relationship among the Godhead. The Trinity is completely equal with
one another in terms of power, position, holiness, love, perfections, purposes,
ultimate will, and personhood. None of the Persons of God are impersonal. The
Trinity is a perfect union of threeness and oneness. The Trinity is completely
three and completely one—Una Substantia in Tres Personae. The
ontological relationships are said to be God the Father through God the Son in
the Holy Spirit. The Father is considered the eternally unbegotten. The Son is
considered eternally begotten by the Father. The Spirit is considered eternally
proceeding from the Father (and the Son in the West). These are not hierarchal
distinctions but relational ones. It is not as if God is 1 + 1 + 1, but it is
more as if He is 1 x 1 x 1. Key Scripture passages are Ex. 20:1-3; Deut. 6:4; Ps.
139:7-8; Is. 45:5-6, 21-22; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1-4, 14:26, 17:24, 20:28; Acts
5:3-4; Rom. 8:27; I Cor. 2:10-11; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 2:18, 3:14-19, 4:3-6; Col.
2:9; Tit. 2:13, 3:4-6; Heb. 1:1-4[13]
Economic
The
Trinity’s Ontology is His Economy: This view purports that God’s economy
cannot truly be completely divided from His ontology. This finds its appeal in
both Scripture and logic. In other words, God does what He is. [14]
Orthodoxy:
God is Triune and each Person has specific roles they perform when interacting
with His creation. Closely tied to God’s ontology is His tendency of opera
ad extra, which is that His economy goes from the Father through the Son in
the Holy Spirit. The Father is emphasized regarding creating (though all Three
have a part to play), the Son is emphasized in salvation (though all Three have
a part to play), and the Spirit is emphasized in sanctification (though all
Three have a part to play). The Father sends the Son and the Spirit. The Son is
sent and sends the Spirit. The Spirit is sent by both the Father and the Son.
The Father seems to be emphasized in the Old Testament Age, Christ in the
Incarnation, and the Spirit in the Church Age. The major Scripture passages on
this are Matt. 10:40; Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48; John 3:16, 5:23, 30, 37, 6:28ff,
7:39, 14:16-17, 26, 16:7; Eph. 4:6; Heb. 1:1.[15]
Miscellaneous
Some
suggest that God cannot really be known as He is—metaphysically/noumenally.
This line of thinking arose from Kant in his ruthless skepticism. Basically,
some would say that there is no way to know for sure what God is like in His
ontology and to some degree His economy. This view usually throws out special
revelation, so does not really have Scripture to reinforce its position.[16]
Against this position, one could use John 16:12-15, Eph. 1-3, and Heb. 1:1-4.
Non-Scriptural
Language: This issue came up in the early church and even today. People
take opposition to the name/term Trinity/Triunity or Trinitarian/Triune, since
they can be found nowhere in Scripture. The same holds for substance, person,
etc.[17]
There is no real Scripture that pertains to this view, although some may quote
Rev. 22:18-19.
The last and most contemporary issue is that
of what to call the Persons of the Trinity. Some hold Trinitarian Language
as Offensive and/or Sexist. This view maintains that using the terms
“Father” and “Son” are sexist ways to refer to God and exclude the feminine
gender from the Godhead. The proponents make the case for changing cultural
norms and the terms being outdated leftovers from a patristic era. Moreover,
since God is ultimately unknowable in general the metaphors used to describe
Him do not need to be static. This view would have the traditional and Biblical
names for the Persons of God replaced with more culturally (gender-neutral)
acceptable versions. This view takes issue with the use of the names of God,
because some people may be offended by the words themselves and thereby making
an obstacle to the Gospel. There is no Scripture for this.[18]
C. Exegetical Overview
Gen.
1:26—This text deals with the creation of Adam and Eve. Here God speaks to
Himself using “us” (plural) right after the text uses a singular verb with the
subject (God). This may indicated a plurality in the Godhead revealed even at
the beginning.[19]
Many say that this is merely a plural majesty; however, while the may be the
case, the use of the plural certainly leave the proverbial backdoor open to
allowing for God to be Triune. I personally have always read it to mean that,
even when I was young. I would say that this may be a passage that God
sovereignly provided in the OT that we understand with greater clarity as He
reveals more and more to us. Of course, the main point of the passage is not
God’s Triunity, but I believe it is a permissible implication of the passage
because of God’s sovereignty. Therefore, in the beginning of the OT, there is
openness to the Triunity of God and perhaps even an implication of it, by the
plurality expressed by the One and Only God to Himself.
Deut.
6:4—This passage is all about God being the One and Only God. In context,
this verse is set in a section on faithfulness to God in the Land. The focus is
on faithfulness to the One True God, not falling away into the idolatry very
present in the land God is giving. God is said to be very jealous if worship
goes to idols. God is truly and total one—that is there is no other God. He is
to be our one and only God. The complication of this passage is around the
meaning of the word אחד or “one”. Many contend
that it means absolute oneness without any distinctions therein. However, the
meaning of this word very clearly allows for more than one person to be
included in it, for it is used in Gen. 2:24 to refer to the oneness that
husband and wife have in marriage (especially when it comes to their exclusive
sexuality with one another). The main focus of ´ehad is to show God’s uniqueness as the One and Only God
and His unity, but not to the extent that He could have no Persons in Him.[20]
Therefore, God can be Triune and we see that He is clearly the Only God there
ever was, is, and will be—He is totally united and unique.
Matt.
3:16-17—This passage is the story of the baptism. Here all three persons of
the Godhead are displayed in conjunction with Jesus Christ (God the Son) being
baptized by John the Baptist. God the Father is clearly delighted and Jesus is
clearly obedient and the Spirit is clearly with Jesus in power. There is a
blissful fellowship in these verses. Each Person of the Godhead is present all
at the same time. God the Father speaks from heaven, the Spirit descends and
Jesus is in the water. Each member is shown as completely distinct, but all are
present and united in the initiation of Christ’s formal work. They are
distinct, but there is a perceived unity of the Three, especially unity in their
purpose. Further, their distinction is show in that the Father talks about the
Son, not Himself. The distinction of the Persons is expressed here, most of
all. Therefore, God is Three Persons who exist at the same time and are united
towards the same purpose and who are thusly distinct although still united.
Matt.
28:19—This passage highlights the format for all Christian baptisms. All
three Persons of the Trinity are named together in sequence: “the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit.” There are articles before each name, indicating
that they are proper nouns, but distinct. Name is in the singular, but will
function distributively when working with the articular genitive nouns that
follow. The main point is that each of these names is equally worth and
necessary to be baptized into. There is here seen a distinction and unity and
equality between the persons. This gives the typical order of the Persons of
the Trinity and the Names thereof. Therefore, each Person of the Trinity is
equal in authority, significance, being, and glory; and there is clear ordering
of names: Father and Son and Holy Spirit; and we learn the names that God the
Holy Trinity gives to Himself to be forever used in the church at baptisms: The
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
John
1:1-4—This passage very clearly lays out a distinction between the persons
of the Father and the Son in the Godhead, but both are shown as fully God. The
Father is referred to as “God” and the Logos is referred to as being God. This
not suggesting that the Father and the Logos are the same person, but rather it
suggests that the Logos is of the same substance as God, while being distinct
in person. In truth, the lack of the article on “theos” in verse 1 does more to
indicate that Jesus is qualitatively God while distinct from God the Father who
is also qualitatively God (a truth no one disputes). [21]
Following Greek Philosophy and the Hebrew theology of the Word, Jesus is
identified as the one in whom all things have come into being. Given the
totality implied by the word “all”, Jesus is explicitly the One who creates all
creation rather than being a part of it Himself. Therefore, God the Father is
God in His ontology and the Logos (Jesus) is God in His ontology; the Logos is
the Creator of all, not the created—everything derives its existence from Jesus
Christ, which shows His divine nature, for it is in God that “we live and move
and have our being” (Acts. 17:28).
John
8:50-59—This passage is an interaction between the Jew and Jesus. Some of
them have just been saying that Jesus has a demon. Jesus, having rebuked them
for that blasphemous statement, has just turned it from that discussion into a
discussion on how He honors the God the Father and the Father honors Him. There
is a reciprocal glorifying going on between the Son and the Father. He goes so
far as to say that glorying Himself makes the glory worth nihil. The
Jews start pressing Jesus about how they think He is crazy for offering eternal
life, since Abraham died. Jesus then explains that He is the LORD God of
Israel, Isaac, and Abraham: He is the “I AM.” Then the Jews try to kill Him,
but He slips away. Therefore, God the Son glorifies God the Father and God the
Father Glorifies God the Son—the glorify each other; and Jesus identifies
Himself as the God of the Shema (Deut. 6:4), which the God the Father is
clearly also identified as. God is One God, but there is a plurality in His
Oneness that includes the Father and the Son, who continuously/eternally
glorify one another (taking the present tense as static).
John
10:30—This passage shows the ontological unity of the Father and the Son.
This verse uses a “to be” verb and indicates clearly that they are one. Not
divided in their ontology, but completely and totally one in ontology. In the
context, it is clear that the Jews thought He was claiming to be God. He was
claiming omnipotence and superiority in the preceding verse for the Father.
Therefore, in substance the Father and the Son are completely one and
completely equal in omnipotence and superiority.
John
14-17—These chapters are full of statements about the ontological unity of the
Father and the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, they
indicate that there is a mutual glorification by the Persons of the Trinity to
One Another. This section of Scripture is perhaps the clearest in terms of
discussing the Trinity. With regard to the Holy Trinity’s unity, the phrase “I
in You and You in me” or “We are One” are consistently repeated. The nature of
the word “in” carries with it some ontological unity overtones in these
passages. It is something of an idiom. This shows the unity of the substance of
the Father and the Son. The phrase is repeated over and over. The number of
times is profuse (14:9, 11, 20, 17:21-23 etc.).
With regard
to the procession of the Spirit from both the Father and the Son, we the Father
sending the Spirit (14:16, 26), the Son sending the same Spirit (16:7), both
the Father and the Son sending the Holy Spirit (15:26).
With regard
to the mutual glorification among the Persons of the Trinity, we the Father and
the Son Glorifying each other, the Spirit and the Son glorifying each other,
and Father and the Spirit glorifying each other (although this is implicit) (14:28;
16:7, 14; 17:1-12, 22, 24, etc.).
With regard
to the economic Trinity, we see the Father sending, the Son obeying, the Spirit
working and we see the “from the Father, through the Son (this especially) in
the Spirit (although to a lesser extent)” format (15:26, etc.). There are so
many verses related to the unity of the Godhead, the mutual glorification among
the Godhead, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, and the general
economy of the Godhead and there is often such overlap between them that a
thorough and even cursory look at them all is really beyond the scope of this
section. Basically, if anyone wants to know anything about the Holy Trinity,
they must study these chapters; it is so steeped with information about the
Trinity that books and books would have to be written to address even some of
it. Therefore, the Persons of the Holy Trinity are “in” One Another (are
ontologically One) and seek each other’s glory and clearly love one another;
the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son; and the economy of the Holy
Trinity is “from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit”.
John
20:21-22—Here we see Christ come from the Father and give the Holy Spirit
to the disciples by breathing on them. It is important to note the Trinitarian
structure. This passage give clear teaching that Christ comes from the Father
and He Himself gives the Holy Spirit with His own breath. This shows the
economy and the interrelatedness of the Holy Trinity—the Holy Spirit, through
the Son, from the Father. The persons are all together achieving the purpose
the Holy Trinity Purposed. Therefore, the Spirit come from the Father through
the Son and they are united in purpose—All willed to give the Spirit for all
had to agree in Their Wills for such to occur.
Acts
5:3-4—This passage shows the deity of the Holy Spirit along with the
personhood of the Holy Spirit. This is done through the story of Ananias and
Sapphira, who lie to Peter about how much money they were giving. Peter asks
why they have lied to the Holy Spirit and then later explains that they have
lied not to men but rather God. This shows that the Spirit (although some could
try to make a case for discussing two different people) is God. Peter first
says that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and then says that He lied to
God—they are equal. Moreover, this is a very strong statement of the Holy
Spirit’s personhood, for you cannot lie to impersonal forces, objects, or
relationships, you can only like to people. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is a
person and He is God.
I Cor.
2:10-11—This passage explains that only the Holy Spirit can reveal God,
because He alone is the Spirit of God. He alone is qualified, because He alone
can search the entire depths of God. This would require infinity in nature. But
moreover, the analogy is between a man’s spirit being the only thing that can
search his own thoughts and that in like manner only the Spirit of God and
search God’s thoughts. Indeed, this analogy indicates a common substance. For
in man he is searching himself, likewise God is searching His own Substance.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is of the same Substance as God—He is God in essence—He
is God; and He is Personal.
I Cor.
11:3—This passage indicates that there is a hierarchy to some extent in
God. God is the Head of Christ. That is what it says. However, there is in the
chapter a focus on humility and submission. This apparently is what Christ does
and is the example that Paul imitates and calls all of us to imitate. The point
is that Christ willing humbles Himself to the Father, although He is eternally
and completely equal with Him. Christ is the Father’s Son and He is our Example
of how to handle God’s purposed headship of men over women to His glory:
humble. He is eternally humble, not seeking what is best for Him but what is
best for the Father (Phil. 2:1-11). This headship, however, may be limited to
Christ’s time on earth.[22] However,
there does seem to be an indication of an ontological ordering here. However,
we have to be careful, for we know that all the Persons of the Holy Trinity are
equally God. This comes close to denying that. However, if this is referencing
the economic Trinity, then while it still may denote Christ’s ontology, the
force is not quite as poignant. Where does this eternal ordering come from?
Christ’s will and Christ’s action (Phil. 2:5-11). So this clearly denotes
something of Christ’s ontology—that He is eternally humble—it likely focuses on
Christ’s economy on earth. Therefore, Christ humbles Himself and God the Father
is His Head.
I Cor.
12:4-6—This puts the distinction of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a
section on unity in diversity. The point is that while there are different
gifts, service, and workings, there is still the same Spirit, Lord, and God.
This is likely a clear Trinitarian passage. It also stands as a very strong
statement of the Spirit’s Deity. Therefore, the Trinity is Spirit, Son, and
Father; and the Holy Spirit is God—He is Equal with the Lord (Jesus) and God
(the Father).
I Cor.
15:27-28—This indicates that Jesus, while above all and utterly victorious,
still is subjected to God. This would indicate that there is an eternal
ordering in the Godhead. Christ does not choose to be equal with God the
Father. There is a humility quotient here. This very clearly indicates that God
the Father subjects all things to Christ, but the Father is not subjected to
Christ. Further, Christ is subjected to the Father by the Father. This must be
handled delicately, since we know that their divine natures are completely
equal—all the fullness of deity is in Christ (Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:19)—so we
cannot say that Christ is less than the Father in His nature. However, this
ordering may be indicative of the ontological roles/relationships in the
Godhead between the Father and the Son and still reflective of Christ’s will
and personal action (Phil. 2:6). Therefore, Christ submits to the Father, for
the Father is His Head and the One who subjects all to Him and subjects Him to
Himself; and Christ is ontologically equal to the Father and united with Him,
but at the same time ontologically/relationally distinct from Him, Christ still
deserves to all things subjected to Him except for His ontological equal, the
Father who subjected all to Him, who He then subjects Himself to (Phil. 2:6).
Gal: 4:6—This
shows that the Spirit belongs to the Son and has come from the Father. This
affirms are staple Trinitarian pattern of from the Father through the Son by
the Holy Spirit. Here the focus falls on Christ as the agent by whom the Spirit
comes on to us. So God sends the Spirit through Christ. Therefore, both the
Father and the Son send the Spirit; and the economic workings are further
clarified as us having God the Holy Spirit through the God the Son from God the
Father.
Eph. 1:1-23—The
opening chapter of Ephesians orients itself around the Three Persons of the
Trinity, especially as relates to salvation and each Person’s role in it and
then also in the sanctification process that follows. In terms of salvation, we
can say that the Father selects us, the Son sacrifices Himself for us, and the
Spirit seals us. In terms of sanctification, the Father gives to the Church,
the Son governs the Church, and the Spirit guides the Church. And we could say
that all in all God the Holy Trinity saves. Therefore, we see that the whole
Trinity is involved in saving us and sanctifying us—the Trinity’s economy is
revealed a little bit.
Eph. 2:18—Although
this passages mixes up the order of presentation (it orders: through Christ in
the Spirit to the Father), it stays true to the roles that have so far remained
constant in all the other Scripture passages. All three are mentioned together
and are necessary for us to have a relationship with God. All are equally
necessary. The roles are further affirmed. Therefore, God is Three in One:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the roles are what are important not the order of
presentation; the roles of the Persons of the Holy Trinity are: in/by the Holy
Spirit through the Son to the Father.
Eph.
4:4-6—This shows that there is only One Spirit, One Lord, and One God and
Father of all. This shows there is distinction and exclusivity in the Persons
of the Godhead. There are not any more persons in the Godhead. There is one and
only Spirit and one and only Lord (which is mostly like a reference to Christ
Jesus the Son) and one and only God and Father of all. The last phrase may
indicate that the Father is to be considered the monarchy/fountain of deity.
However, all Persons of the Trinity share equally in Godness; however, this
could be due to perichoresis in the Godhead, but since the Father has the
ontology of the whole Trinity (minus the distinctions of the Persons), the
monarchy should be said to related to the whole Trinity.[23]
Therefore, there are only Three Persons in the Holy Trinity, the monarchy of
which belongs to the Trinity as a whole.
Phil.
2:5-11—This passages shows the humility of Christ and His being consubstantial
with the Father. Verse 6 makes it clear that Christ’s nature and God’s nature
were one and the same, but this did not stop Him from carefully deciding[24] that
His equality with God was not something to be holding on to. Rather, Christ
humbled Himself—it was His choice and His action. This was willing humility.
Nothing in the context indicates it was forced by anything other than Christ’s
humble will and His desire (since He knew all things) to glorify His Father
(who He knew desired to glorify Him and indeed would do so). However, it is
unclear whether this volunteering to take on human form to die for our sins—this
humbling—will be permanent, or whether it will pass away at the full
glorification of the Son to the glorification of the Father. Jesus does still
seek the Glory of the Father and the Father the Son. Therefore, Christ
volitionally chose to humble Himself and become man and become subordinate (in
some sense, but not in terms of ontology) to the Father; and Christ and the
Father mutually glorify each other.
Col.
1:15-19—This shows in a variety of ways that Jesus Christ is God in the
flesh. He is completely equal to God in Substance. He is the one in Whom all
things subsist. The point of this section is that Jesus is 100% God. He is God
in the Visible of the Invisible. Jesus is God. There is no difference between
His Nature and God’s Nature. Therefore, Jesus is God. He is totally equal with
God in every way. There is nothing that God has that Jesus does not. There can
be no ontological hierarchy in the Trinity that leaves Jesus deficient in any
of the attributes of deity.
Titus
3:4-6—This gives an example of the typical Trinitarian formula, although it
is disordered from its usual presentation. Here the formula is God in the
Spirit through the Son. The meaning is essentially the same, however. God
through the Son in the Spirit. This passage especially deals with salvation.
God loves and saves, the Spirit rebirths and renews, the Son is the mediator of
such things. Therefore, we have the roles in salvation more clearly indentified
and the typical working order of the Persons of the Holy Trinity delineated.
Therefore, God the Father initiates salvation, God the Son mediates salvation,
and God the Holy Spirit renovates the person getting salvation; and the order
goes From the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews
9:14—The Holy Spirit is called “eternal;” however, only God is eternal. Thus,
the Spirit must be God. Moreover, since the book of Hebrews has already pointed
out that Jesus is fully God and fully man, the Holy Spirit must be God, for who
can empower God but God? The Holy Spirit is God. The context is focused on how
Christ is offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins to God the
Father. However, He does this “through the eternal Spirit,” which shows not
only the Divine Nature of the Holy Spirit but also the Divine economy, for
Christ offers Himself to God through the Holy Spirit—the whole Trinity is part
of the soteriological act. To God through Christ by the Holy Spirit—this is
another example of the Trinity’s economy. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God and
the economy in salvation is To God through the Son by the Holy Spirit (dia the Greek word for “through” here clearly
carries the force of by/in, it is just a slightly different expression of the
same truth).
The book of
Romans, part of the book of Galatians, and the book of I Corinthians seem to be
constructed in Trinitarian patterns.[25]
The book of Ephesians seems to be rife with triadic patterns.[26]
D. My Position and Why I
Believe It
Positive
Arguments
Firstly, on
a broad survey of all the above passages and the many others in the Bible, it
will become vividly clear that each Person of the Holy Trinity shares the title
and being of God (John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3-4; etc.) and the attributes that can
only be ascribed to God. Eternality, for example, is an attribute possessed by
each Person of the Holy Trinity. The Father is shown to have it (John 1:1), the
Son is shown to have it (John 1:1), and the Holy Spirit is shown to have it
(Heb. 9:14).
Each Person
of the Holy Trinity is shown to be a Person and not a force. With respect to God
the Father, people talk about Him and Jesus prays to Him as if He was a person
(John 17). There is no way to pray to a force—You cannot have a conversation
with a force. For example, when my car will not start, no amount of begging or
pleading or screaming at the gas and spark plugs in my engine will cause them
to interact. They do not will on their own. No amount of pleading with a forest
fire will make it stop and leave your home intact. You can trying and have a
meaningful conversation with the forest fire, but that will not yield anything
but a burned house and a charred body. You can talk to the stars at night, but
that conversation will never be a real conversation. Even if it does feel that
way, that is only because we have presupposed some sense of personhood about
it. Many people pray to idols, but only because they believe the idols to be
persons. For prayer to work or be meaningful, it must be between persons. All
this to say that the prayers of people and their method of addressing of the
Father reveals that He is a Person. However, this Person is distinguished from
the other Two. Furthermore, from the beginning of Creation, God speaks as a
Person (so obviously He is a Person) about creating. Whether one takes Gen.
1:26 as an implicit reference to the Trinity or not, one cannot deny that God
sees Himself as a Person and that God functions as a Person in this passage.
Also, the Name YHWH that God calls Himself in Deut. 6:4 is His Personal Name.
Personal Names can only be given to Persons. Furthermore, the designation of
“Father” is explicitly personal. This is a name used also to refer to origin,
but the force most often when referring to God the Father is that of a Father.
With
respect to God the Son, He too is clearly a Person. Not only does it require
personhood to pray (John 17), but throughout the NT everyone interacts and
refers to Jesus as a Person. They talk to Him as if He is a person and have
conversations with Him as a person (John 14-16). However, they also interact
with Him as God, calling Him God repeatedly (John 20:28; Titus 2:13; etc.). He
is God and He is a Person. As a Person, He is distinct from the Father (He
prays to Him in John 17—you do not ask yourself to do stuff as if a different
person will do it). He is also distinct from the Spirit, who He terms in
personal tones (John 16). He is at the same time qualitatively God (Col.
1:15-19). Furthermore, like the Father who has a will—part of Divine
Personhood—(John 3:16, Titus 3:4-6), Jesus has a will (Matt. 26:39-42; Phil.
2:6); He is a person. Furthermore, as God, Jesus is equal to the Father—His
nature is the same (Phil. 2:6).
With
Respect to the Holy Spirit, He is a person. In Acts 5:3-4, the Holy Spirit is
confirmed first and foremost as a Person, but also as God. Regardless of
whether people argue that the Holy Spirit and God are being addressed as
distinct Persons, both are very much confirmed as Persons, for no one can lie
to a thing. A person can only lie to another person. A person cannot lie to the
energy flowing through his desk lamp, nor can he lie to his office chair, nor
can he lie to the force of gravity. However, a person can lie to his wife, or
his child, or his boss, or his friend, or he can lie to God (which is rather
stupid, considering God’s omniscience). Why can a person lie to God is because
of God’s ontology as a Person. We know the Holy Spirit also is a Person,
because Ananias and Sapphira lie to Him. Only people can be lied to. However,
the passage clearly allows for the Holy Spirit and God to be the same referent.
The point of Luke here is like to show the Spirit’s Power and Holiness and he explains
that the Spirit is God. Who, after all, has the authority to strike someone
dead for a lie about money except for God? The Holy Spirit’s exercise of
Justice and discipline is so severe and decisive that only if He was God could
such be permissible. Further, who save God has the authority, power, holiness,
and right to kill two believers for lying to Him except for God, for any other
person than a Divine Person would be contempting God by not allowing Him to
avenge. Only God can avenge Himself. Thus, the Holy Spirit is by nature both a
Person and God. He is distinct from the Father and the Son in His Personality,
but one with the Father and the Son in substance (Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; I Cor.
2:10-11; etc.).
However, to
clarify that God is One in Substance (since so far we only have indentified
three Persons who are God without explaining their union), God is One in
Substance and Three in Person. In conjunction with all the truth of God’s
plurality of Persons, the other side of the coin of foundational Scriptural Truth
is that there is one and only one God. This is the Truth that runs the whole
breadth of Scripture, from Genesis 1 where One God, the Only One God, creates
everything to Revelation where One God, the Only One God, seizes the absolute
victory He planned. All of Scripture proclaims that there is One God and Only
One God! However, this one God is a plural unity: Three Persons who are
ontologically One. Each Person is 100% God, and God is 100% each Person. In the
book of John, there are numerous statements of ontological unity. Jesus says He
and the Father are One (John 10:30; 17:21-22). They are totally unified. Their
substance and ontology is equal and the same, but at the same time, they are
still distinct. The same truth applies to the Holy Spirit who is declared to be
the Third Divine Person. They are One in Substance. Further, the Father and the
Son are totally equal in greatness. Jesus says that there is no one and nothing
greater than the Father (John 10:29), but then immediately says that He and His
Father are One (John 10:30). The force of this is that God the Father and God
the Son are perfect equals in terms of ontological greatness. This is because
there is One God and they are both 100% Him, while still at the same time
distinct in terms of their person. This same truth follows for the Holy Spirit
as well. He too is clearly 100% God, but is distinct in person from both the
Father and the Son. Related to this Ontological Oneness is the perichoresis of
the Persons of God. This means that each Person of the Holy Trinity is in each
of the other Persons of the Holy Trinity. Or you could say they indwell one
another completely infinitely.[27] This
is found quite strongly in the statements throughout John 14-17 that say, “I am
in the Father and He is in me.” The phrasing of the “one in another” is
denoting an ontological unity and community. They mutually abide in one
another. This is true of the Father and the Son and of the Son and the Spirit
and of the Spirit and the Father. All of the Godhead infinitely is in each of
the Persons all at the same time eternally. Thus, you cannot by any means
divide them from one another; although they are still distinct in personality,
they are infinitely One and infinitely equal in ontology.
Therefore,
there is One God. He is the Holy Trinity, who eternally exists infinitely as
God the Father and the God Son and God the Holy Spirit, who all are completely
equal in Godness (including all the attributes), are completely and infinitely
distinct, are completely and infinitely One, and are infinitely inseparable. He
is the LORD.
Secondly, with
regard to the “generation” of the Son and the “procession/spiration” of the
Holy Spirit, I believe that the Son is eternally begotten by the Father in a
Divine Father-Son Relationship and the Spirit is eternally proceeding from the
Father and the Son in a Divine Father-Son-Spirit relationship. This is an
ontological ordering, in that these are eternal relationships between the
Godhead. However, I believe that these relationships do not mean that there is
any ontological subordinating, since that seems to require an inequality in
Godness in the Persons of the Godhead. This is complicated, and I will admit
that I do not quite have my mind wrapped around this whole concept as much as I
would like. The main point here is that Scripture teaches that the Spirit
proceeds from the Father and the Son (14:16, 26; 16:7; 15:26). This procession
through both the Father and the Son could better be said to be from the Father
through the Son.
Thirdly, in
terms of the Order of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, there is a distinct
pattern common throughout Scripture (although occasionally the order is
disrupted): Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). This order is in some
respects reflective of the ontology of the Holy Trinity, but also reflective
especially of the economy of the Holy Trinity: From the Father through the Son
in/by the Holy Spirit. This pattern reveals God the Father as the Ultimate
Agent, God the Son as the Intermediate Agent, and the God the Holy Spirit as
the Immediate Agent. These roles/this order is in some way related to the
ontological relationships between the Father and Son and Spirit, but at the
same time is completely volitional in terms of their roles or order (Phil. 2:6).
The flow is From the Father through the Son in/by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18;
Titus 3:4). This pattern is seen in creation, where the Father creates (Acts
17:24) through the Son (Heb. 1:2) in the
Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2). Moreover, the strongest testimony to this pattern of
from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit is in the area of
soteriology. This how we are saved: God makes the choice; Jesus dies for our
sins; the Spirit brings us to faith and seals us (Eph. 1). God has mercy,
saving us by pouring out His Spirit who renews to the utmost, this being
mediated by Christ (Titus 3:4-6). It is by the Spirit through Christ’s
mediation that we have an approach to the Father (Eph. 2:18; Heb. 1-10). There
are numerous more examples. The point is that the economy pattern (and general
pattern, including ontology to some degree) of the Holy Trinity working the
world is “From the Father through the Son in/by the Holy Spirit.”
Fourthly,
as one surveys the broad spectrum of Scripture, there is a clear pattern that
does emerge from God’s revelation to us: His economy is heavily correlated to
His ontology. In Numbers 23:19, God’s declares that God is not man, so He does
not lie or repent. The point is that what God does (or in this case does not)
do is related to who He is. He is God, so He does not lie—in truth, He cannot
lie (Heb. 6:18). His very nature is Truth (John 14:6), so he always is True,
telling the truth. God is Love ontologically (I John 4:8), so he loves (John
3:16; Rom. 5:8; etc.). God is just (Rom. 3:25-26), so He poured out His just
wrath on Christ and will judge all (Rev. 19-20). There are many other examples.
Therefore, we know that as a general principle God does what He does according
to who He IS. This means that with respect to the rest of what God does it is
reflective of who He IS. Thus, the ontological relationships between the Father
and the Son and the Spirit with One Another motivate the outworking of their
Personal activity in Creation. However, the critical ontological quality that must
be addressed with respect to the ordering of the Persons is HUMILITY. God is
Humble. Indeed God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Jam. 4:6; I
Pet. 5:5); this flows from His own humility. Indeed, Jesus Christ was humble
and so He did not cling to His nature as God, but took on the nature of the
servant, Man (Phil. 2:1-11). Paul’s point in Philippians 2 is that we should be
humble and selfless, because Jesus Christ our God and Savior is humble. And
since we know that all members of the Trinity share in the attributes of God
abiding in one another, God must be humble. Therefore, God is infinitely humble
and thus humility is part of the relationships among the Godhead. This will
mean that He acts humbly.
This last
point brings us to the fifth main point: since God is infinitely humble (and
thus His Persons are infinitely humble), the way the Persons interact and act
will be humble. This means that instead of putting their own needs first, each
Person of the Holy Trinity will do what is best for the other Persons and
moreover this means selflessly loving the other two Persons above Himself and
pursuing not His Own Glory, but rather the glory of the other two Persons.
Therefore, God the Father, being humble, loves and glorifies the Son and the Spirit;
God the Son, being humble, loves and glorifies the Father and the Spirit; God
the Holy Spirit loves and glorifies the Father and the Son.
With
respect to the Father glorifying the Son and the Spirit, throughout the John
14-17 God the Father expressly glorifies both the Son and the Spirit.
Concerning the Son, God glorifies the Son and loves the Son. This is explained
by Christ repeatedly. He explains that if He sought His own glory it would be
worth nothing, but there is another who seeks it and judges (John 8:54). This
is later explained to be the Father as Jesus prays for the Father to restore
the Glory He has had from the beginning (John 17:1-5). Further, Jesus explains
in John 13:31-32 that God (the Father) will glorify Him at once and He will
glorify the Father). In Phil. 2:9, God the Father glorifies the Son, above all
others, which in the process glorifies Him (the Father), further indicating
that the humble are exalted (for God in glorifying the Son performed a humble
act). Concerning the Spirit, Jesus explains that He speaks only what God the
Father tells Him to speak (which is humble) (John 12:50). So when Christ
glorifies the Spirit in word it can be said that the Father also is glorifying
the Spirit. This is the case when Jesus foretells of the Spirit’s coming.
Christ thinks so much of the Holy Spirit that He boasts about how great the
Holy Spirit is and how that His disciples that He Himself is about to go die
for will be glad that He is gone, because they will have the Holy Spirit with
them instead of Him (John 16:5-16). This is clear a message that glorifies the
Holy Spirit, and since Christ says this as the Father told Him to say, the
Father too is glorifying the Holy Spirit. Further, of all sins, blasphemy of
the Holy Spirit is the only one that will never be forgiven (Mk. 3:29; Luke
12:10). This is forgiveness comes from the Father, but it does not come to
those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Although the reasons of its unforgiveable
nature are disputed, one that cannot be disputed is that God the Father when
purposing all of time, chose to have that sin be the one that would not be
forgiven. This publically gives the Spirit great glory throughout time.
With
respect to the Son glorifying the Father and the Spirit, we have seen how He
glorifies the Spirit with what He says above, for whatever He was saying at the
behest of the Father, He Himself was proclaiming in full agreement with Him. The
Son also glorifies the Spirit by obeying Him, when He drove Him in to the
wilderness to be tested. The Son obeyed in humility and relied upon the Sword
of the Spirit to defend the attacks of the devil. The total reliance on the
Holy Spirit throughout His life, but especially in His temptation brings great
glory to the Spirit. Jesus shows that even He thought that the Spirit was
necessary to His ministry and life on earth—great glory indeed. Concerning the
Father, the book of John is rife with instances of Christ doing something for
the glory of God or glorifying the Father or some such thing. This is so
integral to Christ purposes and operations that He even says that He will
answer pray for the purpose and result not even that we get what we ask for
(which we do), but so that in that God the Son would glorify the God the
Father. Jesus answers our prayers to glorify the Father. Additionally, Christ
humbled Himself and submitted to God the Father His equal (as He does even to
the Holy Spirit) after He careful thought it through. Surely, He knew that
ultimately it would be to the glory of the Father, so He chose to glorify the
Father through His own humiliation (Phil. 2:5-11).
With
respect to the Spirit glorifying the Father and the Son, this is seen in the
Bible itself, that is, most of Scripture focuses on bringing glory to the
Father and Son. Further, while there are some sections of Scripture that do
bring glory to the Holy Spirit, we must remember that often these are mostly
descriptive and that the Holy Spirit is having written what the Father and Son
desire (which includes the glorification of the Spirit Himself and which
desires by glorifying the Spirit glorify them), for He is humble. Thus, since the
Holy Scriptures are the work and word of the Holy Spirit, anything throughout
the entirety of Scripture that glorifies either God the Father or God the Son
can be said to be the Holy Spirit glorifying the Father and the Son. This means
that we could copy the Bible and paste it here with respect to the Spirit’s
glorifying of the Father and the Son. One example of the Spirit glorifying the
Son is when He fills Elizabeth and overwhelms her to praise Christ the Son in
the womb of Mary (Luke 1:41-45).
Negative
Arguments
Firstly,
Modalism cannot be true, because of the Baptism of Jesus Christ. This view
holds that God only exists in modes, one at a time. However, in Matt. 3:16-17,
the Holy Spirit reveals that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity were active
and present all at the same time in the same place for the same purpose. This
goes absolutely contrary to Scripture; thus, it cannot be true. Moreover,
modalism likely also requires that Jesus was not truly human when on earth, but
rather He merely appeared so. This also goes contrary to Scriptural teaching
that Jesus was a man and that He in truth needed to be a man to be an atoning
sacrifice for our sins—He had to have human blood to make His sacrifice be the
same currency as our own blood. This is the point of most of the book of
Hebrews: That Jesus is fully man and fully God and He must be both to atone for
our sins. Therefore, this view is heresy.
Secondly,
Adoptionism is heresy, because Jesus would not be fully God, which means that
we cannot be saved (which Scripture says we clearly are). If Jesus was just a
special man, the problem is that His death would not be of infinite value. This
is problematic, because God is infinitely offended and must punish as such.
Only if Christ has infinite value can there be satisfaction of God’s justice
and therefore also our own salvation. This requires Jesus to be God, for only
God is truly infinite and only God is infinite in value—only God can satisfy
God’s own demands. This goes contrary to Scripture as it is a boldfaced lie.
Therefore, adoptionism is heresy.
Thirdly,
Adoptionism is heresy, because it fails to make us co-heirs with Christ, who is
God’s Son by nature—it makes a completely breakdown in the distinction between
Christ’s Eternal Sonship (which adoptionism rejects) and our Sonship in Christ,
which is clearly of a different kind that Christ’s. Adoptionism makes us equal
in Christ in the same way rather than in a different way. If Christ was just a
man specially chosen by God, then we who have been specially chosen by God for
sonship are at the same level as Christ. This is clear heresy.
Fourthly,
Adoptionism falls into a trap that is clearly made by many in the Gospels:
Jesus is just a man. In the Gospels, Jesus asks His disciples who people say He
is. They give a variety of responses, but the common element is that Jesus is
just a man—perhaps a very special man, but still a man. However, Jesus Himself
rejects those as legitimate answers and asks again who His disciples say He is.
Peter says He is the Son of God, the Christ (Matt. 16:13-16; Mark 8:27-29; Luke
9:18-20). This answer gets a positive response from Jesus. This shows that
Jesus must be more than a Man: He is God Himself at the same time. This heresy
has been continuously propagated throughout the centuries, but it is still
heresy. Adoptionism must be rejected.
Fifthly,
though some argue Jesus is created (the Arians, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and
the Mormons), He is clearly not. He is God. In truth, He is the Creator. John
chapter one requires us to believe that Jesus brought everything into
existence, for it says that all things that have come into being have come into
being by the Logos, who is the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Jesus was already there
in the beginning and He was with God, because in truth He was God by nature. He
was not “a god” as the opponents to His Eternal and Absolute Deity claim, for
the lack of an article there means that “God” is qualitative in nature as
explained above. Jesus is the eternal Creator God, not the created of God. That
is utter blasphemy. This is heresy.
Sixthly, to
those who have an issue with God being called Father and Son and Holy Spirit, I
have this to say. These are the very names God has revealed for Himself in
Scripture. Call God what God calls Himself. The prideful blasphemy that thinks
that it can pick and choose God’s Names for Himself—ones that He did not reveal
or endorse—must be eradicated from our minds and hearts. It is not sexist to
call God the Father, God the Father, because He is in truth God the FATHER. The
same is true of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us who God is
and what to call Him, if you refuse to call Him by the Names He has given, you
sin greatly. You treat God’s Names in Scripture as if they were empty things.
God will not hold anyone guiltless who does so (Ex. 20:7). Therefore, God the
Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the official Names that God
has chosen they must not ever be abandoned.
Seventhly,
not to contradict the above statement, but to address a different matter that
comes from a heavy reverence for God rather than egregious contempt, the Holy
Trinity as a Name for God, while not Scriptural, is not profane. It is a word
coined to concisely state the whole body of Doctrine of God’s eternal and simultaneous
oneness in substance and threeness in Person. The Word refers primarily to the
Doctrine, but it has taken on the status of a Title that implies the whole of
the doctrine. This is permissible. We see this happen even in Scripture, which
says we are saved—this is something of a title that represents all the doctrine
that it implies. In Eph. 2:1-10, our salvation is broken down into its
constituent parts, but the acclaimed made twice is that we are saved by Grace.
This means that all that Paul was just discussing came about by Grace.
Therefore, we can use the Holy Trinity to refer to the Doctrine and as a Title.
Defensive
Arguments
Firstly,
with regard to Deut. 6:4, there has been much debate over the meaning of “one”,
as explained above. However, there word itself does in truth mean “one”. I do
not deny that. That is true. What is also true is that “one” allows for
plurality within it. This is seen by its other usages in Gen. 2, as explained.
Moreover, there are many things that exist that are one but at the same time
many, such as the United States. Each state is technically a nation unto
itself; however, each state is in the nation of states. Obviously, all
comparisons to the Trinity are going to fall short. The best really is the
marriage relationship, since they are one and two at the same time. Marriage
reflects the triune nature of God, but imperfectly. The point is the meaning of
the Word and the clear and deep union that has been expressed above show that
God is One and yet three at the same time without contradicting this verse.
Secondly,
the Spirit is a Person. So far the Personhood of the Holy Spirit should be
explicitly clear from all passages and explanations above. Thus, I must contend
that the Spirit is not the mutual love of the Father and the Son. This undercut
the personhood of the Spirit and it has no Scripture passages to back it up, as
far as I am aware. The perichoresis of the Holy Trinity further pushes this
view aside, for all Persons mutually indwell each other. This cannot be the
case if the Spirit is merely the love shared between the Father and the Son.
The Father and Son are not really sharing in the existence of the Spirit,
instead, they are sharing in the existence of one another and using the Spirit
as a means of doing so. It rejects that the Spirit really does have a will and
mind of His own. The Holy Spirit is indeed a person and indeed is equally a
person with the Father and the Son. Viewing the Spirit as the mutual love
shared between the Father and the Son simply does not allow for the Spirit to
truly experience fully personhood, for instead of being having relationships
with the Father and the Son, He is the relationship between the Father and the
Son. Further, viewing the Spirit as the mutual love between the Father and the
Son does not allow the Spirit Himself to glorify the Father and the Son and
express His Personal love to the Father and the Son, because He is merely the
connection between them. Some would say this is in such a way to be that He is
still a person. However, this view of the Holy Spirit seems weaker and less
consistent with historic orthodoxy. Therefore, because the Holy Spirit is 100%
a Person of the Holy Trinity, He cannot be simply the mutual love expressed
between the Father and the Son, for He would not really be granted full deity
or expression of His own personhood—whose will could He have since He would be
the exchange of the wills between the Father and the Son. Thus, the Holy Spirit
can and does glorify the Father and the Son Personally and Personally love
them. Further, He personally receives personal glory from Them and personal
love from Them. Can a relationship really receive personal love and glory?
Therefore, God is Triune. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are all
co-equal persons who eternal exist at the same time and who infinitely love and
glorify One Another personally.
Thirdly, we
can know God. Some have claimed we cannot, but that does not run the gauntlet
of Scripture well. This view came from unbelief that threw out Scripture as the
authoritative source of Truth. However, Scripture is the Authoritative Truth
(John 17:17). Therefore, since Scripture is one big revelation of God—that is,
all Scripture tells us about God—we can know God. My paper has been founded on
this presupposition: God tells us about Himself in His Word, which we have From
the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. Scripture alone refutes
this view that God is unknowable. Further, those who claim we cannot know God
have already said that we can, for if we could really know nothing about God,
we could not know that He existed and further we could not have a concept of
God, if indeed He was so separated from us. It is true we cannot know Him
perfectly here, but we can know about Him from what He has told us in His Word,
the Scriptures, by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I can write about the ontology
and economy of God, because He Himself has revealed it to us. Therefore, I can
discover from His Word that God is the Only God there is, but He is Three in
Person and One in Substance eternally. I can know that the typical ordering is
from the Father through the Son in/by the Holy Spirit. I can know that All
Three Persons eternally glorify and love one another and that because they are
humble it is so and the ordering is so.
E. Conclusion
The
Doctrine of the Trinity touches is of critical importance to understand all
other doctrines. This is the foundation upon which all other theology is built.
This Doctrine affects everything we think, say, do, and believe, for this
doctrine is required to be believed to understand anything else. This is the
nature of God, and the Nature of God sets the course for all the rest of
theology. The Holy Trinity affects every doctrine in some way or another,
because God’s true nature is reflected in some way in all true theology. This
Doctrine affects various doctrines to varying degrees, but it does affect
everyone of them: from salvation to baptism to the illumination of Scripture.
This is the starting point for all other theological enterprises.
There are
two major areas that the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity affects: Soteriology and
Ecclesiology. With respect to soteriology, it must be expressed that belief in
the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity (i.e., that there is one and only God, who
eternally exists in 3 infinite and co-equal persons: God the Father and God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit, and yet there is still only 1 God) to be saved. If
you do not believe in the Holy Trinity, you do not believe in God. Therefore,
you cannot be saved. The Trinity must be believed or there is no salvation.
Many claim to know God, but reject the Holy Trinity. When you reject the Holy
Trinity, you reject God, so you cannot be saved in the least. As Jesus said, if
you knew the Father you would know me (John 14:7). Therefore, there can be NO
salvation apart from believing in the deity of all three persons of the Holy
Trinity and at the same time believing there is only one God—the Holy Trinity
is Him. This doctrine also affect how you look at salvation. You see that God
saves us, but that in that salvation the father sends and justifies, the Son
expiates, propitiates, and intercedes, and the Holy Spirit enlightens, calls,
sanctifies, and seals. You see that salvation comes to us from the Father through
the Son by the Holy Spirit. Further, you see that it is, because the Persons of
the Holy Trinity seek to love and glorify One Another that we are saved at all.
If God was not humble, we could not be saved.
With
respect to ecclesiology, it affects how we pray, how we glorify God in the
Church, how we baptize, and how we worship. Concerning prayer, we pray to the
Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Concerning glorifying God in the
Church, we must seek to glorify God as Triune. We must seek to glorify God the
Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Concerning Baptism, we must
baptize all believer in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. All Three must be named in baptism. And concerning how we worship, we
must worship all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity and we must worship God as
the one and only God who is infinitely One. Also, we must worship in the Spirit
through the Son to the Father.
However, the
Doctrine of the Holy Trinity Changes a lot more than just the Doctrines of
soteriology and ecclesiology, He changes my life, my ministry, and my
worldview.
Concerning
my life, this Truth means that I must make sure not to contempt any member of
the Holy Trinity. This often comes up in practice, more than thought. It is
tempting and easy to neglect trusting and believe and depending on the work of
one Person of the Trinity over the others. This lavishes contempt on my God—the
Holy Trinity is hurt by my sin. Also, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as I
believe it forces me to see the absolute necessity and glory of humility, for
all Persons of the Godhead are infinitely humble and glorifying one another and
this from love as to His Nature. I must, therefore, be humble and see humility
as not-optional. I am further forced to be humble now, for I do not completely
understand the Trinity and the more I study the more I realize it is far beyond
me to the glory of the Holy Trinity.
Concerning
my Ministry, it means that as I lead my church and my kids and my wife-to-be, I
will be looking for ways to glorify each Person of the Holy Trinity, since He
deserves it. It also affects how I preach the Gospel. I cannot preach the
Gospel without making clear the doctrine of the Trinity, for there is so
salvation where there is no Holy Trinity. As I lead people to Christ, I must
challenge them with the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Concerning
my worldview, the Holy Trinity explains how there can be unity in diversity in
creation. If God was not a plural One, then I would be left without explanation
as to how diversity and unity could exist in God’s creation if He was not in
some fashion that way. Further, it affects how I think of God. I cannot think
of God in any other way than as the Holy Triune God. I always think of God the
Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit when I think about the nature of
God. I cannot conceive of God as proud or selfish, but only humble and selfless
as each of the Persons glorify and love infinitely and personally One Another.
This is above all a fundamental presupposition that shapes how I see and
understand everything else. The Holy Trinity is my God and I love Him: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. May this be all to His Glory forever and ever. Amen.
Sources Cited
Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed.
John Bolt. trans. John Vriend. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch
Reformed Translation Society).
The Bible. The New
American Standard Bible.
The Bible. The New
International Version.
The Bible. Nestle-Aland
Greek New Testament W/concise Dictionary. 27th ed. (New York: American
Bible Society, 2004. Print.)
Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for hēgeomai
(Strong's 2233)". (Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 13 Dec 2009.) <
http://
www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2233&t=NASB >.
Coppedge, Allen. The God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian
Doctrine of God (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL. 2007).
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology (2nd ed. Baker
Books: Grand Rapids, MI. 1998).
George, Timothy. The Nature of God: Being Attributes, and Acts (in
A Theology for the Church ed. Daniel L. Akin. B&H Publishing Group:
Nashville, TN. 2007.);
Giles, Kevin. Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the
Doctrine of the Trinity (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2006)
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical
Doctrine (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1994.)
Letham, Robert. The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and
Worship (P&R Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004).
Peters, Ted. God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine
Life (Westminster/John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky. 1993.)
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic theology: A Popular
Systematic Guide To Understanding Biblical Truth. (Wheaton, Ill: Victor Books, 1986. Print.)
Torrance, Thomas F. The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being Three
Persons (T&T Clark LTD.: New York. 1996)
Wallace, Daniel B. The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate
Greek Grammar (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2000.).
Ware, Bruce A. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relations, Roles, &
Relevance (Crossway Books: Wheaton, IL. 2005)
[1] Pp. 83-84 in Allen Coppedge’s The
God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian Doctrine of God (InterVarsity
Press: Downers Grove, IL. 2007).
[2] 288-290 in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed
Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend.
Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society).
[3] Pp. 82-83 in Allen Coppedge’s The
God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian Doctrine of God (InterVarsity
Press: Downers Grove, IL. 2007).
[4] Pp. 442-446 in Robert Letham’s The
Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R
Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004).
[5] 288-290 in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed
Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend.
Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society).
[6] p. 59 in Charles C. Ryrie’s Basic
Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide To Understanding Biblical Truth
(Victor Books: Wheaton, IL. 1986.).
[7] 290-291 in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed
Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend.
Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society)..
[8] Pp.201-220 in Robert Letham’s The
Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R
Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004).
[9] Pp.67-70 in Ted Peters’ God
as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life (Westminster/John
Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky. 1993.)
[10] 71-85 in Bruce A. Ware’s Father,
Son, & Holy Spirit: Relations, Roles, & Relevance (Crossway Books:
Wheaton, IL. 2005); and generally Kevin Giles’ Jesus and the Father: Modern
Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity (Zondervan: Grand Rapids,
MI. 2006); and 489-496 in Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity: In Scripture,
History, Theology, and Worship (P&R Publishing Company: Phillipsburg,
NJ. 2004)
[11] p. 22 and the rest of the book
in Kevin Giles’ Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the
Doctrine of the Trinity (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2006)
[12] 71-85 in Bruce A. Ware’s Father,
Son, & Holy Spirit: Relations, Roles, & Relevance (Crossway Books:
Wheaton, IL. 2005)
[13] For major contributors to this
section generally, see 256-334Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics: Vol. 2,
God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend. Baker Academic: Grand
Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society); Allen Coppedge’s The
God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian Doctrine of God (InterVarsity
Press: Downers Grove, IL. 2007); 182-187 in Timothy George’s The Nature of
God: Being Attributes, and Acts (in A Theology for the Church ed.
Daniel L. Akin. B&H Publishing Group: Nashville, TN. 2007.); 226-257
in Grudem’s Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine
(Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1994.); Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity: In
Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R Publishing Company:
Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004); Thomas F. Torrance’s The Christian Doctrine of God:
One Being Three Persons (T&T Clark LTD.: New York. 1996); and Bruce A.
Ware’s Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relations, Roles, & Relevance (Crossway
Books: Wheaton, IL. 2005).
[14] 318 in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed
Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend.
Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society);
and 225 in Allen Coppedge’s The God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian
Doctrine of God (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL. 2007)
[15] 318-322 in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed
Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend.
Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society);
[16] p. 32 Ted Peters’ God as
Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life (Westminster/John
Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky. 1993.)
[17] Pp. 296-298 in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed
Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend.
Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society)
[18] pp. 46-59 in Ted Peters’ God
as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life (Westminster/John
Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky. 1993.)
[19] 353-354 in Millard J. Erickson’s
Christian Theology (2nd ed. Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI.
1998).
[20] This I have heard over and over
in Dr. Michael Wechsler’s Hebrew Grammar I class throughout this semester.
[21] 119-120 in Daniel B. Wallace’s The
Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar (Zondervan:
Grand Rapids, MI. 2000.).
[22] p. 54 in Robert Letham’s The
Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R
Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004)
[23] p. 178-181 in Robert Letham’s The
Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R
Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004)
[24] Blue Letter Bible.
"Dictionary and Word Search for hēgeomai (Strong's 2233)". Blue
Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 13 Dec 2009. < http://
www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2233&t=NASB >.
[25] 356-357 in Millard J. Erickson’s
Christian Theology (2nd ed. Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI.
1998).
[26] 73-85 in Robert Letham’s The
Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R
Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004.).
[27] 178-179 in Robert Letham’s The
Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R
Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004.). Letham explains it as each member
of the Trinity existing in the same divine space (quote Gerald Bray), but this
tries to put the attribute of space to God, which is impossible, since He is
infinitely beyond all dimensions—He is in a limitlessness of His Own (Eph.
3:18-21).
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