Category Archives: Trinity

Is the Son eternally subject to the Father?

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(These notes by no means attempt a definitive solution to this question, which has become controversial in evangelical circles in recent years.)

The question of whether the Son is eternally subject to the Father is of some significance to debates between complementarians and egalitarians.  (This question is, of course, closely related to that concerning the relationship of the Spirit to the Father and the Son, but I will set that aside for now).

It is important to note that neither ‘side’ in the debate is monolithic. …

The Trinity in action

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1 in Creation

God the Father spoke, Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light.”
God the Son was the Word spoken, John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word.”
God the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, Genesis 1:2; Job 26:12,13.

2 in the Incarnation

God the Father gave His only Son, John 3:16.
God the Son was born into the world, Luke 2:11.
God the Spirit came upon Mary to cause conception, Luke 1:35.…

Genesis 1:26 – Why a plural name for God?

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Gen 1:26 – ‘Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness”.’

Much has been made of the plural name for God here (‘Elohom‘) and of the expression ‘Let us make…’.  A number of interpretations have been proposed:-

Polytheism.  But modern commentators agree that Genesis 1 ‘is distinctly antimythological in its thrust, explicitly rejecting ancient Near Eastern views of creation. Thus modern commentators are quite agreed that Gen 1:26 could never have been taken by the author of this chapter in a polytheistic sense.’…

‘A better story’ – 13

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Compared with the sensuous and graphic promises of Islam, the biblical vision of heaven seems positively chaste.  See, for example, Matthew 22:30.  But there is, perhaps, more to be said.

Sex as both a picture and a taster of divine love.  Although people will not marry each other in heaven, marriage itself will be by no means absent: there will be the one marriage between Christ and his church.  And this picture of heaven, although not the only one, is remarkable deep and powerful. …

Dances with the Trinity?

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Important to Richard Rohr – important enough to use it as the title of a book – is the idea of the Holy Trinity as a dance.

Rohr explains:-

‘At the heart of Christian revelation, God is not seen as a distant, static monarch but— as we will explore together— a divine circle dance, as the early Fathers of the church dared to call it (in Greek perichoresis, the origin of our word choreography). God is the Holy One presenced in the dynamic and loving action of Three.’

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Me and my two left feet

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I’ve just finished reading The Divine Dance: The Trinity and your Transformation, by Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell (SPCK, 2016).

The essential message of the book is that we’ve all got it wrong about the Holy Trinity.  And, as a consequence, Christians have failed to enter fully into the life of God.  Rohr and Morrell invite us to re-think, and to re-experience, the Trinity less as personhood (noun), and more about relationship (verb).  Although the headline metaphor is that of a divine dance, Rohr continually returns to the notion of ‘flow’. …

Communion with the Triune God

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John Owen ‘picked up on a theme found in Augustine, namely, communion as the “enjoyment,” or possession of and delighting in the triune God. In Augustine’s “On Christian Doctrine,” one chapter is titled, “The Trinity the true object of enjoyment.” There, Augustine wrote, “The true objects of enjoyment, then, are the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are at the same time the Trinity, one Being, supreme above all, and common to all who enjoy Him.”’…

The Trinity and gender issues

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It is argued by many that God is revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we are not at liberty to tamper with divine revelation simply in order to satisfy our liturgical needs or to bow to cultural pressures. Maternal images of the Godhead do occur in Scripture, Num 11:11-12; Deut 32:18; Isa 42:14; 46:3-4; 66:7-9; Hos 11:3f; 13:8; Mt 23:37; Lk 13:20f; 15:8-10. Are these sufficiently numerous or weighty for us to demand that liturgical language be either inclusive or gender-free?…

The Holy Trinity a Biblical doctrine

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B.B. Warfield, while recognising the obvious fact that the term ‘Trinity’ is not a biblical term, nevertheless maintains that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a biblical doctrine.

The doctrine of the Trinity lies in Scripture in solution; when it is crystallized from its solvent it does not cease to be Scriptural, but only comes into clearer view.

The doctrine of the Trinity, insists Warfield, not only is a biblical doctrine; it must be a biblical doctrine, because it is not discoverable by natural reason. …

Thoughts on the Trinity

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‘Off with our shoes, please, for the Holy Trinity is holy ground. Away with figured syllogisms and ordinary arithmetic: here, logic and mathematics do not suffice. The need is rather for a listening ear, an obedient heart (Jn 7:17), rapt adoration, a careful engagement with the Holy Scriptures.’ (Prof Kenneth Grider, Christianity Today).

The doctrine of the Trinity has exercised the greatest Christian minds. Augustine was once walking along the seashore, deep in meditation on the Trinity, when he came across a small boy digging a trench in the sand.…