Classical Theism and the Doctrine of the Trinity

1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88
Author(s):  
Charles J. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Divine Simplicity ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Classical Theism ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

It is well known that Augustine, Boethius, Anselm and Aquinas participated in a tradition of philosophical theology which determined God to be simple, perfect, immutable and timelessly eternal. Within the parameters of such an Hellenic understanding of the divine nature, they sought a clarification of one of the fundamental teachings of their Christian faith, the doctrine of the Trinity. These classical theists were not dogmatists, naively unreflective about the very possibility of their project. Aquinas, for instance, explicitly worried about and fought to dispel the seeming contradiction between the philosophical requirement of divine simplicity and the creedal insistence on a threefold personhood in God.1 Nevertheless, doubts abound. Philosophers otherwise friendly to Classical Theism (CT) still remain unsure about the coherence of affirming a God that is at once absolutely simple and triune.2 A less friendly critic has even suggested that the theory of divine simplicity pressured Augustine and his medieval followers away from recognizing that real complexity within the life of God which Trinitarianism expresses.3

Divine persons as relational qua-objects

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT C. KOONS
Keyword(s):  
Strong Version ◽  
Divine Simplicity ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Kit Fine ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Qua Objects ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractIs the Christian doctrine of the Trinity consistent with a very strong version of the thesis of divine simplicity? Yes, so long as the simple divine nature is a relational nature, a nature that could be characterized in terms of such relations as knowing and loving. This divine nature functions simultaneously as agent, patient, and action: as knower, known and knowledge, and lover, beloved, and love. I will draw on work on qua-objects by Kit Fine and Nicholas Asher and on my own account of relational facts to elucidate this model more fully.

Redefining progress in Trinitarian theology: Stephen R. Holmes on the Trinity

2014 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-20
Author(s):  
Fred Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Classical Theism ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Constructive Work ◽  
Historical Theology ◽  
The Trinity

This essay examines some of the implications for contemporary constructive work on the doctrine of the Trinity if Steve Holmes is correct in his judgments about the direction taken by the recent revival of interest in the doctrine. Holmes raises serious questions about the exegetical basis of the doctrine, and raises the question of what God has revealed in the sending of the Son and the Spirit. Some areas of maximal divergence between the classic tradition and the recent revival are probed, such as the recent lack of interest in the elaboration and defense of divinity unity, and also of the divine attributes as explored by classical theism. Finally, Holmes’s work raises questions about the proper relationships between systematic theology and allied theological disciplines such as historical theology and analytic theology.

Duns Scotus

2019 ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Richard Cross
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Duns Scotus ◽  
Immaculate Conception ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Original Thinker

After a brief summary of Duns Scotus’ life and works, this chapter offers an overview of Scotus’ theology, showing how Scotus’ principal theological aim was theoretical generality: the attempt to treat of God and creatures using the same metaphysical tools—in particular, the same theories of unity and distinction. Despite his status as a radically innovative and original thinker, Scotus’ debt to twelfth-century theology is also highlighted, along with the aim, shared with these earlier theologians, of showing as much as possible of the Christian faith without appeal to revelation. Topics covered include: the theory of individuation, the coherence of the doctrine of the Trinity, the proof for the existence of God as a Trinity of persons, the univocity of being, the Immaculate Conception, Christocentrism, will and freedom, and the doctrine of grace.

scholarly journals Adam Pastor, Antitrinitarian Antipædobaptist

1917 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 73-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Henry Newman
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Infant Baptism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Traditional Doctrine

The intellectual, social, and religious upheaval of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of which the Renaissance and the Protestant Revolution were phases, along with the decidedly skeptical tendency of the Scotist philosophy which undermined the arguments by which the great mysteries of the Christian faith had commonly been supported while accepting unconditionally the dogmas of the Church—together with the influence of Neoplatonizing mysticism which aimed and claimed to raise its subjects into such direct and complete union and communion with the Infinite as to make any kind of objective authority superfluous:—all these influences conspired to lead many of the most conscientious and profoundly religious thinkers of the sixteenth century to reject simultaneously the baptism of infants and the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. Infant baptism they regarded as being without scriptural warrant, subversive of an ordinance of Christ, and inconsistent with regenerate church membership. Likewise the doctrine of the tripersonality of God, as set forth in the so-called Nicene and Athanasian creeds, involving the co-eternity, co-equality and consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and the personality of the Holy Spirit, they subjected to searching and fundamental criticism.

Martin Luther and the Trinity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Schwöbel
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Catholic Theology ◽  
De Trinitate ◽  
Justification By Faith ◽  
The Status ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Integral Role ◽  
Catholic Tradition ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Luther’s theology of the Trinity is firmly rooted in the catholic tradition of the church. In scholarly debate, it has therefore not received the same attention as the doctrines usually associated with the distinctive profile of the teaching of the Reformation, like the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The intrinsic connection between Luther’s catholic theology of the Trinity and the distinctive emphases of Reformation theology has consequently often been overlooked. Luther was reasonably well acquainted with the medieval debate and could occasionally, as in the late disputations, directly comment upon them, if the distinctions served to clarify his view of the place of Trinitarian teaching in the church. The most interesting question with regard to Luther’s doctrine of the Trinity is not which influences can be traced in his Trinitarian thought but how he developed the status of Trinitarian discourse in Christian faith and how he applied it in his treatment of other theological issues. If we survey Luther’s engagement with the doctrine of the Trinity, ranging from the early glosses on Lombard’s Sentences and Augustine’s De Trinitate to the very last disputation, we can see that in all the different genres in which he develops his theology, Trinitarian reflection plays an integral role. Luther’s own attempts at giving expression to the Trinitarian faith are developed within the boundaries of creedal orthodoxy. He does not modify the doctrinal tradition of the conciliar Creeds but employs it in such a way that its basis in the witness of Scripture becomes apparent and that the task of Trinitarian language in relating the different articles of Christian faith to their foundation and so can be understood by others.

The Divine Simplicity in St Thomas

1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Burns
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Divine Simplicity ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Divine Essence ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
The Trinity

In the Summa Theologiae ‘simplicity’ is treated as pre–eminent among the terms which may properly be used to describe the divine nature. The Question in which Thomas demonstrates that God must be ‘totally and in every way simple’ (1.3.7) immediately follows the five proofs of God's existence, preceding the treatment of His other perfections, and being frequently used as the basis for proving them. Then in Question 13 ‘univocal predication' is held to be ‘impossible between God and creatures’ so that at best ‘some things are said of God and creatures analogically’ because of the necessity of using ‘various and multiplied conceptions’ derived from our knowledge of created beings to refer to what in God is simple for ‘the perfections flowing from God to creatures… pre–exist in God unitedly and simply, whereas in creatures they are received divided and multiplied’ (1.13.5). In line with this, in the De Potentia Dei the treatment of analogical predication is integrated into that of ‘the Simplicity of the Divine Essence’ (Q 7). Moreover, it lies at the root of Thomas's rejection of any possibility of a Trinitarian natural theology such as, for instance, St Anselm or Richard of St Victor had attempted to develop, on the grounds that ‘it is impossible to attain to the knowledge of the Trinity by natural reason’ since ‘we can know what belongs to the unity of the essence, but not what belongs to the distinction of the persons’ (1.32.1). Even modern minds sympathetic to Thomas have clearly found it difficult to understand his concern for the divine simplicity: in his Aquinas Lecture Plantinga speaks for many in stating that it is ‘a mysterious doctrine’ which is ‘exceedingly hard to grasp or construe’ and ‘it is difficult to see why anyone should be inclined to accept it’. Not surprisingly, therefore, some of the most widely read twentieth–century commentators on Aquinas have paid little attention to it. Increased interest has recently been shown in it, but a number of discussions pay insufficient attention to the historical context out of which Thomas's interest in the doctrine emerged, and consequently tend to misconstrue its nature.

scholarly journals Preaching the Trinity today

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes P Deetlefs
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Practical Implications

While the twentieth century has witnessed renewed interest in the doctrine of the Trinity, in their daily lives Christians are mostly unaffected by it. The reason for this lack of knowledge and the negligence of this vital Christian doctrine could be blamed partly on a lack of preaching the doctrine of the Trinity. Considering the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is the distinguishing doctrine of the Christian faith, such neglect in the homiletical ministry of the church is truly lamentable. This article is aimed at discussing some of the possible reasons for this regrettable situation and offering some guidelines for preaching the Trinity. Considering the practical implications of this foundational Christian doctrine for the ecclesial community, as well as for society at large, the church can no longer afford the neglect of the preaching of the Trinity. While I am writing from within the South African context, the issues raised here are relevant to the church internationally.

Does ‘God’ exist?

2005 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-484
Author(s):  
A. N. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Divine Nature ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Christian Discourse ◽  
The Trinity

The essay considers the possible meanings of ‘God’ in Christian discourse, given its assertorial usage and in light of the doctrine of the Trinity. Examination of the grammar of analogous sentences highlights the problems of using ‘God’ as the subject of verbs of agency. In light of the enhypostasization of divine nature within the three persons of the Trinity, and in no other context, ‘God’ cannot designate any one person of the Trinity, nor the Three together, nor divine nature conceived anhypostatically and, given its propensity to mislead, use of ‘God’ in Christian discourse is called into question.

The Doctrine of the Trinity

1991 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Wainwright
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

In the struggle over traditional trinitarian doctrine, criticism from feminist, deistic, and religionist quarters can stimulate the churches in their revival of this soteriologically vital pattern of the Christian faith.

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