1. Calvin and the Early Christian Doctrine of the Trinity

2013 ◽  
pp. 15-30
Keyword(s):  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

Could there Be More than One Almighty?

1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Bartel
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Literal Sense ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

If proof is required that yesterday's scandal can become today's fashion, we need look no further than recent discussions of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Just a generation ago, Trinitarians typically insisted that the members of the Godhead are not distinct persons in any literal sense. But during the past few years, more and more philosophically sophisticated Christians have unblushingly maintained that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not just different persons, but different individuals – that the Trinity consists of three divine beings.

scholarly journals The Trinity in African Christian theology: An overview of contemporary approaches

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teddy C. Sakupapa
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
African Theology ◽  
Doctrine Of God ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Primary Literature ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

This contribution offers a survey of the modern African theological discourse on the Trinity as a distinctive Christian doctrine of God. It is a systematic narrative review of primary literature on the doctrine of the Trinity in modern African theology with a view to identify main trends, key concepts and major proponents. It is argued that the contemporary African Trinitarian Hermeneutics cannot be understood in isolation from African debates on translatability of concepts of God framed first in terms of the reinterpretation of the theological significance of pre-Christian African concepts of God and subsequently as an outcome of African Christological reflection. The article affirms an apophatic resistance to any tendency to take God for granted as recently advanced by Ernst Conradie and Teddy Sakupapa.

The Trinitarian Theology of Augustine and His Debt to Plotinus

1961 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-255
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Wassmer
Keyword(s):  
Saint Augustine ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Simple Solution ◽  
Latin Translation ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Divine Mind ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Trinity

A Very powerful case has been made out for the influence of the Platonism of Plotinus upon Saint Augustine. From the Manichaean simple solution of the problem of evil Augustine was delivered by reading the neo-Platonists and especially Plotinus. It was Plotinus who convinced him that God was a spirit, not a luminous body, and he always remained grateful for this deliverance from the crude fantasies of the Manichaeans. In the two years before his conversion when he was receiving a deeper penetration into Christianity through the sermons of St. Ambrose, he came to know of Plotinus in a very few treatises of the Enneads (certainly I, 6 ‘On the Beautiful’ and quite probably V, 1 ‘On the Three Chief Hypostases’) in the Latin translation of Marius Victorinus. St. Ambrose made a determined effort to apply the principles of Plotinus' philosophy to the clarification of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity as against the Arians. The results of such an attempt might not be theologically satisfying but they are interesting. This impact of the mind of Plotinus upon the mind of Augustine was a decisive one because Augustine found a very great area of agreement between the teaching of Plotinus and that of the Scriptures as expounded by St. Ambrose, above all the Gospel of St. John. It was their agreement that God is spirit and altogether immaterial, as Plotinus explains, which liberated him from the Manichaean materialism. Augustine thought that Plotinus' teaching about the Divine Mind was identical with that of St. John about the Divine Logos.

Christology—a Jewish view

1971 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-200
Author(s):  
Steven Katz
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

In this paper I would like to discuss what the Old Testament has to say about the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. I take it as agreed that this task is both important and necessary for a real understanding of the New Testament, which by itself, is neither complete, meaningful nor self-authenticating. I do not make any claims to completeness on this crucial topic, but wish only to suggest what I feel are some important points for consideration. I want to discuss the three persons of the Trinity separately, beginning with the Father, then proceeding to the Holy Spirit and then to the Son. My remarks about the Father will be brief. I only wish to make the point that the Old Testament as well as the new Testament is fully aware of God's Fatherhood and alive to the reality that God loves mankind. It is clear that Israel has a special place as indicated by such passages as Exod. 4.22 where God addresses Israel saying: ‘Israel is my first born son.’ Yet at the same time it is basic to an understanding of Old Testament thought that God is the Father of the other nations of the world, though they are not the ‘first born’. This is a cardinal position of Old Testament theology and is based on the belief, given expression in Genesis, that all belongs to and was created by God.

scholarly journals Menuju Misi Kristen yang Mengedepankan Dialog Antariman

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohanes Krismantyo Susanta
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Period ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
The Trinity

This paper uses library research to several kinds of literature that address issues of Christian mission. This paper shows that the early Christian mission came together and was used as a tool in the colonial era to conquer the Indonesian people. Christian mission in the colonial period was understood narrowly to make someone become a Christian. The mission paradigm affects the encounter between Christianity and other religions in Indonesia, especially Islam. Therefore, it is necessary to reconstruct the understanding of Christian mission amid diversity in the context of Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia. Christian mission centred on the doctrine of the Trinity is understood as a joint dialogue to solve social, humanitarian problems. The mission is not a barrier to dialogue, but rather an affirmation of the importance of unity in diversity.

Complexity and Mystery

2018 ◽  
pp. 182-202
Author(s):  
Alister E. McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Complex World ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
Gabriel Marcel ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

This chapter examines the limited capacity of human reason to make sense of a complex world, and how this expresses itself in the notion of ‘mystery’. How does being receptive to mystery help us cope with our complex world? The concept of mystery is explored with particular reference to Gabriel Marcel and Austin Farrer, and as this is expressed in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The chapter considers whether a ‘mystery’ is simply a synonym for an ‘irrationality’, or whether it can be seen as a recognition of the limits placed upon the human mind to grasp a vast and complicated universe. What are the scientific and theological consequences of the limited capacity of the human mind? How can we expand our grasp of reality?

Divine Temporality, the Trinity, and the Charge of Arianism

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 267-290
Author(s):  
R.T. Mullins
Keyword(s):  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Robust Model ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

Divine temporality is all the rage in certain theological circles today. Some even suggesting that the doctrine of the Trinity entails divine temporality. While I find this claim a bit strong, I do think that divine temporality can be quite useful for developing a robust model of the Trinity. However, not everyone agrees with this. Paul Helm has offered an objection to the so-called Oxford school of divine temporality based on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. He has argued that this form of divine temporality entails Arianism. In other words, divine temporality suffers from an inadequate doctrine of the Trinity. In this paper I shall first articulate the so-called Oxford school of divine temporality. From there I shall develop some of the Oxford school’s theological benefits that help flesh out the doctrine of the Trinity, and assuage the charge of Arianism. Then I shall offer an examination and refutation of the Arian charge to divine temporality in order to show that the divine temporalist can maintain a robust Trinitarian theology.

The Trinitarian Theology of Augustine and His Debt to Plotinus

1960 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Wassmer
Keyword(s):  
Saint Augustine ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Simple Solution ◽  
Latin Translation ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Great Area ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Trinity

A very powerful case has been made out for the influence of the Platonism of Plotinus upon Saint Augustine. From the Manichaean simple solution of the problem of evil Augustine was delivered by reading the Neo-Platonists and especially Plotinus. It was Plotinus who convinced him that God was a spirit, not a luminous body, and he always remained grateful for this deliverance from the crude fantasies of the Manichaeans. In the two years before his conversion when he was receiving a deeper penetration into Christianity through the sermons of St. Ambrose, he came to know of Plotinus in a very few treatises of the Enneads (certainly 1/6 “On the Beautiful” and quite probably V/1 “On the Three Chief Hypostases”) in the Latin translation of Marius Victorinus. St. Ambrose made a determined effort to apply the principles of Plotinus’ philosophy to the clarification of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity as against the Arians. The results of such an attempt might not be theologically satisfying but they are interesting. This impact of the mind of Plotinus upon the mind of Augustine was a decisive one because Augustine found a very great area of agreement between the teaching of Plotinus and that of the Scriptures as expounded by St. Ambrose, above all the Gospel of St. John.

Minimal Faith and Irenic Ideals in Seventeenth-Century Scholarly Circles

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk Nellen
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Hugo Grotius ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Articles Of Faith ◽  
Second Category ◽  
The Trinity

This article shows how the Dutch humanist Hugo Grotius (1583–1645), inspired by his friend Isaac Casaubon, sought to introduce a procedure for mitigating strife in the Christian church. He proclaimed a division between a set of self-evident, universally accepted key tenets, to be endorsed by all believers, and a larger number of secondary, not completely certain articles of faith, which were to be left open for friendly debate. The doctrine of the Trinity belonged to the second category; it should be treated in a careful, detached way, in words that did not go beyond the terminology of the Bible. However, defenders of this irenic stance laid themselves open to severe criticism: the example of the conservative Lutheran theologian Abraham Calovius illustrates how they were censured for giving up divinely inspired truth for a chimerical unionist ideal which cajoled them into reintroducing the early Christian heresy of Arianism, now called Socinianism.

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