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.

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.

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

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.

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.

scholarly journals Sumbangan Athanasius dari Aleksandria dalam Pembentukan Ajaran Trinitas

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Hendri Mulyana Sendjaja
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Church Tradition

The intellectual struggles and adventures of Christian thinkers in Alexandria in the first centuries produced an overarching effect to the doctrines of Christian faith, which survived to the present day. One of those doctrines is the doctrine of the Trinity. The study of the thought of Athanasius of Alexandria in regards of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, through his works such as Contra Gentes-De Incarnatione, Contra Arianos I-III, and Epistola ad Serapionem, speaks for itself the contribution he made to solidify the doctrine of the Trinity. For him, the doctrine expresses the eternal communion among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, which in effect brings benefi t to us. The construction of the doctrine is inseparable from the Church tradition which owed to the ecclesiastical biblical exegesis, and the construction of the theological methods, and the soteriological perspective.

scholarly journals Engaging Klaus Nürnberger’s interpretation of the doctrine of the Trinity

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rian Venter
Keyword(s):  
Human Experience ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Research Paradigms ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Trinity

This article discusses the interpretation of the doctrine of the Trinity by K. Nürnberger from the perspective of an appreciation of his intellectual and theological accomplishment, especially as expressed in the publication of his systematic theology in 2016. Nürnberger’s distinct understanding of the Trinity is mapped with reference to five perspectives: the structural place in the overall treatment of the Christian faith, an estimation of Patristic theology, the relative importance of the doctrine, the category for interpretation and, finally, the ‘point’ of the Trinitarian confession. To establish some form of evaluative frame of reference, the so-called Trinitarian Renaissance is briefly described. The article concludes with a preliminary evaluation, expressing concern about Nürnberger’s negative view of the Patristic interpretation, the shift from a focus on God’s nature and identity to human experience, a modernist conception about intelligibility and the dismissal of mystery and a general truncation of the heuristic potential of the doctrine.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article is an intra-disciplinary study. It addresses the view of a fellow systematic theological scholar (K Nürnberger). At stake is the impact of different research paradigms within the same discipline. In this case, the engagement is between the paradigms of realist-experiential versus critical-metaphysical. Different results emerge from this.

The Doctrine of the Trinity

1991 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-206
Author(s):  
Piet SCHOONENBERG
Keyword(s):  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity
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