The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and the Church Fathers

The role of the Septuagint in the building of the Christian identity during the first Christian centuries is more important than it is generally said. The word ‘testament’ or ‘covenant’, for example, comes from the Septuagint, via the New Testament. The Greek and Latin liturgies are filled with references to the Septuagint. The same is true in the case of the Christian spirituality: for instance, the concept of the Christian life as a migration comes from the Septuagint. The Christian hermeneutics is indebted to the Greek Bible: even if knowledge of the allegorical method comes from the Greek philosophers (and Philo), support could be found for it in the verses of the Greek Bible. Finally, the theological vocabulary of the Christians was founded upon the Greek Bible. For instance, in the case of the doctrine of the Trinity, the word ‘person’ comes from the Septuagint. Furthermore, some passages of the Greek translation gave rise to theological interpretations which are not possible on the grounds of the Hebrew text. In Gen 1:2, the Septuagint reads ‘the earth was invisible and unorganized’ and this came to be quoted both in support of the creation of matter ex nihilo. In Exod 17:16, where the Hebrew has a difficult hapax legomenon, the Greek speaks about the ‘hidden hand’ with which the Lord makes war against Amalek; this ‘hidden hand’ played a role in the Christian doctrine of the Logos, which is hidden in the Old Testament.

A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Missio Dei. Suggestions for a Trinitarian Understanding

This paper investigates the concept of missio Dei at Willingen and beyond, and identifies its most remarkable feature which regards God as the initiator and subject of mission, thereby redefining missio ecclesiae with three striking characteristics: first, all places of the world including both the immediate neighborhood and the uttermost parts of the earths; second, all spheres of life such as society, politics, economy and culture; and finally, all events of the time such as catastrophes in the history. In so doing, this paper clearly discovers that missio Dei is here approached primarily in a differentiation from or a sharp contrast to missio ecclesiae from the start, and that, for that reason, the concept of missio Dei at Willingen and beyond has not been fully trinitarian, though it often mentions the triune God. And it also discovers that it goes further either toward an emphasis on culture on the one hand, or toward that on the world on the other hand. Such being the case, this paper suggests that it is necessary to consider the implications of the doctrine of the Trinity for mission more fully to reconfigure the concept of missio Dei. Due to some limits, this paper does not deal with this issue full-fledgedly, but intends to suggest a couple of guidelines for doing so. First, we need to approach missio Dei quite differently, that is, primarily not in relation to missio ecclesiae but in relation to processio Dei, that is, the procession of the triune God. Second, noting that, since the early church, missio Dei has been understood primarily in relation to processio Dei, we need to keep in mind that we could not discuss missio more fully without dealing with processio, and vice versa. If we have these two guidelines in mind, the concept of missio Dei would be much more abundant and fruitful. Further studies on some particular implications of the doctrine of the Trinity for mission need to be done in missiology and also theology in general in the near future.

The Doctrine of Trinity and its Implications for Contemporary African Society

The doctrine of Trinity is key to human understanding of the character and nature of God. A proper understanding of this doctrine has the potential of deepening one’s rela-tionship with God and with other human beings. This doctrine embodies the biblical sto-ry and also informs Christian soteriology. In spite of its relevance, the doctrine of Trini-ty remains one of the most complex and misunderstood doctrines in Christianity. The challenge is how to reconcile the affirmation that “there are three distinctly fully divine Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)” with the fact that “there is only one true God.” The paper briefly examines this doctrine from the perspective of biblical and historical theology and explores how its teaching should inform relationships within the African society. This is a literature-based study that uses data from books, theses, journal arti-cles, Bible commentaries, among others as its sources. The methodology used comprises qualitative analysis of biblical data on the subject of Trinity and the African worldview of human society. The study revealed that the divine Trinity underscores unity in diver-sity and therefore that contradicts any form of egotistic individualism that leads to the destruction of communion and of life. Therefore, Christians must develop and promote a communal worldview of life through an appreciation of their diversity. The main con-clusion is that human society will be improved if people appreciate human diversity and then learn to live in peace and harmony in spite of their differences. The paper contrib-utes to scholarship by contextualizing the doctrine of the Trinity for the needs of the Af-rican society which shows diverse cultural traditions.

The Doctrine of Trinity and its Implications for Contemporary African Society

The doctrine of Trinity is key to human understanding of the character and nature of God. A proper understanding of this doctrine has the potential of deepening one’s rela-tionship with God and with other human beings. This doctrine embodies the biblical sto-ry and also informs Christian soteriology. In spite of its relevance, the doctrine of Trini-ty remains one of the most complex and misunderstood doctrines in Christianity. The challenge is how to reconcile the affirmation that “there are three distinctly fully divine Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)” with the fact that “there is only one true God.” The paper briefly examines this doctrine from the perspective of biblical and historical theology and explores how its teaching should inform relationships within the African society. This is a literature-based study that uses data from books, theses, journal arti-cles, Bible commentaries, among others as its sources. The methodology used comprises qualitative analysis of biblical data on the subject of Trinity and the African worldview of human society. The study revealed that the divine Trinity underscores unity in diver-sity and therefore that contradicts any form of egotistic individualism that leads to the destruction of communion and of life. Therefore, Christians must develop and promote a communal worldview of life through an appreciation of their diversity. The main con-clusion is that human society will be improved if people appreciate human diversity and then learn to live in peace and harmony in spite of their differences. The paper contrib-utes to scholarship by contextualizing the doctrine of the Trinity for the needs of the Af-rican society which shows diverse cultural traditions.

Monarchical Trinitarianism:

This article aims to provide a metaphysical elucidation of a specific model of the doctrine of the Trinity: Monarchical Trinitarianism, within the formal, neo–Aristotelian ontological and metaphysical framework of Jonathan Lowe (i.e. his four–category ontology and serious essentialism). Formulating the model through this ontological and metaphysical framework will enable us to explicate it in a clear and consistent manner, and the important 'multiple–natures' problem raised against the proposed model will be shown to be ineffective.

The Trinity and the New Testament – a Counter-Challenge to Dale Tuggy

Dale Tuggy argues that my trinitarian views are in conflict with the theology of the New Testament; the New Testament, rather, is unitarian. I show several flaws in this argument, and point out the New Testament evidence that eventually led to the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity.

“The White Whale”

Barth’s Church Dogmatics is the most extensive theological work of the twentieth century. Barth worked on it from 1932 until 1967, reconceptualizing theology from the very foundations. He distinguishes three forms of the Word of God, avoiding a biblicistic reading of the Bible. The doctrine of the Trinity is a consequent exposition of the concept of God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ. This God is the one who loves in freedom, that is who relates to human beings because of grace. Barth therefore completely transforms the Reformed doctrine of double predestination. The doctrine of creation as well has to be derived from God’s self-revelation; God created the world because God wanted a covenantal partner. To this creation belong shadow sides as well as nothingness. God in Jesus Christ entered the confrontation with nothingness and reconciled the world with God. Only from reconciliation can we understand the essence of sin.

Monotheisme Yahudi Kuno dan Doktrin Trinitas

This study examines ancient Jewish monotheism and compares it with the doctrine of the trinity in the Bible, particularly in Paul's epistles (Ephesians) and the Gospel of John. Researchers used qualitative methods with an emphasis on biblical studies. Researchers conclude that triadic patterns are central to Paul's theology in Ephesians. On the other hand, from the point of view of the practice of worship and devotion, early Christianity seemed to be dominated by a binitarian or diadid pattern of worship (as Hurtado argues). Was the Holy Spirit worshiped in the worship practices and devotion of early Christianity? The evidence from the NT forces us to refrain from giving positive answers to this question. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit is not presented as God (cf. John 14-16; etc.), but that the objects of recipients of worship and devotion in the NT pages are dominated by the Father and the Son. This pattern of worship finds its background not in the Greco-Roman religions, but in ancient Jewish monotheism. From ancient Jewish monotheism too, we find reference to the Christology of divine identity which was so dominant in the NT. Abstrak: Penelitian ini mengkaji tentang monoteisme Yahudi kuno dan membandingkannya dengan doktrin trinitas dalam Alkitab, khususnya dalam surat Paulus (Surat Efesus) dan juga Injil Yohanes. Peneliti menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan menitikberatkan pada kajian biblika. Peneliti menyimpulkan pola-pola triadik merupakan pusat teologi Paulus dalam Surat Efesus. Di sisi lain, dari segi praktik penyembahan dan devosinya, Kekristenan mula-mula tampaknya didominasi oleh pola penyembahan yang binitarian atau diadik (seperti argumentasi Hurtado). Apakah Roh Kudus disembah dalam praktik penyembahan dan devosi Kekristenan mula-mula? Bukti-bukti dari PB memaksa kita untuk menahan diri dalam memberikan jawaban positif terhadap pertanyaan ini. Hal ini tidak berarti bahwa Roh Kudus tidak dipresentasikan sebagai Allah (bnd. Yoh. 14-16; dll.), namun memang objek penerima penyembahan dan devosi dalam halaman-halaman PB didominasi oleh Bapa dan Anak. Pola penyembahan ini, mendapatkan latar belakangnya bukan dalam agama-agama Greco-Roman, melainkan dalam monotheisme Yahudi kuno. Dari monotheisme Yahudi kuno juga, kita mendapati acuan bagi Kristologi identitas ilahi yang sangat dominan dalam PB.

The Nature of God and the Trinity

Commonly recognized as fundamental to his thought as a whole, Edwards’s doctrine of the Trinity has, nonetheless, been the subject of much discord in the secondary literature. After initially mapping the various perspectives (or ‘instincts’) on the issue, this chapter turns to the notion of personalism to explain the inner logic of Edwards’s account. This unique feature of Edwards’s doctrine explains how he can utilize traditional theological machinery in his doctrine of God (i.e. psychological imagery, simplicity, actus purus, filioque, and divine blessedness), to establish his idiosyncratic development of perichoresis and the divine attributes. What this reading of Edwards’s doctrine helps establish is how he articulates human speech about God, and various rules for how that speech functions (e.g. talk about God is to talk about person(s); God’s self-giving is funded by, rather than diminished by, God’s perfection).

God the Trinity

Aquinas occupies a prominent place in today’s discussions of Trinitarian theology. Each of the seven sections of this chapter deals with an aspect that is or should be present in any reception of Aquinas’ doctrine of the Trinity: the centrality of Trinitarian faith in Aquinas’ theology; the nature and purpose of Aquinas’ Trinitarian theology; the cardinal place of the economy of salvation; the relationship between Trinitarian processions and missions; the organization of the ‘treatise’ on God in the Summa theologiae; the divine persons as ‘subsisting relations’; the Son as Word and Image, and the Holy Spirit as Love and Gift. In Aquinas, Trinitarian doctrine provides the interpretive framework for understanding all other theological topics (from creation to eschatology).