Sunday, January 17, 2010

My Theory on the Being and Doing of the Holy Trinity

I believe God is the One and Only God eternally existing in Three eternally co-equal Persons (who are God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) but with an eternal humility in the order of all three, such that while to some extent the Father is said to be First, the Son Second, and the Spirit Third, ultimately each of all Three Persons love and seek the glory of the other Two Persons (thus, the Holy Spirit is not the shared love between the Father and the Son). The Father glorifies the Son and the Spirit; the Son glorifies the Father and the Spirit; and the Spirit glorifies the Father and the Son. They are co-equal in power, being, authority, love, holiness, wrath, justice, wisdom, omniscience, omnipresence, omnibenevolence, etc. Absolute and eternal subordination is heretical; absolute and eternal humility is not. The typical ontological and economical ordering is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—From the Father, through the Son, in/by the Holy Spirit. There is a perfect balance in the Trinity between oneness and threeness. Una Substantia in Tres Personae (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 3:16-17; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1-4; 8:50, 54; 10:30; 14:1-17:26; 20:21-22; Acts 5:3-4; I Cor. 2:10-11; 11:3; 12:4-6; 15:27-28; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 1:1-23; 1:17; Eph. 2:18; 2:19-22; 3:14-21; 4:4-6; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-19; Titus 3:4-6; Hebrew 1-10).[i]


[i] This section on the Holy Trinity comes from my Theological Project Paper, which I did on the ontology and economy of the Holy Trinity. For more information on the Trinity see my paper on it. Also, note that a good part of the “sources cited” section comes from my thorough study on the Holy Trinity that I have already performed for my other paper. However, the sources I will also list hear for clarification, however, there is some overlap in sources used to for the rest of this paper.

Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics: Vol. 2, God and Creation (ed. John Bolt. trans. John Vriend. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2004 by Dutch Reformed Translation Society).; The Bible. The New American Standard Bible.; The Bible. The New International Version.; The Bible. Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament W/concise Dictionary. 27th ed. (New York: American Bible Society, 2004. Print.); Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for hēgeomai (Strong's 2233)". (Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 13 Dec 2009.) < strongs="G2233&t="NASB">.; Coppedge, Allen. The God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian Doctrine of God (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL. 2007).; Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology (2nd ed. Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI. 1998). ; George, Timothy. The Nature of God: Being Attributes, and Acts (in A Theology for the Church ed. Daniel L. Akin. B&H Publishing Group: Nashville, TN. 2007.); Giles, Kevin. Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2006); Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1994.); Letham, Robert. The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ. 2004).; Peters, Ted. God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life (Westminster/John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky. 1993.); Ryrie, Charles C. Basic theology: A Popular Systematic Guide To Understanding Biblical Truth. (Wheaton, Ill: Victor Books, 1986. Print.); Torrance, Thomas F. The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being Three Persons (T&T Clark LTD.: New York. 1996); Wallace, Daniel B. The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2000.).; Ware, Bruce A. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relations, Roles, & Relevance (Crossway Books: Wheaton, IL. 2005)

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