The Trinity
What is the Trinity?
Dennis A. Wright, D.Min.
The Trinity is the Christian doctrine of God, according to which He is three persons in one substance or essence. The doctrine of the Trinity is sometimes attacked as being insufficiently monotheistic, but Christians have always denied this. The doctrine developed in the early church because it was the only way in which the New Testament witness to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit could be adequately accounted for. Far from being a covert invasion by pagan philosophical and religious influences, it would appear that the doctrine of the Trinity has survived against precisely these temptations, which have occasionally threatened to push the church into a practical and even a theoretical Unitarianism. As Warfield explains: The term “Trinity” is not a Biblical term, and we are not using Biblical language when we define what is expressed by it as the doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence.
God and the Holy Trinity
Tom J. Nettles
This is a superb commentary on Chapter II of the Second London Confession (1689): “Of God and of the Holy Trinity.”
Highly Recommended!
The Trinity
Benjamin B. Warfield
The term “Trinity” is not a Biblical term, and we are not using Biblical language when we define what is expressed by it as the doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence. A doctrine so defined can be spoken of as a Biblical doctrine only on the principle that the sense of Scripture is Scripture. And the definition of a Biblical doctrine in such un-Biblical language can be justified only on the principle that it is better to preserve the truth of Scripture than the words of Scripture. The doctrine of the Trinity lies in Scripture in solution; when it is crystallized from its solvent it does not cease to be Scriptural, but only comes into clearer view. Or, to speak without figure, the doctrine of the Trinity is given to us in Scripture, not in formulated definition, but in fragmentary allusions; when we assemble the disjecta membra into their organic unity, we are not passing from Scripture, but entering more thoroughly into the meaning of Scripture. We may state the doctrine in technical terms, supplied by philosophical reflection; but the doctrine stated is a genuinely Scriptural doctrine.
Warfield and the Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity
Warfield’s 1915 ISBE article on the Trinity presents the Princeton theologian’s mature thinking on the biblical bases and meaning of the doctrine and offers a revisionist interpretation of the personal names of “Father,” “Son,” and “Spirit.”
God in Three Persons: The Trinity
Wayne Grudem, PhD
The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith. To study the Bible’s teachings on the Trinity gives us great insight into the question that is at the center of all of our seeking after God: What is God like in himself? Here we learn that in himself, in his very being, God exists in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet he is one God.
Highly Recommended!
B.B. Warfield on the Trinity
Fred Zaspel
Trinitarian concerns loom large in B. B. Warfield. First and foremost a “Christologian,” yet as an heir of the best of reformed orthodoxy, Warfield manifests throughout his works an enthusiastic and robust Trinitarianism.
Begotten, Not Made
Joshua Malone, PhD
In the fourth-century a famous debate was brewing, going back to at least Origen, and it came to a head with the Arian controversy. The dispute centered on specifying the origin of Jesus Christ in the eternal life of God. Was the Son made, even if his making was prior to and unlike the other creatures (as Arius taught), or was he eternally begotten (as bishop Alexander taught)?
A Sweet Mystery: John Owen on the Trinity
Paul Smalley
The purpose of this article is to summarize John Owen’s teaching regarding the Trinity. That is a subject worthy of a book by a scholar after studying Owen for decades. Given that this is a mere article written by a beginning student of Owen, our goal is to explore but not in any way exhaust this great subject.
Calvin's Doctrine of the Trinity
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield
When Calvin turns, in his discussion of the doctrine of God, from the Divine Being in general to the Trinity, he makes the transition most skillfully by a paragraph which doubtless has the design, as it certainly has the effect, of quickening in his readers a sense of the mystery of the divine mode of existence.
Denials of Orthodoxy: Heretical Views of the Doctrine of the Trinity
As we explore the doctrine of the Trinity it is good to remember that this orthodox position was hammered out amid challenges to a “Trinitarian consciousness” that arose in the early church.
The Doctrine of the Trinity
Steve Lewis, M.Div.
The purpose of this article is to present an introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity in addition to an exegesis of a specific passage that provides key facts that must be considered in any systematic treatment of the Trinity.
The Calvinist Doctrine of the Trinity
Roger Beckwith
Although the Lutheran and Anglican Reformers were content to re-state in traditional terms the doctrine of the Trinity, as worked out from the Scriptures by the early Fathers, and to give their emphatic endorsement to the ancient Creeds, this is less true of John Calvin. Calvin had, of course, a very original theological mind, and was determined to think everything through afresh in the light of Scripture; and the profound orthodoxy of his theology was due to the devoted faithfulness which he showed to Scripture.
The Trinity
Norman L. Geisler, Ph.D.
Trinity simply means “triunity.” God is not a simple unity; there is plurality in his unity. The Trinity is one of the great mysteries of the Christian Faith. Unlike an antinomy or paradox, which is a logical contradiction, the Trinity goes beyond reason but not against reason. It is known only by divine revelation, so the Trinity is not the subject of natural theology but of revelation.
One Being, Three Persons
Kevin Chiarot, PhD
In the New Testament revelation of God in Jesus Christ, the mystery of the Triune God is cracked open for us.
Nevertheless, the Trinity has always had its detractors.
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