Quiz 10 Study Guide: The Doctrine of the Trinity

distincti non divisi

distinct, yet not divided.

discreti non separati

different, yet not separate or independent.

Arrobon

In the context of the New Testament and Greek language, 'arrabon' (ἀρραβών) refers to a pledge, guarantee, or earnest money, signifying a deposit or down payment securing a future transaction or promise, often used in a spiritual sense to describe the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the believer's inheritance.

Doxology

from the Greek words 'doxa' (meaning 'glory') and 'logos' (meaning 'word' or 'speaking'), a doxology is a hymn or verse in Christian liturgy that glorifies God, often sung or chanted in unison.

Macedonianism

the heresy that taught that the Holy Spirit is a created being.

Modalism

the heresy that taught that the three persons of the Trinity as different 'modes' of the Godhead. Adherents believed that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not distinct personalities, but different modes of God's self-revelation. A typical modalist approach is to regard God as the Father in creation, the Son in redemption, and the Spirit in sanctification.

Oikonomia

Gk. economy. The economy of salvation is 'the way in which the one God has ordered the salvation of humanity in history' (St. Irenaeus).

Perichoresis

Gk. 'make space around'. Perichoresis is used to describe theologically the divine dance of the three Persons of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit make room for each other, move in and through one another, and dance with one another, in such a way that creates a mutual indwelling while still maintaining space for each individually

Social trinity

Jurgen Moltmann thought of God as a collective reality — a group, or a society, bound together by mutual love, accord, and self-giving of its members.

Tritheism

the heresy that taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three independent divine beings; three separate gods who share the 'same substance'. This is a common mistake because of a misunderstanding of the use of the term 'persons' in defining the Trinity

Theological Problems addressed by the doctrine of the Trinity

How can Christians witness the presence of God which they experience in Jesus Christ and maintain their belief in God as one? How can God be both three and one at the same time?

Resources for theological problems

-Scripture

-Tradition

-Reason

-Experience

The Doctrine of the Trinity

God is one being that exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. These three persons share the same nature, essence, and character, but are indivisible and separate

The religious and philisophical context for the doctrine of the trinity

● Jewish monotheism

● Pagan polytheism

Greek metaphysics (spirit/matter dualism)

God in early modern categories

-God as a timeless immaterial substance

-God as absolute subjectivity (single subject)

-God as predetermining the first cause of all things

The Christian theological vision of God

-God created the world, establishing it with order and form.

-God redeemed the world in Jesus Christ.

-God is present in the world here and now, guiding and encouraging believers.

The shape of trinitarian doctrine

"The shape of trinitarian doctrine is dictated by the pattern of redemption: everything comes from God, is made known and redeemed through Jesus Christ, and is consummated by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Catherine Mowry LaCugna (1952-1997)

The pattern of divine activity revealed in the Bible

● The Father is revealed in Christ through the Spirit

● The NT bears witness to the presence and activity of God in Christ through the Spirit

Lorenzen's critique of Western Doctrine of the Trinity

Trinity is disconnected from and no longer integrated with a Christian theological understanding of salvation (soteriology), the church (ecclesiology), an understanding of Jesus as the Christ (Christology) and God (theology).

The divine essence if robustly relational

● The divine essence is robustly relational

● The divine essence is the dynamic relations of the persons in and through one another

● God is relationship

Perichoresis

the concept of this term is "links together in a brilliant way the threeness and the unity, without reducing the threeness to the unity, or dissolving the unity in the threeness.."

Themes of feminist theology

● God persuades vs. coerces

● God and humans inter-relatedness and cooperation

● Here and now

● Cosmological: all of creation

● Mother, Lover, Friend (McFague)

● Sin is not participating in the process of salvation, thus refusing to enter into relationship with God

Matthew 28:19

"Baptize them [the nations] in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

2 Corinthians 13:14

"May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all"

Galatians 4:6

"Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ"