“In other words, the doctrine of the Trinity can no longer be treated as a theoretical abstraction with little relevance to the Christian life, but must rather be seen as a fundamental underpinning of all pastoral practice. If this is true, it is especially significant in a secular age where the general tendency is to reduce all religions to a single category and regard them as basically interchangeable. A Trinitarian faith would not only exclude traditional Unitarians, but also Jews, Muslims and followers of other faiths that do not share this particular understanding of Deity. That in turn is bound to have the most serious consequences for interfaith dialogue, which can hardly get very far as long as Christians insists on the centrality of the Trinity for their practice (as well as for their belief, of course).”
—Gerald Bray “The Trinity: Where Do We Go From Here” in Always Reforming: Explorations in Systematic Theology. Edited by A.T.B. McGowan (IVP, 2006), 24.
Kevin Winters said,
July 17, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Where in scripture does one find the endorsement of the neo-Aristotelian metaphysic that is central to the traditional understanding of the Trinity? The only place that I know of in scripture that speaks of the “nature” of the unity of the Godhead is in John 17, but there this unity is extendable to redeemed man, it can be shared, so it certainly isn’t the same thing spoken of in the Trinitarian dogma which is a non-communicable unity.
nick70 said,
July 19, 2007 at 1:00 am
I couldn’t agree more with Bray. Thanks for posting that Jeff.