The Tripersonal God

Examines the Old Testament roots of trinitarian thought, the historical developments that gave rise to the doctrine of the trinity and contemporary thinking about trinitarian issues.

Now in a revised edition, this book examines the Old Testament roots of trinitarian thought, the historical developments that gave rise to the doctrine of the trinity and contemporary thinking about trinitarian issues.

This is the first full-length study of the doctrine of the Trinity from the standpoint of analytic philosophical theology. William Hasker reviews the evidence concerning fourth-century pro-Nicene trinitarianism in the light of recent developments in the scholarship on this period, arguing for particular interpretations of crucial concepts. He then reviews and criticizes recent work on the issue of the divine three-in-oneness, including systematic theologians such as Barth, Rahner, Moltmann, and Zizioulas, and analytic philosophers of religion such as Leftow, van Inwagen, Craig, and Swinburne. In the final part of the book he develops a carefully articulated social doctrine of the Trinity which is coherent, intelligible, and faithful to scripture and tradition.

This book attempts to reconceive the Trinity. Its thesis is that the Father beget the Son in or by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit proceeds from the Father as the one in whom the Son is begotten. While some contemporary authors have proposed a similar view, no-one has done so in such a complete and systematic fashion. Reconceiving the Trinity in this way has a number of advantages. Firstly, it is more in keeping with the New Testament proclamation, and thus it more closely aligns the economic and immanent Trinity. Secondly, it overcomes the inadequacies of traditional trinitarian formulations, in both Eastern and Western Churches, which incorporates erroneous philosophical presuppositions. Thirdly, it offers a resolution to the filioque controversy, which may be acceptable to both the Latin and the Orthodox Churches. This book is, therefore, highly ecumenical in importance. Fourthly, it gives a more active and essential role to the Holy Spirit within the immanent Trinity, something that has been lacking throughout the trinitarian tradition. The true subjectivity or personality of the Holy Spirit is more clearly defined. This book brings out the spiritual and practical importance of the Trinity for the everyday lives of Christians. It defines more clearly how Christians are grafted into the very life of the Trinity: how they come to relate to the persons of the Trinity in a manner analogous to the way they relate to one another.

Peters examines the works of Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, Eberhard Jungel, Jurgen Moltmann, Catherine Mowry LaCugna, and other theologians, as he highlights talk about the becoming of God by process theologians, sexism in trinitarian language by feminists, and divine and human community by liberation theologians.

Relating to God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can have a deep impact on one's faith. Ryken and LeFebvre outline the saving, mysterious, practical, and glorious Trinity in this theologically rich resource.

The premier volume in an exciting new series of guides to the core beliefs of the Christian faith, The Trinity provides beginning theology readers with a basic knowledge of the doctrine of God's triune nature. Concise, nontechnical, and up-to-date, the book offers a detailed historical and theological description of the doctrine of the Trinity, tracing its development from the first days of Christianity through the medieval and Reformation eras and into the modern age. Special attention is given to early church controversies and church fathers who helped carve out the doctrine of the triune God as well as to its twentieth-century renaissance. The second half of the book contains a detailed, annotated bibliography of all major books written about the Trinity.

William Hasker reviews the evidence concerning fourth-century pro-Nicene trinitarianism in the light of recent developments in the scholarship on this period, arguing for particular interpretations of crucial concepts. He then reviews and criticises recent work on the issue of the divine three-in-oneness, including systematic theologians such as Barth, Rahner, Moltmann, and Zizioulas, and analytic philosophers of religion such as Leftow, van Inwagen, Craig, and Swinburne.