Discuss Theology

“But, (this doctrine of yours (speaking to Praxeas – scj) bears a likeness) to the Jewish faith, of which this is the substance – so to believe in One God as to refuse to reckon the Son besides Him, and after the Son the Spirit. Now, what difference would there be between us, and them, if there were not this distinction which you are for breaking down? What need would there be of the gospel, which is the substance of the New Covenant, laying down (as it does) that the Law and Prophets lasted until John the Baptist, if thenceforward the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not both believed in as Three, and as making One Only God? God was pleased to renew His covenant with man in such a way as that His Unity might be believed in, after a new manner, through the Son and the Spirit, in order that God might now be known openly, in His proper Names and Persons, who in ancient times was to plainly understood, though declared through the Son and the Spirit. Away, then with those “Antichrists who deny the Father and the Son.” For they deny the Father, when they say that He is the same as the Son; and they deny the Son, when they suppose Him to be the same as the Father, by assigning to Them things which are not Theirs, and taking away from Them things which are Theirs. But “whosoever shall confess that (Jesus) Christ is the Son of God” (not the Father), “God dwelleth in him and he in God.” We believe not the testimony of God in which He testifies to us of His Son. “He that hath not the Son, hath not life.” And that man has not the Son, who believes Him to be any other than the Son.

ANF, Vol. 3, Hendrickson Pub, 1999, pg. 627

Book Review: The Trinity, Roger E. Olson and Christopher A. Hall, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.

I finished the rest of the book over the weekend and would recommend this little volume for further study of the Trinity. It is basically a book which traces the doctrine of the Trinity from the early Church to the end of the 20th century. It does so in a historical manner first and shows the changes, and challenges, throughout the last two thousand years.

They break down the history by time period. First, the early church fathers set out to build boundaries around the doctrine. They set the boundaries in two areas. God is one, or a unity, and He is diverse, as a Trinity of persons. These boundaries have, and continue to, determined orthodoxy. Stay with in the bounds and we can fellowship, step outside and your a heretic. Sometimes the fathers came down strongly in one area because they saw a need to do so, due to an overemphasis, or under emphasis, in either the unity or diversity side. Yet for the most part, they maintained the unity/diversity distinction, which they declared to be a mystery.

Later theologians, during the renaissance, were more inclined to write from neo-platonist view, due to the revival of Plato’s teaching. This “scholastic” movement was more speculative than previously.

Amazingly, during the Reformation, the major Reformers (Luther, Calvin and others) refused to revisit the Trinity. They held to the catholic understanding of the Trinity and would not revisit the issue. Luther might take on the cannon, but not the Trinity. But this did not stop others from the time period from rejecting the Trinity.

The book finishes up with an all to brief survey of the twentieth century. This period is more focused on how the doctrine of the Trinity is to be applied within society. For instance, personhood implies relationship and communion. The church is then a reflection of the Trinity in its communion. Liberation Theology is also discussed in this vein as are the works of Karl Barth’s christocentric theology.

From a historical unfolding of the doctrine of the Trinity, this is a very good book. Maybe the best part of the book is related to index of the books of the major trinitarian theologians at the back of the book. The authors and their books are listed, along with a brief synopsis of their works. I highly recommend this book to add to your library.

Steve Johnson

A California commission on problem gamblers finds that the majority of problem gamblers prefer the games that require some type of skill and are not purely luck and chance based.

Yesterday I picked up “The Trinity” by Roger E. Olson and Christopher A. Hall. This is one of the books in Eerdmans “Guides to Theology” series. Having finished half the book, I would recommend the volume as a very well researched and written, though short, study on the theology and history of the Trinity. I will quote a passage regarding the catholicity of the doctrine, which is always important to keep in mind:

“To be sure, at times trinitarian theology has taken flights of speculative fancy and lost any solid connection with salvation and Christian worship, devotion, and discipleship. But in the whole and in the main the doctrine of the Trinity has always been affirmed and defended by Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Christians as the uniquely identifying concept of God in Christianity because it is rooted in and necessary to the reality of salvation and implied by the logic of divine revelation. The speculative flights of fancy that have sometimes led trinitarian theologians to attempt to trace the movements of the inner-trinitarian fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in eternity apart from the world have been at best reverent attempts at “faith seeking understanding” and at worst prideful projects of “thinking God’s thoughts after Him”. The Trinity, Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2002, pg. 3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”

Tragedy will come to us all, at some point in our life. This morning I have set out to record a tragedy, which has affected a good friend and his family. My only goal in this writing is to mourn with those who mourn.

One of the most gracious people I know is named Bob. Bob and his family have gone through a long string of deadly tragedies, both through violent actions and accidents. Not to mention physical sufferings and sickness. I have never seen, or heard of, so much misfortune, and heartbreak, in anyone’s life as with Bob and his family, excepting maybe Job and the biblical prophets.

Yet in the midst of all their suffering, they have maintained a faith unparalleled to any other person I know. The depth of love, which they pour out to others, is astounding. I, who have never gone through depth of their suffering and misfortune, can only marvel at their love and trust in God.

About 7 months ago my family was having dinner at Bob’s house when they told us they were going to have another baby, for which they had been praying for years (their daughters were now in their late teens). We cried tears of joy with them at God’s goodness and blessings. But during the pregnancy they were informed that the baby would have medical issues when she was born. Of course the doctors suggested they abort the little baby girl to save them the troubles to come.

Bob could not see abortion as a viable option. We talked over this decision one day and he told me that he would not step into God’s place in determining his little girl’s length of days. They were shaken by the news, but they would not loose their faith in God’s ability to heal or save.

As time got closer for the birth of Katie Grace they were given a continual string of prognosis, all of which was bad. They were told the baby would die upon birth.

On Tuesday Katie Grace was born. This 4 lbs bundle was delivered into the arms of her mother, father and sisters. For two hours the family had the joy of loving this little one. Joy and sorrow filled their soul as they watched her birth, held her and watched her slowly sink into death. All too soon she was gone, leaving only her memory and the hope of her resurrection.

Bob wrote, “We are all very grateful for the time we have been blessed to have with this little bundle of joy. We were literally surrounded by loving hands and prayerful hearts every step of the way. Mixed emotions linger as the day folds into night, but we still remain in awe of God’s presence in our lives and his glory and control that shines through the beginning of a new life.”

Bob and family have not wavered in their faith toward God. Though their loss is great, they are thankful for the short time they had with this precious jewel. Their deep faith will always be an inspiration to both those who know them and myself.

Bob and family…We love you.

God, thank you for Katie Grace and her life, which has brought so much joy to Bob and his family.
May You strengthen them and be with their every sorrow.
May You show them Your purposes for this little one.
May You draw them closer to Yourself.
And may you bring them to a joy unspeakable.
Use this tragedy for Your glory.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

COMMENT: We see in this book the division of the ontological and economic understanding the Trinity, which I suggested several week previous. Outside of the bible, this is surely the clearest understanding and most indepth statement on the Trinity we currently have from the Church Fathers up to this time the history of the Church.

“Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is said. Now, observe, my assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other. This statement is taken in a wrong sense by every uneducated as well as every perversely disposed person, as if it predicated a diversity, in such a sense as to imply a separation among the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit. I am, moreover, obliged to say this, when (extolling the Monarchy at the expense of the Economy) they contend for the identity of the Father and Son and Spirit, that it is not by way of diversity that the Son differs from the Father, but by distribution: it is not by division that He is different, but by distinction; because the Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: My Father is greater than I.’ In the Psalm His inferiority is described as being a little lower than the angels.’ Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as He who begets is one, and He who is begotten is another; He, too, who sends is one, and He who is sent is another; and He, again, who makes is one, and He through whom the thing is made is another. Happily the Lord Himself employs this expression of the person of the Paraclete, so as to signify not a division or severance, but a disposition (of mutual relations in the Godhead); for He says, I will pray the Father, and He shall send you another Comforter. … even the Spirit of truth,’ thus making the Paraclete distinct from Himself, even as we say that the Son is also distinct from the Father; so that He showed a third degree in the Paraclete, as we believe the second degree is in the Son, by reason of the order observed in the Economy. Besides, does not the very fact that they have the distinct names of Father and San amount to a declaration that they are distinct in personality? For, of course, all things will be what their names represent them to be; and what they are and ever will be, that will they be called; and the distinction indicated by the names does not at all admit of any confusion, because there is none in the things which they designate. “Yes is yes, and no is no; for what is more than these, cometh of evil.”

ANF, Vol. 3, Hendrickson Pub, 1999, pg. 603-604

One of finest books dealing with the early Churches understanding of the Trinity is found in Tertullian Against Praxeas (cir. AD 213). In the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, Hendrickson Pub., 1999, beginning at page 597, which is labeled as “Against Praxeas; in which he defends, in all essential points, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity”, we find a clear understanding of the Trinity. The entire book is well worth the effort of reading. Over the next several days I will post several passages highlight this catholic doctrine. He ends the volume with an excellent question for none Trinitarians, “What need would there be of the gospel, which is substance of the New Covenant, laying down (as it does) that the Law and Prophets lasted until John the Baptist, if thenceforward the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not both believed in as Three, and as making One Only God?”

“In the course of time, then, the Father forsooth was born, and the Father suffered, God Himself, the Lord Almighty, whom in their preaching they declare to be Jesus Christ. We, however, as we indeed always have done and more especially since we have been better instructed by the Paraclete, who leads men indeed into all truth), believe that there is one only God, but under the following dispensation, or oikonomia, as it is called, that this one only God has also a Son, His Word, who proceeded from Himself, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. Him we believe to have been sent by the Father into the Virgin, and to have been born of her–being both Man and God, the Son of Man and the Son of God, and to have been called by the name of Jesus Christ; we believe Him to have suffered, died, and been buried, according to the Scriptures, and, after He had been raised again by the Father and taken back to heaven, to be sitting at the right hand of the Father, and that He will come to judge the quick and the dead; who sent also from heaven from the Father, according to His own promise, the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost. That this rule of faith has come down to us from the beginning of the gospel, even before any of the older heretics, much more before Praxeas, a pretender of yesterday, will be apparent both from the lateness of date which marks all heresies, and also from the absolutely novel character of our new-fangled Praxeas.”

Tertullian, in chapter 36 of “Prescription against Heretics”, outlines, very clearly I believe, the Apostolic Churches understanding of the Trinity and Rule of Faith. Again, I have published the entire chapter because of it outline of the basic elements of latter creeds.

“Come now, you who would indulge a better curiosity (speaking to the heretics – sjohnson), if you would apply it to the business of your salvation, run over the apostolic churches, in which the very thrones of the apostles are still pre-eminent in their places, in which their own authentic writings are read, uttering the voice and representing the face of each of them severally. Achaia is very near you, (in which) you find Corinth. Since you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi; (and there too) you have the Thessalonians. Since you are able to cross to Asia, you get Ephesus. Since, moreover, you are close upon Italy, you have Rome, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority (of apostles themselves). How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! Where Paul wins his crown in death like John’s (the Baptist)! Where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and thence remitted to his island exile! See what she has learned, what thought, what fellowship has had with even (our) churches in Africa! One Lord God does she acknowledge, the Creator of the universe, and Christ Jesus (born) of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God the Creator; and the Resurrection of the flesh; the law and the prophets she unites in one volume with the writings of evangelists and apostles, from which she drinks in her faith. This she seals with the water (of baptism), arrays with the Holy Ghost, feeds with the Eucharist, cheers with martyrdom, and against such a discipline thus (maintained) she admits no gainsayer. This is the discipline, which I no longer say foretold that heresies should come, but from which they proceeded. However, they were not of her, because they were opposed to her. Even the rough wild-olive arises from the germ of the fruitful, rich, and genuine olive; also from the seed of the mellowest and sweetest fig their springs the empty and useless wild fig. In the same way heresies, too, come from our plant, although not of our kind; (they come) form the grain of truth, but owning to their falsehood, they have only wild leaves to show.” ANF vol. 3, Hendrickson Pub, pg. 261

“Now, with regard to this rule of faith – that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend – it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners’ by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at least brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and , being born of he, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heaves, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.” ANF vol. 3, Hendrickson Pub, pg. 249.

Comment: I have provided the entirety of Chapter XIII, which is described as, “Summary of the Creed, or Rule of Faith. No questions ever raised about it by believers. Heretics encourage and perpetuate thought independent of Christ’s teachings.” This is the best summary, so far, of the early churches creeds and primitive formulation of the latter Nicene Creed. Steve Johnson

This week has been a slow week for both Ron and I regarding our posts due to the 20th anniversary of our mission. Ron and I are members of Youth With A Mission in Lakeside Montana and have been with the parent organization for more years than either one of us wish to count. This weekend will be a series of dinners, reminiscing, and getting caught up with returning alumni.

In preparation for the “Twentieth”, I have been preparing a religious history of our region and Youth With A Mission’s work. The historical facts have been exciting to discover and it has been a privilege to learn about early explorers and missionaries.

One thing I didn’t expect, when I began the project, was the continuity of God’s work. Somewhere along the way, in my studies, I noticed a pattern with in the Churches in our valley. I thought we, as a youth organization, were doing something truly amazing in our ministry, training, and global outreach. Yet I discovered that the Church has been doing the same work for over 175 years (the first missionaries to the valley arrived in 1838).

At first it was a little humbling. But as I thought about it, the Church has a very specific calling. It always has and it always will. What is that calling? “…make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost”. I am happy to know that there is a tradition, which can lead and inspire us. This tradition is not based upon our twenty years, but God’s redemptive history. “Disciple all nations” is a continuous work for God’s people.

Happy Birthday Youth With A Mission Montana! May God continue to bless your work as you stay true to His calling.

Steve Johnson