Saturday, October 31, 2015

Models of the Trinity

I am reading about the trinity in a fairly scholarly book. The author throws these terms around so I thought I would post the definitions for future reference. I'm not a scholar so these are just notes from a casual reader of theology getting his arms around the terminology.
  • Psychological Trinity -- It is a form of analogies that describe the trinity. It likens the unity and diversity of the Godhead to the unity and diversity of the human self. Augustine's analogy is the most famous example: the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is like the unity of the mind (thoughts), heart (emotions), and volition (will) of a person.
  • Social Trinity -- In reaction to the "Psychological" analogies, some theologians argue the Bible describes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three distinct Persons. They argue that the Trinity is three distinct aspects of one Person. Thus, we should think of the unity of the Trinity as more like the unity of the mind, heart, and will of three people"
  • Economic Trinity -- This is not a analogy per se, but a description of the Trinity refering to God’s activity in creation and redemption. It uses terms like Creator/Redeemer/Sustainer or Provider/Savior/Comforter.
  • Ontological or Immanent Trinity -- Refers to God’s eternal existence and the internal relationships between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It refers to the attributes of God and how the persons of the Godhead interact with each other for all eternity. A good example of this would be Jonathan Edwards's definition, "The Son is the perfect 'understanding' and 'idea' of the of the Father, and the Spirit is the 'will' and the 'love' shared between the Father and the Son;"
I am still processing this. One observation, theologians spend a lot of time mapping how the "Immanent Trinity" maps to the "Economic Trinity." This is fairly esoteric, but how someone views the Trinity impacts how one models God's interaction with Man and with the Church in particular. This could affect how we minister with one another and the world.

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