The Great Trinity Debate – Coming April 2010

# on 02 Feb 2010
Rob Bowman & Theology Proper & Trinity (Subordinationalism)

Comments (11)

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11 Responses to “The Great Trinity Debate – Coming April 2010”

1. tyler m taber on 02 Feb 2010 at 11:48 am #

   Sounds great Rob. Thanks for doing this–I look forward to the debate.

2. jim on 02 Feb 2010 at 12:04 pm #

   Yahoo !!!! Very much looking forward to this debate. I followed the Walter Martin debates on the trinity and enjoyed them very much.

   I must admit though…..I will have a hard time keeping an open mind on this subject. Baptists are drenched in trinity doctrine.

   thanks to both participants.

   Pray both defend well and for Christian love.

3. Nick Norelli on 02 Feb 2010 at 2:01 pm #

   To Rob’s list I’d add the following books which argue in favor of early high divine christologies, personal preexistence, and in favor of the Trinity:

   Anderson, James. Paradox in Christian Theology: An Analysis of Its Presence, Character, and Epistemic Status. Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2007.

   Bray, Gerald L. The Doctrine of God. Downers Grove, IL: InterVaristy Press, 1993.

   Capes, David B. Old Testament Yahweh Texts in Paul’s Christology. WUNT II/47. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1992.

   Davis, Stephen T., et al., eds. The Incarnation: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Incarnation of the Son of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

   ––––––. The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Trinity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

   Fatehi, Mehrdad. The Spirit’s Relation to the Risen Lord in Paul: An Examination of Its Christological Implications. WUNT II/128. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000.

   Gathercole, Simon J. The Preexistent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.

   Hengel, Martin. The Son of God: The Origin of Christology and the History of Jewish-Hellenistic Religion. Translated by John Bowden. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976. Repr., Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2007.

   ––––––. Studies in Early Christology. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1995. Repr., London: T&T Clark, 2004.

   To Dave’s list I’d add the following books for their denial of the Trinity, the personal preexistence of the Son, challenging the classical doctrine of the Incarnation, and arguing for divine Christology as a later develoment:

   Bernard, David K. The Oneness of God. Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame, 2000.

   Buzzard, Anthony F. Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian: A Call to Return to the Creed of Jesus. Morrow, GA: Restoration Fellowship, 2007.

   Casey, Maurice. From Jewish Prophet to Gentile God: The Origins and Development of New Testament Christology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1991.

   Collins, Adela Yarbro and John J. Collins. King and Messiah as Son of God: Divine, Human, and Angelic Messianic Figures in Biblical and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.

   Dunn, James D. G. The Christ and the Spirit, Volume 1: Christology. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.

   ––––––. Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989.

   Hamerton-Kelly, R. G. Pre-Existence, Wisdom, and The Son of Man: A Study of the Idea of Pre-Existence in the New Testament. SNTSMS 21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.

   Hick, John. The Metaphor of God Incarnate: Christology in a Pluralistic Age. 2nd. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2005.

   Kuschel, Karl-Josef. Born Before All Time? The Dispute Over Christ’s Origin. Translated by John Bowden. New York: Crossroad, 1992

4. Kingdom Ready Blog » Blog Archive » Another Trinity/Monotheism “Debate” on 02 Feb 2010 at 2:45 pm #

   [...] . . . over at Parchment and Pen, Rob Bowman just announced that he will be having a “debate” with Christadelphian Dave [...]

5. Peter Eddy on 03 Feb 2010 at 2:03 pm #

   I’m surprised James White’s book The Forgotten Trinity hasn’t been mentioned.

6. Nick Norelli on 03 Feb 2010 at 2:44 pm #

   Peter: I wasn’t very impressed with White’s book personally, but had the comments not been limited to 3,000 characters I would have gotten to it eventually. I was going in alphabetical order (for both positions) and ran out of space. A book that I’d recommend above all others on the subject of the Trinity is Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2005). Well, let me rephrase that: I’d recommend it above all others assuming that the reader has some prior familiarity with the doctrine. For the beginner I’d suggest Gerald O’Collins’ The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1999).

7. Dave Burke on 03 Feb 2010 at 3:17 pm #

   I considered buying White’s book, but after some investigation I found that it is primarily aimed at Mormon and JW Christology, both of which are completely irrelevant to me. Some of the arguments he uses are available at his website; on the whole I found them glib and superficial. White is at his best when defending Reformed theology and combating Catholics. Christology is not his strong point.

   Norman Geisler’s Baker Encyclopaedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Academic, 1998) has a comprehensive entry on the Trinity, which I consider an ideal primer for any Christian who wishes to gain a proper understanding of the doctrine.

8. Bev on 09 Feb 2010 at 12:46 pm #

   To Dave’s list of books, I’d add Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament by Jason David BeDuhn.

9. Salah on 01 Mar 2010 at 10:03 pm #

   I am surprised that you did not include the works of the early Church Fathers; St. Athanasius of Alexandria.
   He gave us the word “Holy Trinity”
   here is some background
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria
   peace and love in Christ
   Salah

10. JohnDave Medina on 02 Mar 2010 at 1:48 pm #

    Nick, you posted DK Bernard’s book as one that “argu[es] for divine Christology as a later development.” It’s been years since I read it, but if I remember correctly, Bernard argues against Trinitarian theology proper, and not necessarily divine Christology, as a later development. I agree that in his book Bernard does do the first two things you mentioned.

11. Nick Norelli on 04 Mar 2010 at 7:49 pm #

    John: I didn’t intend to say that each book listed argues against all of those things; but rather that the list as a whole represents works that argue against all of these things. As you note, Bernard only denies the Trinity and personal preexistence of the Son. Hamerton-Kelly has nothing to say of the Trinity past a brief reference to “the traditional understanding of the threefold activity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.” (Pre-Existence, Wisdom, and The Son of Man , 179)

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