Dec 042011
Just in time for Christmas: 25% off at trinities books. Use the coupon code: BUYMYBOOK305. Coupon expires December 14, 2011. $50 Max Savings. Update: misc. daily coupons up till Christmas. Some notable reprints, in no particular order:
- Moses Stuart, Letters on the Eternal Generation of the Son of God. - leading 19th c. American evangelical Bible scholar and theologian takes aim at what he thinks is a mistaken speculation, long before this was cool.
- Nathaniel Lardner, Lardner on the Trinity. - some short works by a super-heavyweight patristic scholar and one of the greatest Christian apologists of all time. Makes a case for humanitarian unitarian theology against various rivals.
- Thomas Belsham, A Calm Inquiry Into The Scripture Doctrine Concerning The Person of Christ. - unique, non-polemical but opinionated survey of various christologies, ultimately arguing for humanitarian christology. Very useful.
- Joseph Pohle, The Divine Trinity: A Dogmatic Treatise. - a thorough but pretty readable Roman Catholic account of trinitarian doctrine; a good place to start in sorting out dark talk of subsistent relations, perichoresis, eternal generation, and so on. Or, if you want to know about the hypostatic union, there’s this.
- Joseph Priestley, A History of the Corruptions of Christianity – interesting polemic by bold but reckless polymath Joseph Priestley. Not always historically accurate, but worth a read.
- Samuel Clarke’s The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity & Related Writings. - a lost classic by one of the greatest philosophical theologians of the early 18th century. This Anglican minister puts forward a strong case for subordinationist unitarianism based on scripture and the pre-Nicene “fathers.” Classifies and intelligently discusses all New Testament passages that have to do with the Trinity.
- William Christie, Dissertations on the Unity of God. - essays by a serious, talented amateur theologian and sometime minister who moved from trinitarianism, to subordinationist unitarianism, to humanitarian unitarianism.
- David James, A Short View of the Tenets of Tritheists, Sabellians, Trinitarians, Arians, and Socinians. - a short, irenic survey of various Christian theologies, in the end making a case for mutual tolerance, and for subordinationist unitarianism. Here’s a post with some quotes.
- William Jones, In Defense of the Trinity. - popular 18th c. trinitarian apologist, rebutting several unitarian opponents. Often not well argued, but it is interesting to see what he does and does not say. Some of these went through many editions, well into the 19th c.
- Thomas Emlyn, The Works of Mr. Thomas Emlyn - short controversial theological works by a virtuous, careful, thoughtful Christian who literally went to jail because of his convictions. The included An Humble Enquiry into the Scripture Account of Jesus Christ is an amazing little book. Includes an account of his life and works by his son.
- Edward Stillingfleet, A Discourse in Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity - very sophisticated trinitarian apologetic by prominent public intellectual, Anglican bishop, and theologian. Provides a mysterian defense of catholic trinitarian formulas against unitarian charges of unintelligibility and poor fit with the Bible, rebutting various late 17th c. “Socinian” sources.
- Friedrich Schleiermacher, On the Discrepancy Between the Sabellian and Athanasian Method of Representing the Doctrine of the Trinity - a short but dense work by Schleiermacher on ancient “monarchian” theologies – one of the very best things I’ve read on that obscure subject. Translated by Moses Stuart.
- John Wilson, Scripture Proofs and Scriptural Illustrations of Unitarianism. - amazingly comprehensive source, in some ways summarizing a lot of unitarian-trinitarian arguments of the early modern era. Anyone who thinks unitarian theologies are based on off-the-wall, obviously wrongheaded misreadings of the Bible, or on “rationalism” should give this a read!
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Thanks to a friend who has a credit card, I now have a copy of Samuel Clarke’s The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity & Related Writings. I love it.
The only drawback is the “f” that so often turns out to be an “s”. (Yes, I know. There is a difference. But it’s too slight to be readily recognized by eyes as old as mine.)
Never mind. The list of passages is wonderful, and Clarke’s explanation of difficult passages is so clear, it’s worth slowing down for. I can hardly wait to finish, so I can start again.
Marg – no surprise to me that you like it. Clarke was a brilliant and industrious man.
BTW – lulu.com keeps extending sales – I just saw that code ONEMORETHING305 will save you 25% through Jan 6, 2012.
I just read a sentence of Clarke’s that I can’t resist quoting. In his reply to Robert Nelson’s “Anonymous Writer” regarding John 8:58 (p. 300), he quotes about half a page of “something wonderfully obscure and unintelligible” and concludes by saying,
To all this, since I understand it not at all, I hope you will be so good as not to expect I should return any Answer.
I’ve been rereading all your posts that refer to Clarke. I want to discuss some of them – after I finish reading the book.
I have another book on theology that I prize highly. It is The Problem of God, by Fr. John Murray – a Jesuit scholar and teacher who is obviously familiar with both Hebrew and Greek. His interpretation of Exodus 3:14, based on both the immediate and the general context, is marvelous.
He also knows church history. In the second chapter of his book he gives a very clear summary of the problem that faced the Catholic bishops in the fourth century. He begins by describing “the doctrine of the Pantokrator – that the one Lord God is the supreme, universal, actively ruling Power over all things.” Then he explains:
So it was a new problem, based on a “new doctrine” – that Christ, the Father’s Son and Word, is equally Pantokrator, as the Father also is.
Murray does not suggest that the word Pantokrator (translated Almighty or Omnipotent) is ever used in Scripture in relation to Christ. It is not. The word is used once in 2 Corinthians 6:18, and nine times in Revelation, where the Lord God Almighty/Omnipotent is consistently seen as being separate and distinct from the Lamb.
The new doctrine is based solely on the fact that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
But 1 Corinthians 8:6 makes clear that there is a difference between the one God and the one Lord. All things come FROM the one God, THROUGH the one Lord. So the one Lord is not equally Pantokrator with the one God.
In other words, the fourth-century problem was a man-made problem, requiring a man-made solution.
Murray admits that the creed agreed upon at Nicea went beyond what Scripture says. [The later creeds are even worse, I think.] That is no problem for a Catholic, who believes that the “Fathers” had ultimate authority in deciding doctrine, without being limited to the text.
For Protestants, though, I wonder what happened to the idea of sola scriptura.
[...] Update: Had a great time there. Folks who heard me talk may be interested in seeing some highlights from this blog, or misc. books. [...]