trinities

Author Archives JT

Derivation vs. Generic Theories – part 6: Issues for the Generic View (JT)

“And the best thing is, we can take these blocks apart!”
In the last post, I introduced the ‘generic view’ of the trinity, namely the claim that Divinity (that which makes the divine persons God/divine) is shared equally by all three persons and so does not belong to any one divine person more than another. In [...]

Derivation vs. Generic Theories – part 5: The Generic View (JT)

“Gee Hank, it sure is swell that communism won out.
This house belongs to all of us!”
In the last post, I pointed out some of the problems faced by an Athanasian sort of derivation view. If you found such problems to be decisive, then alternatively you could opt for a generic view. In this post, I [...]

¶ Posted 11 May 2008 § Heresy & Orthodoxy § History § Theologians § Theories ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: Arius, Athanasius, creed, derivation view, generic view, Gregory of Nyssa, Nicea, the Cappadocians, theology, Trinity

Derivation vs. Generic Theories – part 4: Problems for a Derivation View (JT)

“You were filming that?”
In the last post, I explained that for Athanasius’s version of the derivation view, when the Father generates the Son, the Father shares his substance with the Son. That means, I took it, that the Father himself becomes a constituent in the Son, similar to the way that a lump of bronze [...]

¶ Posted 30 April 2008 § Heresy & Orthodoxy § History § Theologians § Theories ‡ Comments (18) ° Tagged: Arius, Athanasius, creed, derivation view, generic view, Gregory of Nyssa, Nicea, the Cappadocians, theology, Trinity

Derivation vs. Generic Theories — part 3: The Derivation View (JT)

Now Q comes with spring arm action
and dyno bud (optional)!
The Nicene Creed claims that
(Q) The Son is begotten from the substance of the Father.
The term ‘begotten’ is just an older English term for ‘generated’. In the ancient world, ‘generation’ was a technical term for biological reproduction (e.g., when humans make baby humans, when trees make [...]

¶ Posted 23 April 2008 § Heresy & Orthodoxy § History § Theologians § Theories ‡ Comments (14) ° Tagged: Arius, Athanasius, creed, derivation view, generic view, Gregory of Nyssa, Nicea, the Cappadocians, theology, Trinity

Derivation vs. Generic Theories — part 2: Arianism and the Trinity (JT)

“I hate wearing this stupid hat.
They didn’t make me a bishop anyways.
At least the cape’s pretty cool.
It’s got St. George’s Cross going on.”
In my last post, I gave some basic definitions for the ‘derivation view’ and the ‘generic view’ of the Trinity, and I said that the historical background for the ‘derivation view’ rests in [...]

¶ Posted 13 April 2008 § Heresy & Orthodoxy § History § Theologians § Theories ‡ Comments (29) ° Tagged: Arius, Athanasius, creed, derivation view, generic view, Gregory of Nyssa, Nicea, the Cappadocians, theology, Trinity

Derivation vs. Generic Theories — part 1 (JT)

– “Daddy, why do trees branch out?”
– “So you can climb in them, Jimmy.”
Patristic scholars tell us that the doctrine of the trinity was really developed in the 4th century. The question is: what exactly is the ‘development’? If you read many of those scholarly big books on patristic theology, you’ll occasionally come across the [...]