“trinitarians”… Fer it… or agin’ it?
Following up on the previous post - the word “trinitarian” may be an adjective or a noun. The Oxford English Dictionary lists four adjective meanings: (here’s my editing of relevant parts of their entry, emphasis added)
2. Theol. Relating to the Trinity; holding the doctrine of the Trinity (opp. to Unitarian). [...]
Moses Stuart (1780-1852), professor at Andover Theological Seminary,
and NOT a fan of Rational Reconstruction (image credit)
What, if anything, is wrong with with the strategy of Resolution through Rational Reinterpretation? And why are most theologians so cold towards this strategy, while most Christian philosophers love it? Consider this quote by Moses Stuart on one of Leibniz’s [...]
“Sounds good to me!” (image credit)
Whoever says he believes what he does not at all understand, knows not what belief is, knows also not what he believes; and therefore, he believes in fact nothing, but it only seems to him [he believes]… Certainly nobody can believe something other than what he considers true… If reason [...]
“I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast given me the ability
to quickly read this copy of The Message, and easily discern
what it really means, unlike that jerk Flanders.”
Some interesting and disturbing comments from R.P.C. Hanson, on Bible interpretation in the era of the 4th century “Arian” controversy. This comes near the end of this [...]
Umm… is there any other way out?
A wise comment from the late great patristics scholar R.P.C. Hanson, in this book.
Eusebius of Emesa in one of his discourses has quite a long passage about allegorizing. He allows that it cannot altogether be rejected but he is very cautious about its use. It tends to read meanings [...]
A simple being containing multiple distinct “persons” - D’oh!
Theologian Lewis Ayres is the author of this worthy book. In it, he hammers the point that the Latin vs. Social trinitarian categories aren’t helpful in understanding post-Constantinople trinitarian theology. I think he’s right about that, though I persist in using the terminology because it is [...]
“Where are my cubs?” (image credit)
I allow, indeed I declare, that the mystery of the Godhead surpasses rational apprehension; and it may be that in the end it will have to be represented by a contradiction. But it is essential that this should happen only when all our rational resources are at an end. It [...]
I’ve seen this passage quoted by at least three of my favorite Christian philosophers. Unfortunately, they’ve misattributed it to the famous English antitrinitarian John Biddle (also spelled Bidle) (1615-62).
Found at here at Ian’s Philosophical Orthodoxy. Thus saith Marilyn McCord Adams:
Renouncing society’s right to say who we are and what we mean, frees us for full communion with Our Creator, with that gay men’s chorus, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. (emphasis added)
Uhh… hmm. [speechless]
Looking at the rest of this speech, [...]
An interesting and much more recent statement from John Hick, along the lines of my last posting.
…Since then [around 1993] the focus of much theological discussion has moved from christology to the doctrine of the Trinity. This is partly because theology always does go the rounds of the traditional topics - creation, sin, incarnation, atonement, [...]
I was reading an article on the Trinity by Phillip Cary, and was struck by this passage, at the start of his paper.
When I was growing up in the faith, I heard a lot about the doctrine of the Trinity, but never learned what the doctrine was. In high school and college I worshiped at [...]
An interesting quote from Fred Sanders‘ “Trinity Talk, Again”, Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 44:3, Fall 2005, 264-72.
…the words ‘‘Trinity’’ and ‘‘trinitarian’’ are being employed in unusual new ways in contemporary theological discourse. They sound in a different register than they once did. Your expectations are bound to be frustrated if the occurrence of the [...]
I just read a 2005 article by Randal Rauser, a theologian at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton, Canada. I have to say that I was really impressed with “Rahner’s Rule: An Emperor without Clothes?” Rauser obviously knows a lot of philosophy (the whole alphabet worth? ), and he writes clearly and concisely, and with even [...]
Faithful readers: Please share your favorite quotes relating to the Trinity with the rest of us! They can be pro- or con-, insightful or silly. Classic, or recent. Everyone together now: Cut… Paste…
