{"id":41957,"date":"2019-11-11T21:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T03:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?p=41957"},"modified":"2019-11-13T10:00:16","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T16:00:16","slug":"podcast-276-how-is-the-trinity-central-to-the-gospel-or-how-the-gospel-coalition-prioritizes-speculation-over-scripture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-276-how-is-the-trinity-central-to-the-gospel-or-how-the-gospel-coalition-prioritizes-speculation-over-scripture\/","title":{"rendered":"podcast 276 &#8211; How is the Trinity Central to the Gospel? Or: How The Gospel Coalition Prioritizes Speculation over Scripture"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_368\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-41957-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities276.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities276.mp3\">http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities276.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities276.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?powerpress_pinw=41957-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/trinities\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/podcast\/trinities276.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"trinities276.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7FuUF9DZM3zhtN41n6RJ6l\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_spotify\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Spotify\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/trinities.org\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/how-trinity-central-gospel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-the-Gospel-Coalition-1024x623.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41960\" width=\"400\" height=\"263\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/how-trinity-central-gospel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">In this short video<\/a>, Drs. Ligon Duncan, Scott Swain, and Gavin Ortlund tell us how &#8220;the doctrine of the Trinity&#8221; is central to the good news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, asking <em>how<\/em> &#8220;the doctrine of the Trinity&#8221; is central to the good news is to assume <em>that<\/em> (1) there is one such doctrine, and (2) obviously this doctrine <em>is<\/em> central to the gospel, so that any gospel that doesn&#8217;t include it is incomplete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Unfortunately, we know <\/strong>that <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"(1) is false (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/trinity\/\" target=\"_blank\">(1) is false<\/a>, and (2) seems to lack any actual New Testament basis. For instance, the author Luke, in presenting gospel sermons in Acts, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"never mentions, implies, or assumes any doctrine of a tripersonal God (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?s=essential+to+gospel%2C+according+to+Luke\" target=\"_blank\">never mentions, implies, or assumes any doctrine of a tripersonal God<\/a>. Not only is &#8220;the Trinity&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wpBepYnW63s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"not essential to the New Testament gospel (opens in a new tab)\">not essential to the New Testament gospel<\/a>, any Trinity theory <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"conflicts with the clear New Testament teaching that the one just is the Father himself (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-248-how-trinity-theories-conflict-with-the-bible\/\" target=\"_blank\">conflicts with the clear New Testament teaching that the one just is the Father himself<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oblivious to the Protestant concern held by countless laypeople today, that <strong>&#8220;the Trinity&#8221; is a later development <\/strong>that misfits the Bible, not an actual teaching of the Bible, these Reformed theologians offer <strong>half-baked philosophical speculations<\/strong> deriving from the high middle ages, to the effect that divine perfection somehow requires that God is not unipersonal, not a single self. I critique these arguments, including some slightly fuller versions put out there by <strong>Dr. Timothy Keller<\/strong> in other videos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/not-much-beef-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41961\" width=\"244\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/not-much-beef-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/not-much-beef-450x299.jpg 450w, https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/not-much-beef-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/not-much-beef-930x620.jpg 930w, https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/not-much-beef.jpg 1249w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along the way I briefly discuss how some, like Keller, project a desired, much later sort of argument on to this brief <strong>passage by Augustine<\/strong>, which actually concerns &#8220;eternal generation:&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Since God could not beget something better than himself (for nothing is better than God), then the one whom he did beget he had to beget as his equal. For if he had the desire and not the power, then he is weak; if he had the power and not the desire, then he is envious. From this it follows that God has begotten the Son as his equal.<\/p><cite> Augustine, <em>Eighty-Three Different Questions<\/em>, translated by David Mosher (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1982), p. 84) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bottom line: these Reformed theologians are <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"not reformed enough (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=koogceUAG50\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>not reformed enough<\/strong><\/a><strong>. <\/strong>Perhaps they should <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"think a bit more about how to argue (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-260-how-to-argue-that-the-bible-is-trinitarian\/\" target=\"_blank\">think a bit more about how to argue<\/a> that biblical theology is trinitarian theology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Links for this episode:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wheres-the-beef-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41962\" width=\"366\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wheres-the-beef-1.jpg 938w, https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wheres-the-beef-1-441x450.jpg 441w, https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wheres-the-beef-1-768x784.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Videos discussed in this episode:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/how-trinity-central-gospel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">How is the Trinity Central to the Gospel? <\/a>  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Only the Triune God Is Lov (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aTToBMda3VE\" target=\"_blank\">Only the Triune God Is Love<\/a>  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Q&amp;A: How can Christianity be both Monotheistic and Trinitarian? Tim Keller (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UuMepL0tktc\" target=\"_blank\">Q&amp;A: How can Christianity be both Monotheistic and Trinitarian? Tim Keller<\/a><\/li><li><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"What is the Trinity? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.what-is-the-trinity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>What is the Trinity?<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/li><li>John 17:1-3 (post); 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (podcast); 1 Timothy 2:5; John 14:9; John 17:20-21 (compare John 10:30-39 and 1 Corinthians 3:8 &#8211; see the Greek); Ephesians 3:14-19.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Jesus's argument in John 10 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/jesuss-argument-in-john-10\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jesus&#8217;s argument in John 10<\/a> <\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 192 \u2013 Review of Sanders\u2019s The Deep Things of God \u2013 Part 1 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-192-review-of-sanderss-the-deep-things-of-god-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\">podcast 192 \u2013 Review of Sanders\u2019s <\/a><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 192 \u2013 Review of Sanders\u2019s The Deep Things of God \u2013 Part 1 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-192-review-of-sanderss-the-deep-things-of-god-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Deep Things of God<\/a><\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 192 \u2013 Review of Sanders\u2019s The Deep Things of God \u2013 Part 1 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-192-review-of-sanderss-the-deep-things-of-god-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\"> \u2013 Part 1<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 252 \u2013 Fred Sanders on Seeing the Trinity in Scripture, and his Secret (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-252-fred-sanders-on-seeing-the-trinity-in-scripture-and-his-secret\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>podcast 252 \u2013 Fred Sanders on Seeing the Trinity in Scripture, and his Secret<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Dan Gill: From Oneness to One (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bnHEQDbQieE\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Dan Gill: From Oneness to One<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>&#8211; a pastor realizes that Oneness Pentecostal theology misfits scripture, and discovers the truth of biblical unitarianism<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 145 \u2013 \u2018Tis Mystery All: the Immortal dies! (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-145-tis-mystery-immortal-dies\/\" target=\"_blank\">podcast 145 \u2013 \u2018Tis Mystery All: the Immortal dies!<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"&quot;On the Possibility of a Single Perfect Person&quot;? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/trinities.org\/dale\/SinglePerfect.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>&#8220;On the Possibility of a Single Perfect Person&#8221;<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"new co-authored paper: \u201cDormant Dispositions, Agent Value, and the Trinity\u201d (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/new-co-authored-paper-dormant-dispositions-agent-value-and-the-trinity\/\" target=\"_blank\">new co-authored paper: \u201cDormant Dispositions, Agent Value, and the Trinity\u201d<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-58-we-cant-prove-the-trinity-by-reason-alone\/\">podcast 58 \u2013 We can\u2019t prove the Trinity by reason alone<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 231 \u2013 Swinburne\u2019s Social Theory of the Trinity? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-231-swinburnes-social-theory-of-the-trinity\/\" target=\"_blank\">podcast 231 \u2013 Swinburne\u2019s Social Theory of the Trinity<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 230 \u2013 The Failure of Fashionable Antiunitarian Arguments? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-230-the-failure-of-fashionable-antiunitarian-arguments\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>podcast 230 \u2013 The Failure of Fashionable Antiunitarian Arguments<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 146 \u2013 Jesus as an Exemplar of Faith in the New Testament (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-146-jesus-exemplar-faith-new-testament\/\" target=\"_blank\">podcast 146 \u2013 Jesus as an Exemplar of Faith in the New Testament<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"What is essential to the gospel, according to Luke?? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?s=essential+to+the+\" target=\"_blank\">What is essential to the gospel, according to Luke?<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"The Tuggy-Brown debate: Dale\u2019s opening statement? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/the-tuggy-brown-debate-dales-opening-statement\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Tuggy-Brown debate: Dale\u2019s opening statement<\/strong><\/a><strong> &#8211; a summary of my case that New Testament theology is unitarian, not trinitarian<\/strong><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Tuggy vs. Date Debate? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.21stcr.org\/one-god-over-all-videos\/debate-dr-dale-tuggy-vs-chris-date\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tuggy vs. Date Debate<\/a><\/li><li>Chandler, <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/God-Jesus-Light-Christian-Dogma\/dp\/0967324939\" target=\"_blank\">The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Buzzard and Hunting, <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Doctrine-Trinity-Christianitys-Self-Inflicted-Wound\/dp\/1573093092\/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=self-inflicted+wound&amp;qid=1573525933&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-3\" target=\"_blank\">The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity&#8217;s Self-Inflicted Wound<\/a><\/em><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"10 steps towards getting less confused about the Trinity \u2013 #6 get a date \u2013 part 2? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/10-steps-towards-getting-less-confused-about-the-trinity-6-get-a-date-part-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">10 steps towards getting less confused about the Trinity \u2013 #6 get a date \u2013 part 2<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"10 steps towards getting less confused about the Trinity \u2013 #8 \u2013 trinity vs. Trinity? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/10-steps-towards-getting-less-confused-about-the-trinity-8-trinity-vs-trinity\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>10 steps towards getting less confused about the Trinity \u2013 #8 \u2013 trinity vs. Trinity<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"podcast 15 \u2013 Are Paul\u2019s \u201cone God\u201d and \u201cone Lord\u201d one and the same?? (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-15-are-pauls-one-god-and-one-lord-one-and-the-same\/\" target=\"_blank\">podcast 15 \u2013 Are Paul\u2019s \u201cone God\u201d and \u201cone Lord\u201d one and the same?<\/a><\/li><li><a aria-label=\"podcast 260 \u2013 How to Argue that the Bible is Trinitarian? (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-189-the-unfinished-business-of-the-reformation\/\"><strong>podcast 189 \u2013 The unfinished business of the Reformation<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a aria-label=\"podcast 260 \u2013 How to Argue that the Bible is Trinitarian? (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/podcast-260-how-to-argue-that-the-bible-is-trinitarian\/\" target=\"_blank\">podcast 260 \u2013 How to Argue that the Bible is Trinitarian<\/a><\/li><li>This week&#8217;s thinking music is &#8220;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Pillow Tree: Version 2 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/UncleBibby\/Free_Music_Project_Vol_3\/04_Pillow_Tree__Version_2\" target=\"_blank\">Pillow Tree: Version 2<\/a>&#8221; by <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"UncleBibby (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/UncleBibby\" target=\"_blank\">UncleBibby<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who needs the Bible when you can gesture at some philosophical speculations?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"default","neve_meta_container":"default","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"off","neve_meta_disable_footer":"off","neve_meta_disable_title":"off","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,16,62,6,58,54,4,92,47,9,57,77,13,3,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible","category-books","category-calvinism","category-complaints","category-creeds","category-debates","category-heresy-orthodoxy","category-oneness","category-papers","category-philosophy","category-podcast","category-protestant","category-theologians","category-theories","category-unitarianism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41957"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41971,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41957\/revisions\/41971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}