Constructive Credo Paper
Triune Nature of God:
What does it mean to conceive of God as triune (three-in-one)?
Lynn Wilson
Introduction
The societal ideal of personal freedom, authority, and agenda create barriers within our community and our relationship with God. Focusing on “self” distracts us from receiving the fullness of God’s eternal love. Weekly, if not daily, I encounter people that struggle with the difficulties, and the challenges of life.
My son, Zach was recently diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism upsets the normal balance of chemical reactions in your body, therefore affecting the way you handle life. This condition caused Zach, a 24 year old, with an “I am indestructible mindset” to feel vulnerable. He encountered struggles in many areas of his life due to this condition. Emotional, physical and spiritual aspects have all been challenged. The first two were handled through professional people with very specific medical options. These options helped him progress and overcome some of those emotional and physical difficulties. The third, spiritual struggle continues to push him away from desiring a relationship with God.
Twenty-four years into his life Zach clings to an authoritarian, controlling God. I realize even though the Church is centuries beyond an initial understanding of the three-in-one, many people still cleave to this concept of an antiquated God.
In recent years, we in the church have lacked the ability to communicate an understanding of the fullness of the triune God. Our Sunday school lessons provided limited exposure to the richness of a communal relationship with a triune God.
The limited information I shared with Zach provided him with an inadequate theology of who ...
... middle of paper ...
... activity of God, cannot be grasped by the information we gather and the knowledge we possess. Access to God is attained through the practice of our faith. Faith in Jesus Christ, a gracious gift from God, faith in the gift of the Holy Spirit, who leads us to that intersection of deeper understanding of God. I seek to embrace the “creative, sacrificial, and empowering” triune God so I am able to seek and serve more fully the potential of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life.
Bibliography
Hodgson, Peter C. and Robert H. King. Readings in Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1985.
Migliore, Daniel. Faith Seeking Understanding: an Introduction to Christian Theology. 2nd edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.
Stone, Howard W. and James O. Duke. How to Think Theologically. 3rd ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2013.
Book Reviews. Dialog: A Journal of Theology, Vol. 42(3), 237-238. No changes needed as these are citations and should not be edited.
· Lewis, CS. Mere Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 1982. · McBride, David. The Story of the Church.
Peterson, Michael - Hasker, Reichenbach and Basinger. Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
Garrett’s concise treatment of an array of relevant questions is reflected in chapter titles like “Faith and Belief”, “The Bible and Theology”, “Sacramental Faith”, “Spiritual Practice”, “The Kingdom of God”, “The End of Things”, and “Friends or Rivals: Living in a Multifaith World”. Each chapter is a vivid explanation on how our life should be based on love, nothing else but the love of Christ, it contrasts the modern day depiction of God bein...
John MacArthur is a well-known and sometimes controversial pastor that holds a strong conservative viewpoint of the Scriptures. As a graduate of Talbot Theological Seminary, MacArthur’s ministry has covered a wide spectrum of Christian fields including pastor, author and radio host. MacArthur currently serves as the Pastor of Grace Community Church in Sunny Valley, California. For over 45 years his pastoral ministry at Grace Community Church has given evidence of a deep abiding love for the exposition of the Scriptures. Beyond his role as pastor, MacArthur serves as the president of the Master’s College and Seminary, which functions to train men to work in various areas of Christian ministry. As a successful author, MacArthur continues to write many books ranging from culturally and theological relevant issues to New Testament expositional commentaries and study guides. Macarthur also serves as the lead teacher of Grace to You, an everyday radio and television ministry, which centers on verse by verse exposition of Scripture. MacArthur is not known for shying away from controversial topics that Christianity struggles with. He seeks to use scripture to help modern Christians think through these topics.
Nichols, John. The. The Very Fundamentals of Christian Faith. Core 9 Lecture - "The. Shen Auditorium, Rensselaer, Germany.
Three equals one. Out of all of the statements made by the Christian faith, perhaps none is more confusing. The Doctrine of the Trinity has been questioned for decades and many Christians do not even understand it. Colin E. Gunton argues that this does not have to be so. Instead, he calls the Western Church to learn from Eastern Orthodoxy and allow Trinitarian thinking to permeate every aspect of the church. It is when the Western Church embarrasses “The Forgotten Trinity” (the name of the chapter) in thinking and in worship, that we not only learn the nature of God, but how we should live in light of it.
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Chicago: Moody, 1996, 1991. Print.
Paul Tillich. “What Faith Is”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 269-273. Print.
New Essays in Philosophical Theology, ed. Anthony Flew and Alasdair MacIntyre, London, S.C.M. Press, 1955, p. 152.
...s distributed in Theology 101 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle on 22 April 2008.
W. Andrew Hoffecker. Building a Christian World View, vol. 1: God, man, and Knowledge. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, New Jersey : 1986. William S. Babcock. The Ethics of St. Augustine: JRE Studies in Religion, no. 3.
Boyd, Gregory A., and Paul R. Eddy. Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009.
Kerr, H. (1990). Readings in christian thought (2nd ed.). H. T. Kerr (Ed.). Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: HarperOne, 2010.