God the Holy Trinity
Timothy George,
ed., God
the Holy Trinity: Reflections on Christian Faith and Practice (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 2006), 175 pp.
This little volume draws together
nine papers originally presented at a Beeson Divinity School symposium on the
Trinity. The papers, edited by Timothy
George, represent a wide range of ecclesial traditions: Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Holiness, and Presbyterian. The collection
aims not at conceptual discussion of trinitarian theology, but rather at
elucidating the relationship between that doctrine and the concrete life of
Christian faith and worship. Thus the crucial question addressed is: “How does
the doctrine of the Trinity shape the ways of the Christian life, its worship
and prayer, its service and mission?” (p. 13).
In the opening paper, Alister McGrath emphasises the fundamental mystery
of trinitarian dogma: “The doctrine of the Trinity represents a chastened
admission that we are unable to master God” (p. 20). McGrath thus wonders
whether some contemporary trinitarian thought has become too speculative and
too detached from the witness of Scripture. His target here is especially
social doctrines of the Trinity, which leave one “with a sense of bafflement”
at how “a series of rather ambitious social and communitarian doctrines [can be
deduced] from the mystery of the Trinity” (pp. 31-32). In contrast, McGrath follows
Robert W. Jenson in arguing that the doctrine of the Trinity “identifies
and names the Christian God,” so that the doctrine functions as “an
instrument of theological precision, which forces us to be explicit about the
God under discussion” (pp. 33-34).
McGrath’s paper sets the stage for the rest of the collection, since the
remaining essays focus on the significance of the Trinity for the concrete
practices and experiences of Christian faith. Gerald Bray argues that the
doctrine of the Trinity did not arise from philosophical speculation in the
early church, but “from the realities of Christian spiritual experience” (p.
55); and James Earl Massey offers a fascinating account of the underlying
trinitarianism of the African-American spirituals. Avery Dulles emphasises the
ecumenical significance of the concept of the divine processions of the Son and
Spirit, while J. I. Packer gives an account of John Owen’s Puritan trinitarian
piety. Timothy George highlights the significance of the doctrine of the Trinity
for inter-faith dialogue between Christianity and Islam, and Ellen Charry seeks
to revive the notion of the divine perfections by emphasising their practical
and soteriological significance.
The most enjoyable chapter, however, is Frederica Mathewes-Green’s reflection
on Rublev’s icon
of the Trinity. Mathewes-Green is a popular Eastern Orthodox writer rather
than a theologian; but she offers a beautiful, concise meditation on Rublev’s
depiction of the Trinity. As in much iconography, Rublev “distort[s]
perspective in order to give us a sensation that the scene is bursting out
toward us, with the chalice in the center pressing itself our way”; as the
scene rushes towards us, this distorted perspective gives us a sense “of being
off-balance in an unfamiliar, powerful world” (p. 89). Most significantly,
though, Mathewes-Green observes that none of Rublev’s three figures is speaking:
“The tranquillity of their silence is sufficient” (p. 90).
Finally, the volume closes with a moving sermon by Cornelius Plantinga: “From
all eternity inside God, inside the mystery of God …, the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit make room for each other, envelop each other, call
attention to each other, glorify one another. It is the ceaseless exchange of
vitality, the endless expense of spirit upon spirit in eternal triplicate life.
The only competition in glory of this kind is to outdo one another in love” (p.
155).
From http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2007/02/timothy-george-god-holy-trinity.html