The Trinity E-Book

Scott Swain

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Short Studies in Systematic Theology
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Practical Theology for the Church Today The Trinity is one of the most essential doctrines of the Christian faith, as it reveals a magnificent truth about God—that he is one God eternally existing as three distinct persons. While Christians often struggle to find the right words to describe the union of Father, Son, and Spirit, the Bible gives clarity concerning the triune God's activity in nature (creation), grace (redemption), and glory (reward). In the second installment of the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series, theologian Scott Swain examines the Trinity, presenting its biblical foundations, systematic–theological structure, and practical relevance for the church today.

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“The often-repeated baptismal words ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ contain the profoundest truth Christians ever hear. They show us who God is, and they teach us who we are. That is why we need to grow in our understanding and experience of them. Scott Swain helps us to do that in this welcome contribution to Short Studies in Systematic Theology. The book lives up to its description: it is short (Swain gets straight to the point); it invites you to study (no superficiality here); and it is systematic theology (and Swain is exceptionally gifted in it). Plus, you will be able to understand Swain; and you can trust what he writes. What more could you ask for in such a compact treatment?”

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries

“Only a very gifted teacher can select the most important things to say about the holy Trinity, especially for a wide audience. Lucid, rich with scriptural interpretation, and deeply informed by the Christian tradition, this is the first book I will recommend to anyone looking for clarity that yields a harvest of delight in the triune God.”

Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

“What a powerful instrument this little book is, meeting the need of our moment for clear and precise teaching on this most important subject. Would you rather read a book on the Trinity that invites you into the worship of God and gives profound insight into his ways or a book that is guaranteed to provide safe, reliable, and responsible instruction? There is no need to choose: this book does it all, and in admirably brief compass.”

Fred Sanders, Professor of Theology, Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University; author, The Deep Things of God

“Swain here takes up the practice of the ancient church, teaching the company of the baptized the grammar of the name of the one God into whose life they enter by water: ‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’ This is a wonderful primer to the grammar of ‘Trinitarian discourse,’ a grammar that is needed not simply to talk theological shop with the professionals but, more importantly, to read the Bible fluently, to name God correctly, to discern the true triune God from idols, and to praise the name of the one who invites us into the fellowship of the Father and the Son through the Spirit. This book edifies even as it educates.”

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; author, Is There a Meaning in This Text?; The Drama of Doctrine; and Biblical Authority after Babel

“Through his attentive comprehension of Scripture and with prudence and ease, Scott Swain creates a profound and engaging portrayal of the triune God whom Christians worship. The Trinity will doubtless become the standard text for those requiring an accessible primer for this foundational doctrine. But the book’s concise nature should not lull the expert, for Swain also offers persuasive verdicts defending classic orthodoxy against both contemporary and ancient challenges.”

Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Research Professor of Theology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, Who Is the Holy Spirit? and God the Trinity

“This book is easily the best introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity that I know of. Scott Swain shows not just that the Bible teaches the Trinity but how it does so. With lucid brevity he introduces crucial, classical distinctions that help us discern the Bible’s Trinitarian grammar. Reading this book will help you to proclaim and praise the triune God more fluently. I plan to give away many copies to members of my church.”

Bobby Jamieson, Associate Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC; author, Jesus’ Death and Heavenly Offering in Hebrews

The Trinity

Short Studies in Systematic Theology

Edited by Graham A. Cole and Oren R. Martin

Faithful Theology: An Introduction, Graham A. Cole (2020)

The Trinity: An Introduction, Scott R. Swain (2020)

The Trinity

An Introduction

Scott R. Swain

The Trinity: An Introduction

Copyright © 2020 by Scott R. Swain

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Jordan Singer

Cover image: From the New York Public Library, catalog ID (B-number): b14500417

First printing 2020

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-6121-4 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-6124-5 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-6122-1 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-6123-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Swain, Scott R., author. | Cole, Graham A. (Graham Arthur), 1949 editor. | Martin, Oren R., editor.

Title: The Trinity : an introduction / Scott R. Swain.

Description: Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, 2020. | Series: Short studies in systematic theology | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020014773 (print) | LCCN 2020014774 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433561214 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433561221 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433561238 (mobipocket) | ISBN 9781433561245 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Trinity.

Classification: LCC BT111.3 .S945 2020 (print) | LCC BT111.3 (ebook) | DDC 231/.044—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014773

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014774

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2020-09-18 10:44:02 AM

To four friends

valiant for the truth and honor

of the blessed Trinity

Aimee Byrd

Liam Goligher

Todd Pruitt

Carl Trueman

Contents

Series Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

 1  The Bible and the Trinity: The Basic Grammar

 2  The Bible and the Trinity: Three Types of Texts

 3  The Simplicity of God

 4  God the Father

 5  God the Son

 6  God the Holy Spirit

 7  The Shape of God’s Triune Work

 8  The End of God’s Triune Work

Glossary

Further Reading

General Index

Scripture Index

Series Preface

The ancient Greek thinker Heraclitus reputedly said that the thinker has to listen to the essence of things. A series of theological studies dealing with the traditional topics that make up systematic theology needs to do just that. Accordingly, in these studies, theologians address the essence of a doctrine. This series thus aims to present short studies in theology that are attuned to both the Christian tradition and contemporary theology in order to equip the church to faithfully understand, love, teach, and apply what God has revealed in Scripture about a variety of topics. What may be lost in comprehensiveness can be gained through what John Calvin, in the dedicatory epistle of his commentary on Romans, called “lucid brevity.”

Of course, a thorough study of any doctrine will be longer rather than shorter, as there are two millennia of confession, discussion, and debate with which to interact. As a result, a short study needs to be more selective but deftly so. Thankfully, the contributors to this series have the ability to be brief yet accurate. The key aim is that the simpler is not to morph into the simplistic. The test is whether the topic of a short study, when further studied in depth, requires some unlearning to take place. The simple can be amplified. The simplistic needs to be corrected. As editors, we believe that the volumes in this series pass that test.

While the specific focus varies, each volume (1) introduces the doctrine, (2) sets it in context, (3) develops it from Scripture, (4) draws the various threads together, and (5) brings it to bear on the Christian life. It is our prayer, then, that this series will assist the church to delight in her triune God by thinking his thoughts—which he has graciously revealed in his written word, which testifies to his living Word, Jesus Christ—after him in the powerful working of his Spirit.

Graham A. Cole and Oren R. Martin

Acknowledgments

Under God’s good providence, the present work has a deep cause and a proximate one. The deep cause is the long-standing encouragement of my wife, Leigh, that I write something on the Trinity for a popular audience. Though her suggested title, You, Me, and the Trinity, did not survive the publisher’s scrutiny, this book is in large measure a response to her encouragement.

The proximate cause for the book is the Trinitarian controversy of 2016. That controversy revealed severe cracks in the foundation of evangelical Trinitarian theology. It also revealed the need for significant re-catechizing of the evangelical mind. I hope to make a small contribution to such re-catechizing in this study.

In addition to these two causes, thanks are due to many others who contributed to making this book possible. Chancellor Ligon Duncan and the Board of Trustees of Reformed Theological Seminary (especially Chairman Richard Ridgway and Admiral Scott Redd) have continued to encourage my pursuit of scholarship amid administrative and teaching responsibilities. Keith Whitfield, vice president for academic administration at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, generously provided a hospitable setting for research and writing on the beautiful campus of Southeastern in the summers of 2018 and 2019. Christina Mansfield provided research and administrative assistance with characteristic excellence and good cheer. My colleague Leigh Swanson read the entire manuscript and offered helpful recommendations for its improvement.

Justin Taylor and the good folks at Crossway have been a pleasure to work with on this project. I am also grateful to Graham Cole and Oren Martin for the invitation to contribute to their series and for their wise editorial oversight and advice.

Over the summer of 2016 I had hundreds of exchanges about the Trinity with four friends in particular: two pastors (Liam Goligher and Todd Pruitt), a lay theologian (Aimee Byrd), and a professor of church history (Carl Trueman). In gratitude for their courageous defense of orthodox Christian teaching on the Trinity in various settings and their recommendation that I contribute something to the discussion as well, I dedicate this book to them.

Introduction

Praising the Triune God

Christians praise one God in three persons, the blessed Trinity. We do so by proclaiming God’s triune name in baptism (Matt. 28:19), by invoking his name in benedictions (2 Cor. 13:14), by binding ourselves to his name when confessing our faith (1 Cor. 8:6; 12:3), and by hymning his name in our songs, joining the chorus of heavenly beings with all the saints in heaven and earth (Rev. 4–5).

Christians praise God the Trinity because he is supremely worthy of our praise. The blessed Trinity is supreme in being, beauty, and beatitude.

The Lord is a great God,

and a great King above all gods. (Ps. 95:3)

His “glory” is “above the heavens” (Ps. 8:1). He is “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). Though the triune God is worthy of all the praise he receives (Rev. 4:11; 5:9–10, 12), our praise falls far short of his majestic greatness. He is God beyond all praising (Neh. 9:5), beyond all human comprehending. “His greatness is unsearchable” (Ps. 145:3).

Christians praise the triune God not only in response to the greatness of his being, beauty, and beatitude. We also praise him in response to the wonder of his works of creation, redemption, and consummation. The thrice-holy God is worthy “to receive glory and honor and power” because he “created all things” (Rev. 4:11). The Lamb who sits on the throne is worthy

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing! (Rev. 5:12)

For he redeemed us by his blood and made us a kingdom of priests to our God (Rev. 5:9–10). The Spirit is worthy of our praise because he opens our eyes to behold the majesty of God’s being and works (Rev. 4:2–3), because he enables us to receive every spiritual blessing by his indwelling presence (Eph. 1:3), because he opens our lips to declare God’s praise (1 Cor. 12:3; Gal. 4:6), and because he assures us that God will one day consummate his kingdom, in which—in and with our Lord Jesus Christ—we will reign on the earth as a kingdom of priests (Eph. 1:13–14; Rev. 5:10).

In praising God’s triune name, we do not praise him as mere spectators, stunned before the magnificence of his being and works. Christian praise of God the Trinity is self-involving. The God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the author and end of all things, wills to be our Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. The blessed Trinity who dwells in a high and holy place, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, wills also to dwell among us and to make us eternally blessed through union and communion with him, to the praise of his glorious grace (Lev. 26:12; Isa. 57:15; John 14:23; 2 Cor. 6:16, 18; Eph. 1:3–14).

The self-involving nature of Christian faith in the Trinity is exhibited, perhaps most clearly, in Christian baptism. There the name of the triune God is proclaimed in the word of the minister and put on us with the washing of water (Matt. 28:19; Eph. 5:26). In baptism the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit signifies and seals to us that he is our Father, through union with the Son, by the indwelling of the Spirit and that we are God’s sons and daughters, fellow heirs with Christ of an eternal kingdom (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 3:26; 4:6–7). Thereafter, the entire Christian life is about learning to “put on” the reality signified and sealed to us through baptism in God’s triune name (Gal. 3:27), about receiving all that goes with having the triune God as our God, and about growing up into his praise within the communion of saints.1

A Short Study in Systematic Theology

In keeping with the aims of the larger series of which the present study is a part, this book is intended to be a “short study in systematic theology.” Systematic theology, as a field of discourse, takes God and all things in relation to God as its object and Holy Scripture as its supreme source and norm. In doing so, systematic theology seeks to promote fluency, formation, and fellowship with the triune God among its major ends. A word about how each of these elements of systematic theology relates to the present topic is in order.

Systematic theology takes God and all things in relation to God as its object. Systematic theology focuses on God: his being, attributes, persons, and decrees; as well as the works of God: creation, providence, redemption, sanctification, and consummation. In each instance, God is the organizing principle of systematic theology. When considering any doctrine, systematic theology asks, how does this doctrine relate to God as its author and end (Rom. 11:36)? Thus, for example, systematic theology does not consider human beings in general terms. It considers human beings as creatures made in the image of God, as rebels who have sinned against God, thereby bringing misery upon themselves, and as objects of God’s redeeming, sanctifying, and consummating work. The specific focus of the present study is the principal subject matter of systematic theology: the blessed Trinity in his being and works.

Systematic theology takes Holy Scripture as its supreme source and norm. God reveals himself in a multitude of ways: through creation and conscience, through miracles and theophanies, and supremely through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:18–32; Heb. 1:1–4). Holy Scripture is God’s Spirit-inspired testimony to Jesus Christ. As such, Holy Scripture is the supreme source and norm for our knowledge of the triune God in his being and works (2 Tim. 3:15–17). In this book, our main focus is on the scriptural patterns of naming the triune God and the way those patterns have been received and confessed by the church in response to the triune God’s self-revelation in Holy Scripture.

Among its major ends, systematic theology seeks to promote fluency, formation, and fellowship. Because it focuses on God and all things in relation to God as these realities are revealed in Holy Scripture, systematic theology aims at making us more fluent readers of Holy Scripture. Because the God who reveals himself in Holy Scripture also writes its message on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, systematic theology seeks to serve the Spirit’s work of forming in us the image of Jesus Christ. In this regard, systematic theology seeks to shape our judgment, our affections, and our actions. Finally, systematic theology seeks to promote fellowship with the object of theology, God himself. God is the sovereign good that systematic theology pursues, and fellowship with God (and with one another in God) is the supreme means of engaging with God the sovereign good.

How does this volume relate to these various ends? It seeks to cultivate greater fluency in following the basic “grammar” of Scripture’s Trinitarian discourse.2 In so doing, the present study seeks to form Christian judgment—specifically, the capacity for distinguishing the true and living God from idols. This study also aims to shape our capacities for receiving and responding to the blessed Trinity as he presents himself to us in his word: directing our faith to receive the triune God as our God, to hold fast to the triune God in love, and to call upon the triune God in prayer, proclamation, and praise. Finally, the present study seeks to promote fellowship with the triune God, the sovereign good of systematic theology. Ultimately our fluency as readers of Holy Scripture and our formation in Christian virtue are ordered to this supreme end, the triune God himself, who gives himself to us as our supreme good in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).

As a species of catechetical theology, this “short study” in systematic theology intends to offer a brief introduction to Christian teaching on the holy Trinity, with a focus on scriptural patterns of divine naming. The book’s limitations in space and focus mean that it will not give extensive attention to the doctrine’s historical development, polemical uses, or more sophisticated dogmatic elaborations. Nevertheless, I hope that by introducing the basic grammar of scriptural Trinitarianism, this book may encourage more advanced study of these other topics as well.3

This work is designed to serve beginning students of theology, whether enrolled in a formal program of theological study or not, pastors seeking to review the main contours of Trinitarian teaching, and interested laypersons. In each case, it is written to help Christians enter more fully into the praise of the triune name into which we are baptized. How shall we proceed?

An Overview of Chapters

Christians praise the triune God because that is how God presents himself to us in Holy Scripture: as one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. By his word, God reveals his triune name in Holy Scripture. By his Spirit, God takes his triune name, as revealed in Holy Scripture, and writes it on our hearts, training us to call upon his name in prayer, proclamation, and praise. For this reason, the God-breathed Scriptures are the primary discourse of Trinitarian theology. Thus, we commence our study with a survey of scriptural teaching on the Trinity.

Taking the triune name in which we were baptized as our starting point (Matt. 28:19), chapter 1 considers various patterns of biblical discourse that reflect the grammar of God’s triune name. Chapter 2 then moves to consider representative biblical texts that can assist us in gaining greater fluency in the praise of God’s triune name, concluding with a summary of biblical teaching on the Trinity.

Following our survey of the Bible’s primary Trinitarian discourse, we turn to a more thematic treatment of the doctrine in chapters 3–8. Because baptism identifies God in himself (Matt. 28:19), we contemplate, first, the one God in his internal relations as Father, Son, and Spirit (chaps. 3–6). Because baptism also identifies God in relation to us (Gal. 3:26–27), we contemplate, second, the one God in his external relations whereby, through his external works, he becomes our Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, to the praise of his glory (chaps. 7–8).

Christian teaching on the Trinity is teaching about the one God. Chapter 3 thus considers the doctrine of divine simplicity, an essential feature of orthodox Trinitarian theology. Chapters 4–6 then look at the three persons that constitute the life of the one God. Chapter 4 considers the person of the Father, chapter 5 the person of the Son, and chapter 6 the person of the Holy Spirit. Over the course of these chapters, I address topics such as the nature of analogical language, the nature of divine persons, and important matters of controversy in Trinitarian theology (e.g., the question of eternal relations of authority and submission between the Father and the Son).

Chapters 7–8 then consider the triune God in his external works. Chapter 7 looks at the shape of God’s triune work, giving attention to the “appropriation” of specific works to specific persons of the Trinity, as well as to the “missions” of the Son and the Spirit.

Chapter 8 looks at the end of God’s triune work (i.e., God himself), along with the beneficiaries of God’s triune work (i.e., his beloved children) and the means whereby God communicates himself to his beloved children through the ministry of word and sacrament, which are received by faith, hope, and love. In attending to the latter topics, chapter 8 sketches in brief outline a Trinitarian theology of ministry and the Christian life.

Conclusion

No topic of study is more rewarding, or more challenging, than the doctrine of the Trinity. Nor is any topic of study fraught with greater possibility of error.4 Nevertheless, we may enter our study with confidence because the triune God has revealed himself in his word. It is God’s good pleasure that we would know him, that we would receive him, and that our souls would find rest in him (Matt. 11:25–30).

Moreover, in spite of the many limitations of our study—we know only in part, not yet face-to-face (1 Cor. 13:12); we are both finite and fallen—God has promised sure help for our study through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, the Lion and the Lamb (Rev. 4–5). In union with Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, we have access to the Father (Eph. 2:18). And so we may confidently pray,

Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me. (Ps. 119:175)

Learning to praise the blessed Trinity holds broad implications for many fields of discourse, from metaphysics to epistemology, from ethics to aesthetics. That said, learning to praise the Trinity does not derive its importance or usefulness from its ability to serve other enterprises. Learning to know the triune God, to receive the triune God, to rejoice in the triune God—and learning to help others do the same—is an end in itself, because the triune God is the ultimate end of all things (Rom. 11:36).

Here is the treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great price: knowing, receiving, loving, and praising the Father, through the Son, in the fellowship of the Spirit (Matt. 13:44–46; John 17:3). To him be glory forever.

1. Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit, trans. Stephen Hildebrand (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 10.26.

2. In order to grasp any distinct field of discourse, we must grasp not only the meaning of various terms used within that field (i.e., its “lexicon”) but also the relationships that obtain between various terms used within that field (i.e., its “syntax”). Taken together, the lexicon and syntax that distinguish a particular field of discourse constitute its basic “grammar” (Paul J. Griffiths,