Trinitarian Theology

Edited by Keith S. Whitfield
Trinitarian Theology: Theological Models and Doctrinal Application
Nashville: B&H Academic, 2019.

Available at B&H

By Laura Joy Paul

Few subjects within the Evangelical world have led to as profuse a collection of blogs, books, conferences, and conversations as the 2015-2016 Trinitarian debates. This theological “event” might best be described as a kind of solar system with multiple doctrinal planets spinning in orbit: theological method, the role of tradition, hermeneutics, gender relations, ecclesiology— indeed there are few areas of theology not in some way implicated in the discussion. Amidst this complexity, Trinitarian Theology: Theological Models and Doctrinal Application is an important work. Its special contribution consists in its insider perspective on the conversation from an exclusively Southern Baptist perspective. In this work, four Southern Baptist theologians join together to sharpen, challenge, and clarify the conversation around the doctrine of the Trinity and its adjoining conversations.

In the first chapter, Bruce A. Ware outlines his understanding of the unity and distinction of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The approach he contends for is one of “eternal relations of authority and submission”. This chapter most closely outlines what those who have watched along from the blogosphere would recognize as the “classic” Grudem/Ware line. This is followed in chapter two by Malcom B. Yarnell’s consideration of a Trinitarian method for theological anthropology. He engages the question of whether and how the relationships within the Trinity can or should provide an analogical paradigm for human relationships, most especially, those between the genders. Finally, in the third chapter, Matthew Y. Emerson and Luke Stamps consider Trinitarian theological method, concluding that the “classical doctrine of the Trinity as articulated in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and received in the great tradition of Christian theology, across denominational and geographical lines, is an eminently biblical doctrine” (p.127). This chapter is perhaps the book’s highlight. Emerson and Stamps’ “Spirit-led, ecclesially located, exegetically grounded, canonically patterned, creedally ruled, and dogmatically guided” approach is helpful and especially worthy of note.

In chapters four through seven, the contributors respond critically and charitably to one another’s work. Finally, Keith S. Whitfield concludes the volume with a helpful recapitulation of the proceeding chapters, finishing with a robust and helpful consideration of several questions for further research.

All in all, this is a significant and helpful volume on an issue of first importance. As Keith S. Whitfield writes in the introduction,

Theology is thinking about God and reflecting on how all things relate to him. Our God is triune. Thus, at the core of the theological task is disciplined, biblical thinking about the life of the triune God and how his triune nature impacts the nature and purpose of our lives. If that’s true, and I think it is, then the most fundamental theological discussion is on how one formulates the Trinity. The reality is that evangelicals have not always embraced the Trinity’s central role in theologizing. The Trinity has been treated as one doctrine of many. But, this doctrine is not just one article of faith among many other articles. It is the central article in which every other Christian doctrine is grounded and from which every other Christian doctrine is shaped and determined to be a “Christian confession.” We have assumed the trinitarian formulation for generations, but we have not always thought deeply about what it means to proclaim that God is triune and how that informs everything else (p. 13-14).

This work is a beneficial contribution to that deep, hard work of “what it means to proclaim that God is triune and how that informs everything else.”