Benchmark - Trinitarian Theology - Google Docs
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Benchmark - Trinitarian Theology Ellen E. Joseph College of Theology, Grand Canyon University HTH-201: Christian Theology I Ryan Brandt February 19, 2023
Introduction Though Christianity is deeply intuitive and complex it is undoubtable that the faith holds its foundations in God as the centrality of the gospel; a gospel in which is all encompassing of God and from God himself. Thus, in the absence of deep knowledge and understanding of God and who He is, one cannot come to have a significantly profound comprehension of the gospels (Bird, 2022). One can extract from the gospels that the one true God is a Triune God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit acting as three separate persons in one being. Therefore, "integrity of the gospel is fatally compromised if either the Son or the Spirit is not fully God. If the Son was not God, he could neither reveal the Father nor atone for our sin. If the Spirit was not God, he could unite us neither to the Father and Son nor one another. The gospel, then, requires a triune God'' (Vanhoozer, 2005). Because each is wholly divine, salvation is accessible and achievable to all of humanity. Without God, the trinity, the gospel simply put would be impossible. Both the doctrine conveyed in scripture, and the Nicene Creed portray God as three persons that share glory, authority, and full divinity; acting as one being. Old Testament Theology: Creation and Forgiveness From the earliest point recorded in the Bible (Genesis 1), God is established as the ultimate and only creator of the universe. It is evident that the foundations of Christianity are deeply rooted in God's revelation as the creator of all. It is important to understand that creation is an act of God solitarily. Thus, He brings the world into existence ex nihilo, out of nothing, for none other than his own glory. The Apostle Paul illustrates this picture of God as the Creator of all things through his writings in Colossians, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things
were created through him and for him” (
The Holy Bible, American Standard Version
, 2020, Colossians 1:16). The Apostle Paul's words depict the one true God as the sustainer and creator of everything in existence. In the Old Testament God is depicted as the creator of the universe and who has complete authorship over it. This illustration of God being the omnipotent creator and sustainer who existed before the universe was a complete censure against polytheism. Arnold, B. T. & Beyer, B. E (2015) further explains that the creation narrative in the Old Testament generates a model of who God is and thus allows it possible to receive the remainder of the Bible's content and meaning. Through the uncovering of God as the only creator of the universe, readers can find that this account as well marks God as the sole redeemer of the universe; thus, only through Him is there, the forgiveness of sins and redemption of humanity. When sin first made its way into the world, God responded with an immediate plan of redemption for His creation. To further self-demonstrate that He is the one and only God, God continually sets himself apart. In the Old Testament, He specifically focuses on the stark differences between Him and the sinful idols of the nations. Biblically readers can see this demonstration of self-revelation through that of the exodus out of Egypt by the Israelites. Succeeding the exodus and a long duration of roaming in the wilderness afterwards, God gave the Israelites His aid in obtaining the entrance to the promised land through God's conquering of the Israelites enemies. This acted as a demonstration to both the Israelites and the rest of humanity that God was and is the sovereign ruler of all. However, Even through seeing His undeniable supremacy, the Isralites gave way to a cycle of rebellion, repentance, and reconciliation (Bird, 2020). Because death was the punishment for sin in the Old Testament, the sole way of forgiveness for the people of Israel was through sacrificial offerings that are brought to God. In this process of forgiveness, the wrongdoer would offer an
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animal as a sacrifice, the animal acting in place of the wrongdoer's sin. This never-ending cycle of rebellion came to a halt after God, to punish the nation, put the Israelites in the grasps of its enemies then leaving them in exile. However, through Israel's unfaithful sin, the sovereign God remained faithful to His creation and vowed that there would be forgiveness to mankind. This is seen in the book of Isaiah were God was depicted to be communicating that "I, I alone, am the one who wipes out your wrongdoings for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins" (
The Holy Bible, American Standard Version
, 2020, Isa. 43:25). Such promise was granted to the Israelites when they were in their exile. Through the fury of the sinful and disobedient actions of Israel, God was working on His master plan of redemption for Israel and the entirety of humanity. God's self-revelation proclaimed Him as the only one who could bring a renewal to the sinful nation. New Testament Theology: Creation and Forgiveness Throughout the entirety of the New Testament there are constant mentions of the creation narrative. In this, specifically, the Gospel of John, Jesus is illustrated as the Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (
The Holy Bible, New American Standard Bible
, 2020, John 1:1-3). In verse 14, John later unveils Jesus as “the Word” that was referenced in the first three verses: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (
The Holy Bible, American Standard Version
, 2020, John 1:14). In addition to “the Word,” Jesus has a multitude of other titles, one of the most prevalent being the Son of God. Ergo, when John states, “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” he is doubtlessly referring to Jesus as such Word. This observation allows readers to put Jesus alongside God at the origin of creation. Jesus is not only depicted as being present in
the beginning of creation, but also having direct involvement in the acts of creation. Verses such as the ones displayed in first John, provide substantial evidence that depicts a distinction between Jesus and God; yet, a shared identity, further proving that God is more than merely one person. In the book of Colossians, moreover, Paul the apostle establishes Jesus as creator, “"for by Him all things were created…all things have been created through Him and for him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (
The Holy Bible, American Standard Version, 2020, Col 1:16-17). Colossians demonstrate that He is the one who was in existence before everything and sustains all things ultimately characterizing him as God. Because Jesus Christ is God as the Son, his authority to forgive sins remains the same as God. Jesus forgives the sins of numerous people on numerous separate accounts throughout His ministry. One of those popularized, for good reason, lies in chapter two of the book of Mark where Jesus forgave the sins of a paralyzed man. As witnesses of such healings, the scribes were left astonished because they only believed that God could forgive sins. Jesus offers a response to this telling them that they should only put the miracles into question because they demand the identical divine authority. Thus, through this, Jesus demonstrates that He shares the identical divine jurisdiction as God because he too is God and they can both carry out miracles and provide forgiveness of sins (Highfield, 2008). In the duration of ancient times, the attainability of forgiveness was through that of sacrificial offerings to the Lord God. However, this method was only temporary and could only be used once. So, that the temporality of this forgiveness could be diminished and made eternal, God's master plan at redemption for humanity is only made whole through Jesus the Son. This, however, would not be possible if Jesus was not God because what allows for the gospel to remain in existence is the full divinity of Jesus Christ. Moreover, because Jesus is fully divine,
He rose from the grave, defeated death, and gave humanity a new life. Because God chose humanity, Jesus acted as the ultimate sacrifice, and the Spirit has been placed in humanity to make it new again; salvation is available for all of humanity (Bird, 2020). Nicene Creed: The Father and The Son The Nicene Creed acts as a declaration of faith that aids in granting perspective when reading Scripture. The Creed declares that the one true God is both Jesus the Son and God the Father (GILES, 2017). To start, the book of Corinithains proclaims, "Yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom all things are, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him" (
The Holy Bible, American Standard Version, 2020, 1 Cor. 8:6). This verse points to Jesus as a creator beside God the Father. Such a declaration recognizes the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as all being homoousios—”no dividing or separating of the divine persons” (GILES, 2017). The New Testament clearly points to Jesus as the Son of God, declaring that God sustains the creation of the world though that of Jesus and later uses Him to redeem humanity (Highfield, 2008). Though Scripture reveals Jesus as the same as God, Jesus makes that revelation to those surrounding Him as well. In John, it is observed that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath day when He was questioned “He answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I myself am working too" (
The Holy Bible, American Standard Version, 2020, John 5:17). Because in the Jewish culture only God could work on the Sabbath, this statement made the bold proclamation that Jesus is equal to God (Keener, 2020). This declaration further demonstrates that Jesus is the sovereign co-ruler alongside God, sharing one dominion, power, and authority.
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Conclusion From all this, the conclusion that can be drawn is that both the Nicene Creed and the Biblical Scriptures proclaim the complete oneness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Even more than that, the decision drawn is that they are three; yet, also preserve unity in acting as one being. Because of this, the gospel puts its fundamental foundations in the supremacy of the Triune God. Because they share in the same being they also share in that of the same will. Thus, they do not remain separate in the work that they do, rather they work together with one another as one for the fulfillment of an entirely new creation. From this, at the work of the one and only Triune God, Humanity has accessibility to salvation. With the perspective offered through the Nicene Creed and that of Scripture, God is set forth as three persons all existing together in one being.
Resources: Arnold, B. T., & Beyer, B. E. (2015). Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian survey (3rded.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. Bird, M. F. (2020). Evangelical theology: A biblical and systematic introduction (2nd ed.). Zondervan. GILES, K. (2017). The Nicene and Reformed Doctrine of the Trinity. Priscilla Papers, 31(3), 3-8. Highfield, R. (2008). Great is the Lord: Theology for the praise of God. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005), 43.