Trinity in Christian Theology

One of the more important developments in the field of theology in the past two decades has been a gradual but genuine revival of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity. This fundamental Christian doctrine had been neglected by theologians, who saw it as isolated from practical Christian faith and life. Recently, however, feminist and liberationist, as well as more traditional Catholic and Protestant theologians, have come to see the Trinity not as an abstract doctrine, but instead as dealing with the living and dynamic being and acts of God, and closely related to Jesus Christ and the resurrection as the mystery of salvation. This insight has in many ways become one of the central themes of contemporary theology. In this study, Irish Presbyterian theologian John Thompson provides a survey of the wide variety of modern thought on this important theme, examining the work of figures like Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Jurgen Moltmann, and their views on such issues as the relationship of the trinitarian doctrine to Scripture, the Church, philosophy, politics, and society.

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity, following a long period in which it was considered irrelevant to the rest of theology and to the challenge of Christian life. In this book, David Coffey claims that this resurgence is caused by a renewed appreciation of the fact that salvation itself has a Trinitarian structure. He argues that we cannot understand salvation without a solid understanding of the Trinity. Coffey considers the full range of issues surrounding this central doctrine of Christian faith. Viewing the doctrine of the Trinity in its historical and ecumenical context, he seeks to arrive at a balanced vision that incorporates the insights of both the Western and the Eastern Churches. In particular, he wants to keep in sight both the immanent Trinity (the Godhead considered in itself) and the economic Trinity (that is, its role within the economy of salvation). In Coffeys own model of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is seen as the objectivization of the mutual love of the Father and the Son. This idea is most closely associated with St. Augustine and Richard of St. Victor. Coffey, however, takes it much further, presenting it as an explanation of the origin of the Son and the Holy Spirit and of the manner of operation of the Trinity in the economy. From this model, he is also able to derive a suggestion for resolving the ecumenical problem of Filioquism vs. Monopatrism (concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit)-- the issue that has divided East from West for nearly a millennium. Presenting a new perspective on a topic of renewed theological interest, this comprehensive study has important implications for ecumenical discussions of the Trinity.

During the post-Vatican I period, in the course of the Church's anti-Modernist campaign, Roman Catholic scholars isolated St. Thomas Aquinas's philosophical theology from its neo-Platonism, and other scholars have also tended to treat the various parts of his Summa Theologiae without regard to their historical context. Here, Hankey contends that Thomas Aquinas was less of an Aristotelian than is commonly supposed, and that a proper appreciation of his work requires us to take fuller notice of his reliance on neo-Platonism. In setting out his case, Hankey pays special attention to the influence of Proclus, providing a critical exposition of his work. The author also supports his position by making a careful analysis of the first forty-five questions of the Summa Theologiae.

This book is about the problem of truth: what truth is, and how we can tell whether what we have said is true. Bruce Marshall approaches this problem from the standpoint of Christian theology, and especially that of the doctrine of the Trinity. The book offers a full-scale theological account of what truth is and whether Christians have adequate grounds for regarding their beliefs as true. Unlike most theological discussions of these issues, the book is also extensively engaged with the modern philosophical debate about truth and belief.