On Classical Trinitarianism

The Gospel Coalition Book Awards Winner – Theological Studies

Modern theology claimed that it ignited a renaissance in trinitarian theology. Really, it has been a renaissance in social trinitarianism. Classical commitments like divine simplicity have been jettisoned, the three persons have been redefined as three centers of consciousness and will, and modern agendas in politics, gender, and ecclesiology determine the terms of the discussion. Contemporary trinitarian theology has followed the spirit of this trajectory, rejecting doctrines like eternal generation which were once a hallmark of Nicene orthodoxy and reintroducing subordinationism into the Trinity.

Motivated by the longstanding need to retrieve the classical doctrine of the Trinity, theologian Matthew Barrett brings together Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox scholars to intervene in the conversation. With over forty contributions, this ecumenical volume resurrects the enduring legacy of Nicene orthodoxy, providing a theological introduction that listens with humility to the Great Tradition.

In On Classical Trinitarianism, you find contributions from a wide range of scholars, including:



- Katherin Rogers

- Andrew Louth

- Gilles Emery

- Steven Duby

- Gavin Ortlund

- Adonis Vidu

- Carl Trueman

- Matthew Levering

- Fred Sanders

- Scott Swain

- Karen Kilby

- Amy Peeler

- Thomas Joseph White

- and more!

The distinct yet united voices of On Classical Trinitarianism summon the next generation to move past modern revisionism for the sake of renewing classical trinitarian theology today. Together, they demonstrate that Nicene orthodoxy can endure in the modern world and unite the church catholic.



Matthew Barrett is professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the editor-in-chief of Credo Magazine, and Director of the Center for Classical Theology. He is the author of the award winning book, Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit, as well as the author of The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. He is currently writing a Systematic Theology. He is the host of the Credo podcast, where he talks with fellow theologians about the retrieval of classical Christianity today for the sake of renewing the church.



Foreword by J. Todd Billings



Acknowledgments



The Nicene Creed: Or the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, AD 381



Introduction: The Prospect and Promise of Classical Trinitarian Theology

Matthew Barrett

Part 1: Retrieving Nicene Trinitarianism



1. Ante-Nicene Trinitarianism: From Confession to Theology

Donald Fairbairn



2. The Nicene Creed: Foundation of Orthodoxy

Christopher A. Hall



3. The Beginnings of a Pro-Nicene Trinitarian Vision: Athanasius of Alexandria on the Activity of the Son and the Spirit

Amy Brown Hughes and Shawn J. Wilhite



4. Hilary of Poitiers, on the Unity and Distinction of Father and Son: A Pro-Nicene Reading and Use of John 5:19

Carl L. Beckwith



5. The Cappadocians and the Maturity of Nicene Vocabulary

Stephen Hildebrand



6. Maximos and John Damascene: Mid-Byzantine Reception of Nicaea

Andrew Louth



7. Augustine of Hippo: Will the Real Augustine Please Stand Up?

Keith E. Johnson



8. Anselm of Canterbury: Faith Seeking Trinitarian Understanding

David S. Hogg



9. Thomas Aquinas's Appropriation of Pro-Nicene Theology of the Trinity

Gilles Emery, OP



10. Creedal Critics or Creedal Confessors? The Reformers and the Reformed Scholastics

J. V. Fesko



11. A Fading of the Trinitarian Imagination: The Fight for Nicene Confessionalism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Michael A. G. Haykin

Part 2: Trinitarian Hermeneutics and Nicene Dogmatics



12. The Incomprehensibility of the Holy Trinity

Ronni Kurtz



13. Trinity, Creatures, and Hermeneutics: Accounting Properly for both Theologia and Oikonomia

Richard C. Barcellos



14. The Unity of God and the Unity of the Economy

Steven J. Duby



15. Perfect Being Theology and Classical Trinitarianism

Katherin A. Rogers



16. Trinity and Divine Simplicity

James E. Dolezal



17. Three Persons, One Will

Stephen J. Wellum



18. Trinity and Aseity

Gavin Ortlund



19. The Immutable and Impassible Trinity—Part 1: The Biblical Teaching and Early Patristic Thought

Thomas G. Weinandy



20. The Immutable and Impassible Trinity—Part 2: The Early Councils, Further Theological and Christological Developments, and Soteriological and Pastoral Implications

Thomas G. Weinandy



21. Trinity and Love

Matthew Levering



22. The Unbegotten Father

John Baptist Ku



23. Only Begotten God: Eternal Generation, a Scriptural Doctrine

Charles Lee Irons



24. Only Begotten Son: The Doctrinal Functions of Eternal Generation

Fred Sanders



25. No Impassibility, No Eternal Generation: Retrieving a Pro-Nicene Distinctive

Matthew Barrett



26. The Procession of the Spirit: Eternal Spiration

Chris R. J. Holmes



27. The Spirit's Procession Revealed in the Spirit's Mission: An Augustinian Account

Adonis Vidu



28. Three Agents, One Agency: The Undivided External Works of the Trinity

Scott R. Swain



29. Trinity and Appropriations: Meaning, Practice, and Significance

Josh Malone

Part 3: The Renewal of Nicene Fidelity Today



30. Social or Classical? A Theological Dialogue

Michael Allen and Matthew Barrett



31. Three Versus One? Some Problems of Social Trinitarianism

Stephen R. Holmes



32. Perichoresis and Projection: Problems with Social Doctrines of the Trinity

Karen Kilby



33. Is There Obedience in God? Nicene Orthodoxy and the Eternal Procession of the Son in Aquinas and Barth

Thomas Joseph White



34. Renaissance or Revision? Metaphysical Departures from Classical Trinitarian Theism

Craig A. Carter



35. Are Evangelicals Nicene Trinitarians? Evangelicalism's Debt to Social Trinitarianism

D. Blair Smith



36. Reforming the Trinity? The Collapse of Classical Metaphysics and the Protestant Identity Crisis

Carl Trueman



37. The Need for Nicene Exegesis: Eternal Functional Subordination's Hermeneutical Innovation

Amy Peeler



38. The Need for Nicene Dogmatics: Eternal Functional Subordination's Dogmatic Inadequacy

Glenn Butner



39. The Trinity Is Still Not Our Social Program: The Trinity and Gender Roles

Samuel G. Parkison



40.



"One will be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive explanation of trinitarian doctrine than this collection of essays. Matthew Barrett has assembled a prestigious team of scholars to explain what the Trinity is and why it still matters. On Classical Trinitarianism is an outstanding achievement in modern scholarship on the Christian doctrine of God."



"On Classical Trinitarianism is a breathtaking accomplishment. An astonishing array of contributions maps the field of trinitarian theology—historical, dogmatic, and polemical. The forty chapters, written by prominent theologians from each of three major branches of the church, are a major refutation of the so-called revival of the Trinity in twentieth-century theology. This publication is a serious, in-depth reassertion of classical Nicene theology over against the recent onslaught of social trinitarianism with its rationally comprehensible and compositional (and, often, subordinationist) view of the Trinity. Anyone attempting a return to the social trinitarianism of the previous century will have to reckon with Matthew Barrett's major accomplishment in this volume."



"Evangelical retrieval of classical trinitarianism is a vital project. This massive resource represents various approaches and levels of polemical intensity along with a core set of convictions. I can't believe I read the whole thing! But its many fine essays convey valuable insights, sound some necessary alarms, and pose enduring questions."



"This admirable book makes the rediscovery of trinitarian theology truly exciting. After showing the struggles of the early Fathers for an adequate terminology to express the mystery of the Trinity, it carefully traces the history of the doctrine. The book also provides a healthy corrective to the many ways that contemporary theology has strayed from the tradition of Nicaea."



"With a wide variety of historical, dogmatic, and critical essays, this book invites and equips its readers to join the revival of classical trinitarian theism."



"Like a meteor on the scene of contemporary theology, Matthew Barrett's edited volume, On Classical Trinitarianism, makes a big impression. Physically, it is a massive book, full of hefty articles by many of the world's leading theologians. Intellectually, it is an equally massive response to recent innovations in the doctrine of God—from social trinitarianism to eternal functional subordinationism—in favor of orthodox trinitarian theology and its attendant doctrine of divine simplicity. It is also a reminder of the importance of thinking with ecclesial tradition and of the corresponding dangers, when talking about the profoundest of mysteries, of trying to think about God apart from it—lest even Christians forget that they are trinitarian monotheists and that God is simply Father, Son, and Spirit."



"Matthew Barrett's remarkable collection shows evangelicalism getting its doctrinal house in order, but its importance also lies well outside evangelicalism as an ecumenical collection: in authorship, mood, method, and—most of all—common confession of the Nicene faith. Everything we could wish for is here in abundance: attention to the Bible, history, doctrine, texts, figures, and vocabulary. Like some collection of glorious music or poetry offered on the anniversary of a beloved monarch as a 'garland,' On Classical Trinitarianism is a magnificent garland in honor of the Nicene Creed after seventeen centuries."



"This is a marvelous primer on the church's historic understanding of the Trinity. Its topics and authors have been very well chosen. May God use it to renew our discipleship today, growing everyone who reads it in the knowledge and love of God."



"The Trinity gives coherence to Christian faith and life. While multiauthor volumes often lack coherence, a beautifully biblical and classically catholic vision of the Trinity draws these contributors together. Presenting a positive, and overwhelmingly persuasive, depiction of ideas such as divine simplicity, processions, missions, and appropriations, this book has potential to change permanently how many modern Christians think about the Trinity. Though it is likely naive to hope that this will be the case, this material should kill and bury any notion of subordination in the Trinity, showing that such dead ideas are incompatible with the living faith of the church. A lot remains at stake in trinitarian theology, and this volume goes a long way toward illustrating why and how."



"On Classical Trinitarianism is the most significant text published this year, if not this century. While a trinitarian renaissance certainly began in the twentieth century, distinctly modern and postmodern echoes of ancient heresies arose to challenge believers who seek to restate with integrity for our day 'the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 1:3). The scholars herein, wisely gathered by Matthew Barrett, not only represent a wide spectrum of Christian tradition but offer deep studies into orthodoxy's exegetical and historical basis and helpfully describe the contours of this indispensable dogma. Renewing our understanding of God the Trinity so that we may worship him truly and confess him properly will be the best way to celebrate the signal accomplishment of Nicaea. So, please, take up and read!"