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.



Andrew Louth is professor emeritus of patristic and Byzantine studies at Durham University, England, and visiting professor of Eastern Orthodox theology at the Amsterdam Centre of Eastern Orthodox Theology (ACEOT), in the Faculty of Theology, theFree University, Amsterdam.







Amy Peeler is the Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College and Associate Priest at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Geneva, IL. She is the author of Women and the Gender of God and a commentary on Hebrews.







Ronni Kurtz (PhD, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is an assistant professor of theology at Cedarville University. He is also the author of No Shadow of Turning: Divine Immutability and the Economy of Redemption and the Fruitful Theology: How the Life of the Mind Leads to the Life of the Soul.







Samuel G. Parkison (PhD Midwestern Seminary) is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Gulf Theological Seminary in the United Arab Emirates. He is the author of several books, including Proclaiming the Triune God: The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Life of the Church (co-author), as well as Thinking Christianly: Bringing Sundry Thoughts Captive to Christ, and Irresistible Beauty: Beholding Triune Glory in the Face of Jesus Christ.







Steven J. Duby (PhD, University of St Andrews) is associate professor of theology at Grand Canyon University. He is the author of Divine Simplicity: A Dogmatic Account.







Christopher A. Hall (PhD, Drew University) is the president of Renovaré. He is associate editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, and his books include Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, Learning Theology withthe Church Fathers, and Worshiping with the Church Fathers. Hall previously served at Eastern University for over twenty years in several roles, including chancellor, provost, dean of Palmer Seminary, dean of the Templeton Honors College, distinguished professor of theology, and director of academic spiritual formation.







Fred Sanders (PhD, Graduate Theological Union) is a systematic theologian and professor at the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University. He is the author of several books, including Wesley on the Christian Life, The Deep Things ofGod, and Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective.







Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Ojai in Ojai, California. He was previously a research fellow for the Creation Project at the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of Finding the Right Hills to Die On, Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals, and Anselm's Pursuit of Joy.







Scott R. Swain is assistant professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.







Carl L. Beckwith (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is associate professor of church history at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University. He has authored articles on church history for a variety of monographs and journals.







Donald Fairbairn is the Robert E. Cooley Professor of Early Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a part-time professor at Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven, Belgium. He received his PhD in patristics from the University of Cambridge in England, and his books include Grace and Christology in the Early Church (Oxford University Press) and Eastern Orthodoxy Through Western Eyes (Westminster John Knox Press).







Stephen R. Holmes (PhD, King's College London) is senior lecturer in systematic theology at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. His books include Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, and Christian Doctrine:A Reader, edited with Lindsey Hall and Murray Rae. Additionally, Holmes is editor of the International Journal of Systematic Theology, and he chairs the Theology and Public Policy Advisory Commission for the Evangelical Alliance UK.



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.