tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post4883218020826941409..comments2024-02-19T13:11:04.970-05:00Comments on Ponderings on a Faith Journey: Are You a Trinitarian?Robert Cornwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-3566383627600552172012-06-13T18:55:23.548-04:002012-06-13T18:55:23.548-04:00That symbol is a pagan symbol. Christians don'...That symbol is a pagan symbol. Christians don't use symbols because it is commanded you are not to have any graven image.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-21734437753878058132012-05-31T13:00:48.755-04:002012-05-31T13:00:48.755-04:00So how about this: the trinity is an occasionally...So how about this: the trinity is an occasionally helpful explanation tool, typically an unnecessary distraction, and occasionally a source of unhealthy division.<br /><br />It is a helpful explanation of the presentation of God in the Scriptures. It often causes the well intentioned believer to use it to define (and circumscribe) the ineffable; and belief in particular understandings of it is all to often used as a litmus test for exclusion from official church.<br /><br />Bottom line: God IS ineffable, and however we visualize and explain God, our efforts will always be wholly inadequate.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245470576919732592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-35224435533327890892012-05-30T13:48:24.364-04:002012-05-30T13:48:24.364-04:00Thanks Steve -- you are right about making affirma...Thanks Steve -- you are right about making affirmations/declarations without understanding the dynamics out of which the doctrines were formed is problematic.<br /><br />The philosophic ground has shifted, but I think one can make effective arguments for why the Trinity is a helpful way of understanding the nature of God. Being a Disciple, of course, I'm loathe to demand others follow my course!!Robert Cornwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-56997903111856072612012-05-30T13:38:32.749-04:002012-05-30T13:38:32.749-04:00I guess I'm an economic Trinitarian, or more t...I guess I'm an economic Trinitarian, or more to the point, a metaphorical Trinitarian: these are the traditional ways to describe the work of a monotheistic God. So I can relate to Lose's statement. <br /><br />Asking the question of the essentiality of belief in the Trinity seems to me to be a throwback to faith as belief, not trust. Anyone who claims to be a high Trinitarian without knowing the homoiousios vs. homoousios debate which brought the Trinity fully into Christianity is giving verbal assent to something of which they know little or nothing, but they think it is expected of them. Yes, since we are neither Platonist or Aristotelian, these arguments about substance no long inform. If we could make this clear, we would go a long way in Interfaith dialog.Steve Kindlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16634130965524334750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-12032413826738268202012-05-30T11:57:45.502-04:002012-05-30T11:57:45.502-04:00Jeff, thanks for the comments.
The question of ...Jeff, thanks for the comments. <br /><br />The question of essential/non-essential goes to the question of what makes one a Christian. Many would say that affirming the Trinity is one of the essentials. Others would point out that the Trinity isn't explicitly defined in the New Testament and isn't fully developed for three centuries, so how can you make it an essential?Robert Cornwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-76668491781316531172012-05-30T11:42:28.236-04:002012-05-30T11:42:28.236-04:00Yep, I am. (<making no claims here). I make the...Yep, I am. (<making no claims here). I make the claim that God is one god AND that there are indeed three persons in that godhead. I am also a gen Xer and who doesn't need competing truths to "make sense". I had a pastor once that was a modelist though he thought he was a trinitarian. Esssential for what?Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00585947079073673091noreply@blogger.com