The concept of the Trinity of God’s person is developed by Cornelius Plantinga as an attempt to revive this religious idea. The Trinity as an image is at the heart of the Christian concept, but it gradually fell out of use throughout the 19th century. The concept of the Trinity is revealed by the theologian using the example of the structural analysis of the Gospel of John. This is a famous New Testament text describing Christ in the metaphysical categories of eternal values ​​”Word-Wisdom-Reason.” Plantinga analyzes the compositional elements of the text and discovers a certain dynamic in Gospel. According to Plantinga, John’s Gospel provides the reader with crude material that, through patterns of reflection and internal pressure, successfully captures the presence of God in life.
Fred Sanders, theologian, and editor of various companions in Christian Theology, set out to develop Plantinga’s description and deduce a conceptual framework from these metaphors. “Raw material” for Sanders is nothing more than the naked presence of spiritual entities in the text of John. If Gospel were limited to this, claims Sanders, the entire Christian concept would be reduced to the existence of separate divine personalities, similar to ancient mythologies.
However, “patterns of reflection” turn a mythological text into a religious-philosophical one since John asks epistemic and logical questions about the relationship of three essences. Through reflection, the metaphysical equality of Christ to two other entities is established. But this also happens due to pressure, which, according to Sanders, implies a feat not only of faith but also of philosophical perception. To be able to think of God as simultaneously containing the world and at the same time showing a clearly expressed personality.
Despite an appeal to a senior religious scholar, Fred Sanders is convinced that religious studies in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity are in deep crisis. He refuses to list any noteworthy names of his contemporaries in his monographs. The theologian claims that the Trinity has become something in the spirit of presupposition, that is, a concept from which meaning has been taken away, leaving only a shell, a term. Only by reflecting on these polysemantic images and applying them to the surrounding life and one’s own perception is it possible to experience God in life. Trinity for Sanders is the absolute harmony of all-encompassing love that finds comfort in being multiple and one at the same time.
21st-century theologian John Feinberg offers his unique perspective on the Trinity power alignment. The researcher revises classical texts based on the idea of ​​the ontological presence of God himself. According to many traditional texts, for example, Byzantine, God exists “in himself.” At the same time, man encounters him “economically” – through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Feinberg considers this concept unconvincing and puts forward his own hierarchy, in which God lies behind the Trinity. God is at the heart of the Father, and so is the situation with the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God appears to be an even more powerful but even less visible essence, and the significance of each of the elements of the Trinity is thus downplayed. By rejecting the eternal presence of the Son and the Holy Spirit in human life, Feinberg runs the risk of rhetorically depriving them of their relevance for modern society, striking a blow to collective faith. The researcher uses a hierarchical structure aimed at separation much more than unity, so his ideas deviate significantly from Plantinga’s concept.
The concept of the Trinity is deeply philosophical in itself and requires not only thoughtfulness but the ability to reflect and ask questions. The beauty and perfection of the concept of the Divine Trinity can be discussed in church meetings and provide motivation to talk about God and learn about the purpose. Religious texts, on the basis of which modern theologians develop the concept of the Trinity, are considered one of the highest points of knowledge of Christ. The doctrine of the Trinity, in all its mysteriousness and metaphysical complexity, should stimulate the religious person to study the Bible. It is by meaningfully working with the biblical text and looking for answers to philosophical dilemmas in it that not only faith but also the consciousness of a religious person can be strengthened.
Another innovation of Plantinga was that the theologian drew an interesting analogy between the Trinity of divine essences and the social order on Earth. Moved by love and action, divine unity appears as a single Personality, including literally everything. It is safe to say that such a sociological approach to the concept of Trinity found its distribution in the 20th century. This metaphor can be applied to the relationship of oneness between God, humans, and the Christian Church. Unity, perceived on a symbolic and practical level, implies the work of a coherent social mechanism. The doctrine of the Trinity is able to unite Christians not only within one church parish but also on a more global level of a common religious mission.
Bibliography
Armstrong, Aaron. Book Review: “The Deep Things of God” by Fred Sanders. Blogging Theologically (2010): Web.
Horrell, J. Scott. “The Eternal Son of God in the Social Theory in Jesus” in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology ed. Fred Sanders (Tennessee: B&H, 2007): 46-79
Morrison, John. D. Review of “No One Like Him” by John S. Feinberg. Liberty University (2003): Web.
Sanders, Fred. Three Elements of Trinitarianism in the New Testament. The Scriptorium Daily (2014): Web.
Sanders, Fred. The State of the Doctrine of Trinity in Evangelical Theology. Southwestern Journal of Theology 47, no. 2 (2005): 153-176
Sexton, Jason S. The State of the Evangelical Trinitarian Resurgence. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54, no. 4 (2011): 787-805