Monday 9 July 2018

My current view on the Doctrine of the Trinity

I still don't believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is literally true, but I am comfortable with that, just as I am comfortable believing that the Bible is not all to be understood literally.
Here's how I understand the DOT now, and it's essentially no different to the view that I had when I started this blog:

When we say 'the Father is God', we mean that completely literally. The Father is God in an absolute and unqualified sense.

When we say 'the Son is God', we mean that God (ie. the Father) is fully present in the Son. We may treat the Son as if He were God, since everything He says and does is what the Father is saying and doing through Him, and every attribute He possesses is derived from the Father.

When we say 'the Son is not the Father', we mean that the Father's presence in the Son in no way diminishes the Son's individuality or personality.

When we say 'the Spirit is God', we mean that God is fully present by His Spirit.

When we say 'the Spirit is not the Father or the Son', we mean that it is not just the Father, or just the Son, who is present by the Spirit, but both the Father and the Son, and also that the presence of the Spirit in the life of one whom He indwells, in no way diminishes the individuality or personality of the latter.