Trinity Without Hierarchy


Book Description

A defense of equality among the persons of the Trinity In response to those complementarian theologians who assert that the Son is eternally subordinate to the Father, the contributors to Trinity Without Hierarchy contend that this view misconstrues the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and reduces the Son to a lower level of glory and majesty than the Father. Surveying Scripture, church history, and theology, sixteen contributors present a defense of the full and equal authority of all three members of the Trinity while critiquing approaches that border on semi-Arianism. In particular, the creedal confessions of Nicaea are upheld as the historical standard by which any proposed Trinitarian doctrine should be judged. While some contributors hold complementarian and others egalitarian viewpoints, all agree that Trinitarian relations are not a proper basis for understanding gender roles. Trinity Without Hierarchy is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the current debate over the relationship between Trinitarian theology and the roles of men and women.




Trinity Without Hierarchy


Book Description

Surveying scripture, church history, and theology, sixteen contributors present a defense of the full and equal authority and majesty of all three members of the Trinity while critiquing approaches that border on semi-Arianism. Readers will learn why the strong statement of the equality of the Father and Son made at the council of Nicaea is necessary for a biblical and evangelical faith, having significant impact on our doctrine of God and the person of Christ. While some contributors hold complementarian and some egalitarian viewpoints, all agree that gender roles are not a proper basis for understanding Trinitarian relationships.




Discovering Biblical Equality


Book Description

Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (general editors), with the aid of Gordon D. Fee (contributing editor), assemble a distinguished array of twenty-six evangelical scholars firmly committed to the authority of Scripture who offer a fresh, positive, up-to-date defense of biblical equality.




The Rise and Fall of the Complementarian Doctrine of the Trinity


Book Description

Since the late 1970s complementarian theologians have been arguing that the divine three persons in the Trinity are ordered hierarchically, and that this is the ground for the hierarchical ordering of the sexes. Suddenly and unexpectedly in June 2016 a number of complementarian theologians of confessional Reformed convictions came out and said that to so construe the Trinity is "heresy"; it is a denial of what the creeds and confessions of the church rule is the teaching of Scripture. A civil war among complementarians followed and in a very short time those arguing for hierarchical ordering in the Trinity capitulated. This book tells the story.




Who's Tampering with the Trinity?


Book Description

There are few beliefs more essential to Christianity than that of the Trinity. Millard Erickson seeks to provide a lucid and judicious answer to the question: Is Jesus eternally subordinate to the Father, or is Jesus equal with the Father? In addition to providing rigorous theological analysis of that question, Erickson exposes flaws in familial implications derived from the Trinity. This increasingly debated topic has finally received a thorough, careful, and objective treatment.




Theological Ethics


Book Description

Be Prepared to Think Theologically through Today's Most Pressing Ethical and Moral Issues In Theological Ethics theologian, pastor, and ethicist W. Ross Hastings gives pastors, ministry leaders, and students a guide designed to equip them to think deeply and theologically about the moral formation of persons in our communities, about ethical inquiry and action, and about the tone and content of our engagement in the public square. The book presents a biblical perspective and a gospel-centered framework for thinking about complex contemporary issues in ways are life-giving and that will lead readers into greater flourishing as human persons in community. This book is distinctive in presenting: A framework for theological ethics that is robustly theological and Trinitarian. Ethics isolated from the gospel and theology becomes bad news, but when it is informed by and empowered by participation in the triune God of grace, it is part of the good news of the gospel. An approach to theology and theological ethics that makes the Word of God the ultimate authority and it is therefore grounded in the biblical narrative and texts. An understanding that theological ethics are inherently missional. The church as the image of the triune God makes it the home of ethics, but in light of its missional identity, it will reverberate outwards to engage the world in ways that are humble and not power-mongering, that are gospel-based and shalom-evoking. Theological Ethics is for those who lead churches or ministries (or someday will) and who urgently need deep theological grounding as they daily encounter ethical and moral issues where they need to provide a gracious, truthful, and gospel-directed response. X




Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God


Book Description

This is the first full-length study of the doctrine of the Trinity from the standpoint of analytic philosophical theology. William Hasker reviews the evidence concerning fourth-century pro-Nicene trinitarianism in the light of recent developments in the scholarship on this period, arguing for particular interpretations of crucial concepts. He then reviews and criticizes recent work on the issue of the divine three-in-oneness, including systematic theologians such as Barth, Rahner, Moltmann, and Zizioulas, and analytic philosophers of religion such as Leftow, van Inwagen, Craig, and Swinburne. In the final part of the book he develops a carefully articulated social doctrine of the Trinity which is coherent, intelligible, and faithful to scripture and tradition.




Holy Trinity, Perfect Community


Book Description

"Why be concerned with the Trinity? What does it mean to say, "I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?" In this accessible work Leonardo Boff takes up the ancient doctrine of the Trinity showing its meaning and relevance for Christian faith today." "In a series of short chapters Boff unpacks the mysteries of the Trinity, spelling out the difference it makes to believe that God is communion rather than solitude. Instead of an image of God as solitary ruler standing aloof above a static universe, belief in the Trinity means that at the root of everything there is movement, there is an eternal process of life, of outward movement, and love." "While comprehensive in his treatment of the theological and anthropological dimensions of the Trinity, Boff is especially interested in the social implications. In the Trinity we find a program of liberation to the infinite degree: "difference and distinction, equality and perfect communion." The Holy Trinity is, among other things, the image of the perfect community. At the same time, in the Trinity we find the best image of the church: not a hierarchy of power, but a community of diverse gifts and functions. Thus comprehension of the Trinity, in which God comes out to meet us in the full realization of our yearnings, empowers our efforts for a better world and a more faithful church. Book jacket."--Jacket.




Healing Humanity


Book Description

Western societies today are coming unmoored in the face of an earth-shaking ethical and cultural paradigm shift. At its core is the question of what it means to be human and how we are meant to live. The old answers are no longer accepted; a dizzying array of options are offered in their stead. Underpinning this smorgasbord of lifestyles is a thicket of unquestioned assumptions, such as the separation of gender from biological sex, which not so long ago would have been universally rejected as radical notions. In the spring of 2019, a group of Orthodox Christian scholars drawn from a wide variety of academic disciplines met together to offer responses to the moral crisis our generation faces, elaborating upon its various forms and facilitating a fuller understanding of some of its theological and philosophical foundations. In doing so they offer support to all those who question the claims that are so forcefully insisted upon today &– a clarity that will aid them in standing up and resisting trends that have already shown to be the cause of great suffering and unhappiness. Among the contributors to this volume are NY Times bestselling author Rod Dreher, Frederica Matthewes-Green, Dr David Bradshaw, Fr Chad Hatfield, and Fr Peter Heers. Collectively, these scholars remind us that it is only through our participation in the life of Christ, God who became man, that we can find the healing of our humanity through the restoration in us of His image, in which we were formed at the beginning of time.




What's the Good of Humanity?


Book Description

From a Christian perspective, it could well be said that humanity, a good gift of God, is being undermined by the technology and thought-patterns and practices of contemporary Western culture. In response to what is seen as an attack, many books have been written on the harm of these technologically driven practices. These articles and books focus on what is wrong: with euthanasia, with surrogate motherhood, with the denial of the male-female difference, and so forth. Yet to make a compelling cultural witness, it is more important for Christians to know what is right, and essential that they be able to articulate the positive. Why do babies matter? What is the goodness embedded in being made male and female? How can one approach death in a godly manner? We need, in other words, to be able to give an account of God’s “Yes” (2 Cor 1:20), the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15). In this collection of essays, an ecumenical group of scholars, of diverse perspectives, discuss these and other important questions, in order to help discern what is good for humanity. With contributions by: Phillip Cary Donna Freitas Paul Hinlicky Edith M. Humphrey Patrick Lee Gilbert Meilaender Nancey Murphy