Trinities

In this final part of our conversation former trinitarian apologist Aaron Shelenberger first explains why trinitarian apologists do not think that John 17:1-3 poses a problem for their theology. Of course biblical unitarianism hardly hinges on that one passage. He notes that in the New Testament only the Father is called "the only true God," "the one God," "the only God", and "the Almighty." Next,...

This episode is part 2 of my wide-ranging conversation with Aaron Shelenberger. Our topics include: what the future holds for biblical unitarianism converts to Orthodoxy or to Catholicism the objection that surely God would not allow mainstream Christianity to go astray on such an important topic as the Trinity a false narrative about 4th c. developments in catholic theology avoidance of my schola...

In this first part of our wide-ranging conversation we discuss his journey from being a trinitarian evangelical in the Philippines to being a biblical unitarian in the U.S. We discuss his former fear that only "cults" don't believe in the deity of Jesus and the Trinity, and his interactions with members of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Iglesia Ni Cristo. We talk about the recent concept of a cul...

The Reverend Caleb Stetson (1793-1870) was a Harvard graduate and Congregationalist minister, serving a succession of three Unitarian churches in Massachusetts. This episode is my presentation of most of his tract "The Apostle Paul a Unitarian" (1828). He starts with the portrait of Paul and his preaching given in Acts, and then surveys all of Paul's letters. He argues that Paul is a unitarian - s...

In October of 2018 Dr. Fred Sanders of Biola University gave a talk for Lanier Library Lecture Series in Houston, Texas. His aim is to show ordinary believers how they can perceive the triune God in the Bible . He starts with an wide-angle view of scripture, and then zooms in to discuss three New Testament passages in which he claims we can observe the idea of a triune God, the Trinity. In this ep...

This episode is my edit of a 2018 online debate between trinitarian Andrew Schumacher and biblical unitarian Andrew Griffin . Agreeing on the authority of the Bible, here each tries to show that his theology best fits biblical teaching. Both debaters have undergone significant theological shifts as a result of thinking about biblical theology; Mr. Schumacher went from biblical unitarian to trinita...

Our January 2019 debate featured a long question and answer time. It was agreed beforehand that audience questions would be alternated between us, and that the person asked would have two minutes to reply and then the other would have one minute to add their two cents. After the half hour was up, we agreed to go a bit longer, to take questions from the remaining few people who were in line. On the...

On January 11, 2019 at FIRE church in Concord, NC, I debated Dr. Michael L. Brown on the proposition "The God of the Bible is the Father alone." I think you'll agree that it was an interesting debate ; we gave each other a lot to think about. In this long episode, my edited version of the whole debate minus the Question and Answer time , which will be the next episode. I've only edited out stumble...

In trinitarian tradition, the one God is the Trinity. In the New Testament, the one God is the Father. One can't consistently affirm both claims , which is why there is a clash between trinitarian traditions (since about the late 300s) and the New Testament. Protestants, I suggest, should stick with the latter. But the social pressures, at least for the theologically educated, are so strong that w...

The famous church historian Eusebius tells us that at the famous 325 council at Nicea, it was the emperor Constantine who suggested using the word homoousios (variously translated as "consubstantial," "same esssence," "same substance"). Is this plausible? And if so, why would Constantine have done such a thing? What, if anything, in his own religious background would point him towards that term? W...

This episode is the last part of my response to Dr. Beau Branson's presentation on the monarchy of the Father (trinities podcast episodes 239-242 ). Here I leave aside issues of terminology, historical theologies, and historical narrative, and focus on the theological merits of Dr. Branson's account of the Triad . In short, I think it that "monarchical trinitarianism" (MT) needs further developmen...

In this episode I review our dueling definitions of the concepts trinitarian and unitarian , explain some criteria for a successful conceptual definition, and argue that Dr. Branson's definitions don't fare well according to these. Finally, I defend my definitions against his objections. Dr. Branson’s definitions are: (TB) A Trinitarian Theology says that: (1) There are exactly three divine “perso...

Is the idea of a triune God , a tripersonal God, a Western mistake, something not seen in ancient or early medieval Eastern Orthodoxy? This is the view of Dr. Beau Branson , and of Dr. John Behr. Dr. Branson has argued that "monarchial trinitarianism," on which the Father (not the Trinity) is the one God, is the correct understanding of trinitarian tradition, and that this is the sort of theology...

In this first part of my response to Dr. Beau Branson's "The Neglected Monarchy of the Father and the Analytic Debate about the Trinity," I dispute his claim that his in "the" Orthodox view of the Trinity . I discuss several recent authorities on Eastern Orthodox theology who clearly hold that the one God is the Trinity (and so, not the Father alone). I also relate some anecdotes about my interact...

In this fourth and final part of his presentation on the Monarchy of the Father, Dr. Branson again presses what he claims are unresolvable problems for my definitions of the terms "trinitarian" and "unitarian." He also argues that I've painted myself into a corner by (in some sense) endorsing the views of Samuel Clarke , which Dr. Branson argues are substantially Eastern Orthodox views, or what Dr...

In this third part, Dr. Branson starts by discussing what was perceived as Arius's patrological failing: implicitly denying that fatherhood is essential to God. Dr. Branson then makes this argument: God is a necessary and eternal being (exists at all times in all possible worlds).  - Premise If any X counts as a Father, then there is a distinct Y such that Y is the Son (Offspring) of X. - Premise...

In this second portion of his presentation, Dr. Branson discusses how different views on the Trinity relate to Orthodox-Roman Catholic relations , including the famous filioque ("and the Son") dispute and the Great Schism. He also claims that this is the first appearance of a tripersonal God in official, conciliar Roman Catholic creeds: ...we declare our belief in one God, in three persons consubs...

According to Orthodox analytic theologian Dr. Beau Branson the right way to understand the Trinity is that the one true God is none other than the Father, although there are three divine persons. There is no triune God, no tripersonal God. In his view, this is the Eastern Orthodox understanding of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In this first portion of his presentation " One God, the Father: Th...

In July I was honored to receive a long and detailed letter from a Catholic listener - one who was raised in a biblical unitarian denomination - Mr. Kirk Ross , an estate planning attorney and  author. He confronts me on a number of issues and lodges several complaints. He writes, in part, You make a very big deal out of the fact that different philosophers interpret traditional Trinitarian creeda...

In this second part of our conversation ( part 1 here ) Dr. Levine and Dr. Witherington and I discuss the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee , what's distinctive about Luke's gospel, the role of women in this book, the parable of the prodigal son , how Jesus differs from the rabbis, how the authors' different backgrounds condition their reading of Luke, whether or not Luke thinks that J...

For the first time, two accomplished New Testament scholars, one a Jew and the other a Christian, have coauthored a commentary on a book of Bible. Weighing in at 715 pages, The Gospel of Luke by Amy-Jill Levine and Ben Witherington III is a part of the New Cambridge Bible Commentary series. It does all of the things a full commentary should, but it also contains a series of friendly arguments in w...

"Preexistence" here means that there was a pre-human stage in the man Jesus's life. Such a thing is never clearly and directly asserted anywhere in the New Testament, although following a long-established traditions of interpretation, many readers claim to find this idea in a few famous passages. It is a doctrine of inference . And those inferences can be questioned. In this presentation, I first...

Dr. James R. Gordon's The Holy One in Our Midst defends the doctrine which has been called the extra Calvinisticum. Modern theologians have objected that the extra implies an incomplete Incarnation, "Nestorian" heresy, and that only the Word but not the "human nature" of Christ should be worshiped. In this second part of our conversation ( Part 1 here ), Dr. Gordon rebuts these charges, and argues...

In modern times, Lutheran and Reformed theologians have argued about what the Lutherans dubbed the extra Calvinisticum . As Dr. James R. Gordon explains in this episode, this doctrine might as well be called the extra Patristicum, as it is arguably implied by the sort of "two natures" christology mandated by the council at Chalcedon in 451. In this first part of our conversation about his book The...

In this episode I interact with a listener comment on podcast 231 . Then I present the audio from an orientation video for new members of the Trinity Club . What is required to be a member in good standing of the Trinity Club? What is not required? And what benefits does club membership entitle one to? The video answers all of these questions. Are you in the club? Are you willing to Say and Sign?...