Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity

by McCall, Thomas; Rea, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780199216215
• ISBN10: 0199216215
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Classical Christian orthodoxy insists that God is Triune: there is only one God, but there are three divine Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who are somehow of one substance with one another. But what does this doctrine mean? How can we coherently believe that there is only one Godif we also believe that there are three divine Persons? This problem, sometimes called the 'threeness-oneness problem' or the 'logical problem of the Trinity', is the focus of this interdisciplinary volume. Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity includes a selection of the most important recent philosophical work on this topic, accompanied with a variety of compelling new essays by philosophers and theologians to further the discussion. The book is divided into four parts, the firstthree dealing in turn with the three most prominent models for understanding the relations between the Persons of the Trinity: Social Trinitarianism, Latin Trinitarianism, and Relative Trinitarianism. Each section includes essays by both proponents and critics of the relevant model. The volumeconcludes with a section containing essays by theologians reflecting on the current state of the debate.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Social Trinitarianism and its Discontents
The Trinity	p. 19
Has a Trinitarian God Deceived Us?	p. 38
Anti Social Trinitarianism	p. 52
Toward a Tenable Social Trinitarianism	p. 89
Trinity Monotheism	p. 100
Another Glance at Trinity Monotheism	p. 126
Fully Social Trinitarianism	p. 131
How Many Times Does Three Go Into One?	p. 151
Latin Trinitarianism
A Latin Trinity	p. 171
Latin Trinitarianism: Some Conceptual and Historical Considerations	p. 201
Relative Trinitarianism: Prospects and Problems
And Yet They Are Not Three Gods But One God	p. 217
Relative Identity and the Doctrine of the Trinity	p. 249
Material Constitution and the Trinity	p. 263
Does the Problem of Material Constitution Illuminate the Doctrine of the Trinity?	p. 283
Defending the Consistency of the Doctrine of the Trinity	p. 293
Brower and Rea's Constitution Account of the Trinity	p. 314
The Threeness/Oneness Problem in Contemporary Theology
The Trinity in Theology and Philosophy: Why Jerusalem Should Work with Athens	p. 329
Theologians, Philosophers, and the Doctrine of the Trinity	p. 336
Index	p. 351
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