Monday, August 23, 2010

Two Posts to Read on the Trinity??? How fun!

Today I came across two separate posts on the Trinity.  Brett Kunkle posted a video on the definition and rationality of the Trinity, and Fred Sanders posted about his new book on the Trinity, with an excerpt from his first chapter.

I found both posts enjoyable and informative, although they took entirely different approaches.  Kunkle aims to help educate students in the definition of the Trinity, while Sanders seems to most tackle the methodology of our learning of the Trinity in his post.

Either way, both posts are attempting to clarify a deep theological truth of the Christian faith.  Christianity rests upon the idea of the Trinity and we need more people to help explain what it is, and how it affects every day life.

1 comment:

Chris Seals is... said...

I posted this on Brett's video post. Thanks for directing me to it!

"Hey Brett. I was directed to your post by my friend Gabriel.
My gut reaction to the definition and elaboration went from attentiveness to disenchantment to resolution. All in less than four minutes!

It caught my attention because I typically assume that any attempt to explain the Trinity that goes beyond God is 3 but 1 at the same time is going to end up in heresy. The best explanation I had heard up to this point was 1+1+1=1.

I was disenchanted, because I have a habit of taking out my mind that grew up within the Christian tradition and temporarily replacing it with an outsider’s mind to try to find a second naivete. At this point in the video I began to think, “This all sounds like a bunch of crazy talk!” Then I wondered if the early church would have even considered putting this much detail into their understanding of this 3 but 1 God and wondered if a clear understandable description of the trinity is even all that important in our relationship with God and creation. Maybe their beautiful dancing wind metaphors were good enough.

Then I stuck my Christian brain back in and realized in a modern era where the scientific method and clear reason sit high on their thrones over human ideals, a clear and reasonable explanation of the trinity is definitely necessary.

All that to say, in a round about way, good video and nice insight!"