Simple trinity definition

“Within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” – James White, “The Forgotten Trinity”

God is great

“The trinity is a truth that tests our dedication to the principle that God is smarter than we are. As strange as that may sound, I truly believe that in most instances where a religions group denies the Trinity, the reason can be traced back to the founder’s unwillingness to admit the simple reality that God is bigger than we can ever imagine. That is really what Christians have always meant when they use the term ‘mystery’ of the Trinity. The term has never meant that the Trinity is an inherently irrational thing. Instead, it simply means that we realize that God is completely unique in the way He exists, and there are elements of His being that are simply beyond our meager mental capacity to comprehend. The fact that God is eternal is another facet of His being that is beyond us. We cannot really grasp eternality, nor how God exists eternally rather than in time. Yet this truth is revealed to us in Scripture, and we believe it on the logical basis that God is trustworthy.” – “The Forgotten Trinity” by James White

God is Infinite/we are Finite

“Involved here is a matter of profound religious importance, to which Augustine gave expression as follows: ‘We are speaking of God. Is it any wonder if you do not comprehend? For if you comprehend, it is not God you comprehend. Let it be a pious confession of ignorance rather than a rash profession of knowledge. To attain some slight knowledge of God is a great blessing; to comprehend him, however, is totally impossible.’ God is the sole object of all our love, precisely because he is the infinite and incomprehensible One. . . Hilary put it as follows: ‘The knowlegde we have of God is altogether unique. This knowledge may be called positive insofar as by it we recognize a being infinite and distant from all finite creatures. On the other hand, it is negative because we cannot ascribe a single predicate to God as we concerive that predicate in relation to creatures. It is therefore an analogical knowledge of a being who is unknowable in himself , yet able to make something of himself known in the being he created.”

Herman Bavinck

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Human Reason Objections Refuted – Trinity, etc

“Objections have likewise been raised to the divine authority of this religion from the incredulity of some of its doctrines, particularly of those concerning the Trinity, and atonement for sin by the sufferings and death of Christ; the one contradicting all the principles of human reason, and the other all our ideas of divine justice. To these objections i shall only say, that no arguments founded on principles, which we cannot comprehend, can possibly disprove a proposition already proved on principles which we do understand; and that therefore on this subject they ought not to be attended to: That three Beings should be one Being, is a proposition which certainly contradicts reason, that is, OUR reason, that it cannot be true;

for there are many propositions which contradict our reason, and yet are demonstrably true: one is the very first principle of all religion, the being of God; for that any thing should exist without a cuase, or that any thing should be the cause of its own existence, are propositions equally contradictory to our reason; yet one of them mujst be true, or nothing could ever have existed.

In like manner, the over-ruling grace of the Creator, and the free-will of His creatures, his certain foreknowledge of future events, and the undertain contingency of these events, are to our apprehensions absolute contradictions to each other, ad yet the truth of every one of these is demonstrable from Scripture, reason and experience.

All these difficulties arise from our imagining, that the mode of existence of all Beings must be familiar to our own; that is, that they must exist in time, anmd space, and hence proceeds our embarrassment on this subject. We know that no two Beings, with whose mode of existence we are acquainted, can exist in the same point of time in the same point of space, and that therefore they cannot be one. But how far Beings whose mode of existence bears no relation to time and space, may be united, we cannot comprehend, and therefore the possibility of such an union we cannot possibly deny. “

“A View of the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion” by Soame Jenyns, 1776

Martin Chemnitz on justification in James 2

Chemnitz is the author of a massive tome, dissecting and responding to the Council of Trent. James 2 was used by Rome to rebut the Reformers doctrine of “Sola Fide” – justification by (on the basis of) faith alone.

“The testimonies of Scripture are clear, that the renewal of the new man, as also the mortificaiton of the old, is not perfect and complete in this life but that it grows and is increased day by day until it is perfected in the next life, when this corruptible will have put on incorruption. Profitable also and necessry in the church are exhortations that the regenerate should not neglect, extinguish, or cast away the gifts of the Spirit which they have received but that they stir them up with true and earnest exercises, calling on the help of the Holy Spirit, that He may give an increase of faith, hope, love, and of the other spiritual gifts; for what the punishment of spiritual negligence is the parable of the talents shows. There is also no doubt that faith is effectual through love, that it is the mother of good works, and that good works please God through faith for the sake of Christ. And in this sense the statement in James 2:21-24 can be understood and accepted appropriately and rightly, that through the numerous good works that followed Abraham is declared to have been truly justified by faith, and it is shown that faith is not empty and dead, but true and living.

It is clear that Jame is disputing about the demonstrations or manifestation of faith against the idle opinion of an empty faith and justification, for he says: ‘If a man says he has faith, let him show his faith by his works.’ And he takes the example of Abraham, which the angel himself interprets of the proof or manifestation, when he says: ‘Now I know that you fear the Lord.’ James, therefore, is speaking of this, that the obedience and good works of Abraham declared and furnished proof that he had truly been justified by faith. For to James ‘to be justified’ means to be declared righteous through external testimonies.”

Some commentators would put it this way – Abraham was justified as to his claim to having a genuine faith. As in verse `16 – If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” If one does nothing to help a person with their need, then the nice sounding, well-wishing words are really just empty. Your actions don’t back up your sentiment, and you are not justified in your claim to care.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:8,9 — SAVED (past tense) by grace through faith — made a new creation in Christ — good works naturally follow. Works are the fruit of salvation, not the root.

Sola Fide! Sola Gratia! Soli deo Gloria!

Judging Biblical Revelation by Human Reason

The author gives some examples of phenomena in nature – things we know are real, but do not understand the hows or whys , etc.

“That all these things are so, we have visible and indisputable demonstration; but how they can be so, is to us as incomprehensible, as the most abstruse mysteries of Revelation can possibly be. In short, we see so small a part of the great Whole, we know so little of the relation which the present life bears to pre-existent and future states; we can conceive so little of the nature of God, and his attributes, or mode of existence; we can comprehend so little of the material, and so much less of the moral plan on which the universe is constituted, or on what principle it proceeds, that if a revelation from such a Being, on such subjects, was in every part familiar to our understandings, and consonant to our reason; we should have great cause to suspect its divine authority, and therefore, had this revelation been less incomprehensible, it would certainly have been more incredible.”

Soame Jennings – “A View of the Evidence of the Christian Religion” 1776

The Soul

Moreover, there can be no question that man consists of a body and a soul; meaning by soul, an immortal though created essence, which is his nobler part. Sometimes he is called a spirit. But though the two terms, while they are used together differ in their meaning, still, when spirit is used by itself it is equivalent to soul, as when Solomon speaking of death says, that the spirit returns to God who gave it (Eccles. 12:7). And Christ, in commending his spirit to the Father, and Stephen his to Christ, simply mean, that when the soul is freed from the prison-house of the body, God becomes its perpetual keeper. Those who imagine that the soul is called a spirit because it is a breath or energy divinely infused into bodies, but devoid of essence, err too grossly, as is shown both by the nature of the thing, and the whole tenor of Scripture.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

How to vex the devil – Luther

“We cannot vex the devil more than by teaching, preaching, singing, and talking of Jesus.”

John 3 – Luther

“In the gospel of St John, chapter 3, is plainly shown the difference of the persons, in the highest and greatest work that God accomplished for us poor human creatures, in justifying and saving us; for there it is plainly written of the Father, that he loved the world, and gave to the world his only begotten Son. These are two several persons – Father, and Son. The Father loves the world; and gives unto it his Son.

The Son suffers himself to be given to the world, and ‘to be lifted up on the cross, as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, that whosoever believed in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’

To this work comes afterwards the third person, the Holy Ghost, who kindles faith in the heart through the Word, and so regenerates us, and makes us the children of God.”

Won’t Discuss!

“John Frame, my colleague at Reformed Theological Seminary where I teach, is one of the finest theological minds of our time. He has said that refusal to talk (i.e., the spurious assumption that I’m right and you’re wrong and that’s all there is to it) is a sign of heresy. I think that refusal to talk is also a sign of self-righteousness. Why talk seriously to those cretins when they’re obviously wrong (immoral, shallow, sinful, unthinking, hateful, ugly, uncompassionate, and lacking in convictions, education, and insight) and I’m obviously right (moral, profound, righteous, sensitive and with credentials)? There is nothing more addictive than being in what C.S. Lewis called ‘the inner ring’ while all of those horrible philistines are on the outside.”

“Three Free SIns” by Steve Brown