THE SUMMARY OF

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
(AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL DOCTRINE)

{CHAPTER 9-14}

WRITTEN BY

WAYNE GRUDEM

SUBMITTED BY

ADU, Rebecca Titilayo

(200 Level)

03-06-2022
 CHAPTER NINE

The Existence of God

How do we know that God exists?

What evidence do we have that God exists? The response can be

divided into two parts: First, we believe that everyone has an inner sense of

God, and second, we believe the evidence given in Scripture and nature -

both in Scripture and in nature.

A. Humanity’s Inner Sense of God

Even unbelievers from the Gentile world "know God," according to

Paul, but they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. Unbelievers

who are wicked have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie," he claims.

Paul also acknowledges that many would deny their knowledge of God as a

result of their sin. These verses show that sin causes individuals to think

irrationally and to deny the presence of God.

B. Believing the Evidence in Scripture and Nature

Of course, evidence for God's existence may be found throughout the

Bible. In addition to people's inner sense of God, Scripture and nature

provide unequivocal evidence of his presence. God's eternal nature and deity
have been "clearly discerned in the things that have been made," according to

Paul (Rom. 1:20). The world also provides ample proof of God's existence.

"God formed me!" cries forth every leaf on every tree, every blade of grass,

every star in the sky, and every other aspect of creation. It would be hard for

us to look at a leaf from any tree and say, "No one created this: it simply

happened." If our hearts and brains were not so blinded by sin, it would be

impossible for us to say, "No one created this: it just happened."

C. Traditional “Proofs” for the Existence of God

Traditional arguments for God's existence involve meticulous and

logically exact examinations of the evidence. The majority of traditional

proofs for God's existence can be divided into four categories. Every known

thing in the universe has a cause, according to the cosmological argument.

The teleological argument contends that its design demonstrates an intelligent

intent. The moral argument asserts that there must be a God based on man's

sense of right and wrong. The Bible's fallacies are genuine in the sense that

they can persuade people to agree even if they start with incorrect

assumptions. The value of these proofs comes mostly from their ability to

overcome some of the unbelievers' intellectual arguments. They are unable to

convert unbelievers to saving faith, as salvation is only attained by faith in

the testimony of Scripture. They can, however, help counter unbelievers'

objections and supply additional intellectual evidence for something that

believers have already been persuaded of.

D. Only God Can Overcome Our Sin and Enable us to be Persuaded of His

Existence

"So that your trust may not rest in the wisdom of men but in the

strength of God," Paul said, "in manifestation of the Spirit and of power" (1

Cor. 2:5). In our wicked world, human wisdom is insufficient to know God.

We trust God to remove the blindness and irrationality that sin has caused.

CHAPTER TEN

The Knowability of God

Can we really know God? How much of God can we know?

A. The Necessity for God to Reveal Himself to Us

People can know everything there is to know about God since "God has

shown it to them," according to Paul (Rom. 1:19). God is revealed in the

natural world because he decided to be revealed in this way. This kind of

divine insight does not come from human effort or wisdom. For actual

knowledge of God, we rely on God's active communication to us through the

Bible.

B. We Can Never Fully Understand God

Paul says that God's eternal nature and deity have been "clearly perceived in the

things that have been made" (Rom. 1:20). Every leaf on every tree, every blade of

grass, every star in the sky, and every other part of creation all cry out

continuously, "God made me!". It is a characteristic of true faith that it is a

confidence based on reliable evidence, and faith in the existence of God shares this

characteristic.

C. Yet We Can Know God Truly

In Jeremiah, God declares that the source of our delight should come from

knowing him, not from our own abilities or riches. Even though we do not have

exhaustive understanding of God, we have real knowledge from Scripture. The

new covenant promises that everyone will know God, "from the least of them to

the greatest".
 CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Character of God: “Incommunicable” Attributes

How is God different from us?

A. Introduction to the Study of God’s Character

1. Classifying God’s Attributes. The attributes of God are perhaps those that

are least easy to see reflected in our own selves, but even these can be seen to

be faintly reflected in us when we compare ourselves with the rest of

creation. We can imitate God's love, but we will never be infinitely loving as

God is. Similarly, we can share God's knowledge in part, yet we shall never

share it fully. Not one of the attributes is completely without some likeness in

the character of human beings.

2. The Names of God in Scripture. All that the Bible and creation tell us

about God is contained in God's "name." "You shall not take the name of the

LORD your God in vain" (Ex. 20:7) is a mandate not to defame God's

reputation.

3. Balanced Definitions of God’s Incommunicable Attributes. Each of God's

incommunicable qualities is defined ir this chapter using a two-part phrase. God's

unchangeability, for example, is characterized as "God is unchanging in his nature,

perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God acts."

B. The Incommunicable Attributes of God

1. Independence. Despite the fact that God does not require us or the rest of

creation for anything, we can honor him and bring him delight. "My glory, which

you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world," Jesus

says to the Father in John 17:24.

2. Unchangeableness. God's being, perfections, purposes, and promises do not

change, yet he does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in

different situations. God's immutability is another name for this characteristic.

God's unchangeability can be defined as follows:

a. Evidence in Scripture: All good gifts, James assures his readers, ultimately

come from God, "with whom there is no variation or shadow owing to change"

(James 1:17). The idea that God is unchanging in his nature is critical for

maintaining the Creator/creature difference, according to Herman Bavinck.

b. Does God Sometimes Change His Mind? God's attitude or statement of

intention will change as the situation changes. This isn't to argue that God reacts to

diverse situations in the same way. Jonah's proclamation that God would refrain
from punishing the people if they repented is not referenced in the Bible. However,

the point of issuing a warning is to elicit repentance. God answered by answering

the plea and deferring judgment in light of the new circumstances.

c. The Question of God’s Impassibility: God's unchangeability is affirmed in the

Westminster Confession of Faith, which means that God does not change in his

being, perfections, purposes, or promises. However, because it also states that God

has no affections or emotions, which contradicts much of Scripture, I have chosen

not to confirm God's impassibility in this book. God, on the other hand, feels

emotions: he rejoices (Isa 62:5), he grieves (Ps 78:40), he is wrathful (Ex 32:10),

he loves (Ps 103:13), and he is angry (Ps 78:40). (Ps. 54:8).

d. The Challenge from Process Theology: The attractiveness of process theology

stems from the reality that everyone desires to feel important in the universe. The

notion of God's immutability is rejected by process theologians, who claim that

human activities are so substantial that they have an impact on God himself.

e. God Is Both Infinite and Personal: God is both infinite and personal in the

Bible's doctrine. Process theologians believe that we must abandon an infinite God

in favor of one who is always changing. Many objections to the nature of God

depicted in the Bible use reasoning like this.

f. The Importance of God’s Unchangeableness: If God had the ability to alter (in

his nature, purpose, or promises), any change he made would be for the better or
for the worse. And there'd be nothing we could do about it because he's so much

stronger than we are.

3. Eternity. God's eternity can be defined as follows: God has no beginning, end,

or sequence of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet

God sees events and acts in time. This also implies that the passage of time has no

effect on God's knowledge, as he is fully aware of all things past, present, and

future.

a. God Is Timeless in His Own Being: Psalm 90:2 and Job 36:26 both show that

God has no beginning or end. It's also evident in Jesus' use of the present tense

word "I am" in his response to his Jewish opponents, "Before Abraham was, I am"

(John 8:58). "I AM WHO I AM," says God in Exodus 3:14, implying a continuous

present existence. God existed before there was a cosmos and before there was

time, without origin or end, and without being impacted by time. As a result, time

does not exist in and of itself; it, like the rest of creation, is dependent on God's

power to keep it alive. All of God's existence is always present to him, even if that

concept is difficult for humans to grasp.

b. God Sees All Time Equally Vividly: Psalm 90:4 does not imply that God

forgets things after 1,100 years, but rather expresses a period of time that is as long
as one may fathom. God can recall all the details of a thousand years' worth of

events at least as well as humans can recall the events of "yesterday."

b. God Sees and Acts in Time: According to Paul, God "saw events in his

creation as they unfolded through time." God acts in time and at distinct

moments of time, as evidenced throughout Scripture. The entire Bible, from

Genesis to Revelation, is a record of God's actions throughout history.

d. We Will Always Exist in Time: Will time still exist in the yet-to-be-created

new heaven and new earth? It is not accurate to argue that heaven will be

"timeless," or devoid of time. We shall have to experience occurrences one

after another as long as we are finite creatures.

4. Omnipresence. In the same way that God is limitless or infinite in terms of

time, he is limitless in terms of space. God's omnipresence is a quality of God's

nature (the Latin prefix omni- means "all"). God has no size or dimensions, and

despite the fact that he is present at every point of space with his entire being, he

acts in different places.

a. God Is Present Everywhere: David brilliantly expresses God's omnipresence:

"There is no place in the entire universe, on land or sea, in heaven or hell, where

one can escape God's presence." God is always with David, no matter where he

goes. We can't claim that any or even a portion of God is present since it would be
thinking of God in spatial terms. Instead, it seems more accurate to state that he is

present in every corner of space with his entire self.

b. God Does Not Have Spatial Dimensions: God's whole being is present in

every part of space, or at every point in space, and he cannot be contained by any

space, no matter how large. We should guard against thinking that God extends

infinitely far in all directions so that he himself exists in a sort of infinite, unending

space. The biblical perspective is rather that he is present everywhere but distinct

from his creation.

c. God Can Be Present to Punish, to Sustain, or to Bless: In the new covenant,

there is no one place on earth that God has chosen as his particular dwelling - for

we can worship him anywhere. Most of the time that the Bible talks about God's

presence, it is referring to His presence to bless rather than punish.

5. Unity. The unity of God may be defined as follows:. God is not divided into

parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times. John can

say that "God is light" (1 John 1:5) and then a little later say also 'God is love'. The

same is true of other descriptions of God's character, such as that in Exodus 34:6–

7. We should not think of God as some kind of collection of various attributes

added together.
 CHAPTER TWELVE

The Character of God: “Communicable” Attributes

(Part 1)

How is God like us in his being and in mental and moral attributes?

We'll look at the traits of God that are "communicable," or more easily

communicated with us, in this chapter. There is some opportunity for disagreement

over which characteristics belong in which categories. Each of these traits is dealt

with independently, resulting in a long list of different attributes.

A. Attributes Describing God’s Being

1. Spirituality

2. Invisibility

B. Mental Attributes

3. Knowledge (or Omniscience)

4. Wisdom

5. Truthfulness (and Faithfulness)

C. Moral Attributes6. Goodness

7. Love

8. Mercy (Grace, Patience)

9. Holiness

10. Peace (or Order)

11. Righteousness (or Justice)

12. Jealousy

13. Wrath

D. Attributes of Purpose

14. Will

15. Freedom

16. Omnipotence (or Power, and Sovereignty)

E. “Summary” Attributes

17. Perfection

18. Blessedness

19. Beauty

20. Glory

A. Attributes Describing God’s Being

1. Spirituality: "God forbids his people to think of his very being as similar to

anything else in the creation, for no place in the universe can surround him or

contain him" (John 4:24) - this apparently signifies that God is not limited in any

way to a spatial location. To make a graven image of God as a golden calf may
have been an attempt to portray God as strong and full of life (like a calf), but it

was a horribly false statement about God's qualities.

2. Invisibility. Paul describes God as "immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor

and glory for ever and ever". The Old Testament records a number of theophanies.

A theophany is "an appearance of God" in various visible forms to people. In the

person of Jesus we have a visible manifestation of God in the New Testament that

was not available to believers in the Old Testament.

B. Mental Attributes

3. Knowledge (Omniscience). God's knowledge may be defined as this: God fully

knows himself and all things actual and possible. Augustine's statement affirms

that our choices really do determine what will happen. If God knows all our

thoughts, words, and actions long before they occur, then there must be some sense

in which our choices are not absolutely free. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for

me; it is high, I cannot attain it" (Ps. 139:6). Every bit of God's knowledge is

always fully present in his consciousness; it never grows dim or fades into his

nonconscious memory.

4. Wisdom. God's wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the

best means to achieve them. This definition goes beyond the idea of God knowing

all things and specifies that God's decisions about what he will do are always wise
decisions. God's wisdom is seen specifically in creation and his plan for

redemption. The person who is wise according to God's standards will continually

walk in dependence on the Lord.

5. Truthfulness (and Faithfulness). God's truthfulness means that all his

knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth. Whatever

conforms to God's words is also true, and what fails to conform to his words is not

true. One who is pleasing to God "speaks truth from his heart" (Ps. 15:2), strives to

be like the righteous man who "hates falsehood" (Prov. 13:5). When we lie we

dishonor God and diminish his glory.

C. Moral Attributes

6. Goodness. Paul reminds us that God is the source of all good in the world.

God's goodness is closely related to love, mercy, patience, and grace. Psalm 104 is

an excellent example of praise to God for his goodness in creation. Paul

encourages us to discover how God's will for our lives is "good and acceptable".

7. Love. John tells us that "God is love" (1 John 4:8). This definition understands

love as self-giving for the benefit of others. God's purpose is to give of himself to

us to bring us true joy and happiness. We imitate this communicable attribute of

God by loving God in return, and second by loving our neighbors in imitation. Our
love for others is so evidently an imitation of Christ that by it the world recognizes

us as his disciples.

8. Mercy, Grace, Patience. God's mercy, patience and grace may be seen as three

separate attributes or as specific aspects of God's goodness. In time of need, we are

to draw near to God's throne so that we might receive both mercy and grace. If

grace is unmerited, then there is only one human attitude appropriate as an

instrument for receiving it: faith.

9. Holiness. God's holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to

seeking his own glory. This definition contains both a relational quality (separation

from) and a moral quality (the devotion is to the good of God's own honor or

glory). The word holy is used to describe both parts of the tabernacle, as well as

Aaron and his family.

10. Peace (or Order). God's actions, according to Paul, are marked by "peace"

rather than "disorder." The promise of peace to God's people is included in the

announcement of God's plan of salvation. "God is not a God of confusion, but of

peace," Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:33. God's peace can be characterized as the

separation of God's being and actions from all chaos and disorder, despite the fact

that he is constantly involved in numerous actions. Of course, endless activity like

this necessitates God's infinite wisdom, knowledge, and power.

11. Righteousness, Justice. If God is the final standard of righteousness, then

there can be no standard outside of God by which we measure justice or

righteousness. As a result of God's righteousness, it is necessary that he treat

people according to what they deserve. We ought continually to thank and praise

God for who he is, "for all his ways rare justice".

12. Jealousy. The word jealous is frequently used in a negative sense in English,

but it also takes a positive sense at times. God's jealousy may be defined as that he

continually seeks to protect his own honor. "For you shall worship no other god,

for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Ex 34:14).

13. Wrath: God's wrath directed against sin is closely related to God's holiness

and justice. God sees the idolatry of the people of Israel and says to Moses, "Now

therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against" them. The doctrine of

the wrath of God in Scripture is not limited to the Old Testament, as some falsely

imagined. As Christians, we should bear in mind that Jesus bore the wrath that was

due to our sin and that he bore it in order that we might be saved.
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Character of God: “Communicable” Attributes

(Part 2)

How is God like us in attributes of will and in attributes that summarize his

excellence?

In this chapter, we'll look at God's purpose attributes, or those that have to

do with making decisions (will, freedom, and omnipotence), as well as his

summary attributes (perfection, beauty, and glory). We looked at God's mental

(knowledge, wisdom, and veracity) and moral traits in the previous chapter

(goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peace, and righteousness).

D. Attributes of Purpose

14. Will. God's will is the attribute by which he accepts and determines to carry out

the very deed required for his and all creation's existence and activity. It is about

God's decisions on what to do and what not to do, as well as how to effectively act

on them.
a. God’s Will in General: Paul identifies God as the one who does everything

"according to the counsel of his will" in Ephesians 1:11. The present participle

"accomplishes" (energe, "works, works out, brings about, produces") denotes

continuous activity. All occurrences in our life, according to James, are subject to

God's will. Attributing so many occurrences, even evil, to God's purpose frequently

leads to misunderstanding and conflict among Christians.

b. Distinctions in Aspects of God’s Will:

(1) God wills himself to be who he is and what he is indefinitely, or wants to be

who he is and what he is. "I AM WHO I AM," he declares, or "I WILL BE WHAT

I WILL BE" (Ex. 3:14). God's efforts to create and redeem were completely free

choices. It would be incorrect to look for a necessary reason for creation or

salvation in God's own nature. That would deprive God of his complete autonomy.

(2) Secret and revealed will: Many passages of Scripture show a distinction

between God's announced and secret will. In most cases, God's revealed will

includes his directives or "precepts" for our moral behavior. When things truly

happen, we discover out what God has decided. God desires that all people be

rescued, according to Paul and Peter (see 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).

15. Freedom. God's freedom is the trait that allows him to do whatever he wants.

This means that nothing in the universe can prevent God from carrying out his will.

There is no one or anything that can tell God what he should do. We should not try
to find an ultimate explanation for why God chose to create the universe or save us

because he is free.

16. Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty): The word omnipotence comes from two

Latin words: omni, which means "all," and potens, which means "powerful." God's

sovereignty refers to his exercise of control over his creation. God cannot lie, sin,

deny himself, or be tempted with wrath, according to James 1:13. We reflect God's

character and bring glory to him when we use our free will and freedom to make

choices that are agreeable to him.

E. “Summary” Attributes

17. Perfection. God's perfection is that he has all of the best attributes and none of

the ones that would be desirable for him. It's hard to say if this should be

mentioned as a separate attribute or whether it should just be included in the

description of the other attributes. Because it does not fall into any of the other

categories, this attribute is the first to be categorized as a "summary" attribute.

18. Blessedness. To be "blessed" means to be content in a deep and meaningful

way. Paul refers to God as "the blessed and only Sovereign" in 1 Timothy. This

implies that God is entirely content, that he is completely satisfied within himself.

The term expresses God's delight in everything in creation that reflects his own
personality. When God is pleased with his creation, it is a mirror of his own

superior attributes. When we discover joy and contentment in all that pleases God,

we are imitating God's blessings. And it is in relishing in the source of all good

characteristics, God himself, that we discover our greatest blessings and happiness.

19. Beauty. The attribute of God's beauty is that he is the sum of all desirable

traits. "Perfection" and "beauty" are two methods of expressing the same reality.

There's something to be said for asserting God's ownership over everything

desirable. It reminds us that God is the ultimate source of fulfillment for all of our

good and noble wishes. Christ is so concerned with the beauty of our lives that he

has made it his mission to sanctify the entire church. In every way we reveal God's

character, we individually and corporately mirror his beauty. He considers us

handsome in his eyes when we resemble his character. However, we also rejoice in

God's excellence as we witness it in the lives of others.

20. Glory: God states of his children in Isaiah 43:7, "whom I made for my glory,"

or in Romans 3:23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God's

"glory" can also refer to the dazzling light that surrounds God's presence. Because

God is spirit, not energy or matter, this visible light is not a part of God's nature,

but rather a creation. After discussing God's attributes, it seems appropriate to

discuss God's glory.

 CHAPTER 14

God in Three Persons: The Trinity

How can God be three persons, yet one God?

One of the most essential doctrines of the Christian faith is the doctrine of the

Trinity. God exists as three persons in himself, in his very nature, but he is one

God. Studying the Trinity's teachings in the Bible gives us a lot of insight into the

central question of our search for God: What is God like in himself?

A. The Doctrine of the Trinity Is Progressively Revealed in Scripture

1. Partial Revelation in the Old Testament. Though the word trinity is taught in

numerous places, it is never found in the Bible. It's a phrase that sums up the

Bible's teaching that God is three individuals yet one God. Several verses imply or

even claim that God exists in multiple personalities. If said by Jesus the Son of

God, Isaiah 48:16 has trinitarian implications because it relates to all three persons

of the Trinity.

2. More Complete Revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament. "The

heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
alighting on him" after Jesus was baptized. Matthew 3:16–17 The titles "Father"

and "Son" in the New Testament strongly suggest that the Father and the Son are

distinct persons. Another trinitarian formulation is found in 1 Corinthians 12:4–6,

in which the Holy Spirit is similarly recognized as a person of equal rank. "Just as

you were called to the one hope that corresponds to your call, there is one body and

one Spirit" (1 Peter 1:2 NASB). "But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your

most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit," Jude 20–21 says. The KJV version of 1

John 5:7 should not be used.

B. Three Statements Summarize the Biblical Teaching

The notion of the Trinity is an enigma that we can never fully comprehend.

However, we can grasp some of its validity by summarizing Scripture's teaching in

three statements. Because God is three persons, the Father is not the same as the

Son; they are two separate people. It also indicates that Christ serves as our High

Priest and Advocate before the Father.

2. Each Person Is Fully God. John 1:1–4 affirms Christ's entire deity, and John

20:28, when read in context, is likewise a powerful proof. The Bible claims that

God exists in three individuals, each of whom is fully God. In Psalm 139:7–8,

David asks, "Whither shall I go from your Spirit?" Or should I try to get away from

you? The Holy Spirit is credited with the divine quality of omnipresence in this

text.
3. There Is One God. The Trinity - the three persons of God - are one in purpose

and in agreement on what they think, but one in essence, one in their essential

nature. In Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NIV): Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the

LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul

(Ex. 15:11). And in 1 Kings 8:60: "There is no other; God alone is the one true

God and there is no one like him". In Isaiah, God affirms that there is only one

God among three who are to be worshiped: "I am the LORD, and there is no

other". (Isa. 45:5–6). In the New Testament, Paul writes that there is one mediator

between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5) and James 2:19: You

believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder

(2:19). But clearly James affirms that one does well to believe that God is one.

4. Simplistic Solutions Must All Deny One Strand of Biblical Teaching. If we

simply hold that God is three persons, then we might be tempted to say that some

of the "persons" in this one God are not fully God, but are only subordinate or

created parts of God. But such a solution would deny the fact that God the Father

sends God the Son into the world, that the Son prays to the Father and that the

Holy Spirit intercedes before the Father for us.

5. All Analogies Have Shortcomings. To say that God is like a three-leaf clover

fails because each leaf is only part of the whole, and any one leaf cannot be said to

be the whole. The Bible uses many analogies from nature and life to teach us
various aspects of God's character, but nowhere do we find analogies to teach the

doctrine of the Trinity. The closest we come to an analogy is found in the titles

"Father" and "Son" themselves, which clearly speak of distinct persons and of the

close relationship between them.

6. God Eternally and Necessarily Exists as the Trinity. If God the Father, God

the Son and God the Holy Spirit are equally and fully divine, then they have all

three existed for all eternity, and God has eternally existed as a Trinity (cf. also

John 17:5, 24). And God cannot be other than he is, for he is unchanging (see

chapter 11 above). So it seems right to conclude that God necessarily exists as

a Tyranny of God, who can neither move nor change, but only exists as he is.

C. Errors Have Come by Denying Any of the Three Statements Summarizing

the Biblical Teaching

The Trinity - God's three individuals - are one in purpose and agree on what

they believe, yet they are separate in essence, in their essential character. In

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NIV), it is written: Hear this, O Israel: The LORD our God is

one. Love the LORD, your God, with all of your heart and soul (Ex. 15:11). "There

is no other; God alone is the one true God, and there is no one like him," says 1

Kings 8:60. God declares in Isaiah that there is only one God among three to be

worshiped: "I am the LORD, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45:5–6) Paul writes in
the New Testament that there is only one mediator between God and men: Jesus

Christ.

1. Modalism Claims That There Is One Person Who Appears to Us in Three

Different Forms (or “Modes”). "Modalism" is the belief that God appears to

individuals in different "modes" at different times, rather than three distinct beings.

Modalism's fatal flaw is that it must deny the Trinity's intimate interactions, which

are mentioned numerous times in Scripture. At Jesus' baptism, for instance, it must

reject three distinct individuals. And it must say that all those instances where

Jesus is praying to the Father are an illusion or a charade.

2. Arianism Denies the Full Deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

a. The Arian Controversy: Arianism is derived from Arius, a Bishop of

Alexandria whose views were condemned at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325.

Arius taught that God the Son was at one point created by God the Father, and that

before that time the Son did not exist. The Nicene Creed repudiates the teaching of

Arius that Christ was "of the same substance as the Father".

b. Subordinationism: The Church rejected Arianism, which held that the Son was

not created and not equal to the Father in being or attributes. Athanasius became

the focal point of Arian attack, and he devoted his entire life to writing and

teaching against the Arian heresy. The "Athanasian Creed" which bears his name is
not thought to stem from Athansius himself, but it is a very clear affirmation of

trinitarian doctrine.

c. Adoptionism: The belief that Jesus lived as an average man until his baptism,

after which God "adopted" him is known as "adoptionism." Christ did not exist

before he was born as a man, according to adoptionists. Many modern people who

regard Jesus as a magnificent man, empowered by God, but not truly divine, would

be considered adoptionists.

d. The Filioque Clause: The controversy over the insertion of the filioque clause

led to the split between western and eastern Christianity in A.D. 1054. Filioque is a

Latin term that means "and from the Son". It was understood to speak of the eternal

relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Son. The entire controversy was

complicated by ecclesiastical politics and struggles for power.

e. The Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity was founded on

the doctrine of the Trinity, which holds that Jesus Christ is not fully God, but rather

a created being whose deity is that of the Son and Holy Spirit. The teaching has

implications for the very heart of the Christian faith, as well as for justification by

faith alone. If there is no Trinity, then we have no basis for thinking there can be

any ultimate unity among the elements of the universe either.

3. Tritheism Denies That There Is Only One God. One interpretation of the

Trinity is that God is three persons, each of whom is completely God. This
viewpoint is known as "tritheism" in technical terms. It resembles many ancient

pagan cults that believed in a plurality of gods. This viewpoint would cause

believers to be perplexed and ruin any sense of ultimate unity.

D. What Are the Distinctions Between the Father, the Son, and the Holy

Spirit?

Is there any distinction between the individuals if we declare that each

member of the Trinity is entirely God, and that each person fully shares in all of

God's attributes? The Father cannot be said to be more powerful or intelligent than

the Son. Or that the Holy Spirit is smarter or wiser than God the Father. What are

the differences between the members of the Trinitarian triad, then?

1. The Persons of the Trinity Have Different Primary Functions in Relating to

the World. God the Father spoke the creative words to bring the universe into

being, but it was God the Son who carried out these decrees. The Holy Spirit was

involved in "hovering" over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2), sustaining and

manifesting God's immediate presence in his creation (cf. Ps. 33:6). Jesus speaks of

"the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name" (John 14:26), but also

says that he himself will send the Holy Spirit.

2. The Persons of the Trinity Eternally Existed as Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit. Could God the Father have come instead of God the Son to die for our sins?
And could the Holy Spirit have chosen us "in" the Son? But it does not seem that

these things could have happened, for the role of commanding, directing, and

sending is appropriate to the position of the Father. And from this we can conclude

that the Trinity has always existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. What Is the Relationship Between the Three Persons and the Being of God?

There are three persons in the Trinity, and each person possesses the whole

fullness of God's being in himself. The Son is not partly God or just one-third of

God, but the Son is wholly and fully God, and so is the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Each person is seen as relating to the others as an "I" (first person), a "you" (a

second person), and a "he" (third person).

4. Can We Understand the Doctrine of the Trinity? It is healthy to acknowledge

openly that God's very being is far greater than we can ever comprehend. To say

that "God is three persons and there is one God" is not a contradiction, but rather a

mystery or paradox. The Church has never tried to explain the Trinity but only

sought to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity in such a manner that errors which

endangered it were warded off.

E. Application God in himself has both unity and diversity reflected in the

human relationships he has established. In marriage we see a remarkable unity of

two persons who remain distinct individuals yet become one in body, mind, and
spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 6:16–20; Eph. 5:31). Just as the Father has authority over the Son

in the Trinity, so the husband has authority \rover the wife in marriage.