Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Retrieving the sources
- Part III Renewing the tradition
- 6 God as the mystery of sharing and shared love: Thomas Aquinas on the Trinity
- 7 The Trinity in Bonaventure
- 8 The Trinity in the Protestant Reformation: continuity within discontinuity
- 9 Between history and speculation: Christian trinitarian thinking after the Reformation
- Part IV Contemporary theologians
- Part V In dialogue with other religions
- Part VI Systematic connections
- Index
- References
9 - Between history and speculation: Christian trinitarian thinking after the Reformation
from Part III - Renewing the tradition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Retrieving the sources
- Part III Renewing the tradition
- 6 God as the mystery of sharing and shared love: Thomas Aquinas on the Trinity
- 7 The Trinity in Bonaventure
- 8 The Trinity in the Protestant Reformation: continuity within discontinuity
- 9 Between history and speculation: Christian trinitarian thinking after the Reformation
- Part IV Contemporary theologians
- Part V In dialogue with other religions
- Part VI Systematic connections
- Index
- References
Summary
That the Christian dogma of the Trinity has a history, meaning that it was not given entirely, once and for all, by revelation, was one of the most profoundly transformative and consequential claims for Christian theology in the post-Reformation period. But contemporary theology has recast this history of the dogma of the Trinity in a way that is at variance with the development of post-Reformation thought. The “ditch” between history and revelation has been reopened, to put this briefly. In the words of the Orthodox theologian Pavel Florensky: “the single word homoousios expressed not only a Christological dogma but also a spiritual evaluation of the rational laws of thought. Here rationality was given a death blow.” Now, as Florensky and others propose, the Trinity's story is plotted as the death of “rationality.” The specific concepts employed to articulate how three things can be one thing (tres res sunt una res, the classic medieval proposition for the Trinity) are seen as having been, from the very origins of the doctrine's development, a defiance of human reason. In this account, revelation wins the battle with reason, and faith is victorious over history.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to the Trinity , pp. 149 - 170Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
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