BookPastor >> "Reordering the Trinity" (Rodrick K. Durst)

A fascinating overview of the Trinity as well as some thought-provoking perspectives on the Trinity, This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on Dec 4th, 2015.

conrade

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TITLE: Reordering the Trinity: Six Movements of God in the New Testament
AUTHOR: Rodrick K. Durst
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2015, (pages).

The Trinity is one of the most misunderstood, misrepresented, and misinterpreted doctrines in Christianity. Some say that it is about three Gods. Others claim one God but errs on the side of reducing God into one mode at a time. That is why Durst begins this book with Dorothy Sayers's observation to describe the general confusion among many people:

"The Father is incomprehensible, the Son is incomprehensible, and the whole thing is incomprehensible. Something put in by theologians to make it more difficult." (Dorothy Sayers)

Spurred by one of his students' paper on the Trinity with an Asian perspective, Kurst begins an active interest in studying the Trinity in the New Testament's "triadic occurrences." He nuances the multi-dimensional order of Father-Son-Spirit and then expands with a variety of combinations of how the Trinity is presented in the New Testament. In doing so, he attempts to fill in the biblical sources and theological framework which he feels was lacking in his student's paper. He makes three observations about Scripture reading by people. Firstly, Christians typically "affirms the plain sense of the Scripture." Secondly, Christians tend to interpret according to what they "expect to see" rather than to see the Word for what it is saying. Thirdly, people tend to see the Trinity is one order: Father-Son-Holy Spirit, and in the process thinks of the Trinity mainly in this hierarchical order.

Durst asserts that according to the New Testament, we need to go beyond all of these conventional ways of thinking. The more than seventy New Testament references to the Trinity describes more than just one or two orders of the Triune Godhead. The theological method he uses is the one proposed by Millard Erickson to review the order of the Triune Godhead; to develop historical theology followed by applications toward pastoral theology and mission.

BookPastor >> "Know the Creeds and Councils" (Justin S. Holcomb)

There are many things we can learn from Church history. One of them is the history behind the creeds, the councils, the catechisms, and the confessions of faith. This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on September 19th, 2014.

 conrade

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TITLE: Know the Creeds and Councils (KNOW Series)
AUTHOR: Justin S. Holcomb
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014, (192 pages).

An anonymous person once said, "History repeats itself because no one was listening to it the first time." It is a way to say that if we do not learn well the lessons of history, we are poised to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. This is one motivation for us to learn history, and for Christians, to learn the historical settings and background to the majestic statements of tradition and faith. Four of such majors are ably dealt with in this book: Creeds, Confessions, Catechisms, and Church Councils. Episcopalian Priest, Professor, as well as author, Dr Justin Holcomb guides us through the historical background material, the theological challenges faced, the formation of councils, the interplay of powers in both Church and State, and most importantly, the reasons for the creeds and major theological statements made over the centuries. Some of the creeds mentioned are:

• Apostles' Creed (ca 140)
• Nicene Creed (325 AD)
• Chalcedonian Creed (451 AD)
• Athanasian Creed (400-500 AD)
• ...

BookPastor >> "Basil of Caesarea"

There are many things we can learn of the lives of the Early Church fathers. Do you know that Basil of Caesarea played a major role in the formation of creeds like the Nicene Creed? This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on June 9th, 2014.

conrade

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TITLE: Basil of Caesarea: His Life and Impact (Biography)
AUTHOR: Marvin Jones
PUBLISHER: Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2014, (434 pages).

During the late fourth century, one man dared to stand against the Emperor Valens. Refusing to work with Arian bishops over theological grounds, this man confronted the political establishment with courage and eloquent scholarship. The period was the early years of Christendom in Europe. The man was Basil of Caesaria (329-379 AD). In a land that has the Church and State increasingly integrated, the fight includes theological battles. One such fight was Orthodox Christianity vs the rising influence of Arianism. As one of the famous Cappadocian Fathers, (the other being Gregory of Nyssa, his brother, and Gregory of Nazianzus), Basil led the fight which led to the gathering of the Council of Nicea, and the formation of the Nicene Creed, which is a particular emphasis to re-affirm the divinity of the Holy Spirit.

Basil's Theological Impact
While many were unable to withstand the onslaught of Arianism and Alexendrianism, Orthodox Christianity had the Cappadocian Fathers to thank for. Of all the challenges, Arianism was perhaps the most formidable. Serious doubts were cast on the divinity of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and ultimately on the Trinity. Basil of Caesarea, together with a few others were also tempted to just avoid the controversies of the day, and to spring toward an ascetic lifestyle, to get away from the world. After all, it is easy to run away, and troublesome to fight the Arians. Fortunately, Basil chose to fight the huge heresy, moving from a "homoiousian theologian" to the orthodox "homoousian" theologian. The former argues that Jesus is "similar to or like" the Father, while the latter insists that Jesus is of the "same substance" as God the Father.In doing so, Basil began a tough journey to unify the Eastern and Western Church. Other theological battles include the fight against Sabellianism (modalism that effectively denies the Orthodox Trinity position); Anomoeans (that the Son was a different substance than the Father); and his most well-known contribution: "On the Holy Spirit."