TrinityCreation: From, Through, and By the Triune God
by Kenneth Richard Samples A member of my Sunday school class asked me a question after hearing my talk on the Trinity—the biblically derived doctrine of historic Christianity that the one God subsists as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.1 He asked: “Which specific person in the Godhead created the world?” I have been asked thousands of questions over the last 20 years of teaching and lecturing in both churches and colleges, but that was the first time anyone ever asked me that particular question. I appreciated the specificity of the query and how it related to the unique Triune nature of God. Is The Trinity Doctrine Biblical?
by Kenneth Richard Samples
Kids Ask the Toughest Ones
by Joe Aguirre “Dad, does Jesus work for God?” “Uh, well, Jesus IS God. He doesn’t have a boss. But He’s also the Son of God. I mean, He did work for God by coming to Earth to die for our sins. But He did his work for us, too.” “What?” The Trinity and the Creator-Creature Distinction
By Kenneth Richard Samples According to the Bible, the Creator of the universe is an infinite and morally perfect being. However, the same scriptural text states that human beings are (by nature) creatures, which means they are finite and, because of sin, imperfect. The Trinity: Isn’t It a Contradiction? Part 1 (of 2)
By Kenneth Richard Samples Do the truths of Christianity have to make logical sense? The law of noncontradiction (the foundational principle for all logical thinking) asserts that two contradictory statements cannot both be true at the same time and in the same respect (A cannot equal A and also equal non-A). But how does logic apply to the Trinity doctrine? The Trinity: Isn’t It a Contradiction? Part 2 (of 2)
By Kenneth Richard Samples A student in the logic class I was teaching said that the Trinity doctrine was contradictory. He argued the following: Since the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and since the Father is not the Son, the Father is not the Holy Spirit, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit; then the result is that each person is simultaneously God and not God. The Trinity: Mysterious But Intelligible
By Kenneth Richard Samples As finite creatures, human beings will never know and understand the infinite God as God understands himself. That is why revelation (God unveiling himself) is so important within the historic Christian faith. The Trinity: One What and Three Whos
By Kenneth Richard Samples A Jehovah's Witness who had knocked on my door challenged me in the course of our conversation to give a clear and concise definition of the Trinity doctrine. Thinking About the Trinity: One What and Three Whos
by Kenneth Richard Samples Christians should use their reasoning to further reflect upon God’s revealed truths. The ancient church father Augustine called this process “faith seeking understanding.” Three-in-Oneness in the Old Testament
by Kenneth Richard Samples Is there evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament? Truth about God’s nature and personhood has been progressively revealed in Scripture. What Makes the Christian God Unique?
by Kenneth Richard Samples For more than a decade I taught philosophy and religion courses at a public college in Southern California. One of the courses I enjoyed teaching most was the world religions class. Most students who took the class were interested in more than just fulfilling their humanities requirement. I was pleased to discover that the majority of these students were genuinely interested in learning about the various religions of the world. What the Trinity Is and Isn't (Part 1)
By Kenneth Richard Samples Because the Christian vision of God is unique, mysterious, and inscrutable to the finite mind, it is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Let’s briefly examine what the doctrine of the Trinity does and does not teach by underscoring three points. What the Trinity Is and Isn't (Part 2)
By Kenneth Richard Samples Thinking clearly about Christian truth is critical. Let’s examine the Trinity doctrine further by making three more essential points as to what the Trinity is and isn’t. Why is the Doctrine of the Trinity Important? (Part 1)
By Kenneth Richard Samples Too many Christians, living as functional Unitarians, fail to recognize the Trinity’s relevance to their Christian faith and life. The Trinity doctrine is crucial because it reveals What and Who God is (one God in three persons), and this insight allows Christians, though in an obviously limited way, to view the inner working of God’s nature and personhood. Why is the Doctrine of the Trinity Important? (Part 2)
By Kenneth Richard Samples Let’s consider two more reasons for the critical importance of the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity. TrinityTrinity |
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Since the word “Trinity” doesn’t appear in the Bible, some wonder whether the early church simply invented the doctrine. The term “trinity” comes from the Latin trinitas.