Is the Trinity tritheistic? Compared to what? What's the point of contrast in biblical monotheism? Pagan polytheism. Physical humanoid gods with superhuman, but finite abilities. Gods who come into being, usually through sexual intercourse between a god and goddess. Gods who can pass out of existence. Gods who are physically and psychologically separate from each other. Who come into existence at different times. Some are the offspring of gods.
By contrast, Yahweh is immaterial. Yahweh has no beginning or ending. If there's internal differentiation in Yahweh, it's not tritheistic in the sense of pagan polytheism. Yet that's the biblical frame of reference by which something would be tritheistic.
Steve, is Yahweh one of the names of the Trinity? Or is it applied to each one of the selves or persons of the Trinity? For example, could we call the Holy Spirit Yahweh? I think this question depends on whether you think the Trinity is a self or whether the Trinity consists of three selves (as William Hasker argues in his "Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God"). What's your position? And what's the best book on the Trinity from a philosophical and theological point of view?
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Both. We can say the Trinity is Yahweh as well as each person of the godhead.
DeleteTo take a comparison, consider an infinity mirror: An infinity mirror is a pair of parallel mirrors, which create a series of smaller and smaller reflections that appear to recede into an infinite distance (Wikipedia).
The image is contained in the whole series as well as each individual reflection.
From an exegetical standpoint, Richard Bauckham is one of the best exponents of biblical Christology.
DeleteFrom a philosophical standpoint, Paul Helm is one of the best exponents of the Trinity.
Vern Poythress has a new book out on the Trinity.
DeleteThanks Steve. Your help is appreciated!
DeleteThe title question is poorly put. "The Trinity" is not one theology, but many. Some Trinity theories are pretty clearly polytheistic. E.g. Hasker or Rea, as noted above. Others are not. e.g. Barth or Leftow.
ReplyDeleteSurely, some sort of three-fold differentiation within one god - that doesn't sound tritheistic. But then, it's not clear that creedal catholic traditions are committing only to that!
But this does *sound* tritheistic: the Father is "true God" and the Son is "true God" and the Spirit is "true God" - and those three are distinct from one another.
Your point in the post, that the Bible is only against *pagan* polytheism - seems either trivial or false. Trivial, if all "polytheism" is pagan. False if the idea is that some better sort of polytheism (Christian?) would be compatible with biblical monotheism. I think people normally mean "monotheism" and "polytheism" to be logical contraries. Although I've argued that we should discard "polytheism" and instead talk of atheism, theism, and polydeism (which is compat. with either monotheism or atheism).
Pagan polytheism is the context for biblical monotheism. That's neither trivial nor false.
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