Set 11Doctrine of God—Reformation to the

1970s

TH01

Introduction to TheologySpring Term 2009

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Doctrine of God in the Reformation

• The Reformers did not intend to make a break with the past over the doctrine of God

• New views of grace, justification, sanctification, church, sacraments; new emphasis on Christ and the Holy Spirit

• Return to Biblical consciousness

Martin Luther

• 1483-1546• Primary source for

Lutherans and a major influence on all Protestants

Luther and the Doctrine of God

• Did not intend to make new proposals

• Reinstated the centrality of scripture in theology

• Emphasized the “both/and” quality of God’s power, especially God’s weakness

• Christ as God born, suffering, dying: “God died,” “God crucified”

John Calvin

• 1509-1564• Key figure in the

REFORMED TRADITION, which includes German, Dutch, Swiss, Scots

• Denominations: Presbyterians, various “Reformed,” United Church of Christ

Cathédrale St-Pierre, Geneva

Other Branches of Protestantism

• English or Anglican (70 million worldwide)– Strongly Trinitarian– Leonard Hodgson

• “Radical” or Anabaptist – Not dogmatic or creedal but Trinitarian

• Pentecostal or Charismatic (150+ million)– 1906, The Azusa Street Revival led by William

J. Seymour. Quickly spread around the world– In addition, “charismatics” in other

denominations

Calvin’s on the Doctrine of God• Again, no intention to propose a new

doctrine of God• Deeply instructed by scripture and early

church• Emphasis on the priestly role of Christ and

therefore on Christ as praying to the Father• Emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the hidden

agency of God – actively joining us with Christ – and animating and sanctifying the entire

creation

Institutes I.13.17:

“[This] passage in Gregory of Nazianzus vastly delights me:

‘I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the one.’ [Gregory

of Nazianzus Oration 41] Let us not, then, be led to imagine a trinity of persons that keeps our thoughts distracted and does not at once lead them back to that unity. --cont.

“Indeed, the words ‘Father,’ ‘Son,’ and ‘Spirit’ imply a real distinction—let no one think that these titles, whereby God is variously designated from his works, are empty—but a distinction, not a division.”

Institutes I.xiii.18 (pp. 141-142)

Scots Confession 1560 Chapter I God:We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such enc as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his glory.

Heidelberg Catechism 1563

Q25. Since there is only one Divine Being, why do you speak of three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

A. Because God has thus revealed himself in his Word, that these three distinct persons are the one, true, eternal God.

The Second Helvetic Confession (1566) Chapter III Of God, His Unity and Trinity

God Is One. We believe and teach that God is on in essence or nature, subsisting in himself, all sufficient in himself, invisible, incorporeal, immense, eternal, Creator of all things both visible and invisible, the greatest good, living, quickening and preserving all things, omnipotent and supremely wise, kind and merciful, just and true…. (continued)

God Is Three. Notwithstanding we believe and teach that the same immense, one and indivisible God is in person inseparably and without confusion distinguished as Father, Son and Holy Spirit so, as the Father has begotten the Son from eternity, the Son is begotten by an ineffable generation, and the Holy Spirit truly proceeds from them both, and the same from eternity and is to be worshipped with both. (cont.)

Thus there are not three gods, but three persons, consubstantial, coeternal, and coequal; distinct with respect to hypostases, and with respect to order, the one preceding the other yet without any inequality. For according to the nature or essence they are so joined together that they are one God, and the divine nature is common to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) Chapter II Of God, and of the Holy Trinity

I. There is but one only living and true God, who is

infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.

II. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone foundation of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is

most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them.

III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. 

Formally Correct, but…

• Doctrine of the Trinity is increasingly abstract, conceptual

• Irrelevant to piety

• Impractical or irrelevant to moral life

• Growing disinterest among laity and scholarly theologians alike

Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804

“From the doctrine of the Trinity, taken literally, nothing whatsoever can be gained for practical purposes, even if one believed that one comprehended it—and less still if one is conscious that it surpasses all our concepts.”

Friederich Schleiermacher

• 1768-1834

• Greatest Reformed Theologian of the 19th Century

• Emphasized our Absolute Dependence upon God

• Formal Doctrine of the Trinity appears in the Appendix of his major work, The Christian Faith

Karl Barth

• 1886-1968

• Probably the greatest Reformed theologian of the 20th century

• Renewed theological interest in the doctrine of the Trinity by connecting it to revelation

• http://pages.unibas.ch/karlbarth/audio/alb1_commentary.mp3

Mid-20th Century

• Post-war problem of suffering and power. • Dietrich Bonhoeffer's comment, that “only a

suffering God can help us now.”• Break-down of traditional metaphysics; emphasis

on narrative, event, process, relationship. Process metaphysics. Alfred North Whitehead.

• Centrality of Biblical texts for doctrinal theology

Ecumenical Era: Catholic Influence

• Karl Rahner, S.J.• 1904-1984• Asks: If “trinity”

disappears, does anything else change?

• Asserts: “The Immanent Trinity is the Economic Trinity, and vice versa.”

Hans Urs von Balthasar

• 1905-1988

• Emphasis on the Trinity as the doctrine of our participation in God in prayer

• See http://www.joelgarver.com/writ/theo/balt.htm

Adrienne von Speyr

• 1902-1967• http://www.christendo

m-awake.org/pages/balthasa/vonspeye.htm