Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 71:1 (Spring 2009)
Article: Election And Trinity
Author: James J. Cassidy

WTJ 71:1 (Spring 2009) p. 53

Election And Trinity

James J. Cassidy

James J. Cassidy is pastor of Calvary Church of Amwell (OPC) in Ringoes, N.J.

I. Introduction

. . . election is God’s self-election, God’s decision to be God in this way, in and as the man Jesus. The consequence is that God is the one who determines himself to be in relation to us through Christ.1

The current debate among Barth scholars concerning the Swiss theologian’s understanding of the relation between the Trinity and God’s decree is as stimulating as it is potentially useful for aiding the church to advance a robust Christian doctrine of God. At the heart of the debate is this question: Does God’s being in triunity constitute his divine act of electing, or, conversely, does God’s act of election constitute his essence as the triune God? The question could be posed another way: Does God’s act constitute his being or does his being constitute his act? The discussion has also spilled over into the area of Christology. How are we to understand the relation between the two natures of Christ? If election constitutes God’s being then we cannot speak of some abstract notion of the second person of the Trinity, the Logos asarkos, who is eternally self-existing without any necessary reference to being pro nobis. Therefore, the discussion has opened up a number of possibilities for refining and perfecting the church’s understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ in our redemption.

We will attempt to show that in this debate there are two mutually exclusive positions: a position that proves itself to be a more accurate interpretation of Barth, and a position that proves itself to be closer to the historic Christian position on the matter. In response, we will seek to plumb the depths of some of the richest expressions of the historic position. Particularly, we will show how the cross section of historic Reformed trinitarian theology on the one hand and Reformed biblical theology on the other can provide us with faithful expressions of the relationship between God’s trinitarian nature and his redemptive-historical acts which can move us forward through the current impasse among Barth scholars.

Therefore, the goal of this article will be to refine the church’s understanding of her rich trinitarian doctrinal history. Thus, we are not seeking to innovate in the sense of advancing some new dogmatic formulations, but rather to take the

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church forward by advancing her understanding of the relation between Reformed systematic and biblical theology.

II. The Mccormack Proposal

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