Ways Of Describing The Holy Trinity -- By: Peter Toon

Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 10:3 (Summer 2001)
Article: Ways Of Describing The Holy Trinity
Author: Peter Toon


Ways Of Describing The Holy Trinity

Peter Toon

In this article I want to distinguish distinctions between three ways of speaking of the Lord who is “The Trinity.” These are the biblical presentation(s) of God as a unity in plurality; the church dogma of God as the “immanent” Trinity and the teaching of theologians of God as the “economic” Trinity.

By the biblical presentation/doctrine(s) I mean that which is taught in the books of the Bible and specifically the books of the New Testament. This takes a variety of forms and is essentially functional in nature.

By the “immanent” Trinity I mean the Trinity remaining within itself; that is, God as he is unto himself; or the three persons as they are unto themselves within the unity of the Godhead. Here God is considered in total isolation apart from both creation and the divine plan of salvation, the oikonomia. (It is important that we do not confuse the doctrine of the immanence of God in creation with the doctrine of the “immanent” Trinity. The former speaks of God, who is transcendent, being present in and through his creation, while the latter speaks of God as God is in and unto and for himself in his own being, infinity and eternity.)

By the “economic” Trinity I mean the Trinity in relation to the oikonomia; or the sending by the Father of the Son (our Lord Jesus Christ) into the world for our salvation and of the sending of the Holy Ghost (also the Spirit of Christ) to the church for its sanctification and empowering. The

“economic” Trinity is not to be equated with the biblical doctrine(s) of the Trinity for the former is logically dependent upon the concept of the “immanent” Trinity.

While the conceptual distinction between the “immanent” and “economic” Trinity goes back a long way, these two expressions and the formal distinction between them came into use only in relatively modern times.1

There is of course one and only one God who is the Holy Trinity but there are a variety of ways of speaking of this one God who is a unity in Trinity and a Trinity in unity. We need to keep this in mind as we proceed.

The indispensable starting point for any study of and reflection upon the Christian experience and knowledge of God as a plurality in unity must always be the Bible. There is no other place to start. However, to remain in the Bible and not to take account of the results of godly study and determination by the church in history would be foolish. The method that makes best sense both of the historical experience of the church and ...

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