Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 83:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Classical Versus Contemporary: Engaging Trinitarian And Pneumatological Models For Ongoing Theological Construction
Author: Torey Teer

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Classical Versus Contemporary: Engaging Trinitarian And Pneumatological Models For Ongoing Theological Construction

Torey J. S. Teer

Torey J. S. Teer is a PhD candidate in Systematic Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

In light of, on the one hand, ongoing scholarly interest in trinitarian theology (as well as Christology and pneumatology) and, on the other hand, ongoing conversations and recent proposals concerning how best to engage in trinitarian theology, this article considers whether certain contemporary models of trinitarian theological method—social trinitarianism and third article theology (which includes Spirit Christology)—are preferable alternatives to the historic approach to the Trinity—classical trinitarianism and traditional taxis theology. Critically engaging recent proponents of social trinitarianism and third article theology, this article contends that those models do not possess sufficient persuasive power to unseat classical trinitarianism and traditional taxis theology as the preferred methodological framework from which to pursue trinitarian discourse in particular and Christian theology in general.

It is common today to hear that we are riding the waves of the twentieth-century renaissance in trinitarian theology or the even more recent renaissance in pneumatology. For better or for worse, such renewed interest in the Trinity and the Holy Spirit have brought forth novel conceptions of the Trinity and trinitarian theology. Consequently, this article is concerned with how best to conceive of the Trinity on the one hand, and where best to situate the Holy Spirit in trinitarian theological method on the other.

The historic approach to the Trinity, known as classical (or Latin) trinitarianism, affirms that there are three divine persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) yet one God, and those persons exist as eternal subsisting relations (or relations of origin). The Father is unbegotten or unoriginate; he is characterized by paternity. The Son is eternally generated by the Father; he is characterized by filiation (or eternal generation). The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from, or is eternally spirated (or breathed) by, the Father and the Son; he is characterized by procession (or passive spiration). These relations reveal an irreversible

WTJ 83:2 (Fall 2021) p. 356

intratrinitarian taxis (or order): Father Son Holy Spirit. Consequently, as reflected in the historic creeds of the church,1 classical theologians have generally carried out theology—and application thereof—in light of said taxis: theology proper Christology pneumatology. Call this latter ...