Board index ‹ The Trinity

[Psycho Lord]

I am a deist. Why should I believe in the Trinity, other than the Bible saying so.

Let's say I have come to the conclusion that I am a deist. I have come to this conclusion through philosophy, meditation, life experiences. Why do I make the jump from deism to trinitarianism? What should motivate me to believe that more specifically, that God is made up of a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

[jimwalton]

I think Dr. Joe Boot (of the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity, http://www.ezrainstitute.ca) has an interesting comment that can start the discussion: "If God is not the triune Lord revealed in Jesus Christ, then the doctrine of creation is rendered impossible, and man is part of a cosmic chain of being. This is because a monadic conception of God as some kind of singularity leaves us with the emptiness and void of non-personality as ultimate. If there is no plurality within God’s being, then there is no subject-object relationship, no particularity, only a blank unity. In such a view of God there can be no foundation for knowledge, love, morality, or ethics. Indeed, without an absolute personality, there is no diversity or distinction basic to reality at all; ultimate reality is a bare unity about which nothing may be said. This is why the Trinity is so important in tackling the philosophical problem of the one and the many. Moreover, because a denial of the Trinity leads to a denial of an absolute personality, we cannot speak coherently of the will of God. Only persons have a will. But if God has no will, then creation is not the free act of an absolute, personal God. Rather, the universe is the emanation of divine being, and what we call the universe is merely the extension of god, or, as some pagans would say, it is the body of god."