Original Research
Trinity disruption
Submitted: 27 July 2021 | Published: 22 November 2021
About the author(s)
Willem H. Oliver, Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South AfricaErna Oliver, Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
This article does not have in mind to persuade its readers in a specific direction. What it has in mind is to make the reader think, and in this way, to rethink the ontology of the Trinity, as a Christian in a post-Christian, fourth revolution era. To significantly reason about the Trinity is a challenge, having the potential to easily be labelled as a heretic or part of a sect. However, to just accept all the ‘facts’ about the Trinity in the Bible, which are, in fact, interpretations by the Ecumenical Councils and Church Fathers of the early church era, is not in line with the 21st-century environment. In this article, we discuss the Trinity in light of the Bible, as well as the Councils and early Church Fathers, and (once again) conclude that the Trinity can best be explained in light of God’s omnipresence.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article covers different disciplines like theology, philosophy and history, as well as different disciplines within theology, namely church history, systematic theology and practical theology. This is a follow-up of an article written in 2019 and focuses on the Trinity from another angle. We hope that this will be the beginning of a discussion group on the different ways in which the Trinity can be interpreted.
Keywords
Metrics
Total abstract views: 2478Total article views: 4201
Crossref Citations
1. Методичні основи визначення коефіцієнтів перенесення теплоти та вологи у дисперсних матеріалах
І.Л. Бошкова, Н.В. Волгушева, А.П. Гречановський, Д.М. Нікітін, Д.М. Тортіка
Refrigeration Engineering and Technology vol: 60 issue: 4 year: 2024
doi: 10.15673/ret.v60i4.3051
2. Θεός, Father and the ‘Holy Trinity’ in the New Testament
Willem H. Oliver, Erna Oliver
Verbum et Ecclesia vol: 45 issue: 1 year: 2024
doi: 10.4102/ve.v45i1.3040
3. God as one, with reference to Barth and the perichoresis doctrine
Willem H. Oliver, Erna Oliver
Verbum et Ecclesia vol: 44 issue: 1 year: 2023
doi: 10.4102/ve.v44i1.2711