Crucial Questions # 10 “What is the Trinity?” By Dr. R.C. Sproul
This is now the second “Crucial Questions” booklet I have had the pleasure of reviewing. The first one I reviewed was on the subject of “Baptism” and can find my review of that one HERE.
I found this booklet on the “Trinity” really quite enjoyable to read. For the most part the booklet is easy to understand although there were a few sections that dealt with philosophy that were a bit difficult to follow and some may find these sections hard to understand but I think over all anyone reading the booklet will be helped.
I found that this booklet was unlike other books I’ve read on the subject. Most of the books I’ve read deal mainly with the text of scripture but this one while having a section on the biblical text dealt mostly with Church history (councils) as well as philosophy and word studies (understanding the meaning of different words used to describe Christ’s nature or the Trinity).
In chapter one the author discusses some objections to the Trinity which he revisits in the last chapter. I found Dr. Sproul’s response to the objection that Christianity is based on a contradiction because we believe in the Trinity to be excellent. He says on page 2:
Apparently this professor of philosophy was not familiar with the law of non-contradiction. That law states, “A cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.” When we confess our faith in the Trinity, we affirm that God is one in essence and three in person. Thus, God is one in A and three in B. If we said that He is one in essence and three in essence, that would be a contradiction. If we said He is one in person and three in person, that also would be a contradiction. But as mysterious as the Trinity is, perhaps even above and beyond our capacity to understand it in its fullness, the historic formula is not a contradiction.
An excellent response in my opinion.
There is also an overview of what some people see as an evolution of religion and how monotheism is just one step in that evolution. Christians deny this evolutionary thought and Dr. Sproul brings that out.
There was one statement in the booklet that did puzzle me a bit but because it really wasn’t related to the Trinity It didn’t bother me. He says on page 59:
… much of the New Testament was written in the Greek language.
I wasn’t sure if he meant that the New Testament writers sometimes use transliterated Aramaic words (Transliterated into Greek) or something else but as I said it doesn’t have much at all to do with the subject.
So in the end I found this booklet by Dr. R.C. Sproul on the Trinity to be enjoyable to read and very informative. I think anyone looking for a brief overview of the doctrine of the Trinity would do well to pick this up.
