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In our pluralistic world, the meaning of the concept “God” is deeply contested. This course is an examination of the doctrine of the Trinity as the distinctively Christian description of God. The doctrine of the Trinity emerged historically as Christian’s unique identification of God in contradistinction to Jewish monotheism and Mediterranean polytheism. However, over the course of history, the significance of the doctrine fell into neglect for theology and Christian practice. It occupied a place in theology as impenetrable mystery or conceptual riddle, a truth of faith to be affirmed, but not quite understood. This has drastically changed with the renewal of trinitarian theology in the 20th century that has taken place across confessional differences. The doctrine has emerged as the essential key to understanding Christian faith and practice. Taking this to be the case, this course seeks to answer questions such as: What do we mean when we say that God is triune? What are the implications of the doctrine for our understanding of the being and attributes of God? How does this doctrine relate to other doctrines of faith, especially the doctrines of salvation and ecclesiology? What are the ontological, ethical, social, and political implications of the doctrine? What does it mean to have a faith practice shaped by a trinitarian consciousness?
Elective, 3 credits
Fall
Barnett |
