The triune nature of God is one that Christians have tried to get a grasp on for the last two thousand years. The scriptures affirm that God is one and that He exists eternally as three persons. Each of the persons are fully God and there is but one God. This is a difficult doctrine to understand to say the least, but it is one that God has presented in His word repeatedly, so we have a responsibility to understand it correctly, if not completely. I believe it impossible to understand the triune nature of God completely in this lifetime, and perhaps in the next as well. The infinite cannot be contained within the finite.
As I said earlier, we do have a responsibility to understand this revelation as best as we can, but most of us, myself included, have put off this theological doctrine in favor of things that are easier to grasp. This is not an inherently bad thing, but we honor God by seeking His face as clearly as possible. For us to deny any aspect of the trinity or to try to amend the trinity to meet our expectations is to diminish God in our own hearts and try to reform His being into one of our own likeness.
In Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance, by Bruce Ware, we are given a good overview of the trinity, beginning with a list of ten great reasons every Christian should study this doctrine. It continues with a historical look at how the early church met heretical understandings of the trinity with biblical proof, always leaning toward the scriptures and not on logical statements of others speaking of a God no greater than their knowledge could comprehend
The meat of the book comes after this, as each person of the trinity is given a chapter to discuss the differences of role and not of essence that they have. I found this to be extremely helpful in my Christian walk, as virtually every aspect of a Christians life is impacted by our triune God. Take prayer, for example. I was taught as a child that praying was just talking to Jesus about whatever was on your mind. According to the Lords Prayer though, Jesus tells us to pray to the Father. We are also told that our prayer to the Father is offered through our mediator, Jesus Christ. And this prayer to the Father, through the Son is to be offered up by the power of the Holy Spirit. Proper prayer acknowledges the trinity.
The roles of the trinity are quite complex, with the Holy Spirit pointing us toward the Son who seeks to glorify the Father. Thus the eternal roles of each of the persons should be rightly understood by all Christians if we are to discern error. For example, if someone claims that the Holy Spirit has come upon them for any reason other than to point us toward Christ, our ears should listen attentively to what is said that we may be able to lovingly correct the statement which is bound to contain errors, based on the errant foundation of the source of this information.
I have yet to see a book that is more informative on this doctrine than Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance. It fills in many common misperceptions that we may make regarding what the trinity is and what it is not. One thought I have had for some time has been confirmed while reading this book. Christ came to save sinners, yes. But why is it that the Father does anything? Did He send the Son to die for the sole purpose that we may find our salvation in Him or is there an underlying motive? When you get down to the core values within the trinity, God the Father sent God the Son to earth as a man to be enabled for his task by God the Holy Spirit to the ultimate glory of God the Father. This was accomplished in part by God the Son atoning for those He was sent to redeem. And in His submission to both the Father and the Spirit (for a time) He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and yet maintains the second level of primacy to the Father.
It is 158 pages, not including the notes and indexes, but dont let the relatively short page number dissuade you. The length of this book is such that every Christian should read this book for personal edification, not to mention a more learned response to one of the more frequently brought up objections to Christianity. The content of the book is such that anybody could follow it, but those with a stronger theological background will be able to gain more insight than a casual reader to the degree of thiner knowledge. I recommend this book heartily to all for these reasons and more. This is a book that I plan to read annually, as I am certain there are truths represented within these pages that I have not been able to fully appreciate.
Further reviews of this book can be found at the Diet of Bookworms.
