The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God

Thomistic Ressourcement Series #19

by Thomas Joseph White

The Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. What can we say about the divine nature, and what does it mean to say that God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three persons who are one in being? In this book, best selling author Thomas Joseph White, OP, examines the development of early Christian reflection on the Trinity, arguing that essential contributions of Patristic theology are preserved and expanded in the thought of Thomas Aquinas.

By focusing on Aquinas' theology of the divine nature as well as his treatment of divine personhood, White explores in depth the mystery of Trinitarian monotheism. The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God also engages with influential proposals of modern theologians on major topics such as Trinitarian creation, Incarnation and crucifixion, and presents creative engagements with these topics. Ultimately any theology of the cross is also a theology of the Trinity, and this book seeks to illustrate how the human life, death, and resurrection of Jesus reveal the inner life of God as Trinity.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Catholic

734 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2022

About the author

Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. is rector of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome (the “Angelicum”). Fr. White is an expert in Thomistic metaphysics, Christology and Roman Catholic-Reformed ecumenical dialogue. Fr. White converted to Catholicism at age 22, while studying at Brown University.

Reviews

[Ronni Kurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been working on this one slowly since it came out with a pen in hand. It is simply outstanding. TJW has a way of making the difficult accessible and that might be the strength of this book. I've used it quite a bit for both class lectures and my current project on incomprehensibility and it has been more than helpful each time I pick it up. What a gift we've been giving with this book.

EDIT: Just finished a second reading of this book in preparing some new lectures on the Trinity. After a second reading, I am even more impressed. I've worked through much Trinitarian literature given my research interested and there are just few theologians who have the depth of thought with as clear of writing. I do not agree in all points, of course, but I still thing this is among the most helpful books on Trinitarian theology.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

White, Thomas Joseph. The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2021.

This is the best book ever written on the Trinity. Not only is it intellectually superior to everything else, it illustrates how doctrines like divine simplicity increase our adoration.

Like most accounts of the Trinity, White begins with the revelation of the one God in Israel. God established his identity in sacred history. We encounter a problem, however, as we examine how his covenant people reflected upon him. Some terms for God are metaphorical and some analogical. How do we tell the difference?

White notes five philosophical moments in Israel’s history (prior to the New Testament). We cannot play off metaphysical speculation against divine revelation. Divine revelation will not allow it.
A form of Wisdom literature developed in Israel’s history.
Isaiah’s use of ontological categories for the divine name: Isaiah 45:14-25 can be seen as a reflection upon Exodus 3:14.
The LXX gave these passages a distinct metaphysical reading.
Sirach and Wisdom, while not Scripture for Protestants, develop ideas of the afterlife and the soul’s immortality.
2nd Temple Judaism spoke clearly of protology and eschatology.

To be sure, the above does not prove the Trinity, but we see anticipations. God creates all things in his Wisdom. Is this wisdom analogical or metaphorical? If it is analogical, then it can be seen as a generation of a personal agent. There is evidence that it is. God’s Word is active in creation and prophecy; He is the principal of God’s action.

The rest of the first part follows the standard accounts of biblical evidence for the Trinity. For the sake of space, we will move to the Nicene and post-Nicene developments. The key idea for Trinitarian reflection is that the immaterial processions in the Godhead form the basis for the economic, if we even want to use that word, missions (129).

With Athanasius we see an important development in the concept of eternal generation: it is analogous to the intellect. For example, substance is not multiplied in the case of a thought from the mind. So it is with the Trinity: the internal procession of the Son from the Father does not logically demand a separation of essence.

Eternal generation is a relation of origin. The Cappadocian Fathers clarify this language. Gregory of Nazianzus says that terms like “Father” or “Son” designate a relationship, not an essence or activity (Gregory, Oration 29, quoted in White, 144). There is a connection between the difference of mutual relations and the difference of names (Oration 31).

So then, how do persons relate to the divine essence? The Cappadocians give us another phrase: persons are subsistent modes of being and relate to each other by way of origin (White 146). That is the most important sentence in the book. To the degree one is heretical or orthodoxy depends on whether one affirms that statement.

From personal relations of origin we now discuss personal or hypostatic characteristics: ingenerateness (or unbegotten), generation, and procession. You identify the persons of the Trinity by their relations of origin and the terms (above) that flow from them.

The main focus of the book, not surprisingly, is Thomas Aquinas. White begins this section by covering the standard arguments for the existence of God, but the main point for him, as it was for Thomas, was how they function in metaphysics. We reason quia, not propter quid; from effect, not from cause. We cannot reason quia because we do not know the essence of God.

Thomas then explains how we can name God analogically. Negative theology is not simply some New Age denying of everything in God, leaving us only with some vague essence to worship. Rather, we understand that God’s perfections are negative perfections. As White notes, every negation is a mental act upon the prior admission of something existent (221). We are denying the finite mode of our understanding of an attribute, not the attribute itself. This is the difference between the modus significandi, the term analogically applied, and the res ipsa significata, the reality signified.

Divine Simplicity

If we are going to deny composition in God, we need to embrace the other metaphysical issues which this entails. God is not dependent on anything else. So far, so good. He is Pure Act. Potentiality is a source of imperfection. God cannot have any potency in him. An actuation of potency implies a transformation. With this in mind, we can explore his attributes

Divine perfection: Matter is a source of potentiality and indeterminateness (261). This makes sense if you think about it. Matter needs shape. Matter by itself is potency. It needs something to form it. This, among other reasons, is why God cannot be material. This is why God is perfect.

Immutability: As God is infinite, he cannot acquire any new perfections.

Unity: a property of being (316). It is the absence of division. It follows from simplicity and perfection.

Prologue to a Thomistic Trinitarianism

There were three medieval Trinitarian models: the Franciscan or emanationist, the relationalist, and the nominalist. The Franciscans, so reads White’s analysis, began with the Father as principle and then moved to the begetting of the Son. The Father exists eternally in himself. The problem is this is a very close resemblance to a human person.

The relationalist model is the Thomist one. Relation lets one affirm a distinction of persons without threatening the essence (386). To wit, the Father is always “relative” to the Son by eternal generation. Moreover, God’s simplicity demands these relations be subsistent.

Hearkening back to the Cappadocian model, Thomas notes the processions in God are immanent to him. They are relations of origin. They are correlative terms that are opposite to one another. It makes sense how this works with Father and Son. It is not immediately clear how the Spirit can be “opposite” to two terms. Thomas uses the analogy of the human mind. The Son as intellect or Logos moves from the Father. The Son loves the Father (and the Father, the Son). The intellect precedes love. The love is the movement back. This is how the Father and Son spirate the Spirit (421).

From here White gives an excellent defense of the Filioque:
1) The Father emanates the Spirit as Father of the Son. The Son is “always already” there.
2) We can only know the persons by relations of origin.
3) The Son’s relation of origin is “from the Father.”
4) If the Spirit’s relation of origin is only from the Father, then he is identical to the Son.
5) Ergo, the Spirit proceeds from the Son.

This is the best book written on the Trinity. White also deals with modern Trinitarianism (Barth, Rahner, Bulgakov, Pannenberg). The modern Trinitarian movement reduces ontology to history and plays Hegel and Kant against one another (while using both). That is why we should look to the classical model.

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too much to say about this book. Superb. It is the most thorough, clear, compelling, and exhaustive presentation of the Classical doctrine of the Trinity I have yet read. White is a clear writer, whose presentation of Thomistic categories is both understandable and deep; it is not written in an overly stilted, hyper-academic mood, nor is it diluted with emotive or patronizing language. The book presents its profundity with simplicity--it is simply profound.

I found myself putting down the book often to praise God for his glorious self-disclosure, which is articulated by White in straightforward and accessible terms. In short, this is a very moving book, but not because White writes in a moving way, rather, the truth that he elucidates is simply and irreducibly praise-inspiring.

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a mammoth work of impressive scope and focus. White is a clear thinker and an economic writer. This book is 700 pages, but you don't feel like he is wasting any of those pages. He's a keen reader of the theologians with whom he is interacting and, thus, a worthy guide into the subtleties of some very knotty theological concepts. Though this book is overwhelmingly about Thomas Aquinas and how he interacts with the patristic tradition before him, he interacts with a wide variety of theologians (especially in part four). It is rare that you get learned discussions of Eunomius, Pseudo-Dionysius, Bulgakov, and Hegel in a single volume.

White's book is split into four books. The first part shows the initial development of trinitarianism from Scripture into the patristic period. I thoroughly enjoyed this section of the book, especially his chapter on "Johannine Trinitarian Faith" and Augustine. Parts two and three are expositions of Aquinas' reception of the patristic period. These two sections make up the overwhelming bulk of the book and are, at points, tough sledding. Part two specifically deals with the unity of God and the divine names. Part three is dedicated to Thomas' explanation of the trinitarian persons. White does an excellent job working through Aquinas' trinitarianism, situating and contrasting it with other medieval thinkers. Part four is a diagnosis (and correction) of aspects of modern Trinitarians, such as Barth, Moltmann, and Rahner. Somewhat controversially, White pleads with us to do away with the concept of the "economic Trinity," because of its tendency to make God's acts in history constitutive of His inner life. Instead, we'd do well to turn back to the classic tradition and speak of the eternal processions of the persons, and their temporal missions.

I have a few minor quibbles with the book, though I think the most serious is the general lack of interaction with the biblical text. While I appreciate the sustained and deep interactions with Aquinas, White rarely relies even on Aquinas' own commentaries on Scripture. In part 1, White argues (convincingly, in my estimation) that there is an organic development of a trinitarian tradition from the text itself, though he spends relatively very little time in/on the text. For example, there are about 60 pages on how Scripture reveals the Trinity, and pages 185-544 are about how Thomas interprets and receives the trinitarian work previous to him. Of course, White's work on Aquinas is exemplary. The criticism is less about there being so much Aquinas and more about their being so little interaction with the biblical witness, something with which Aquinas himself was extremely concerned. While White does a fantastic job in demonstrating the development of trinitarianism through Irenaeus, Justin, Augustine, the Cappadocians, and Pseudo-Dionysius, the task of exegesis is mostly laid to the side.

While I enjoyed this book, I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity. This is a book for those interested in the historic development of trinitarianism, especially as it crystallizes in Thomas' work. Scott Swain's small volume, The Trinity, in Crossway's SSST series works better as an introduction. Gilles Emery's introductory volume does as well. Fred Sanders, The Triune God, would also be worth your time. However, this is an exceptional book, and worth working your way up towards. I will undoubtedly have to reread this book, though I will do so gladly.

[Michaël St-Amour · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity I've read so far.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I don't usually use the cliches like "magisterial" or "a tour de force" in my reviews, in this case the shoe fits. White writes clearly and competently, expounding on the doctrine of Trinity (and therefore God, since God as one and God as three are inseparable truths) from a Thomistic perspective. My favorite part of the book is part four where he looks at God's ad extra work and how that reveals the Trinity. While this book doesn't cover the range of contemporary scholarly output on the doctrine of the Trinity, as with, say, Letham's volume, this is a must read given White's capable and thorough handling of Thomas's understanding of the Trinity. Highly recommended.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the most precise, clear, and robust work on the Trinity I have ever read.

[Joshua Pearsall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think White takes an interesting approach to the Trinity focusing less on Biblical data and more on the Church's historical teaching. This in some ways was refreshing, as it was simply a new approach, especially in light of many of the far more egregious works on the Trinity i have read lately either from Roman Catholics or Unitarions (between videos, articles, and actual works). I think his own statement will give you enough to know if you want to read this work or not.

“The first part of the book seeks indeed to be rather unoriginal, since it is concerned with the common tradition of the early Church in regard to Trinitarian doctrine. Here the basic presupposition of the whole presentation is that we can identify a coherent form of teaching regarding the Trinity that emerges over time in scripture and tradition. This teaching stems originally from God's revelation of himself in the Old and New Testaments, manifest especially in Christ and the teaching of the apostles, and is subsequently understood adequately in a developmental way by the early Church. In other words, the diverse teachings about God of both the Old and New Testaments can be read as forming a kind of thematic unity, one that indicates that God is Trinity. Jesus himself, by his teaching, action, suffering, and resurrection, reveals the mystery of the Trinity, as does the teaching of Paul and the Gospel of John. This biblical witness in turn serves as a credible basis for the later theological arguments of pre-Nicene Fathers such as Justin and Irenaeus, as well as post-Nicene Fathers such as Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine. What the pre-Nicene Fathers say about the Trinity, in the way of a first elaboration, the later Fathers enunciate better and more clearly. A basic aim of this first section, then, is to illustrate a set of common teachings about God as Trinity that emerge from divine revelation itself, and that are received and interpreted in the early Church in conceptually diverse ways over time. I argue that diverse conceptual interpretations of the pre- and post-Nicene Church are not mutually incompatible or heterogeneous, but give rise gradually, through the course of debate, to scripturally well-founded, coherent theological and doctrinal articulations of the mystery of the Trinity.”