Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

by Wayne Grudem

“Adoptionism” is the view that Jesus lived as an ordinary man until his baptism, but then God “adopted” Jesus as his “Son” and conferred on him supernatural powers.

the controversy over the insertion of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed, an insertion that eventually led to the split between Western (Roman Catholic) Christianity and Eastern Christianity (consisting today of various branches of eastern orthodox Christianity, such as the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, etc.) in AD 1054.

filioque is a Latin term that means “and from the Son.”

The Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity

First, the atonement is at stake. If Jesus is merely a created being and not fully God, then it is hard to see how he, a creature, could bear the full wrath of God against all of our sins.

Second, justification by faith alone is threatened if we deny the full deity of the Son. (This is seen today in the teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not believe in justification by faith alone.)

if Jesus is not infinite God, should we pray to him or worship him?

WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT?

1. The Persons of the Trinity Have Different Primary Functions in Relating to the World

The Son and Holy Spirit are completely equal in deity to God the Father, but they are subordinate in their roles.

“then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

In addition, I am now willing to affirm the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son (also called the eternal begetting of the Son).

The Meaning of the Eternal Generation of the Son

Eternal generation is not something that ever began, but it is eternal.

the eternal generation of the Son implies that (1) the Son is of the same nature as the Father (for a father begets a son like himself), (2) the Son is a distinct person from the Father (for the Son is begotten and the Father is unbegotten), and (3) there is a specific order in the relationship between Father and Son (the biblical pattern is always from the Father through the Son, as in 1 Cor. 8:6).

the Father eternally communicates to the Son the divine essence,

the Father is the source of the personal distinctions between Father and Son (and, by implication, the Holy Spirit),

I find it difficult to decide between these two options, but option (a) seems to be a more natural conclusion from the meaning of “only begotten” (John 1:14, 18; 3:16),

Does the Son Eternally Submit to the Authority of the Father?

Scripture indicates a consistent pattern in which the Son always submits to the authority of the Father and that this aspect of the Father-Son relationship in the Trinity has existed eternally.

The Father Acts as the Leader before Creation and after Final Judgment.

This Pattern Is Never Reversed.

submission of citizens to the authority of governments (Rom. 13:1), of employees to employers (cf. Eph. 6:5), of children to parents (Eph. 6:1), of students to teachers and school administrators, of church members to elders(1 Peter 5:5), and of wives to husbands (Eph. 5:22; see chapter 22). In these relationships, the person who submits to a rightful authority should not think that submission implies lesser importance, nor should the person in authority think that this authority implies greater importance,

The Unified Will of God and the Three Distinctive Expressions of That Will.

I think we can say at least that (1) the names Father and Son (and Spirit) are eternal names and suggest some kind of priority for the Father in the relationship; (2) all of God’s works outside himself (his opera ad extra) are voluntary, not necessary (see the discussion of God’s free will

There Are Three Distinct Persons, and the Being of Each Person Is Equal to the Whole Being of God Figure 14.4

Can We Understand the Doctrine of the Trinity?

On a more everyday level, there are many activities that we carry out as human beings (in the labor force, in social organizations, in musical performances, and in athletic teams, for example) in which many distinct individuals contribute to a unity of purpose or activity. As we see in these activities a reflection of the wisdom of God in allowing us both unity and diversity, we can see a faint reflection of the glory of God in his Trinitarian existence.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: CHRISTIANITY AND MORMONISM

Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Mormon.

Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Mormons.)

have known a number of Mormon friends in my life, and they have consistently been kind, thoughtful, friendly, and gracious persons. In addition, we often find that we have moral convictions about human conduct that are very similar.

Mormonism is not a different version of the Christian faith but an entirely different religion.

1. THE MORMON CHURCH IS NOT THE “RESTORED CHURCH”

two personages, the Father and the Son, appeared to him, and the Son told him not to join any church, because “the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight.”114 This led Smith to found the Mormon church as the “one true church,” a “restored church.”

Consider the Nicene Creed (AD 325, 381):

If this creed is an “abomination,” then this involves a denial of (1) God as the Creator of heaven and earth, (2) Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God, (3) the virgin birth of Christ, (4) the crucifixion of Christ for our salvation, (5) the resurrection of Christ on the third day, (6) Christ’s second coming, (7) the final judgment at which Christ will be the judge, (8) the deity of the Holy Spirit, (9) our future resurrection, (10) our future eternal life in the world to come.

If creeds such as this are “an abomination,” then all the major doctrines of the Christian faith are false,

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) teaches that total apostasy engulfed the church soon after the death of the last apostle; therefore the ‘one true church’ needed to be restored.”

2. THE BOOK OF MORMON IS MAN-MADE

claims to be “an abridged account of God’s dealings with the original inhabitants of the American continent from about 2247 BC to AD 421.”

Smith is said to have ‘translated’ the Book of Mormon from the gold plates using a ‘seer stone.’ ”120 In this process, every word and every letter was supposedly given to Joseph Smith by God.

“history proves there have been more than 3,913 changes between the original edition of the Book of Mormon published in 1830 and the ones printed and issued through the mid-1970s.”

“there is no archaeological support for the Book of Mormon. According to Mormon scriptures, the Nephite and Lamanite nations had huge populations that lived in large, fortified cities. They waged large-scale wars with each other for hundreds of years, culminating in a conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed in AD 385, near Hill Cumorah in present-day New York State. . . . But there is no [archaeological] evidence that it occurred.”

3. THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD AND IT IS TRUSTWORTHY

Mormons “acknowledge that the original manuscripts penned by biblical authors were the Word of God,” but they argue that “what passes as ‘the Bible’ today is corrupt. It can only be trusted insofar as ‘it is translated correctly.’

4. THE ONE TRUE GOD IS AN ETERNAL SPIRIT BEING

Mormons teach “that God the Father was once a mortal man who continually progressed to become a god (an exalted man). . . . Today, then, God, the Eternal Father, our Father in Heaven, is an exalted, perfected, and glorified Personage having a tangible body of flesh and bones.”

5. THE TRINITY INVOLVES THREE PERSONS IN ONE GOD

Mormonism teaches: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three persons in one God, as historic Christianity has taught, but rather that they are three separate gods.