TOWARD A BIBLICAL MODEL OF THE SOCIAL TRINITY: AVOIDING EQUIVOCATION OF NATURE AND ORDER

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Sep 2004 by Horrell, J Scott

c. Trinity becoming in time. A final issue in our overview of social models of the Godhead is whether one can properly even speak of an immanent Trinity. Is God truly three persons in eternal transcendence? Or is God triune only in relation to creation? Is the concept of God as Trinity inextricably bound up in cosmic or human history? Or does the divine Being come to self-fulfillment as Trinity in time-for example, in the eschaton or "omega point"? Or, again, as various modern theologians contend, can one simultaneously affirm a truly immanent Trinity and yet also interpret God as becoming Trinity? Assuming a paradigm shift in perceiving God's relation to time, not a few theologians today conceive of God's own self-identity as defining itself in history-indeed, rather remarkably, in the history of our tiny planet called earth.29

Our specific concern is with the second question: Can the persons of the immanent Trinity possess complete ontological equality yet also eternal social order? What might biblical testimony indicate?

2. Biblical evidence for eternal order in the Godhead. As mentioned earlier, some seventy texts in the NT present the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (or equivalent terms) together. Unquestionably the members of the Trinity have different primary functions relating to the world, for example, in creation and salvation. My efforts are directed to NT teachings that seem to be windows opening beyond the economy of the incarnation. In no sense is my treatment full-orbed;30 rather, it is admittedly selective within the perichoretic social model of Part One.

a. Divine giving. A helpful vision of intra-trinitarian relationships is seen in the Greek verbs translated "to give" (didomi andparadidomi). These occur 378 times in the Greek Testament, about thirty times pertinent to trinitarian relations.31 The pattern of the NT is expressed in James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of Lights." If the Father is the Giver, what does he give? In brief, God the Father gives the Son his name (John 17:11-12; Phil 2:9-11), his words and works (John 5:36; 12:49), authority (Matt 9:6; 28:18; John 17:2), "life in himself" (John 5:26); judgment (5:22, 27), his rule or kingdom (Luke 1:31-33; Acts 13:34), "all things" (Matt 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 3:35; 13:3), suffering (Matt 26:39-40; John 18:11), glory (John 17:22), the disciples (10:29; 17:6-12; 18:9), all believers (6:37-39; 10:27-30; 17:24), and the Revelation (Rev 1:1). What does the Son "give" to the Father? Jesus gives the Father thanks (Luke 10:21; Matt 26:27-28; 1 Cor 11:23-24); his own spirit/life (Luke 23:46); and the eschatological kingdom (1 Cor 15:24). As for the Holy Spirit, nowhere are the verbs above used of the Father or the Son giving to the Spirit; nothing is said about him receiving. Nevertheless, Jesus says of the Spirit, "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you" (John 16:14). We see, too, that both the Son and the Spirit are "given" by the Father to the world and/or believers (Luke 11:13; John 3:16; Rom 8:11, 14-17). While other words might also be studied, didömi and paradidomi exemplify fairly typical NT language of intra-trinitarian activity, language evidenced not only of the incarnate Christ of the Gospels but of the resurrected and glorified Son as well. One concludes that the economic relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are as patently unalike (or non-egalitarian) as they are personal.