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by Doug Comin

The Trinity, Gordon H. Clark, The Trinity Foundation, 1985. 173 pp.

How refreshing in this time of superficial "Christianity" to find a rare pearl such as this work by the "internationally renowned philosopher, theologian, and educator; the author of more than forty books; and former Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Butler University," Dr. Gordon Clark, who went on to Glory shortly after the completion of this text. Dr. Clark's work has contributed much to the cause of biblical and theological literacy in the Church of Jesus Christ. As the forward to the book, written by John Robbins, suggests, "it is very popular today in some allegedly Christian circles to emphasize action and ignore doctrine, as though the action were the important thing . . . . Feeling and doing, not knowing, have first place in the lives of most churches and most Christians . . . . We hope that this book will be used by God to preserve and protect His truth against its enemies and professed friends."

The book is founded, then, upon the premise that the doctrine of the Trinity, far from being an obscure and practically unimportant subject, is of the utmost importance to anyone who professes to honor God and desires to understand His being. Without an understanding of who God is, we cannot possibly serve Him aright. This treatise contains fifteen chapters, a general index, a Scripture index, a brief postscript by John Robbins entitled, "The Crisis of Our Time," and a list of recommended reading in philosophy, theology, and biblical study entitled "Intellectual Ammunition." In the main body of the work, Dr. Clark endeavors to examine the foundational doctrine of the Trinity as "the indispensable basis for the doctrine of the atonement and all that follows."

Chapter 1, entitled "Preliminary Scripture," provides an overview of the doctrine of the Trinity as it is found in the pages of God's Word, the Bible. The author acknowledges that there is no attempt made to deal with every biblical passage that deals with the subject, and the reader is challenged to do some personal study. Dr. Clark notes that the strong influence of idolatry and polytheism during Old Testament times necessitated an emphasis upon the unity of the One God of the people of Israel, and therefore the Old Testament nowhere explicitly teaches the formal doctrine of the triune nature of God.

There are, however, many inferences to the trinitarian teaching in the pages of the Old Testament, which the author duly notes. He then proceeds to examine several passages in the light of three categories into which all Old Testament "trinitarian passages" may fall. These categories are: (1) those which were obviously trinitarian to both New and Old Testament believers; (2) those which are seen to be trinitarian by Christians today, but would not have been seen as such by the Jews of the Old Testament age; and (3) those which are imagined by Christians today to be trinitarian passages which were most likely never intended to be interpreted in this light. The remainder of Chapter 1 sets forth the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity from the New Testament passages that deal directly with God's triune nature, or explain various Old Testament references to it. The reader is challenged to think very carefully about this foundational doctrine, because it is indeed complex.

Chapter 2 deals with the third century heresy which has come to be called "Sabellianism," after its chief expositor, who was condemned by the Church in 263 A.D. The teachings of Sabellius are defined and clarified, since many have misinterpreted and misapplied them through the years. This heresy, says the author, is now extinct. There are no modern-day Sabellians, because Sabellius' basic error was a denial of the actual humanity of Christ, which has been historically recognized since the fourth century.

The third chapter deals with the aspect of Christ's nature that is indeed often denied today, His deity. Here there is an examination of several New Testament texts which were the basis for the early Church's thinking regarding the deity of Christ. Some interesting contemporary applications are drawn in relation to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The great champion of the doctrine of the Trinity, Athanasius of Alexandria, is the subject of Chapter 4. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the life of Athanasius in the light of this vigorous doctrinal controversy. The remainder of the chapter deals with Athanasius' development of the doctrine of the Trinity and its biblical derivation, drawing primarily from his work entitled De Decretis. This chapter shows clearly that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was not, as many have charged, developed out of pagan Greek philosophy.

In the fifth chapter, Clark gives us the view of three younger contemporaries of Athanasius who also defended the doctrine of the Trinity. Each had very distinct ideas, and the historical information provided here is very interesting reading. The theological information is equally interesting and challenges the reader to make a careful study of Church history which is virtually ignored in the contemporary Church but vitally important to our understanding of the teaching of God's Word.

Chapter 6 is a parenthetical look at the difficulty associated with terminology as it relates to the understanding of a subject. The corruption of the original Greek terms by the Latin translators is examined and the original sense of the important vocabulary regarding the doctrine of the Trinity is reestablished. Having laid this groundwork, Clark proceeds to the subject of unity within the Godhead, which is taken up in more detail in Chapter 7's discussion of the work of Augustine on this matter. Dr. Clark does not gaze at the early Church fathers through rose-colored glasses, but quite honestly deals with the difficulties in their writings. He is concerned to show the development of doctrinal understanding throughout the centuries, particularly through the study of languages.

In the space of a page we move forward some 300 years, from Augustine to the Athanasian Creed, which is the subject of Chapter 8. This creed (which was not written by Athanasius), is a detailed statement of orthodox theology that puts forth the trinitarian teaching of the Church in 44 concise verses. The creed is printed in its entirety and the teachings on the invisibility of the substance of God and the tri-personality of God are briefly discussed. The examination of the Athanasian Creed overflows into Chapter 9, which takes up the topic of the incomprehensibility of God. Here we also meet Stephen Charnock, John Gill, and William Cunningham who each deal with the difficult idea of incomprehensibility.

The subject of incomprehensibility is continued in the next two chapters. Chapter 10 critiques the writings of two American theo-logians, Charles Hodge and Louis Berkhof. In the comparison made throughout this chapter, Hodge emerges as the superior theologian and Berkhof bears the brunt of the criticism. The author does, however, make a point of calling to the reader's attention some excellent points made by Berkhof. In addition to further illuminating the topic at hand,the chapter is a good study in the discipline of careful reading. No theologian's writings ought to be blindly absorbed without careful scrutiny, and Gordon Clark examines the works of the great Reformed theologians of the Church with his eyes (and mind) wide open.

Two more thinkers go under the microscope in Chapter 11. These are Herman Bavinck and Cornelius Van Til, who was greatly influenced by Bavinck. The proposition put forth by Bavinck that God is unknowable because "our knowledge is confined to the realm of experience" (taken from Kant), is disposed of in the first part of the chapter. The remainder shows how these ideas were carried on by Dr. Van Til, who substantially agreed with this definition of incomprehensibility. This faulty definition, says Clark, led to the unorthodox position of Van Til "that God, that is, the whole Godhead, is one person." In saying this, Van Til sought to evade the charge of anti-trinitarians that the doctrine is self-contradictory because something cannot be both three and one at the same time. But in hiding behind the incomprehensibility of God, Van Til was forced to argue in the realm of the irrational. Dr. Clark then, exposes the faulty logic and directs the reader back to an orthodox defense of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity.

In Chapter 12, the question is asked, "How do we differentiate between persons?" The concept of individuation, which is key to the understanding of the Trinity, yet often ignored or misunderstood by theologians, is examined here. Dr. Clark begins with a review of the classic space-time theory of individuation, which identifies a person by physical properties or location but is inadequate to define spiritual persons. As an alternative he explains the qualitative theory of individuation, which defines a person by what he thinks.

This explanation is to me the most helpful section of the book in terms of understanding the Trinity. Substance is rejected as the principle of individuation in favor of thoughts. Therefore, "Since also the three Persons do not have precisely the same set of thoughts, they are not one Person, but three." Yet they can be the same in substance, or essence.

The book closes with a look at the biblical teaching concerning the specific Persons of the Trinity. Chapter 13 explores the topic of the eternal generation of the Son and the relationship of the Son to the Father. Chapter 15 deals with the Person of the Holy Spirit. In between, the 14th chapter defends the book's use of philosophy and defines the methods employed. The book is admittedly Augustinian and the implications of this perspective are explained.

All in all, I found this book to be quite interesting. It is intellectually challenging, especially in the light of the contemporary Church's abandonment of serious thought. At times it is tedious, and certain sections may have to be read several times for a complete understanding (at least by us intellectual lightweights!). The personality of Dr. Clark is undisguised. With his wit and well-placed sarcasm, his straightforward criticism, his unwavering confidence in his own carefully thought-out conclusions, and his overriding concern for the truth of God's Word, he drives us to careful study and goads us to a higher esteem for the understanding of the precious doctrines of the Bible, chief among which is the doctrine of the Trinity.

--Douglas Comin

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