051. I. Proofs Of The Trinity.

I. Proofs Of The Trinity.

1. Omission of Questionable Proofs.—The argument for the Trinity from the Scriptures is so full and clear that there is no need of questionable proofs. Yet some long in use may be so classed. We may instance the plural form of the divine name; the threefold priestly benediction; the tersanctus or trinal ascription of holiness to God; the manifestation of Father, Son, and Spirit at the baptism of Christ. These facts were pressed into the argument for the Trinity by leading fathers of the Church, and have continued to be so used by very eminent divines. Yet others, not inferior either in the exegesis of the Scriptures or in reaching their doctrinal content, fail to find any direct proof of this doctrine in these facts. With this opposition of views between the friends of the doctrine the facts in question can hardly be of any use in a polemic with its opponents. The plural divine name, אלהם—Elohim—occurs in many places. Only an overstrained definition, however, could give it the sense of a trinal distinction of persons in the Godhead. Elohim is placed in apposition with יהוה (Deuteronomy 4:35; 1 Kings 18:21)—Jehovah—and in such instances a plural sense of the former would be inconsistent with the latter. Therefore Elohim has no fixed plural sense which can give the personal distinctions of the Trinity. There is a threefold priestly benediction in the one divine name, Jehovah (Numbers 6:24-27).With those who use the fact for the proof of the Trinity, stress is laid upon the definite trinal form of benediction and the distinction of blessings, as at once indicating and distinguishing the three persons of the Trinity, It is only as the text is read in the light of later and fuller revelations that any such meaning appears. Hence this form of priestly benediction is not in itself any proof of the Trinity. There is in the Scriptures a thrice-holy predicate of God (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). But, as in the previous case, it is only as we read thisTrisagion in the light of a fuller revelation of the Trinity that we find in it any suggestion of the doctrine. It is therefore in itself without proof of the doctrine. Fathers of the Church were wont to say: “Go to the Jordan and you shall see the Trinity.” They had in view the manifestation of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit at the baptism of Christ (Matthew 3:16-17). In the clear light of the New Testament, and with the doctrine constructed out of the truths which it reveals, we do recognize the three persons of the Trinity in this divine manifestation. But apart from this fuller revelation very little truth of the Trinity is given; for these manifestations, simply in themselves, might stand with the Arian or Semi-Arian heresy.

2. Verity of the Constituent Facts.—The unity of God, the personal distinctions of Father, Son, and Spirit, the divinity of the Son, and the personality and divinity of the Spirit we have found to be clear and sure truths of Scripture. The result is not tritheism, but a triunity of persons in the Godhead—the doctrine of the Trinity.

3. The Facts Determinative of the Doctrine.—The argument for the Trinity centers in the requirement of the doctrine for the interpretation and harmony of the Scripture facts. It is in the method of science, which accepts as a principle or law whatever will interpret and unite the relative facts; and the more when such principle or law is the only means of explaining and uniting them. Such a result is the inductive verification of the principle or law. The Trinity is the only doctrine which can interpret and harmonize the trinal distinction of divine persons in the unity of God. It is therefore the doctrine of Scripture. We proceed in precisely the same method in Christology, so far as it respects the person of Christ. While the Scriptures reveal him as one person, they freely ascribe to him both human and divine facts. The facts are interpreted and harmony attained through a union of the human and divine natures in the unity of his personality. This doctrine of his personality is thus inductively verified as a truth of Scripture. In the same method we have maintained the doctrine of the Trinity. The method is legitimate and the proof conclusive. The doctrine is a truth of the Scriptures.