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The Trinity
Exegesis of the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity by a renowned Reformed scholar according to the (conservative) Reformed / Presbyterian church.
- GenresTheologyPhilosophy
157 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1985
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39 people want to read
About the author
Gordon H. Clark
94 books54 followersGordon Haddon Clark was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian. He was a primary advocate for the idea of presuppositional apologetics and was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He was an expert in pre-Socratic and ancient philosophy and was noted for his rigor in defending propositional revelation against all forms of empiricism and rationalism, in arguing that all truth is propositional and in applying the laws of logic. His system of philosophy is sometimes called Scripturalism.
The Trinty Foundation continues to publish his writings.
The Trinty Foundation continues to publish his writings.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 13, 2017
I've not read too many works on The Trinity... because there just aren't very many. I've read Sproul's, White's, and some other minor works, but I've not read one like this.
Clark doesn't simply present a singular aspect in defense of the Trinity. He gives the reader a concise history of the doctrine and of the most notable historical aberrations stemming from it while simultaneously rebutting them as logically fallacious and hostile to Scripture.
Though this text isn't comprehensive, like Kuyper's tome on the Holy Spirit, or Dolezel's work on the Simplicity of God, Clark's work delivers nonetheless. And it is precisely because of his brevity that this work will remain on my list of periodic reads.
Clark doesn't simply present a singular aspect in defense of the Trinity. He gives the reader a concise history of the doctrine and of the most notable historical aberrations stemming from it while simultaneously rebutting them as logically fallacious and hostile to Scripture.
Though this text isn't comprehensive, like Kuyper's tome on the Holy Spirit, or Dolezel's work on the Simplicity of God, Clark's work delivers nonetheless. And it is precisely because of his brevity that this work will remain on my list of periodic reads.
May 5, 2013
As far as the content goes, this book (like other Clark works) easily deserves five out of five stars. It gave me different ways of thinking about things, but was mostly a review from the classes I've taken in the past in Bible college and seminary.
I rated it four stars because the flow of thought was rather disjunctive, or so it seemed to me.
I rated it four stars because the flow of thought was rather disjunctive, or so it seemed to me.
July 17, 2024
AN APOLOGETICAL STUDY OF THE DOCTRINE BY A FAMED REFORMED PHILOSOPHER/APOLOGIST
Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian, who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He wrote many books.
He argues that Greek philosophy had no influence on the doctrine of the Trinity: "Plato indeed had three supreme principles, but they did not form a single Godhead, and one of them was not a person. Plotinus had a trinity of the One, the Mind, and the Soul, plus a Logos; but his theory bears no resemblance to Christianity... If there be any influence of Greek philosophy on the doctrine of the Trinity, it would be in the relationship of the three persons to the one essence." (Pg. 45)
He asserts strongly that "in our present population there are atheists, Unitarians, and assorted liberals, not to mention several anti-trinitarian cults, and ... Christianity has more enemies today than it had in Athanasius' time. We need to know how to give an answer to the opposition." (Pg. 74)
Concerning the claims of "biblical archaeology," he wrote, "it is possible that an archaeological discovery might 'confirm' the Christian position; but before such confirmation, the truth claim would have to be independently established; and this archaeology cannot do... (A aupportive archaeological find) is far from proving inerrancy. There may be 999 true historical statements in the Bible, but this does not prove that the 1000th is true... The method as a whole is wrong. Induction is always a fallacy." (Pg. 93)
Later, he states (shades of the later Francis Schaeffer!) that "the Bible is largely a series of propositions... the Bible is largely propositional." (Pg. 128) He also opines that Charles Hodge (e.g., 'Systematic Theology') "is the greatest theologian America has so far produced." (Pg. 68)
Clark's more purely "theological" works are less well-known than his philosophical and apologetic works, and this reprinting is therefore very welcome.
Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian, who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He wrote many books.
He argues that Greek philosophy had no influence on the doctrine of the Trinity: "Plato indeed had three supreme principles, but they did not form a single Godhead, and one of them was not a person. Plotinus had a trinity of the One, the Mind, and the Soul, plus a Logos; but his theory bears no resemblance to Christianity... If there be any influence of Greek philosophy on the doctrine of the Trinity, it would be in the relationship of the three persons to the one essence." (Pg. 45)
He asserts strongly that "in our present population there are atheists, Unitarians, and assorted liberals, not to mention several anti-trinitarian cults, and ... Christianity has more enemies today than it had in Athanasius' time. We need to know how to give an answer to the opposition." (Pg. 74)
Concerning the claims of "biblical archaeology," he wrote, "it is possible that an archaeological discovery might 'confirm' the Christian position; but before such confirmation, the truth claim would have to be independently established; and this archaeology cannot do... (A aupportive archaeological find) is far from proving inerrancy. There may be 999 true historical statements in the Bible, but this does not prove that the 1000th is true... The method as a whole is wrong. Induction is always a fallacy." (Pg. 93)
Later, he states (shades of the later Francis Schaeffer!) that "the Bible is largely a series of propositions... the Bible is largely propositional." (Pg. 128) He also opines that Charles Hodge (e.g., 'Systematic Theology') "is the greatest theologian America has so far produced." (Pg. 68)
Clark's more purely "theological" works are less well-known than his philosophical and apologetic works, and this reprinting is therefore very welcome.
January 8, 2022
As someone often confused by what philosophers and theologians mean by words like "essence", "substance", "relations", "subsistences", "real relations", "individuation", "persons", "generation", and "eternal generation" (especially since they can often mean different things based on who is using them), Clark's distrust of a lot of these words gave me greater insight into why they are used and what they actually mean. His historical review of the Trinity and his "debates" with other theologians helps you get a sense of the meaning and logic behind Trinity doctrine as well. His thoughts on eternal generation were particularly valuable to me, as I thought the Father generating the Son was a figure of speech without any ontological meaning.
January 4, 2023
A bit more philosophical than I would like.
May 7, 2009
Good. Okay.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews