The Trinity, Practically Speaking

by Frank D. Macchia

Three Gods, or One, or Three-in-One?

Since the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, many people wonder whether the doctrine is anything more than an intellectual puzzle created by theologians. This book takes readers on a guided tour of the logic leading to understanding God as a Trinity.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the Bible (and in Christian experience) are all vital to the reality of salvation. All three save. This point may not seem to be very significant until seen in the light of the basic premise of the entire Bible, namely, that only God can save (Hosea 13:4). There are benefits involved in understanding God as a communion of persons, a circle of love. God is no longer viewed as a distant judge removed from the sorrows of earthly existence. Salvation can be seen as more than mere forgiveness of sins. It also involves a life-transforming communion of divine love. A robust understanding of the Trinity fosters a more full and transformed Christian life.

Genres: Theology

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2010

Reviews

[Jethro Wall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely basic argument, but refreshing to read something so light on such a dense topic. Not academic or exegetical by any means, but a really helpful resource.

“There is no possibility of acknowledging any other Saviour apart from God.”

[Terence Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Macchia uses the metaphor of boarding a train at the first station, "Only God can save" to arrive at the end station, "God is a Trinity". The metaphor fits well because from the premise, Macchia shows how the logic of Scripture (God, Jesus and Holy Spirit saves) inevitably shows that God must be a Trinity, there can be no other alternative. In chapter six, he addresses how popular explanations of the Trinity is deficient while offering a way not to explain how the Trinity works but rather a way to accept our inability to accept the complexity of a Triune God, infinite and eternal. And for Pentecostal or Reformed readers, there are 'easter eggs' in the book which I have pointed out in my full review.

Full Review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...

[Squire Whitney: Hufflepuff Book Reviwer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat lightweight but nonetheless insightful and moving work for so dense and so mysterious a topic, The Trinity: Practically Speaking provides a somewhat unique argument in favor of the doctrine of The Trinity by focusing on the numerous scriptures that seem to teach that only God can save and then exploring all the texts that illustrate the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all as operative in the process of salvation. I certainly learned a great deal from Macchia’s insightful book, even if it cannot exactly be deemed scholarly.

Having said this, I do find the starting place of Macchia's premise that only God can save to be slightly lacking. Out of all the Biblical passages that the author cites in developing his case that only God can save, I found only one of them (the Hosea verse) to be entirely decisive in context. Don’t get me wrong; I do find the theme that only God can save to be a general assumption that gets made throughout scripture. But I wonder if perhaps the author overstates his case—and if maybe a superior starting place might have been that only God ought to receive worship. This would strike me as a much more air-tight case. Macchia does claim, though, that the doctrine of the trinity emerged largely due to the early church wrestling with the premise that only God can save and endeavoring to harmonize all of scripture in this light. I had never heard this before, so I wonder how accurate this assertion is.

I also did not come up with much of a satisfactory answer to the question that I was most curious about: the Biblical case for the unique Personhood of the Holy Spirit. The only verse that seems difficult to read as the Spirit being synonymous with God the Father would be Paul’s declaration in Romans 8 that the Spirit “intercedes” for us. Because, otherwise, to whom would He intercede? Himself? Aside from this verse, however, it seems that the Holy Spirit can at least most often cogently be read as being somewhat synonymous with God the Father. I readily acknowledge that, if I were reading the Bible without the influence of church tradition, I would likely not deem the Holy Spirit as an entirely distinct Person within the Godhead. I would more likely adopt a sort of “modalism-lite” where God is constituted of two Persons, and the Spirit makes for another way of referring to God the Father—or perhaps the Spirit refers to an aspect of the Father's nature. But this makes for one of those few issues where I am more than content to defer to the wisdom of church tradition—rather than have the hubris to adopt a position that almost no one else holds—because I find the mere idea of The Trinity beautiful; it stirs my soul.

This gives rise to what I most love about The Trinity: Practically Speaking. Macchia convincingly and palpably argues that the trinity does not make for a mere intellectual puzzle or a piece of abstract theology; instead, it stands as a belief that ought to completely uproot our view of God, salvation, ministry, and the like. God in His very nature is, from all eternity, a communion of love—and God graciously invites us into this dance of love. God does not make for a mere Being in the clouds, but rather He is a dynamic circle of love between a Father, a Son, and a Spirit of love between them that manifests itself as a third Person. It thus follows that reality is fundamentally relational to a degree that I had never before grasped. And, what's more, salvation involves entering into this relationality: the divine communion from which all things come. Amazing! I have truly never ruminated on such concepts, but I suspect that they will stick with me throughout my life. I have long found the trinity to be a stunningly beautiful concept, but The Trinity: Practically Speaking succeeded in somehow giving me vastly more appreciation for the doctrine than I had before possessed, which makes for quite a feat.

[Mike Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic argument good, but not sufficient. Good start.