The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything

by Fred Sanders

The doctrine of the Trinity is taught and believed by all evangelicals, but rarely is it fully understood or celebrated. In The Deep Things of God , systematic theologian Fred Sanders shows why we ought to embrace the doctrine of the Trinity wholeheartedly as a central concern of evangelical theology. Sanders demonstrates, engagingly and accessibly, that the doctrine of the Trinity is grounded in the gospel itself. In this book, readers will understand that a robust doctrine of the Trinity has massive implications for their lives, restoring depth to prayer, worship, Bible study, missions, tradition, and understanding of Christianity’s fundamental doctrines. This new edition includes a study guide with discussion questions, action points, recommended reading, and more.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Spirituality, Religion

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2010

About the author

Fred Sanders is professor of theology at Biola University's Torrey Honors College.

Reviews

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful look at the trinity and how it is the foundation and life of the gospel. it's a bit dense in parts, but that should be expected from a book on the trinity. what was truly remarkable was how practical the imp l locations were for a Christian.

[Becky Pliego · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that will make you love even more the Trinity, and will help you understand better how we, Christians, should embrace this cardinal doctrine of our faith which is the fullness of God and the gospel we believe and proclaim.

[Toby Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sanders writes a book on the doctrine of the Trinity seeking to show that the experience of every Christian is Trinitarian whether we know it or not. He encourages us to explore the deep things of God rather than succumbing to what C.S. Lewis calls the “recurrent temptation to... only dabble and splash, careful not to get out of my depth” (p.239).

Sanders spends the majority of his time looking at more popular evangelical writers from church history (Susanna Wesley, Oswald Chambers, Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis etc) to show how thoroughly trinitarian their thinking and writing was. He seems to be defending evangelicalism from the charge that we’ve ignored the trinity. He proves that this is not the case.

I found the book a bit tedious and I got bogged down in places and lacked the desire to finish the book. I felt the sections in the book when Sanders was interacting with evangelical authors did not really advance his teaching on the trinity, though it did provide proof that evangelicals historically have made much of the trinity. At many times I wrote in the margin, “What is the significance of this?” I felt that a lot was asserted about the trinity, but there wasn’t much explanation of the significance of the ideas presented. One clear exception was in the final chapter on prayer and Sanders’ commentary on C.S. Lewis’ “mere trinitarianism”. This was excellent and was a fitting summary of Sanders overall message in the book, as Lewis shows the the trinity is not a problem to be solved but the way we experience God.

Other highlights were Sanders’ definition of modalism as moodalism. The heresy that God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is God with three “moods”.

While the book was helpful at points, I found Michael Reeves’ book, “Delighting in the Trinity” a more helpful introduction. Reeves manages to go deep and remain accessible. He writes beautifully and affectively about God. Bruce Ware’s book on the trinity is also a helpful introduction. He defines the persons of the trinity in their relation to each other. So, God the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus who loves and delights in all his Son is and does. Likewise, the Son is the Son of the Father who delights in bringing his Father glory by obeying his will in all things. Ware unlocked for me a lot of the teaching on the trinity in the gospel of John.

For those looking to explore the doctrine in greater depth, Sanders book has a place alongside Robert Letham's, “The Holy Trinity”.

[Tim Michiemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8 Stars

This book is probably the best book that I have ever read on the Trinity. Sanders presents the doctrine of the Trinity in a practical and life altering way. His main premise is the Evangelical theology is already replete with the doctrine of the Trinity; we simply need to see how it all connects to the Trinity in order to delve into the "deep things of God." The central "deep thing of God" being that the doctrine of the Trinity IS the doctrine of salvation. Sanders excellently shows us how the Trinity is not some dry logical formulation, but that the doctrine of the Trinity is life! He shows this most clearly in his last chapter on the doctrine of the Trinity and prayer (probably his best chapter). In this final chapter Sanders helps us to see that our prayer lives cannot be understood apart from the Trinity. Whenever we pray we pray to God, through the Son, by the Spirit. We cannot enjoy this privilege as Christians unless we have the doctrine of the Trinity. I highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles to see the practicality of the doctrine of the Trinity; it is accessible, challenging and God glorifying!

[Christopher Hile · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Trinity and gospel have the same shape. This is because the good news of salvation is ultimately that God opens his Trinitarian life to us. Every other blessing is either a preparation for that or a result of it, but the thing itself is God’s graciously taking us into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be our salvation.” (198)

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Trinity is the gospel. Sanders unpacks that truth in a wonderful way. The weakest spot was Sanders quoting Andrew Louth, an Eastern Orthodox priest, who elevates church liturgy and tradition above God's word. The quotes from Louth are actually pretty silly. So it is kind of strange that Sanders used Louth in this book. The rest of the book is wonderful. Sanders clearly shows how Evangelicals have a rich history of Trinitarian theology. I also appreciated the hymns that Sanders quoted.

[Bonnie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book extremely helpful in understanding the relationship of the doctrine of the Trinity to prayer. Its layout is straightforward, its points decisive and its application practical. I look forward to a reread in the near future.

[David J. Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. I feel like I have eaten a little too much of a great meal. Will be returning to this again and again.

[Shane Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone seriously interested in exploring the importance of the Trinity and its impact on everyday Christian living. Sanders does an excellent job of leading us into the deep things of God and the Gospel.

[Levi Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Huge fan. Great clarity in writing style, and excellent content.

[Ryan Born · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I have read in a long time. Must read for a Christian. Personal revival.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems like this book should actually be subtitled: “how the doctrine of the Trinity just reaffirms everything Evangelicals already believe, without changing anything”

Nothing Sanders says is wrong per se, taken from the history of Trinitarian interpretation and reflection. But where is the challenge and transformation of thought and belief? What does the Trinity have to say about creation, or time? Spirituality and religious traditions throughout history? Individuality and capitalistic economics? Gender and identity? The nature of the church? Sadly, all these topics are missing from this treatment, which I found frustrating.

The Trinity, as part of the strange and transformative reality of God, has the potential to change everything - it just needs to go a lot deeper, in different ways, than what Sanders does here.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author readily communicates his enthusiasm for this ancient, necessary doctrine. Without the Trinity nothing in the New Testament would make sense. Doctor Sanders must obviously tread a narrow line to win and keep his Evangelical readers' trust. He cannot get too philosophical or refer too often to the liturgical traditions of Christianity. He limits himself to the Bible, with some use of the Old Testament, and to pre-modern Evangelical theologians. He would have made his case stronger had he recalled the Arian heresy and it's denigration of Jesus to second-class deity. What question does that troublesome word, Trinity, answer?
From my own Roman Catholic perspective the only real shortcoming of this book is the failure to call for Church unity. Can the triune God of Love abide a divided Church? Can Jesus' prayer that all be one be ignored? Can One God of Three Persons inspire a society of individualists to surrender their isolations and seek the common good? Or is this Beauty only meant to inspire lonely biblicists to reread their particular, disparate versions of the Truth?
Surely the Father who has uttered the perfect word of love and the Son who has poured himself out in love inspire us to make every effort to set aside our divisive opinions and live in Communion with each other. Married men and women will create safe home for their children and never breathe a word of divorce.
I hope readers of this warm, inviting book will be inspired to read and study the history of our Godly religion and its deep, beautiful and challenging mysteries. The world will be a better, safer place when they do.

[Adam Shields · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short Review: Sanders is trying to show an Evangelical audience how and why the Trinity is important to Evangelical Theology by quoting Evangelicals. The weakness of the book is the editorial decision to focus on Evangelical sources. There are good things here, but because I am trying to focus on depth of thinking about the Trinity it was frustrating for me. It is like he is trying to show importance of Soccer to the world of sports by only looking at how Soccer has been thought about in the US since 1996.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/deep-things-of-god/#

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would highly recommend this book. Fred Sanders doesn't try to dumb down the Trinity by giving us a simple analogy. Rather, he explains that we, as evangelicals, already know about the Trinity because it is implied in all that we do. He quotes and follows C.S. Lewis' lead by explaining that we don't so much understand the Trinity as we understand everything else by the Trinity.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. More later.

[Michael Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great works regarding the true value of the conservative evangelical theological framework. Truly wonderful.

[Neil Kruger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanders attempts to revive Trinitarian theology in the evangelical church. If people would consider his reflections then he may very well be successful. Sanders tries to show that Trinitarian belief and practice should be properly basic (or tacit) for evangelicals - our history supports this claim.

By drawing upon a rich evangelical heritage by mining the reflections of folks such as Schaeffer and Lewis, Sanders reflects on the Trinity by showing that it is not only a biblically supported and logically inferred doctrine, but that it actually matters for Christian life. In fact it is the foundation for Christian life.

Sanders reflects on the Trinity in some areas of basic Christian spirituality:
- The doctrine of God (who God is as three united persons within Himself)
- The history and economy of salvation (how the persons of the Trinity accomplish and apply our salvation)
- The reality of scripture
- The practice of prayer (participating in an already existing Trinitarian conversation)

The book is filled with helpful insights and distinctions (such as grace being the giving of God of Himself and salvation being the life of God entering our lives).

All-in-all a very helpful book, but because it is quite wordy at times I would most likely not recommend this as the book to be used as an entry into Trinitarian thinking and contemplation.

[Rachel Winkler · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Forget the Trinity and you forget why we do what we do; you forget who we are as gospel Christians; you forget how we got to be like we are.”

I cannot recommend this book more highly!

Sanders approaches the doctrine of the Trinity from a different angle than other books I’ve read — rather than explaining the doctrines as something new, he emphasizes that everything we do and are as Christians is already Trinitarian because this is Who our God is. Sanders also keeps the practical implications of the Trinity at the forefront of his writing, always pointing out why it matters that we seek to understand more deeply the Trinitarianism we already implicitly believe and which has saved us.

This book is wonderful and so encouraging, as it not only points the reader continually to gaze upon the beauty and glory of the Triune God, but to think deeply about why this matters and how it enriches our spiritual life in reading the Word and in prayer.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent intermediate level introduction to the doctrine of the trinity. A bit imprecise in some parts (hence the 4 stars rather than 5), but still really good and worth a read!

[Cale Fauver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the Trinity, the gospel, and the Christian life. Very readable and biblical.

[Cole DeVido · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Christian books I’ve read of recent. Sanders diagnoses how evangelicals have become shallow in seeing God as Trinity. He lays out how the gospel is in fact the Trinitarian life of God revealing itself and inviting us in. Would recommend!

[Christina Patches · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It gives an explanation of the Trinity that is more than dry textbook answers. One of the important points in the book is that the Trinity is bound up in our Christian experience. It is a not a totally foreign idea devoid of all practical import for the Christian.

[Edwin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This helpfulness of this book lies in its repeated refrain that, for the most part, evangelical Christianity _already_ functions in a Trinitarian environment. The real need is to be attuned to that environment, and to embrace and exult in it.

At times I felt awakened to see the Trinitarian nature of God in Scripture, salvation, and especially prayer. So much of the three-person-ness of God is latent and we skim over it without realizing. Sanders has to devote an entire chapter to this "tacit knowledge" just to explain the phenomenon of knowing about God without being able to explain it.

The book is not _easy_ reading. At one point he quotes Tyndale in the original middle English, which immediately raises the level of inaccessibility. However, the book is not written at the academic level either. It is clear and simple enough that any Christian with eagerness and a little effort can begin to see the ramifications of the Triune world they've been born into.

[Flynn Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction for the doctrine of the Trinity, as well as demonstrating its centrality to evangelicalism. Sanders does a good job of drawing from a vast amount of evangelical figures in order to show that the gospel of evangelicalism has always been thoroughly Trinitarian, whether it is acknowledged or not. Therefore, he urges modern evangelicals to return to a rich understanding of the Trinity so that the message they proclaim is firmly planted upon the true nature of the gospel which is that the Father has sent His Son for our redemption and His Spirit to make it a reality in our lives, bringing us into the love that has been within Himself since eternity past.

[Jeremy Fritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very helpful book for me. Especially after having read Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity a couple of weeks ago.

Sanders shows how a tacit trinitarianism is pervasive in the modern evangelical circles, and makes a case for turning that into a more explicit trinitarianism. My favorite part was probably when he gets into how the Trinity is inherently central to the Gospel. Sanders also did an overall excellent job of making a case for why the Trinity matters.

[Dominic Venuso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good popular-level introduction to the Trinity. It is especially helpful for making us aware of the trinitarian reality we already experience as ordinary Christians. Our experience of, and belief in, the Trinity is often better than our articulation of it.

For those already interested in theology reading and already curious about digging deeper into the doctrine, Sanders' The Triune God is worth reading.

[raffaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded to 4. Sanders has a lot of good and important things to say, but unfortunately his style is kind of dry and boring. The Trinity is a topic I find really interesting so I wasn't bothered too much by this, but if you aren't already interested it'll be slow going.

[Rusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get help thinking about the Trinity from this little book and you will never think in the same terms again. Very true to it's title. Awesome read.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity. The practical impact of the Biblical teaching on the Triune nature of God is made clear here.