Divine Simplicity: A Biblical and Trinitarian Account

Emerging Scholars

by Jordan P. Barrett

The Christian church has consistently confessed that the triune God of the gospel is simple and therefore beyond composition. The various divine attributes do not represent parts of God that, when combined, make up God‘s nature. However, what was once part of the theological tradition from Irenaeus to Jonathan Edwards can now be said to have nothing to do with Christian theology.Divine Simplicity engages the recent critics and addresses one of their major concerns: that the doctrine of divine simplicity is not a biblical teaching. By analyzing the use of Scripture by key theologians from the early church to Karl Barth, Barrett finds that divine simplicity developed in order to respond to theological errors (e.g., Eunomianism) and to avoid misreading Scripture. Through close attention to Scripture, the work also argues that divine simplicity has two biblical roots: the names of God and the indivisible operations of the Trinity ad extra. After clarifying its biblical origins, the volume then explains how divine simplicity can be rearticulated by following a formal analogy from the doctrine of the Trinity--the analogia diversitatis (analogy of diversity)--in which the divine attributes are identical to the divine essence but are not identical to each other.

Genres: Theology

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2017

Reviews

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very refreshing, readable work. Barrett surveys the doctrine of divine simplicity throughout the church and concludes with two powerful chapters in which he argues for divine simplicity within an explicitly Trinitarian and Biblical framework. He first surveys the divine name(s) in Scripture in relationship to the divine nature (and the persons of the Trinity). He then pairs his findings with a biblical account of the doctrine of inseparable operations. In his concluding chapter he frames his thesis alongside other conceptions of divine simplicity and argues that the unity and diversity within the doctrine of the Trinity ought to be analogously informative for how to conceive of the unity and diversity of divine perfections within the doctrine of divine simplicity.

The only reason why I didn't give this work 5 stars is that it felt much like two books. The historical survey did not play a huge role in the later two chapters; Barrett wasn't so much contrasting what he had to say with the previous voices of his survey. This made it feel like you were reading two good books: one on the historical survey of divine simplicity, and the other on a biblical, systematic-theological account of the doctrine. Both books were awesome though, so I'm not complaining.

[Wyatt Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jordan Barrett attempts to conceive of simplicity according to biblical patterns and Trinitarian theology. He does so through the names of God in Scripture as well as the doctrine of indivisible operations ad extra.

So the attributes or perfections of God find distinction like the Trinity does in its Persons. In his view, the attributes are identical to essence but not each other. He hopes to respond to the charge that simplicity collapses distinctions in God. He may do so.

Now, I am not yet convinced of his proposal. But it definitely provides food for thought. I think his rejection of Aquinas's virtual distinctions may need reappraisal. Likely, he needed to show how his view advanced and renewed the tradition. Yet his engagement of Thomas was light, and it left me wondering if he did not fully grasp or at least appreciate the virtual distinctions of Thomas.

I am not sure. That's my final feeling regarding this work. Not sure.

It is worth reading. I love that he returns to the Bible and the names of God for the basis of simplicity. I love that he lets the Trinity guide theology since it truly is the king that reigns over all items of theology.

So read to learn. I'll likely return to his idea in the future.

[Michael Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a very helpful survey of the doctrine up through Barth. Barrett argues the divine names and inseparable operations substantiate the grounds for simplicity; in other words, he derives from revelation and the trinity. He also develops a doxological principle: that our worship of God is predicated on God being self-same with his attributes, and if that’s not the case then we’re guilty of idolatry. This kind of argument is one of the stronger arguments for simplicity, in my opinion.

[Aaron Shafovaloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contains a helpful historical overview of the doctrine of divine simplicity. Makes a Biblical argument for simplicity from the names of God and inseparable operations.

"If God is praised for being holy, but his holiness is something other than God himself, or he is holy according to a standard other than himself, then something other than God is being praised." (Jordan Barrett)

Makes the case that God's attributes need not be collapsed as concepts. Notes that God has many non-identical relative names that don’t compromise simplicity. To Barrett this serves as precedent for affirming many aspectual or idiosyncratic non-identical names (not identical with each other) of God’s attributes.

I read the edition available on ProQuest.