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Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics #4
The Triunity of God, Volume 4
The theology of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is often misrepresented in church histories and scholarly treatments. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics examines how specific doctrines of these centuries developed and their influence in shaping what we recognize today as the Protestant church. In this final volume of this landmark achievement, Richard Muller examines the triunity of God.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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113 people want to read
About the author
Richard A. Muller
20 books43 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Richard A. Muller (PhD, Duke University) is P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the author of numerous books, including The Unaccommodated Calvin and Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. He also edits the Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought series.
Richard A. Muller (PhD, Duke University) is P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the author of numerous books, including The Unaccommodated Calvin and Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. He also edits the Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought series.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 2, 2023
A smashing conclusion to a powerful and useful set of historical theology. Probably the most significant (and influential) reading I’ve done all year.
December 30, 2019
The fourth and final volume in this marvelous work, this focus on the Trinity certainly stretched my mind and enflamed my heart for our triune God.
I found this volume to be --with the possible exception of the first volume -- the most important volume of the four given today's issues in the church. As usual, Muller provides a valuable and penetrating historical analysis of the doctrine of the Trinity, showing that many of the new formulations of today are nothing less than a rehashing of old heresies.
But what I found most valuable was the time and attention he gave to the reformed hermeneutic and the role it played (plays) in the doctrine of the Trinity. It seems as though almost every heresy the church has faced regarding the Trinity comes with the cry of 'scripture alone' and/or a call to return to a 'literal' hermeneutic. How did the reformers respond to such challenges? Muller traces this out in great detail, and it ought to serve as a warning for us in our day as well.
Personally, I find the doctrine of the Trinity to be the most warm, devotional, and practical of any Christian doctrine. This volume stirred me deeply --even as difficult as some sections were to get my mind around. It is a fitting conclusion to an invaluable series. Highly recommended.
I found this volume to be --with the possible exception of the first volume -- the most important volume of the four given today's issues in the church. As usual, Muller provides a valuable and penetrating historical analysis of the doctrine of the Trinity, showing that many of the new formulations of today are nothing less than a rehashing of old heresies.
But what I found most valuable was the time and attention he gave to the reformed hermeneutic and the role it played (plays) in the doctrine of the Trinity. It seems as though almost every heresy the church has faced regarding the Trinity comes with the cry of 'scripture alone' and/or a call to return to a 'literal' hermeneutic. How did the reformers respond to such challenges? Muller traces this out in great detail, and it ought to serve as a warning for us in our day as well.
Personally, I find the doctrine of the Trinity to be the most warm, devotional, and practical of any Christian doctrine. This volume stirred me deeply --even as difficult as some sections were to get my mind around. It is a fitting conclusion to an invaluable series. Highly recommended.
December 2, 2023
Terrific.
July 6, 2018
Muller, Richard. The Triunity of God. Post Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, volume 4. Grand Rapids: MI, Baker Academic.
Given that there aren't many specifically Reformed constructions of Trinitarianism, I would say that this book fills a woeful lacuna. However, since it has long remained out of print, it doesn't (and don't tell me the age-old narrative that Baker "soon plans to republish it"). Nevertheless, as JI Packer said of Herman Witsius, this book is mind-forming. See the notes here.
Muller begins in the Middle Ages with Boethius's classic definitions. The problem with Boethuis’s definition of person: The definition ultimately poses all manner of problems for the doctrines of Trinity and Christ when the concept of individual substance is taken to indicate a unique entity essentially distinct from other similar entities” (Muller 27).
Latin authors preferred to speak of the Father as principium rather than cause, unlike the Greeks. An efficient cause, for example, is perceived of as a different substance than its effects (Muller 47)! Aquinas’s denial of real distinction is a denial of a substantial distinction. He wants to deny that any distinction that would make the essence one “thing” and the “persons” other “things.”
Structure of the Book
Clarifying medieval discussions on filioque: all Westerns agreed that the Spirit proceeded from Father and Son as from one principia. Causal language was eventually abandoned, for it implied the Son/Spirit to be of a different substance (effects are not the same substance as causes). Further, and right before the Reformation, the Trinitarian life ad intra was lining up with the work ad extra (Muller 59).
The Reformation forced thinkers to restate the doctrine of the Trinity anew. Advances in historical criticism and typology meant that some exegesis needed revisiting. Muller notes three basic issues: the inheritance of Patristic vocabulary, renewed exegetical battles against the Socinians, and a new philosophical vocabulary (62).
Objection: does essential identity demand personal identiy? The Reformed generally respond that this is true for finite essences (Muller 211). The orthodox are slowly moving away from the old Cappadocian argument of three men having the essence of manness. The problem is that this moves from “genus (man” to “Genus (God)”, yet God isn’t a genus.
Nor is it a quaternity: the three persons plus the one essence. Persons and essence are not distinct as a thing (res).
Exegetical Issues and Trajectories
The Reformers assumed a hermeneutic of movement from shadow and promise to fulfillment (214).
Eternal decree and election of Christ. God works either by his decree or the execution of it (Perkins). As the Reformed saw that this was Trinitarian, they began to see the covenant of redemption.
The order of the persons ad intra in the opera personalia is mirrored ad extra in the opera appropriata (Muller 268). These are modes of operation contributing to the ultimately undivided work of the Godhead ad extra. The works of the Son and Spirit terminate on their persons. By terminate we mean the terminus is paired with a fundamentum. This pair means a relation of acts bringing about relations (268). The fundamentum is the source; the terminus is the conclusion of the action constituting the relation.
Aseity of the Son
The issue: Calvin denies explicitly that the Son is from the Father “with respect to his eternal essence” (Muller 325). The Son is generated per Sonship, not divinity.
However, Ursinus: the essence is absolute and communicable. The person is relative and incommunicable.
Arminius rejected Calvin’s view, insisting that “Christ, as God, has both his sonship and his essence by generation” (329).
Conclusion
This is not to say that every single construction is satisfactory. However, the Reformed orthodox did provide a robust Trinitarian framework that avoids most of the difficulties and charges labeled at scholasticism.
Given that there aren't many specifically Reformed constructions of Trinitarianism, I would say that this book fills a woeful lacuna. However, since it has long remained out of print, it doesn't (and don't tell me the age-old narrative that Baker "soon plans to republish it"). Nevertheless, as JI Packer said of Herman Witsius, this book is mind-forming. See the notes here.
Muller begins in the Middle Ages with Boethius's classic definitions. The problem with Boethuis’s definition of person: The definition ultimately poses all manner of problems for the doctrines of Trinity and Christ when the concept of individual substance is taken to indicate a unique entity essentially distinct from other similar entities” (Muller 27).
Latin authors preferred to speak of the Father as principium rather than cause, unlike the Greeks. An efficient cause, for example, is perceived of as a different substance than its effects (Muller 47)! Aquinas’s denial of real distinction is a denial of a substantial distinction. He wants to deny that any distinction that would make the essence one “thing” and the “persons” other “things.”
Structure of the Book
Clarifying medieval discussions on filioque: all Westerns agreed that the Spirit proceeded from Father and Son as from one principia. Causal language was eventually abandoned, for it implied the Son/Spirit to be of a different substance (effects are not the same substance as causes). Further, and right before the Reformation, the Trinitarian life ad intra was lining up with the work ad extra (Muller 59).
The Reformation forced thinkers to restate the doctrine of the Trinity anew. Advances in historical criticism and typology meant that some exegesis needed revisiting. Muller notes three basic issues: the inheritance of Patristic vocabulary, renewed exegetical battles against the Socinians, and a new philosophical vocabulary (62).
Objection: does essential identity demand personal identiy? The Reformed generally respond that this is true for finite essences (Muller 211). The orthodox are slowly moving away from the old Cappadocian argument of three men having the essence of manness. The problem is that this moves from “genus (man” to “Genus (God)”, yet God isn’t a genus.
Nor is it a quaternity: the three persons plus the one essence. Persons and essence are not distinct as a thing (res).
Exegetical Issues and Trajectories
The Reformers assumed a hermeneutic of movement from shadow and promise to fulfillment (214).
Eternal decree and election of Christ. God works either by his decree or the execution of it (Perkins). As the Reformed saw that this was Trinitarian, they began to see the covenant of redemption.
The order of the persons ad intra in the opera personalia is mirrored ad extra in the opera appropriata (Muller 268). These are modes of operation contributing to the ultimately undivided work of the Godhead ad extra. The works of the Son and Spirit terminate on their persons. By terminate we mean the terminus is paired with a fundamentum. This pair means a relation of acts bringing about relations (268). The fundamentum is the source; the terminus is the conclusion of the action constituting the relation.
Aseity of the Son
The issue: Calvin denies explicitly that the Son is from the Father “with respect to his eternal essence” (Muller 325). The Son is generated per Sonship, not divinity.
However, Ursinus: the essence is absolute and communicable. The person is relative and incommunicable.
Arminius rejected Calvin’s view, insisting that “Christ, as God, has both his sonship and his essence by generation” (329).
Conclusion
This is not to say that every single construction is satisfactory. However, the Reformed orthodox did provide a robust Trinitarian framework that avoids most of the difficulties and charges labeled at scholasticism.
December 29, 2023
This is perhaps the most straightforward of Muller's four volumes, given that there's a stronger stream of continuity between the Reformed orthodox on the person and deity of the Father, Son, and Spirit than on many of the subjects covered in the previous three installments. Two great takeaways from this volume come to mind:
First, Muller situates the topic of God's triunity within the debates at the time with anti-trinitarians such as Socinus and his followers, many of the Remonstrants, and quite a few English theologians. This context sheds light on various subcontroversies, including battles over the text of 1 John 5:7 and 1 Timothy 3:16.
Second, he explicates well the less-frequently-discussed issue of the relation between the divine persons and the divine substance. This discussion shows the importance of certain trinitarian distinctions (e.g., the persons are three modes of subsistence; the Father as sole principium of the persons) to actually maintaining trinitarianism over against tritheism or quaternitarianism. Although Muller doesn't apply these points to modern debates over social trinitarian models or EFS and ERAS, they are extremely applicable.
The book ends with a very helpful concluding chapter that ties up all the primary conclusions into a nice bow. I hear tell Muller's been working on another four volumes. If that's true (and I think I have it on good authority), I look forward to seeing them.
First, Muller situates the topic of God's triunity within the debates at the time with anti-trinitarians such as Socinus and his followers, many of the Remonstrants, and quite a few English theologians. This context sheds light on various subcontroversies, including battles over the text of 1 John 5:7 and 1 Timothy 3:16.
Second, he explicates well the less-frequently-discussed issue of the relation between the divine persons and the divine substance. This discussion shows the importance of certain trinitarian distinctions (e.g., the persons are three modes of subsistence; the Father as sole principium of the persons) to actually maintaining trinitarianism over against tritheism or quaternitarianism. Although Muller doesn't apply these points to modern debates over social trinitarian models or EFS and ERAS, they are extremely applicable.
The book ends with a very helpful concluding chapter that ties up all the primary conclusions into a nice bow. I hear tell Muller's been working on another four volumes. If that's true (and I think I have it on good authority), I look forward to seeing them.
December 10, 2020
I have been recommended this work by several seminary professors. This is not an easy read and although there are massive amounts of good historical and theological information to be found within I would not suggest this to anyone for a casual read. This is the 4th of 4 volumes and I am happy to have completed the journey. Again, this work is a grind to get through, but I have learned much through Muller's contribution. For reformed Pastors, historians and theologians I would definitely recommend this work for your library. It is a great reference resource, but it is not for casual reading.
June 2, 2021
Прегледах книгата на доста бързи обороти понеже го изпозлвах като справочник, в който търсех определени теми.
Впечатлението ми е много добро. Написан е едновременно много ерудирано и ясно и достъпно за четене.
Впечатлението ми е много добро. Написан е едновременно много ерудирано и ясно и достъпно за четене.
January 24, 2023
Very nicely done.
The bibliography itself is over 120 pages long, which is nice for bumping up my page count total :).
The bibliography itself is over 120 pages long, which is nice for bumping up my page count total :).
May 14, 2024
This book made me want to pick up and read all the seventeenth century reformed orthodox at the same time.
I don’t think I appreciated the diversity of polemics taken on by post-reformation reformed orthodoxy before reading Muller. These guys were going toe to toe with Tridentine Catholics, Socinians, Arminians, anabaptists, rationalists, all at the same time. That’s awesome.
I don’t think I appreciated the diversity of polemics taken on by post-reformation reformed orthodoxy before reading Muller. These guys were going toe to toe with Tridentine Catholics, Socinians, Arminians, anabaptists, rationalists, all at the same time. That’s awesome.
May 8, 2014
This is an incredible 4 volume series and this last volume on the Trinity is really strong. Immensely detailed, thorough and full of interest.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews