The Message of the Trinity: Life in God

The Trinity is perhaps the most shrouded message of the Scriptures. On its surface it defies logic: How can three be one? A scrupulous search of the Bible will not yield an explicit reference. Yet Christian creeds have affirmed for centuries that God is triune and is identified as such by the Scriptures. We are tempted by the mystery of the Trinity to search for superficially satisfactory calculations, to abandon all logic in our declaration of triune faith, or to give up on the whole enterprise altogether. And yet, Brian Edgar argues, when properly understood "the Trinity is as essential for theology as bones are for a body. The uniqueness of Christianity emerges entirely from it, and without it everything which is truly Christian disappears." In The Message of the Trinity he attaches each muscle and sinew of Scripture to the Trinity, showing how it weaves the mysterious nature of God together throughout the biblical witness. Beyond the Bible, the Trinity lends meaning to the very nature of creation, accounting for the diversity, richness and openness of the world, and dealing with the sin and suffering that beset it. The triune God is there in the Scriptures for us to see, as our vision is aided by our faith. Once our eyes are trained everything else becomes much clearer.

Brian Edgar is director of theology and public policy for the Australian Evangelical Alliance.