Ouweneel’s “most difficult problems” (II)

Originally posted on June 02, 2007 – by Andre Piet

the Trinity

The Trinity of God is number one among “the most difficult problems,” according to Ouweneel. One essence, three persons—that’s how the doctrine is defined. But since no one is able to explain the difference between an essence and a person, such a definition ultimately means nothing in practice. That becomes clear as well, because Ouweneel argues that anyone who tries to make the Trinity understandable either falls into tritheism (= three-god religion) or into modalism (three “roles” or manifestations of one person). Ouweneel writes:

In contrast to tritheism, we emphasize that the three are not separated, not autonomous, not independent of one another, but they are one Deity, with one will, one feeling, one thinking, one self-consciousness.

And then:

In contrast to modalism, we emphasize that these three are truly ‘persons,’ not merely modes of manifestation. (…) despite this unity, each of the three ‘persons’ sees the other two as ‘others’ and distinguishes Himself from the others as an ‘I’ over against a ‘You’.

So the three have one will, one feeling, one thinking, one self-consciousness—and yet are truly distinct ‘persons.’
What is this even about??

Realize what a hopeless situation this is. According to the classical view, the Bible gives no answer to the most fundamental question—namely, who or what God is! It took over three centuries of conflict and debate to finally arrive at a clever (?) formula. But it’s a formula that clearly bears all the marks of pure human invention: it is illogical, it confuses, it explains nothing, and it makes distinctions that are completely foreign to Scripture (consider, for instance, the difference between ‘essence’ and ‘person’).

Is there a way out? Absolutely! In 1975 Ouweneel wrote (in What Is Sound Bible Study?, p. 25):

Sound Bible study is safe Bible study, and it is safe when it stays as close as possible to Scripture and uses only the terminology of Scripture…

And so it is!! When we apply this golden rule to our subject, we can establish the following directly from Scripture:

1. There is one God, the Father (1 Cor. 8:6; John 17:3);
2. No one has ever seen God. God is the invisible One (John 1:18; Col. 1:16);
3. Nineteen times Scripture speaks of “God the Father.” Roughly fifty times we read of “the Son of God.” Not once do we find the expression “God the Son”;
4. The Son of God is the Image of the invisible God. He is God’s Impress, His Logo (Gr. logos), the Form of God. Whoever has seen Him has seen the Father (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; John 1:1; Phil. 2:6; John 14:9);
5. The Son of God is the Firstborn of every creature, the beginning of God’s creation (Col. 1:16; Rev. 3:14);
6. Just as the spirit of a man is not a different person than the man himself, so also God’s spirit is not someone other than God Himself. God is spirit (1 Cor. 2:11; John 4:24).

All the above statements are drawn directly from Scripture. No word needs to be invented, and no formula devised. Everything here is crystal clear. The same applies to the many passages in which the Son is presented as God. Because the Son is God’s Image, such image-language is exactly what we should expect!

By staying so close to the Bible and using only the terminology of Scripture, we have, in one stroke, also resolved number two of Ouweneel’s “most difficult problems” (> the two natures of Christ)! Well, “resolved”… it doesn’t even exist. As soon as we understand that the Son of God is presented as God in image-language, we are also freed from the impossible dilemma of how Someone can be both God and man—and thus both unlimited and limited at the same time.

How is it, then, that the New Testament gives no attention whatsoever to these kinds of dilemmas? Could it be because they simply didn’t exist for the writers of the NT?! Could it be because, in the time of the NT, the Shema was still daily before their eyes and ringing in their ears?
One God, one God, one God…

In the next weblog: attention to the third “most difficult problem”: on God’s counsel and human responsibility.

To be continued…

Delen: