Within the Reformed
tradition, there have been a number of works that have been devoted to the
defense of the doctrine of the Trinity. Some of this contributions have been
monographs, some have been articles/essays, and number as chapters in larger
works. While some modern Reformed folk have opted to follow John Calvin in
distancing themselves from certain aspects of Nicene Trinitarianism (e.g. the
Son of God being begotten from the essence and person of the Father, and
eternal generation), most Reformed theologians have attempted to defend Augustinian/Latin/Western
Trinitarianism while maintaining that the original Nicene Creed is in full
support of this view. IMO, the most comprehensive defense of this particular
trajectory of Trinitarian thought came via the pen of W.G.T Shedd.
Shedd, in the first volume
of his Dogmatic Theology (first edition 1889), devotes 84 pages to the
topic "Trinity in Unity" (chapter 4, pp. 249-333). Given Shedd's
lucid style of writing, he was able to pack more solid material into those 84
pages than others have attempted to accomplish in hundreds of pages. Shedd's
treatment in it's scope and depth is probably without equal, but in the end,
falls short—this is not due to any lacking in Shedd's ability and effort, but
rather, due to what Shedd was attempting to defend—i.e. the indefensible.
Now, what precisely in his
cogent defense was indefensible? IMO, two key aspects which are foundational to
Augustinian/Latin/Western Trinitarianism (defended by Shedd), are
indefensible: first, the One God of the Bible and early catholic tradition is
the Godhead/Trinity; and second, the begotteness of the Son of God is hypostatical
(i.e. personal) only. The first of these two aspects directly involves the
philosophical concept of absolute divine simplicity. The second aspect has its
roots in thought of John Calvin, but is complicated by Shedd in his attempt to
defend it while at the same defending the original language of the Nicene Creed
of 325. This attempt is perhaps Shedd's weakest proposition for he speaks of
the "communication" of the entire/full divine essence to the Son from
the Father while at the same time denying that the Son's essence is begotten
from the Father's essence !!!
Rather than trying to
reproduce Shedd's extensive contribution through my own feeble efforts, I would
instead like to urge those interested in this subject to read the entire
treatment for themselves. An excellent PDF copy is available online for reading
and/or downloading (for free):
And
for those who really want to 'dig deep' into this topic, Shedd has a chapter in
his earlier work, History of Christian Doctrine, which he draws from in
his later work, that is, of course, directly related:
History
of Christian Doctrine - Volume I (see Chapter III, pages 306-375)
Looking
forward to some extensive dialogue...
Grace
and peace,
