Confessing the Triune God

DANIEL CASTELO

CONFESSING THE TRIUNE GOD

Wesleyan Doctrine Series 3

Copyright © 2014 Daniel Castelo. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Cascade Books

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

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isbn 13: 978-1-62032-504-9

Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Castelo, Daniel, 1978–

Confessing the triune God / Daniel Castelo.

xviii + 134 p. ; 23 cm. —Includes bibliographical references.

Wesleyan Doctrine Series 3

isbn 13: 978-1-62032-504-9

1. Theology, Doctrinal. 2. Christian life. I. Title. II. Series.

BT75.2 .C378 2014

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Higher Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Wesleyan Doctrine Series

The Wesleyan Doctrine Series seeks to reintroduce Christians in the Wesleyan tradition to the beauty of doctrine. The volumes in the series draw on the key sources for Wesleyan teaching: Scripture, Liturgy, Hymnody, the General Rules, the Articles of Religion and various Confessions. In this sense, it seeks to be distinctively Wesleyan. But it does this with a profound interest and respect for the unity and catholicity of Christ’s body, the church, which is also distinctly Wesleyan. For this reason, the series supplements the Wesleyan tradition with the gifts of the church catholic, ancient, and contemporary. The Wesleyan tradition cannot survive without a genuine “Catholic Spirit.” These volumes are intended for laity who have a holy desire to understand the faith they received at their baptism.

Editors:

Randy Cooper

Andrew Kinsey

D. Brent Laytham

D. Stephen Long

To my colleagues

at the School of Theology

at Seattle Pacific University and Seminary

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

one Coming to Terms with the Christian God

two Trinitarianism as a Mechanism of Coherence

three Is Trinitarianism Biblical?

four The Tradition of Early Trinitarian Thought

five Imagining and Speaking the Trinity

six Theology and Economy

seven Encountering and Being Transformed by the Trinitarian Mystery

eight Ordering a Heavenly Society

nine The Praise of the Saints

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Iwish to express my thanks to Prof. D. Stephen Long for the invitation to contribute to the “Wesleyan Doctrine” Series. Few people love the church and academy with heartfelt rigor the way Steve does, and it has been a pleasure working alongside him in ventures that attempt to help the church be more intentionally theological and the academy more intentionally ecclesial.

I wrote this book alongside the task of teaching a class on the Trinity to my undergraduate ...