SIMPLY TRINITY

THE UNMANIPULATED FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT

MATTHEW BARRETT

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2021 by Matthew Barrett

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Barrett, Matthew, 1982– author.

Title: Simply Trinity : the unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit / Matthew Barrett.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, [2021]

Identifiers: LCCN 2020035463 | ISBN 9781540900074 (paperback) | ISBN 9781540901521 (casebound)

Subjects: LCSH: Trinity.

Classification: LCC BT111.3 .B355 2021 | DDC 231/.044—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035463

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016

Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Italics added to Scripture quotations reflect the author’s emphasis.

TO ELIZABETH.

Your resilience is like a budding gerbera daisy after the rain.

The sun shines bright and so do you.

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge

in the shadow of your wings.…

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light do we see light.” (Psalm 36:7, 9)

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Scott R. Swain

1. Trinity Drift

Part 1: How Did We Drift Away?

2. Can We Trust the God of Our Fathers? Retrieving Biblical Orthodoxy

3. Since When Did the Trinity Get Social? The Manipulated Trinity

Part 2: How Do We Find Our Way Home?

4. How Does God Reveal Himself as Trinity? Eternity and the Mystery of the Gospel

5. Why Must God Be One to Be Three? Simply Trinity

6. Is the Son Begotten from the Father? Paternity and Filiation, Part 1

7. Is Eternal Generation Central to the Gospel? Paternity and Filiation, Part 2

8. Is the Son Eternally Subordinate to the Father? A Son Worthy of Worship

9. Is the Spirit Spirated? Spiration

10. Do Father, Son, and Spirit Work Inseparably? Communion with the Indivisible Trinity

Conclusion

Glossary

Bibliography