The doctrine of the Trinity is not a truth invented by men but a mystery revealed by God Himself throughout the Scriptures. As I read recent posts and arguments from Oneness apologists, I can't help but pray to the Father that He may reveal this truth to them, that they may know Him and Jesus Christ whom He sent by the help of the Holy Spirit. It also led me to review the books I have to deepen my delight in knowing that the one God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Here are some quotations from theologians past and present who wrestled with this biblical truth and concluded that it is a biblical doctrine and that it is central to the Christian faith and practice. These helped me better grasp the significance of the doctrine of the Trinity.
"The doctrine of the Trinity is the most sublime truth of the Christian faith and its supreme treasure." – Scott Swain
"God is always the Trinity who made himself known in hidden form in the Old Testament and makes himself known in revealed form in the New Testament." – Fred Sanders, The Triune God
"If the Trinity were something we could shave off God, we would not be relieving him of some irksome weight; we would be shearing him of precisely what is so delightful about him. For God is triune, and it is as triune that he is so good and desirable." – Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith
"Get that order right, and we see the gospel in proper trinitarian perspective; get that order wrong, and we misuse the gospel to redefine the Trinity in eternity." – Matthew Barrett, Simply Trinity
"Nothing is more central to theology than the core constitutive practice of worshiping and glorifying God. It is where theology matters most." – D. Stephen Long, The Perfectly Simple Triune God
"The confession of the Trinity is a regulative authority of Christian experience; on the other hand, it is equally and indissociably the expression of an experience of salvation." – Gilles Emery and Matthew Levering, The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity
"Historically in the Christian church the Trinity has been understood to be a robustly biblical doctrine with immense relevance for practical living." – Brandon D. Crowe and Carl R. Trueman, The Essential Trinity
"The revelation of the Trinity is revelation of God's own heart." – Fred Sanders, The Triune God
"The Trinity is a mystery, as Calvin said, more to be adored than investigated. The study of it is arduous, for we are dealing with matters too great for us, before which we must bow in worship, recognizing our utter inadequacy." – Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship
"A gospel without the Trinity! it is a pyramid built upon its apex. A gospel without the Trinity! it is a rope of sand that cannot hold together. A gospel without the Trinity! then, indeed, Satan can overturn it." – Charles Haddon Spurgeon, On Classical Trinitarianism
"If the doctrine of the Trinity goes wrong, every other Christian doctrine will necessarily implode." – Christopher A. Hall, The Eternal Generation of the Son
"The confession of the Trinity throbs at the heart of the Christian religion: every error results from, or upon deeper reflection may be traced to, a wrong view of this doctrine." – Herman Bavinck
"No sooner do I conceive of the One than I am illumined by the Splendour of the Three; no sooner do I distinguish Them than I am carried back to the One." — Gregory Nazianzen
"Where the unity of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is sought out, there is nowhere where being mistaken is more dangerous, where the seeking is more laborious, or where the finding would be more fruitful." – Augustine, The Trinity
"When the Lord established the baptism of salvation, did He not clearly command His disciples to baptize all nations ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,’ but these men say that we should not rank Him with the Father and the Son. Are they not openly disregarding God’s commandment?" – Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit
"We believe consequently in one God... one being, one godhead, one power, one will, one activity... united without confusion and distinguished with no separation—which is a paradox." – John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
"For if the Word is not with the Father from everlasting, the Triad is not everlasting; but a Monad was first, and afterwards by addition it became a Triad; and so as time went on, it seems what we know concerning God grew and took shape." – Athanasius, Against the Arians
"If we perceive that the operation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one, differing or varying in no respect whatsoever, we must deduce the oneness of their nature from the identity of their operation." – Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Trinity
"The first heading of our faith... God the Father... the second heading is the Word of God, the Son... the third heading is the Holy Spirit... in all the world renewing man for God." – Irenaeus, Against Heresies
"The Father is in the Son, for the Son is from Him; the Son is in the Father, because the Father is His sole Origin; the Only-begotten is in the Unbegotten because He is the Only-begotten from the Unbegotten." – Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity
"This I give you as a companion and protector for all your life, the one divinity and power, found in unity in the three, and gathering together the three as distinct... from every perspective equal." – Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration on Holy Baptism
"For those who oppose the Spirit... also deny the Son, and those who deny the Son do not even have the Father." – Athanasius, Letters to Serapion
"Get the thought of the three persons, and you have the marrow of all divinity. Only know the Father, and know the Son, and know the Holy Ghost to be one, and all things will appear clear." – John Owen, A Brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity
"By what act soever we hold communion with any person, there is an influence from every person to the putting forth of that act." – John Owen, Of Communion with God
"Ye children of the Father’s choice, And purchase of the Saviour’s blood, Sealed by the Spirit, now rejoice, And bless and praise the triune God." – Benjamin Beddome, A Scriptural Exposition of the Baptist Catechism
"God, then, by us is to be worshipped as he hath revealed the subsistence of the three persons in this order, and so are we to deal with him in our approaches to him." – John Owen, The Mystery of the Gospel Vindicated
"The doctrine of the Trinity... is to be received by faith and adored with love." – Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology
"The Father is the Deity subsisting in the prime, unoriginated and most absolute manner... The Son is the Deity generated by God’s understanding... The Holy Ghost is the Deity subsisting in act... in God’s infinite love to and delight in himself." – Jonathan Edwards, Discourse on the Trinity
"The eternal Father hath by eternal generation communicated to the Son his essence, but not his person... this type of explanation is especially necessary in the face of false teaching." – Zacharias Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism
"The Son is the Word of the Father... not a vanishing, but an essential word... this generation... is the silken clue of the labyrinths of mystery." – Edward Leigh, A Systeme or Body of Divinity
Through these historic witnesses (patristic, reformed, and contemporary), the church is reminded that the Trinity is the end of all theology and the source of all joy. This truth calls the believer into a life of perpetual praise to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit.
Is the One God in Three Persons your supreme treasure?
To the Triune God alone be the glory!