I listened to a talk by Stanley Grenz this morning while walking my three miles (Davis, if your reading that was for you). He spoke on what it means to be a Trinitarian Christian. Grenz quoted Immanuel Kant who suggested there was no practical value for the doctrine of the Trinity. Better to affirm it, acknowledge it but in practical terms is really offerred little.
Grenz suggested that while we would affirm the doctrine of the Trinity we generally are practically unitarian. These are not condemnatory words but descriptive words. He mentioned an anaylysis of our prayers in which we, in the “free church” tradition rarely note the Trinitarian expression of God. As such we do run the risk of falling into heresy – patripassionism, sabbellianism and the like.
I wonder what it would mean to our spiritual formation if we took seriously the relational nature of our Triune God and found ourselves relating to our God in the way he has revealed himself. Would we Baptists be so fearful of the Spirit of God. Would we avoid “modalism”? Would we be careful to appreciate the relationship between Father and Son rather than wrap them together?
May we live out the reality of life in God, that is life lived in relationship to/with the Triune God of the universe.
Toddsky,
I am indeed listening. Good to know you are working on the waistline. Keep it up.
RDD