"God's Only Begotten Son": A Reply to R. T. Mullins
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v9i4.1942Abstract
R. T. Mullins objects, as do a number of contemporary evangelical theologians, to the doctrine of “processions in God.” In my recent book on the Trinity I affirmed and defended this doctrine. Mullins has provided a lengthy critique of my defense, and this is my reply. The reply comprises four main elements. First, there is a brief summary of the doctrine of processions. This is followed by a consideration of the three principal objections to the doctrine developed by Mullins. Next, there is a discussion of the difficulties for the doctrine of the Trinity if the doctrine of processions is rejected. Finally, I provide a positive account of the coherence and evidential support for the doctrine of processions.
References
Ayres, Lewis. Augustine and the Trinity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511780301.
Beeley, Christopher A. Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the Knowledge of God: In Your Light We Shall See Light. Oxford Studies in Historical Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Bruce, F. F. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.
Giles, Kevin. The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology. InterVarsity Press, 2012.
Hasker, William. Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God. Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Johnson, Keith E. “Augustine, Eternal Generation, and Evangelical Trinitarianism.” Trinity journal 32, no. 2 (2011): 141–63.
Moreland, James P., and William L. Craig. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
Mullins, R. T. The End of the Timeless God. Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
———. “Hasker on the Divine Processions of the Trinitarian Persons.” European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 9, no. 4 (2017): 113–49. doi:10.24204/ejpr.v9i4.1941. 10.24204/ejpr.v9i4.1941.
Swinburne, Richard. “The Social Theory of the Trinity.” Religious Studies, forthcoming.
Yandell, Keith E. “How Many Times Does Three Go Into One?” In Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity. Edited by Michael C. Rea and Thomas H. McCall, 151–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
———. “Review of William Hasker Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God.” http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/48755-metaphysics-and-the-tri-personal-god/.
———. “The Most Brutal and Inexcusable Error in Counting? Trinity and Consistency.” Religious Studies 30, no. 2 (1994): 201–17. doi:10.1017/S0034412500001499.
———. “The Doctrine of the Trinity: Consistent and Coherent.” In Building on the Foundations of Evangelical Theology: Essays in Honor of John S. Feinberg. Edited by Gregg R. Allison and Stephen J. Wellum. Crossway, 2015.
Zizioulas, John D. Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. Contemporary Greek Theologians Series, No 4. St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1985.
