The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Thomistic Ressourcement Series)

The Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. What can we say about the divine nature, and what does it mean to say that God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three persons who are one in being? In this book, best selling author Thomas Joseph White, OP, examines the development of early Christian reflection on the Trinity, arguing that essential contributions of Patristic theology are preserved and expanded in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. By focusing on Aquinas' theology of the divine nature as well as his treatment of divine personhood, White explores in depth the mystery of Trinitarian monotheism. The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God also engages with influential proposals of modern theologians on major topics such as Trinitarian creation, Incarnation and crucifixion, and presents creative engagements with these topics. Ultimately any theology of the cross is also a theology of the Trinity, and this book seeks to illustrate how the human life, death, and resurrection of Jesus reveal the inner life of God as Trinity. Contents List of Tables Preface Abbreviations Introduction Part 1. Principles and Disputations: On the Development of Trinitarian Doctrine 1. The Mystery of God: Religious and Philosophical Origins 2. The Problem of God in Modernity 3. The Revelation of the One God in Israel 4. Foundations for Trinitarian Faith in the Life of Jesus Christ 5. Pauline Trinitarian Theology 6. Johannine Trinitarian Theology 7. Nicene Trinitarian Theology 8. The Advent of Orthodoxy: Cappadocian Trinitarian Theology 9. Augustine’s Trinitarian Theology 10. Trinitarian Analogy: Dionysius the Areopagite and the Fourth Lateran Council Part 2. On the Mystery of the Divine Nature: St. Thomas Aquinas’s De Deo Uno Treatise 11. Analogia Entis within Analogia Fidei: Arguments for God’s Existence 12. Naming God Analogically 13. Divine Simplicity 14. Divine Perfection and Goodness 15. Divine Infinity and Omnipresence 16. Divine Immutability and Impassibility 17. Divine Eternity and Unity 18. Divine Knowledge and Love 19. Divine Omnipotence 20. Knowledge of the Triune God Part 3. The Immanent Communion of Persons: St. Thomas Aquinas’s De Deo Trino Treatise 21. A Prologue to Thomistic Trinitarian Theology 22. Immanent Processions in God 23. Trinitarian Relations and Notional Names of Persons 24. The Divine Persons 25. God the Father 26. God the Son 27. God the Holy Spirit 28. Perichoresis and Trinitarian Communion 29. Appropriation, Creation, and the Unity of Divine Action 30. The Divine Missions Part 4. Trinitarian Economy: Creation and Christology 31. Is There Such a Thing as an Economic Trinity? On the Trinitarian Activity of Divine Revelation 32. The Trinity and Creation 33. The Trinity in the Incarnation and Life of Christ 34. The Revelation of the Trinity in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ Conclusion: On Being Trinitarian Selected Bibliography Index