# Best treatment of the Trinity?



## thistle93 (Oct 19, 2013)

Hi! I am looking forward to doing some reading on the Trinity.

While there are probably many to chose from, which single book is the best treatment on the Trinity in you estimation? Can be a book solely on Trinity or one that just touches on it. Prefer reformed authors but would be open to reading others as well if think would be helpful. Thanks! 


For His Glory-
Matthew


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## Rayn (Oct 19, 2013)

I recomend "The Holy Trinity" by Robert Letham. He treats first the biblical foundations of trinitarian theology and then the doctine in church history. Its scope is vast and you'll learn a ton about the trinity you didn't know.


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## Philip (Oct 19, 2013)

Two books: one ancient one modern.

"Of God and Christ" (Popular Patristics) by Gregory of Nazianzus

"The Deep Things of God" by Fred Sanders


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## baron (Oct 19, 2013)

I started reading The Work of the Trinity in Salvation, Ed. By John Hendryx.

Forgotten Trinity by James White.

I was told The Divine Trinity by Herman Bavinck was good. I have not read it though.

I just started reading Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves.

All these books are on my Kindle, if you have one.


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## Dieter Schneider (Oct 19, 2013)

Donald Macleod springs to mind:
Check here. 
also here.
Calvin, however, remains unsurpassed, see under Trinity on my blog here.


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## MarieP (Oct 20, 2013)

baron said:


> just started reading Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves.



Loved that book! And James White's book was the first book on the Trinity I read- good as well!

I'd also highly recommend Bruce Ware's book. Haven't read Letham on the Trinity, but I did like his book on union with Christ!


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## py3ak (Oct 20, 2013)

It depends what you're looking for. Richard Muller's _Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, IV: The Triunity of God_ is probably the most enjoyable historical treatment. The chapter on the Trinity in _A Puritan Theology_ is good. B.B. Warfield's _The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity_ is always worth reading. Boethius' _The Trinity is One God not Three Gods_ is a nice, short treatment.


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## JSauer (Oct 20, 2013)

Delighting in the Trinity would be a good place to start. Letham's book is a systematic treatment and does give an overview of what scripture, history, and theology have to teach us.


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## shoeless (Oct 20, 2013)

Bruce Ware's _Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance_ is the best book to start with on the Trinity. Great read. 

If you are going all out then Robert Letham's _Holy Trinity_ is a must.


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## bookslover (Oct 21, 2013)

_The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons_ by Thomas F. Torrance (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996). A wonderful book which discusses the doctrine in interaction with the early church fathers. It's also that rare theological book that can be read doxologically, as well.


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## RamistThomist (Oct 21, 2013)

Letham might be a bit heavy, for he gives you a survey of many movements in Roman, Protestant, and Orthodox theology. Gregory Nazianzus is good and is what I started on. MacLeod is good, although a bit more focused on Christology.


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## reaganmarsh (Oct 21, 2013)

Letham is comprehensive but good. I second the recommendation of Joel Beeke's treatment in A Puritan Theology. Also beneficial are James Petigru Boyce in his Abstract of Systematic Theology and Charles Hodge in his Systematic Theology. 

I'm going to be preaching on the doctrine of the Trinity for the next 2-3 weeks and will be referencing the creeds, confessions, and catechisms regularly. They are invaluable and concise, which means the average person in the pew may actually pick them up!


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## Dieter Schneider (Oct 21, 2013)

Certainly stimulating, but he was a Barthian!


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## Philip (Oct 21, 2013)

Dieter Schneider said:


> Certainly stimulating, but he was a Barthian!



Yet another great trinitarian theologian, his view of Scripture notwithstanding.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Oct 22, 2013)

Rayn said:


> I recomend "The Holy Trinity" by Robert Letham. He treats first the biblical foundations of trinitarian theology and then the doctine in church history. Its scope is vast and you'll learn a ton about the trinity you didn't know.


Yes, Letham is a very good resource.

See also:
Chapter IV, Dogmatic Theology, William Greenough Thayer Shedd, Christian Classics books at BibleStudyTools.com

Gerald Bray's The Doctrine of God 

When considering the divinity of Christ, there are many heresies related to Trinitarian doctrine. These many heresies related to the Godhead were denounced by the *Chalcedonian Definition* with respect to the Incarnation, and there is not a single orthodox church, Catholic or Protestant that denies the Chalcedonian Definition. The many heresies so denied by the Chalcedonian Definition can be seen by examining what the Incarnation was not. It was not...

1. a denial that Christ was truly God (Ebionites, Elkasites, Arians); 
2. a dissimilar or different substance (_anomoios_) with the Father (semi-Arianism); 
3. a denial that Christ had a genuine human soul (Apollinarians); 
4. a denial of a distinct person in the Trinity (Dynamic Monarchianism); 
5. God acting merely in the forms of the Son and Spirit (Modalistic Monarchianism/Sabellianism/United Pentecostal Church); 
6. a mixture or change when the two natures were united (Eutychianism/Monophysitism); 
7. two distinct persons (Nestorianism); 
8. a denial of the true humanity of Christ (docetism); 
9. that God the Son laid aside all or some of His divine attributes (kenoticism); 
10. that there was a communication of the attributes between the divine and human natures (Lutheranism, with respect to the Lord's Supper); and 
11. that Jesus existed independently as a human before God entered His body (Adoptionism).


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Oct 22, 2013)

bookslover said:


> _The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons_ by Thomas F. Torrance (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996). A wonderful book which discusses the doctrine in interaction with the early church fathers. It's also that rare theological book that can be read doxologically, as well.


Yes, another excellent resource!


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## ThyWord IsTruth (Oct 22, 2013)

Volume III of John Owen's works "The Holy Spirit". Extremely rich in Trinitarian thought.


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## thistle93 (Oct 25, 2013)

Thank you! Many great recommendations. For His Glory-


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