The Holy Trinity includes Letham's answer to two egalitarian arguments

A new book unpacks the doctrine of the Trinity from both biblical and historical perspectives and also answers the arguments of two egalitarians who assert that the tri-unity of God does not make a case for gender roles.

In his book, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R Publishing), Robert Letham examines the doctrine exegetically and traces its historical development through the 20th century. Letham demonstrates how the Trinity is unfolded throughout the fabric of Scripture.

Further, he shows how the doctrine developed through the early church and the ecumenical councils as the patristic fathers sorted orthodoxy from heresy to establish a Trinitarian doctrine that was faithful to Scripture.

The 551-page work also looks at how key persons in church history-Augustine, Calvin, and Barth among many others-understood and articulated the doctrine. He also engages the Trinity in terms of four pivotal issues: the incarnation, worship and prayer, creation and missions, and persons.

In the two appendices that close the work, Letham interacts with two major egalitarians and their arguments for a Trinity without order.

In the first appendix, Letham argues against Gilbert Bilezikian’s 1997 article that appeared in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS) in which Bilezikian takes Letham to task for his 1990 article arguing for order within the Trinity.

Letham exposes several errors in Bilezikian’s view of the Trinity. Chief among Bilezikian’s errors, Letham says, is his claim that Scripture does not teach that Christ obeys the father in a way that makes Him subordinate to the Father.

Letham also argues that Bilezikian’s conception of a Trinity without order comes dangerously close to modalism, Nestorianism and other heterodox views of the Trinity that were afoot during the early centuries of the church.

In the second appendix, Letham seeks to answer Kevin Giles’ 2002 book The Trinity and Subordinationism (IVP) in which Giles targets conservative evangelicals who maintain a complementary view of the sexes on the basis of a presumed hierarchy of being, function, or role in the Trinity.

Regarding Giles’ thesis, Letham concludes: "In the end, Giles’s argument collapses. It is self-defeating. He has to point to the submission of Christ on earth as a paradigm for the mutual submission the he calls (rightly) on us all to display. So he says repeatedly that ‘voluntary subordination is godlike.’ Indeed, ‘what is Christlike is to subordinate oneself.’

"Giles misses the point that if the Son submits to the Father in eternity, his submission could hardly have been imposed on him, for he is coequal with the Father, of the identical divine being. He submits willingly."

Letham serves as senior minister of Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Del. He is also adjunct professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary and also teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary.

Letham’s book was released earlier this month. Readers of books on sound doctrine should also anticipate another work soon to be released by Crossway Books on the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance--written by Bruce Ware, a member of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood--is due for release in early 2005.

Ware’s work deals explicitly with the Trinity in terms of the doctrine’s application to gender roles and interpersonal relationships. It will be available in the CBMW webstore at www.cbmw.org/store/ upon release.