Perichoresis and Projection: Problems with Social Doctrines of the Trinity

Abstract

Over the last three decades there has been a great outpouring of writings from both Catholic and Protestant theologians on the doctrine of the Trinity, almost all of which, ironically, have lamented the neglect of the doctrine. Again and again one reads that although the Trinity is central and crucially important to Christianity and Christian theology, it has not been given adequate treatment. It is unacceptable, theologians protest, that the Trinity has come to be regarded as an obscure and complex theological technicality, a piece of celestial mathematics impossible to understand and with little relevance to the life of the ordinary Christian. Karl Rahner remarked that modern Christians were ‘almost mere “monotheists’” paying lip service to the Trinity but in practice ignoring it. If it were announced that the dogma had been a mistake and was to be erased from official Christianity, nobody, he thought, would be too bothered, neither the ordinary believing Christians nor the authors of theological textbooks.’ Rahner’s diagnosis has been widely accepted and widely regretted. The consensus is that the Trinity is at the heart of Christianity, and both theology and piety have gone astray if it is regarded as belonging to the specialists. A retrieval (it is believed) is needed: the Trinity must be understood once again (one reads) as a positive and central element in the Christian faith rather than an embarrassing obscurity, and as profoundly relevant to the life of individual Christians, to the life of the Church, and perhaps beyond.

Conflict and Compatibility: Some Thoughts on the Relationship between Science and Religion

“…Doubtless the doctrine represents an attempt to coordinate certain features of Christian confession enshrined in Scripture and liturgy, but as such it seems more like a rule defining the parameters of Christian speech than a scientific hypothesis about how God is put together. 63 This does not mean that trinitarian doctrine has no implications for divine ontology, but it does suggest that its ontological import is inseparable from various "grammatical" considerations and thus cannot be made an isolated focus of theological argument. 64 Once again, religious practice suggests that a certain tentativeness regarding the scientific character of theological claims is in order.…”

The Trinity, the Church, and China's Harmonious Society: A Politics of Persuasion

“…My proposal for a politics of persuasion may be criticised as projectionist, for wildly divergent implications can be drawn from the same doctrine (Holmes 2009;Kilby 2000). My response is that no form of theology can avoid the accusation of projection, for theology is primarily a human construction based on God's revelation.…”

God’s Faithfulness and Dementia: Christian Theology in Context

“…"As the Trinity's mysterious nature overflows with the joys of selfcommunicating love among Three Persons, so, too, can sharing our loved ones with friends engender more joy" (Keck, 1996, p. 211). The Trinitarian analogy, however, takes us deeper than a model for social relationships (Kilby, 2000); such a model is impossible to emulate by sheer human willpower.…”