Fuzzy on God? Part Deux?

I got into some conversations with several people since the original post; some were associated with the blog and the others were simply about the Trinity. A few observations on those conversations...

• 99.9% of the people I talked with admitted that the only Christian doctrine of God was and is trinitarian. No: none of them used the phrase "Christian doctrine of God," but they (you?) all had that intent!
• But the same 99.9% also admitted some degree of confusion as to: why the Christian doctrine of God had to be trinitarian, or why the doctrine always seemed so impenetrable, or why the doctrine seemed irrelevant to discipleship (and I'd hazard a guess: irrelevant to worship and mission).

It's not as though many of us have had someone assist us in understanding who God is from a trinitarian description. I know I did not catch this from the various churches I belonged to or served at; nor was I specifically sat down in seminary or in my ordination exams and asked to explain what I meant by "the triune God."

I do know that if you look at the IVCF Doctrinal Basis, you'll observe that it begins with a trinitarian depiction of God. In a conversation with a colleague last year, he informed me that he had initiated a reading group of young IVCF staff to discuss and learn together what it means to have faith in the triune God. While all of these staff had to sign a commitment to the above statement of faith, few had more than a slender understanding of what the doctrine meant and its implications for life and ministry.

These conversations reminded me of the Preface to Ted Peters' book on the Trinity, and I paraphrase here: "the Christian doctrine of God is the best-kept secret in the world."

What do you think are the implications for a lean understanding of the Trinity? Is this doctrine one that is so "academic" as to be useless for our season of humanity? Or is it a doctrine long overlooked but awaits some concentrated examination for our relationship with God, each other, and the world: and therefore become useful? And what would you mean for the word, "useful'?

Fuzzy on God?

We were driving home from this morning's worship service, and began talking about God. I commented that my friend's message was the best biblical message about God that I had heard at the church he serves at. My wife responded that I should tell my friend what I meant by my comment that it was the best biblical message about Christ. I said, No. Not about Christ: about God. My daughter responded: Jesus. Christ. God. Three in one, right?

Her comment spawned several thoughts and recollections. One was a comment attributed to Gregory of Nyssa.

When I say God, I mean Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I recall first reading Gregory's statement, and thinking, "OK: what's the point?" The statement came in that Gregory was defending the Nicene Creed in responding to Arius and his colleagues . The aim was to reassert that Jesus was not a created pre-existing creature that Arius asserted, and if any of distinctiveness of the members of the Trinity could be understood, that came from the mutual relations that exist between the members. But, he implicitly wanted to simultaneously reaffirm for pastors, missionaries, and evangelists that use of the name "Lord" or "God" (I know: both are English words!) would encompass all of the persons of the Trinity.

So, when many (most?) people like my daughter speak about the "three-in-one" God, a kind of fuzziness of names and relations can be heard: frequently. It doesn't reflect well what Gregory and others have taught and handed down. And, I often wonder, how well do my family and friends know about the Trinity?

What do you think? As we consider matters of worship, prayer, ethnic identity, fellowship, gender, evangelism, racial reconciliation, and justice: in our journey of faith, how crucial/important is knowing God as three-in-one?

Welcome!

Greetings!
Here is a test-drive preview of this new blog...my hope is that this point-size will be easy on the eyes. I'll try some different backgrounds, type-faces, and point-sizes; let me know if some version works better for you than others, OK?

I'm using a this blog as a way to stimulate prayer, further worship of God through Christ in the Spirit, and live such ways together that our lives declare the reign of God.

I look forward to your comments; I hope to reply to many of them!

Blessings,
Mike