Is the Trinity Biblical?
God has revealed himself. The thought of this alone should stop us in our tracks and lead us to worship. The self-sustaining, all-powerful, perfectly holy God not only created us, but has graciously revealed himself to us through his Word and, most especially, through his Son. As creatures of God who are commanded to “fear” and “worship” him, it is incumbent that we grow to understand not only that God has revealed himself, but what God he has revealed himself to be. Christians have historically sought to answer this question through the doctrine of the Trinity. The internal life of God, external works of God, and relational distinctions present within God have been historically developed and systematically articulated in the doctrine of the Trinity.
For the purposes of this article, I will seek to demonstrate that the doctrine of the Trinity is biblically founded. This will be accomplished, first, by clarifying common definitions and terms that are proper to the doctrine of the Trinity. Second, I will examine relevant biblical texts from which these trinitarian terms and formulations arise.
Definitions and Terms
“Christians praise the triune God because that is how God presents himself to us in Holy Scripture.”
If you open your Bible, you will not find the word “Trinity.” For some, this was seen as problematic. Though the word itself may not be found in Scripture, the witness of Scripture undoubtedly persuades the reader to affirm its judgments. In fact, “Christians praise the triune God because that is how God presents himself to us in Holy Scripture.”1 However, before examining specific texts that give shape to the doctrine of the Trinity, a definition is in order.
“The doctrine of the Trinity seeks to communicate that God is one being that eternally exists as three persons.”
The doctrine of the Trinity seeks to communicate that God is one being that eternally exists as three persons. Saint Augustine, in his cardinal work De Trinitate, defines the doctrine as “Father and Son and Holy Spirit in the inseparable equality of one substance present a divine unity; and therefore there are not three gods but one God.”2 In keeping with Augustine’s definition, R.B. Jamieson and Tyler Wittman affirm “The one true and living God is eternally Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, distinct in their relations to one another and the same in substance, power, and glory.”3
Each definition of the Trinity seeks to affirm and deny essential truths found in Scripture. First, God is one. Second, God eternally exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person shares the same divine “substance, power, and glory.” What can be said of one person in terms of nature can be said of each person. Third, the distinctions between the persons are relational distinctions. The three persons in no way threaten the unity of the one Divine Being; and the unity of the one Divine Being does not make the three distinct persons indistinguishable. To clarify these truths, we will explore and define divine simplicity, consubstantiality, and personhood (both in processions and missions).
Divine Simplicity
Divine simplicity is considered a “denial” about God. It states that God is not composed of parts. Why is this a foundational element of trinitarian theology? As D. Glenn Butner Jr. asserts, “Anything that is composite (composed of parts) requires an explanation for why its parts are composed in this particular manner or in any manner at all.”4 For something to be composed of parts would necessarily imply that the parts precede the whole. Parts also need an assembler, someone to govern the organization of the parts into something new and distinct from the individual parts themselves.
“Divine simplicity is the doctrine that God, though eternally existing as three persons, is united in his being and undivided in his essence. Each person fully and truly shares in the singular, undivided, simple essence.”
This denial is essential in grounding a solid doctrine of God. Butner goes on to say, “[Divine simplicity] not only preserves the absolute nature of the divine essence but also is a lynchpin in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. Without simplicity, the classical doctrine of the Trinity must be dramatically modified.”5 If we do not accept that God is simple, we cannot truly affirm that God is one.
Furthermore, God is not a subsection of the broader category of God. There is no class of “godness” that God draws from. There are no competing likenesses to God. God is categorically unique as God. He is numerically one in his essence (being) and is the only one in existence. This leads us to the affirmation that “in sharing the one essence of God, the Father, Son, and Spirit share one divine intellect, will, and power.”6 Divine simplicity is the doctrine that God, though eternally existing as three persons, is united in his being and undivided in his essence. Each person fully and truly shares in the singular, undivided, simple essence.
Consubstantiality
“You don’t have three persons that each possess divinity independently. That would result in tri-theism. Rather, you have three persons that share in a singular divine essence equally. ”
While divine simplicity tends to focus on the oneness of God, consubstantiality seeks to clarify that by which God is three in relation to his oneness. To say that each person of the Godhead exists “consubstantially” with the others is to affirm that “each possesses the fulness of the divine attributes. To say that the Father, Son, and Spirit are consubstantial is to say that each has all attributes that are necessary to count as God and that each has them in full manner.”7 Consubstantiality has been theological language utilized for millennia. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (A.D. 381) affirms Christ is “Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father through whom all things came into existence” (emphasis mine).
Consubstantiality affirms that there is one divine essence that all three persons share, and each person is “God in himself.”8 Each member of the Trinity is “consubstantial in one divine life, one divine action, one divine right to our faith and worship.”9 In other words, you don’t have three persons that each possess divinity independently. That would result in tri-theism. Rather, you have three persons that share in a singular divine essence equally.
While divine simplicity seeks to establish God’s numerical oneness in essence, consubstantiality seeks to establish his numerical plurality in personhood. Butner states, “To say that Father, Son, and Spirit are consubstantial is to affirm that each has what is necessary to count as fully and equally divine. They are not identical, nor are they an absolute numerical unity, for at the level of person, hypostasis, and relation, they are distinct.”10 Consubstantiality affirms the unity of the plurality that exists within the persons of the Godhead.
Personhood (Processions and Missions)
What does the term “person” mean? If God truly is simple and possesses undivided unity, and each person of the Trinity consubstantially shares in that undivided unity, what can be said by way of defining personhood within the Godhead? Boethius, a highly influential philosophical theologian around the fifth century, coined the widely cited definition of person as “an individual substance of rational nature.” According to Duby, however, “The term ‘person’ in trinitarian doctrine can be taken in a concrete sense as well as an abstract sense.”11 The concrete usage of person (exemplified by Boethius’s definition) signifies “both the essence and the person’s peculiar mode of subsisting.”12 The abstract usage of person signifies “chiefly the person’s peculiar mode of subsisting.”13 In other words, the concrete sense of person accents the shared divine essence, while the abstract sense of person accents that which makes the person distinct.
According to Herman Bavinck, personhood is a quality of God’s very being. “It belongs to God’s very essence to be triune,” Bavinck says, “In that regard personhood is identical with God’s being itself.”14 Saying personhood is identical to God’s being helps in maintaining God’s unity and oneness but does very little to help clarify the distinctions that exists among the persons in the abstract. “But the whole distinction becomes clearer,” says Bavinck, “when we enter into the relations that produce this differentiation in the divine being.”15 Or, as Duby says, “those divine modes [of subsistence] are determined by (or just are) the person’s relations to one another.”16 These subsisting relations are defined by eternal processions that describe the manner in which another person of the trinity proceeds “from” another.
Fred Sanders summarizes this well by saying, “The God who sends God and God must be God in eternal relations that subsist.”17 There are two processions that clarify the eternal relations within the Godhead. Procession one is referred to as eternal generation. The Son is eternally generated from the Father. He is the Father’s son. Procession two is referred to as eternal procession or “spiration” (to breathe). The Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. The distinction of each person of the Trinity exists within their eternal relations with one another. The Father is from no one. The Son is from the Father. The Spirit is from the Father and the Son. These relations terminate in the personal properties of paternity (Father), filiation (Son), and procession (Spirit) and are incommunicable as such.18
“In that sense, missions correspond with processions. As the Son proceeds from the Father, the Son is sent by the Father to accomplish salvation. As the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, the Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son to apply salvation.”
While these processions speak to the eternal internal life of God, they also coincide with the temporal external acts of God in what is referred to as divine missions. This distinction has become known as the economic Trinity (God’s works ad extra) and the immanent Trinity (God’s works/being ad intra). Processions have been articulated primarily based on divine naming in the scriptures (Father, Son, Spirit) and the divine missions. In defining a mission, Butner says, “A divine mission is a voluntary extension of the divine procession into creation through the assumption of a created term.”19 In that sense, missions correspond with processions. As the Son proceeds from the Father, the Son is sent by the Father to accomplish salvation. As the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, the Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son to apply salvation.
Biblical Warrant for the Trinity
Divine Simplicity
It has been argued that divine simplicity sets the stage for a strong formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity. But can simplicity be supported from the pages of Scripture? Simplicity asserts that since God is not composed of parts, and since God is unlike any other “thing” and does not exist within a category of “godness,” all things necessarily must come from God and be for God. God himself asserts his uniqueness as God in Isaiah 46:9 when he says, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” This undivided, unrivaled God is said throughout the Scriptures to be one in number. The daily-quoted Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4 says “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
“Though this one God possesses many divine attributes (holiness, love, power, mercy, grace, etc.), he is not a composite of those attributes...The Scriptures clearly present a single, undivided God who possesses many attributes yet remains numerically one.”
Though this one God possesses many divine attributes (holiness, love, power, mercy, grace, etc.), he is not a composite of those attributes. “God is identical with the perfections we attribute to him” and as such is not composed of “substance and accidents.”20 God’s attributes cannot be separated from his being. “God is light (1 John 1:5). God is love (1 John 4:8). God is the truth. God is the life (John 14:6). Who God is and what God is are identical. He is who he is (Ex. 3:14).21 The Scriptures clearly present a single, undivided God who possesses many attributes yet remains numerically one.
Consubstantiality
The one true God of the Bible demands that he and he alone be worshiped. Exodus 20:5 says, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.” God even expressly states that he will not give his glory to another. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I gave no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” The scriptures are clear. There is one true God. Worship of anything or anyone beyond the one true God is forbidden. God is a jealous God who will not share his glory with another. As Paul says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).
“The Bible affirms that all three persons of the Trinity share the same divine essence and are therefore proper recipients of worship. In addition to the Father, the Son and Spirit share in the divine attributes, divine worship, and divine works.”
Yet, all throughout the New Testament, there is another who is worshiped, given glory, and praised as God—our Lord Jesus Christ. Vern Poythress, speaking on Thomas’s reaction to the resurrected Christ, says, “We can see a tacit understanding of simplicity when we note the reaction of the apostle Thomas…His reaction is one of reverence and awe and worship. And worship must be offered to one God with our whole heart.”22 Hebrews 1:6 even commands worship of the firstborn of God! The author of Hebrews writes, “…when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’.” In a startling vision of the throne room, the Son of God (the “lamb”) is said to be worthy of receiving “power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” that causes the elders surrounding the throne to fall in worship (Rev 5:11-14).
“Whatever attributes are true of one of the persons are true of each person.”
The Bible affirms that all three persons of the Trinity share the same divine essence and are therefore proper recipients of worship. In addition to the Father, the Son and Spirit share in the divine attributes, divine worship, and divine works. Christ possesses eternality (John 1:1; 8:58; 17:5). Christ is immutable (Heb 1:11-12). Christ is omnipresent (Matt 18:20; 28:20). Christ is omnipotent (Phil 3:20-21). Christ has divine life (John 1:4; 1 John 1:1-12). Similarly, the Spirit is omnipresent (Ps 139:7-10). The Spirit is omniscient (Is 40:13-14; John 16:13). The Spirit is omnipotent (Luke 1:34-37). The Spirit is eternal (Heb 9:14). The Son and Spirit are involved in creation. The Son and Spirit are involved in salvation. The Son and Spirit are involved in providence. Whatever attributes are true of one of the persons are true of each person.
Personhood (Processions and Missions)
As discussed above, personhood within the Godhead can be described both in terms of processions and missions. Processions speak to the internal life of God and missions speak to the external works of God. External missions correspond with internal processions. Biblically speaking, when it comes to the procession of eternal generation of the Son, John 5:26 is a good starting point. Jesus, speaking on the authority of the Son and his equality with God, says, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (emphasis mine). This is an eternal granting of divine life to the person of the Son.
“Processions speak to the internal life of God and missions speak to the external works of God. External missions correspond with internal processions.”
This procession of eternal generation from the Father to the Son corresponds with the Father sending the Son to accomplish the temporal mission of redemption. Paul says in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent for his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This is echoed similarly in John 3:17 when Jesus says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (emphasis mine).
The procession of eternal spiration of the Spirit also finds biblical support. Jesus says in John 15:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (emphasis mine). This procession is of eternal origin and grants the third person of the Trinity the person of the Spirit.
The procession of eternal spiration of the Spirit corresponds with the Father and the Son sending the Spirit to apply redemption. Continuing in Galatians 4:6, Paul says, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father’!” This double procession of the Spirit is for the mission of teaching disciples of Christ “all things” (John 14:26).
Conclusion
The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational for the Christian life. It is an essential doctrine that speaks to the reality of God as he is. God has revealed himself through divine revelation as one God who eternally exists as three persons. This God is simple (not composed of parts), consubstantial (each person sharing in the singular divine essence), and eternally exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen.
1Scott Swain, The Trinity: An Introduction (Wheaton: Crossway, 2020), 22.
2Saint Augustine, De Trinitate (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2015), 70.
3R.B. Jamieson and Tyler R. Wittman, Biblical Reasoning: Christological Rules for Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022), 92.
4D. Glenn Butner Jr., Trinitarian Dogmatics: Exploring the Grammar of the Christian Doctrine of God (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022), 75.
5Butner, Trinitarian Dogmatics, 76.
6Butner, Trinitarian Dogmatics, 65.
7Butner, Trinitarian Dogmatics, 32.
8Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship, Revised and Expanded (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2019), 190.
9Brandon D. Crowe and Carl R. Trueman, The Essential Trinity: New Testament Foundations and Practical Relevance (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 217.
10Butner, Trinitarian Dogmatics, 42.
11Steven J. Duby, Jesus and the God of Classical Theism (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022), 78.
12Duby, Jesus and the God of Classical Theism, 78.
13Duby, Jesus and the God of Classical Theism, 78.
14Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 303–304.
15Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 304.
16Duby, Jesus and the God of Classical Theism, 80.
17Fred Sanders, The Triune God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 141.
18Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 305.
19Butner, Trinitarian Dogmatics, 152.
20Swain, The Trinity, 48.
21Swain, The Trinity, 48.
22Vern S. Poythress, The Mystery of the Trinity: A Trinitarian Approach to the Attributes of God (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2020), 74.
Professor Josiah Smith
Professor of Theology, Compass Bible Institute
Professor Smith graduated from Cedarville University with degrees in student ministry and Christian education. He then earned a Master of Theology degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a staff pastor at Compass Bible Church Treasure Valley in Meridian, Idaho and will be the lead pastor at Compass Bible Church South Valley in Kuna, Idaho in Spring 2025.
Professor Smith is married to Mackenzie, and they have one daughter, Ebeny.
