The Triune God

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Christians say that there is one God, and this one God is a Trinity: one nature, three persons. But what does all this mean? Does anyone really know? And how did Christians come to believe that God is a Trinity in the first place? This course provides an introduction to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, with attention both to the history of trinitarian theology and its contemporary appropriation. It also covers topics such as our knowledge of God and its limitations; God and religious language; God and creation; God’s knowledge of the future; God and the problem of evil and suffering; and our own incorporation into God’s triune life through the person of Jesus Christ. Throughout the course, we will keep an eye on the personal relevance of trinitarian doctrine to every Christian, recalling with Karl Rahner that “the Trinity is a mystery of salvation; otherwise it would never have been revealed.”