Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted August 4, 2018 Moderators Share Posted August 4, 2018 The subject of the Trinity is a complex one. It is also of some debate within Adventism. To help us in our understanding, I have put together a short listing of Adventist references that will be of help in both understanding the doctrine and of its historical development with in Adventism. Trinity References R: 180904 1) Paul Petersen & Robert McIver, Editors. Biblical & Theological Studies on the Trinity, Avondale Academic Press, 2014, 251 pages. 2) Norman Guley. Systematic Theology: God as Trinity. Andrews University Press, 2011, 676 pages. 3) http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/gane-thesis/index.htm 4) http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/moon/moon-trinity1.htm or 5) http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/moon/moon-trinity2.htm 6) http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/index.htm Notes on the above: 11) This is a book that I believe would be of value to just about everybody who is interested in the development of the doctrine of the Trinity in Adventism. It may be obtained from many sources. While Amazon does sell it, one may purchase it directly from Avendale Press for less than Amazon charges. The following is the Table of Contents of the book. Introduction (pp. xi-xii) PART 1 Biblical Studies 1. Some Aspects of the Christology of the Fourth Gospel Relevant to Contemporary Christological Controversy (pp. 3-28) Robert K McIver 2. Jesus—the ʹOne and Onlyʹ, or ʹOnly Begottenʹ: The Meaning of Monogenes (pp. 29-34) Paul Petersen 3. Worshipping Jesus—the ʹEternally Blessed God!ʹ (Romans 9:5) (pp. 35-46) Paul Petersen 4. A Study of Paulʹs Concept of the Saving Act of 1 Corinthians 15:27–28 (pp. 47-64) Roland D Meyer 5. The Firstborn in Colossians 1:15 (pp. 65-86) Ekkehardt Mueller PART 2 Historical and Theological Studies 6. Trinity: Toward a (Somewhat) Postmodern Perspective (pp. 89-100) Ray CW Roennfeldt 7. The Trinitarian Basis of Christian Community (pp. 101-112) Richard Rice 8. Alexandrian School and the Trinitarian Problem (pp. 113-126) Darius Jankiewicz 9. The Holy Spirit: His Divinity and Personality (pp. 127-144) Frank M Hasel 10. Trinity and Tawhid in Islam—An Appraisal (pp. 145-162) Børge Schantz PART 3 Studies in Seventh-day Adventist History and Theology 11. The Influence of Restorationism on Early Seventh-day Adventism and the Emergence of a Trinitarian Perspective (pp. 165-180) Karl Arasola 12. The Trinitarian Issue in Seventh-day Adventism (pp. 181-192) Gunnar Pedersen 13. John Harvey Kelloggʹs Concept of the Godhead (pp. 193-218) John Skrzypaszek Appendix: Consensus Statement (pp. 219-220) Index of Persons and Authors (pp. 221-226) Index of Subjects (pp. 227-236) Index of Christian Scriptural References (pp. 237-250) Index of Islamic Scriptural References (pp. 251-252) At this point the above Table of Contents ends and the following are comments on other books and documents that I have listed. 2) This is a vaulable book for scholars. Probably most people will not want read a 675 page book on this one doctrine. However, for an in-depth study, this is the gold standard. 3) This is the work of Erwin Gane that established, contrary to what others had thought, that early SDA leaders were Arian at some level in their understanding of the Trinity. 4) This is the work of Jerry Moon that builds on the work of Erwin Gane and in this Part 1, develops a historicl overview of the SDA internal debate on the Trinity. 5) This is part 2 of the work of Jerry Moon. In this part, he loks at the role that Ellen White had in the Trinity debate in Adventism. 6) This reference contains links to articles written on the Trinity. phkrause 1 Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustave Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 #8, Do I understand Jankiewicz thesis to be that he claims that anti-Trinitarian SDA's today primarily are following Greek Philosophy in that they focus on Subordinationism ( i.e. that the Son is not equal in nature to the Father )? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted August 15, 2018 Author Moderators Share Posted August 15, 2018 As we continue our discussion, I thought it might be of value to give some additional information on the doctrinal issues that have challenged Christianity from early times to the present day, the various church councils that met to discuss these issues and early SDA leader and the positons that they took. My primary sources for the material below include work by Norman Gulley and Biblical and Theological studies on the Trinity, all of which I have cited in detail previously. However, I have not limited my sources to those works and the phraseology that I use here is mine. Heresies: These are doctrinal beliefs that are generally considered to be false and are not generally held by orthodox Christianity. Adoptionism: Jesus was adopted as the Son of God, either at his baptism or at the resurrection. Apollinarianism: He taught that Christ did not have a human mind, but rather had a divine mind. IOW, Christ was not fully human. Arianism: Some scholarly debate exists as to what Arius actually taught. God was supreme. Christ and the Holy Spirit were not equal to God. Jesus could not be the Savior. The Son and Holy Spirit could be temporal and were not timeless. Docetism: Jesus just appeared to be human and in his life did not suffer. Jesus just appeared to suffer. Ebionitism: Jesus was not divine. Jesus was adopted as the Messiah at His baptism. Eutychianism: This view held that prior to the incarnation, Christ had two natures. After the incarnation those two natures were united into one divine nature. IOW, Christ was only God. Gnosticism: Salvation comes through knowledge. Jesus did not really die on the cross. There is a dualism between spirit and matter (good & evil). Monarchianism: God the Father alone was supreme. Dynamic Monarchianism: God was present in Jesus in a powerful way, but Jesus was not God. In a sense, Jesus was almost God. Modalistic Monarachianism (Modalism & Sabellianism): A rejection of the functional distinctions in the Trinity. Sometimes stated as a God who manifested in three different modes as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but was one in being. Monophysitism: This is the belief that Jesus had one, divine nature and therefore was not fully human. Apthartodocetism: In the incarnation, no change in the nature of Christ took place and therefore Jesus was incapable of suffering and did not have the normal human passions. Monoenergism: Christ had two natures, but only one energy, a combination of the divine and the human. Monothelitism: Christ had one will, with no conflict between the divine and the human. Nestorianism: There is debate among scholars as to what was taught by Nestorius and was taught by his followers. This belief centered on whether Mary was the mother of the human nature of Jesus, or also the mother of the divine nature of Jesus. This is the background for the Latin terms Christotokos & Theotokos. Tritheism: There are a plurality of three (3) gods. It should be noted several of the early Adventists rejected the doctrine of the Trinity on the basis that it taught Tritheism. This has continued to this day by some. Church Councils: These are major meetings, generally held in the early days of Christianity, that for the purposes of this document, determined the doctrines that were to be considered heretical. NOTE: I have generally limited my comments on the Councils to issues related the nature of Christ. First Council of Nicaea (325): This is probably one of the more important councils. It held that Christ was both fully God and fully human. It condemned Arius. It held that Christ was eternal, and that Christ was of the same substance as was the Father. Whereas Arius had taught that Christ was of similar substance. First Council of Constantinople (381): It did more work on the nature of Christ. In addition, it further clarified the office of the Pope. Council of Ephesus (431): Did more work on the nature of Christ and it was a controversial council which has been repudiated by some. Council of Chalcedon (451): This council essentially added the Holy Spirit to the Trinity. In addition, this Council contributed to the rift between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity. Second Council of Constantinople (553): Condemned several heretical teachings and condemned the teaching that Mary was not the mother of God. Third Council of Constantinople (680–681): Condemned both monoenergism and monothelitism. Second Council of Nicaea (787): Icons was a major issue. People: The people listed here are generally early Adventists along with some characterization of specific beliefs that they are believed to have held. It should be noted that several early SDA leaders cam from the Christian Connection which was Deist in understanding God. This was a heretical view in which God was generally considered to not be involved in human life. Early SDA leaders who were Arian to some degree included: J. N. Andrews, Daniel Bourdeau, Dudley M. Canright (Later removed form membership), Hiram Edson, D. W. Hull, J. N. Loughborough, Ellet J. Waggoner and more. Joseph Bates: Probably Modalistic Monarachianism. J. B. Frisbie: Probably Docetism in understanding. J. H. Kellogg: He was removed from his membership as he became Pantheistic. His earlier views tended toward Modalism. John N. Loughborough: Rejected the trinity as Tritheism. Ellen White: In her earlier years, she did not understand the doctrine of the Trinity and therefore did not hold an orthodox view of the nature of God. In this time period she taught that the nature of God was beyond our human understanding. In the 1900s she moved to an orthodox, balanced view of the Trinity. James White: Christian Connection. Quote Edit Options Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted August 15, 2018 Author Moderators Share Posted August 15, 2018 Gustave, Dariu8 Darius Jankiewicz, is currently a professor at the Theological Seminary of Andrews University, in Michigan. So, he is a scholar and an academic as well, probably as being clergy. Aa I have reviewed his article, I do not understand him as addressing the issue of current SDA related anti-Trinitarians and where they obtained their ideas. Since you have aaccess ot the book, I will suggest that you take a look at the following chapters: 11. Karl Arasola. The Influence of Restorationism on Early Seventh-day Adventism and the Emergence of a Trinitarian Perspective. 12. Bunnar Pedersen. The Trinitarian Issue in Seventh-day Adventism. 13. John Skrzypaszek. John Harvey Kellogg's Concept of the Godhead. Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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