Deus Trinitas: The Doctrine of the Triune God

Rating:
Summary: A BOLD, ECUMENICAL EXEGESIS OF THE HOLY TRINITY
Review: DEUS TRINITAS: THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRIUNE GOD is significant in many factors. Among these are the observation that salvation cannot be fully understood without a solid understanding of the Trinity, for which he articulates a soteriology firmly founded on the economic Trinity, that is, a model of salvation which articulates man's reconciliation to the Father through the Son by means of the Holy Spirit.

In addition this book explores Trinitarian theology as it has developed since the inception of the Church at Pentecost through the milennia into the present day; from the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism up to the feminist and liberation theologies which pervade Protestantism today. In addition, David Coffey adresses filioquism versus Monopatrism -a conflict over a clause in the Nicene Creed that was accepted and added by the West but opposed by the East, the sources of this creedal division between the two great apostolic traditions of East and West, and offers a means to breach the divide. ALL OF THIS WHILE KEEPING THE IMMANENT AND ECONOMIC TRINITY IN SIGHT!

As such, David Coffey has undertaken an ambitious project, as he considers the full range of issues surrounding one of the central doctrines of Christian faith. One gets a sense that he overreaches himself in seeking to address a subject expounded upon for centuries in a 196-page book. Many topics cannot be covered entirely and as such tend to be somewhat simplified despite the copious use of technical language.

I found his attempts at reconciliation between filioquism and Monopatrism laudable for the careful attention given to both positions, yet I believe that David Coffey failed to appreciate that the Filioque question is closely tied with other discords bwetween the Roman church and Orthodoxy, among these the Papacy's claim to universal jurisdiction. Further dialogue in the same spirit as Father Coffey's is needed to breach the artificial divide amongst the brethren in Christ.