“[T]he entire Christian belief system stands or falls with the confession of God’s Trinity It is the core of the Christian faith, the root of all its dogmas, the basic content of the new covenant. The development of trinitarian dogma was never primarily a metaphysical question but a religious one. It is in the doctrine of the Trinity that we feel the heartbeat of God’s entire revelation for the redemption of humanity. We are baptized in the name of the triune God, and in that name we find rest for our soul and peace for our conscience. Our God is above us, before us, and within us.”
—Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics
“Trinitarian Systematics? What’s that?” Systematic theology is the discipline of collecting and ordering the Bible’s teaching. Trinitarian systematics is systematic theology done right.
Redemption is revelatory. Revelation is redemptive. When God redeems, He makes Himself known. When God makes Himself known, He redeems.
When God redeems, He makes Himself known:
“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:6–7)
When God makes Himself known, He redeems:
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:3–6).
God’s redemption reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s redemption reveals God as Triune, not as an aside, but as intrinsic to our redemption. The Trinity is not a trailer arbitrarily tacked on to the main attraction. It is the main attraction. Our salvation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. We were chosen by the Father, redeemed through the Son, and are being sanctified by the Spirit.
Not only does God’s redemption reveal the Trinity, the Trinity is the foundation for systematic theology. The Trinity is not just systematic theology being rightly done, the Trinity is the grounds for systematics. The Trinity is not first a conclusion of systematic theology, but the warrant for it. Our salvation has a shape. Systematic theology recognizes that shape and justly utilizes it.
Consider the loci of standard systematic texts. These are the categories under which systematic theology systematizes. There is some variation, but here’s a condensed outline for a typical systematic theology text.
- Scripture
- Theology Proper (the doctrine of God)
- Anthropology (the doctrine of man)
- Christology (the study of Christ)
- Soteriology (the doctrine of salvation)
- Ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church)
- Eschatology (the doctrine of the last things)
Do you see it? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! If you’re wondering where the Spirit is, remember how He works. He is the Spirit of Christ. Look closely at the doctrines of soteriology and ecclesiology and you’ll see Him applying our salvation and creating the church. The Biblical storyline gives systematic theology this basic shape and the Biblical storyline is Trinitarian. God created man. He redeems man in Christ. By the Holy Spirit, He applies Christ’s redemption to His church.
Though the works of our Triune God are undivided (opera Trinitatis ad extra indivisa sunt), certain acts are appropriated to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, highlighting the Trinitarian shape of the Biblical narrative. We are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Spirit. Again, our salvation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit.
The redemption and revelation of our Triune God give both shape and form to the Biblical storyline and thus to systematic theology. The Trinity is the foundation and warrant for systematic theology. Systematic theology doesn’t so much yield the Trinity as the Trinity yields systematic theology. We know the Father through the Son by the Spirit. When we do systematic theology, we do it from inside the revelatory redemtion of our Triune God, recognizing its own contours. All things are from, through, and to the Three in One (Romans 11:36), including every Biblical venture to rightly do systematic theology.
No Other Boast 