Only a fully trinitarian theology will do, but where can that be found?

Abstract

The argument of this contribution, departing from a famous article by Arnold van Ruler, is that a fully Trinitarian theology requires attention to God’s work and not only God’s identity and character. The three relationships between Father and Son, Son and Spirit and Father and Spirit are briefly explored in order to demonstrate how difficult it is to do justice to both God’s work of creation and of salvation, to both the freedom of the spirit and the discernment of the spirit, and to both a diversity of spiritualities and the identity of the spirit as the one commissioned by the Father of Jesus Christ. This yields the conclusion that a fully trinitarian theology remains elusive despite the trinitarian renaissance over the last few decades.