My Introduction
This book is about Trinitarian theology: “the confession of the Church that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons who are one in being and essence” (5-6). Using “Aquinas’s reflection on the mystery of God within the context of a work of modern systematic theology” (8), White aims to present a work of Thomistic ressourcement, that is, a study that contributes to the living Thomistic tradition, through its engagement with contemporary theology, and that contributes to contemporary theology, through its engagement of the Thomistic tradition. Furthermore, he calls it “a theology of the mind and heart [a mutual compatibility of revelation and reason, grace and nature], aiming to create habitually reflective dispositions to know and love the Trinity, by cooperation with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity” (6).
NB: All rights reserved to the author. I highly recommend you read the book yourself because my summary is incomplete and only intended to inspire you to go deeper in reflection and read White’s book. This is also a working document that I plan to update again. So be patient 🙂
Part I: Principles and Disputations: On the Development of Trinitarian Doctrine
In Part I, White (1) outlines the scriptural and patristic foundations for the Church’s Trinitarian faith; (2) shows the organic development of these teachings; (3) sets the stage for showing how Aquinas faithfully and creatively integrated all of this into his own Trinitarian theology.
Chapter Summaries:
- Ch. 1: The Mystery of God: Religious and Philosophical Origins (click here)
- Ch. 2: The reasons for loss of religion and the Church’s response (click here)
- Ch. 3: Old Testament (click here)
- Ch. 4: Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke (click here)
- Ch. 5: St. Paul (click here)
- Ch. 6: Gospel of John (click here)
- Ch. 7: Nicene Creed (click here)
- Ch. 8: Cappadocian Fathers (click here)
- Ch. 9: St. Augustine (click here)
- Ch. 10: Dionysius & the Fourth Lateran Council (click here)
Part II: On the Mystery of the Divine Nature: St. Thomas Aquinas’s de Deo ut Uno Treatise
In Part II, White’s central claim is the following: “Without a theology of the divine nature, there is no theology of the three persons, and thus no Trinitarian theology” (12). Therefore, White proceeds to explain the simplicity of the divine nature “in its incomprehensible transcendence, precisely so as to name that in virtue of which the three persons are one” (673). To do this, White follows Aquinas’s treatise on the names or attributes of God as one (de Deo ut uno). For White, as for Aquinas, every single one of the divine attributes has important consequences for our way of thinking about the Trinity.
Chapter summaries:
- Ch. 11: Aquinas’ 5 Ways for God’s Existence (click here)
- Ch. 12: Naming God Analogically (click here)
- Ch. 13: Divine Simplicity (click here)
- Ch. 14: Divine Perfection & Divine Goodness (click here)
- Ch. 15: Divine Infinity and Omnipresence (click here)
- Ch. 16: Divine Immutability and Impassibility (click here)
- Ch. 17: Divine Eternity and Unity (click here)
- Ch. 18: Divine Knowledge and Love (click here)
- Ch. 19: Divine Omnipotence (click here)
- Ch. 20: Knowledge of the Triune God (click here)
- Bonus: 3 Reasons why a theology of the Divine Nature is essential to a theology of the Trinity (click here)
Part III: The Immanent Communion of Persons St. Thomas Aquinas’s De Deo Trino Treatise
In Part III, White outlines Aquinas’ approach to the mystery of Trinitarian persons.
Central claim: The psychological analogy, in which “the processions of the Word and Spirit are understood by similitude to human immaterial processions of knowledge and love respectively” (13), is the best analogy to understand the inner life and mystery of the Trinity. Without the psychological analogy, the persons of the Trinity will be distinguished by various properties or actions that arise from the economy (such as the Son’s suffering or obedience to distinguish Him from the Father), thus confusing the person in their deity with their actions & thus severs the unity of the three persons.
“Christ truly is God made human and crucified. However, this does not mean that the divine nature of God is made human and crucified. The incarnation, crucifixion, and death of God are mysteries in which the transcendent Trinitarian Creator freely self-identifies with us, and suffers and dies in virtue of the human life he shares with us. In doing so, he reveals to us the inner mystery of Trinitarian truth and love, but God’s eternal identity as Trinity is not changed or enriched in virtue of his human life, crucifixion, and death. It is the eternal God who enriches us and constitutes us in a new state, by being among us” (14).
Chapter Summaries:
- Ch. 21: A Prologue to Thomistic Trinitarian Theology (click here)
- Ch. 22: Immanent Processions in God (click here)
- Ch. 23: Trinitarian Relations and Notional Names of Persons (click here)
- Ch. 24: The Divine Persons (click here)
- Ch. 25: God the Father (click here)
- Ch. 26: God the Son (click here)
- Ch. 27: God the Holy Spirit (click here)
- Ch. 28: Perichoresis and Trinitarian Communion (click here)
- Ch. 29: Appropriation, Creation, and the Unity of Divine Action (click here)
- Ch. 30: The Divine Missions (click here)
Part IV: Trinitarian Economy: Creation and Christology
In Part IV, White presents a “Thomistic approach to God against some modern Trinitarian theologians who seem to project the central importance of the distinction between the eternal processions and the economic missions, as well as the distinction between the eternal, unchanging divine nature of the Son of God and his historically developing human nature, in and through which he reveals his divine identity” (547).
White’s central “claim [is] that the distinction of eternal processions and temporal missions is the key to a theology of the divine economy” (684). Eternal processions refer to the inner Trinitarian life of God (i.e., the Son’s procession from the Father by generation and the Spirit’s procession from the Father and the Son by spiration) and temporal “missions are the processions with the addition of an added effect” (572) (e.g., the mission of the Son in the incarnation and the mission of the Spirit at Pentecost). The key distinction for White, building upon the insight of Augustine, is that the temporal missions are revelatory of eternal processions rather than productive of them. Therefore, the relations spoken of in the divine economy, such as the Son being “sent” by the Father (cf. John 20:21) and the Spirit being “sent” by the Father and the Son (cf. John 14:25-26, 15:26, 16:7), reveal and make present the relations already existing in the eternal, transcendent, unchangeable Trinitarian life of God rather than produce or change them in any way.
Chapter Summaries:
- Ch. 31: Is There Such a Thing as an Economic Trinity? On the Trinitarian Activity of Divine Revelation (click here)
- Ch. 32: The Trinity and Creation (click here)
- Ch. 33: The Trinity in the Incarnation and Life of Christ (click here)
- Ch. 34: The Revelation of the Trinity in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ (click here)
- Bonus: Reflection on Part IV (click here)
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