Book Review - Connected: Living in Light of the Trinity by Sam Allberry

This is the second book on the Trinity that I have read in 2012 (the other being The Good God by Mike Reeves). It is vital to know God, but more specifically I am starting to realise (yes, after being a Christian for about 22 years) that knowing God as Trinity throws light on many other things. So why didn't I realise this at the age of 18? Well, I agree with Sam Allberry when he says

"The doctrine of the Trinity was carefully filed in the drawer of 'Things That All Good Christians Believe' and then never really seen again. I had no immediate need to look further into the Trinity, and a number of suspicious were holding me back:

• It doesn't make sense
• It's not meant to make sense
• It's too technical
• It's embarrassing
• It's irrelevant"

(pp. 13-14)

Helpfully and appropriately Allberry says "Such thinking comes to an abrupt and happy halt the moment we begin to look more closely at what the Bible shows us about the Trinity" (p. 15). He goes on to say that:

"Understanding the Trinity helps us make sense of so much of what we hold dear: friendship, marriage, church, love, service, identity. Things that are precious to us, but which we are not always able to properly account for, find new significance when examined in the light of the Trinity. Things we cherish about God - his love and integrity, the coherence of his Word, the nearness of his presence, and, above all, his matchless love poured out for us through the death of Christ - all these can only make real sense when we discover that God is, in fact, Trinity" (pp. 15-16).

Allberry then, as he claimed, turns to the Bible, not so much to prove the doctrine of the Trinity in forms of dogmatics, but unfold the doctrine by looking at key passages. And like a wise pastor he starts to explore the Trinity by turning to the words of Jesus. In Mark 12:28 a teacher of the law asks Jesus "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" And in Mark 12:29 Jesus answers "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." We need to understand and know who God is before we can do what he commands. Allberry then spends chapters 1 and 2 exploring the significance of Jesus' reply to the teacher of the law. He says "It means more than being digitally singular. It speaks of there being a unity to God, that he is undivided ... [a]nd that means we can't have one person of the Trinity without the others" (p. 34).

Allberry also has a subtle and simple approach to teaching important truths. For example, when discussing how God's oneness directs our thinking about the death of Jesus, he refers to Jesus' baptism (Mark 1:9-11) and says:

"This is a wonderful scene of the Trinity in action. Jesus is going forward for baptism, the Spirit is descending and the Father is speaking. (If nothing else, this puts the boot into the idea that the Father, Son and Spirit are all just different roles or modes that God switches between)" (p. 39).

Chapters 3 and 4 then discuss God as Trinity. Again, Allberry takes the reader to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Following Jesus means coming in to the reality of the Trinity. He quickly surveys the plurality of God in the Old Testament and then the Trinity in the New Testament. This is all good stuff and presented simply enough for even the most reluctant reader. Allberry says "The way in which God is one is different from the way in which he is three ... He is one in name and nature and he is three in person" (p. 60). Allberry also relies on John 5:19-23 to show Jesus' relationship with his Father. Importantly, he says that Father, Son and Spirit are not temporary roles, but eternal identities.

Part 2 of the book focuses more specifically on what the Trinity means for us. This is were I think the author is at his best. In Chapter 5, subtitled 'The Trinity and Humanity', Allberry says "... self-discovery starts here: God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All that we were made to be comes from knowing that. Our need for relationships, the importance of serving others, what it means to be sexual beings - all come into true light when seen in relation to our trinitarian Good" (p. 96).

The other chapters address:

• 6 - The Trinity and Gender. Arguing from the equality, difference and headship in the Trinity to the equality, difference and headship in marriage.
• 7 - The Trinity and Church. "Behind the unity-in-diversity of the Church is its heavenly analogue, the unity-in-diversity of the Trinity, and the operational diversity of the church is a reflection of the Trinity" (p. 122). Allberry zooms in on 1 Corinthians 12 which highlights the unity-in-diversity of our gifting. Positively he says "... the church is to be marked by the unity of God the Trinity. Our life together is to reflect that same love, mutual delight and other-person-centredness that characterises the relationships of the Father, Son and Spirit. And as the world looks on, it will see ... Christians showing unworldly care and concern for one another. Hearts, wallets and homes cheerfully opened to help those in need. Those from backgrounds you wouldn't normally see together enjoying their unity in Christ. Believers very different from one another but lit by a love of meeting together, of praising their Saviour and taking his word to heart" (p. 134). Very challenging my Anglican friend.
• 8 - The Trinity and Prayer. Allberry explains that prayer is trinitarian because it is offered by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. This is an excellent chapter and I could provide plenty of quotes that really broadened my understanding of the basics of prayer. Prayer is something I often struggle with but this chapter was a real encouragement to keep praying.
• 9 - A fine exposition of Ephesians 1:3-14 which is a mammoth trinitarian sentence of praise from the lips of the apostle Paul.

Sam Allberry has written a very practical book on the significance of the Trinity. It is easy to read and has helpful illustrations. In fact, it reads so easy that it was not until my second pass through that the profundity of some of his points really jumped out at me. There was a little repetition in the book but that is no bad thing given the topic. Also, section 1 - which addresses the doctrine of the Trinity - could have been a little more meaty and contain an extra chapter presenting the positive scriptural case for the Trinity. In summary, I recommend this book to all Christians and it will likely help us think again about the God who made us, revealed himself to us and adopts us as his children.

* This book was supplied for review by IVP Books.

Book Review - The Good God: Enjoying Father, Son and Holy Spirit by Mike Reeves

I must admit to being a little indifferent to reading about the Trinity. Many standard systematic theologies make it sound like the dullest and most difficult Christian teaching. The readers of such tomes is often left wondering what the practical benefit of the Trinity is. Also, I may be like many people and like my doctrine to be easily grasped by the mind and simply dismiss something that is too difficult (at least for me.)

The Good God is not like some of the previous books and sections in books that I have read on the subject of the Trinity. Reeves frequently has a great turn of phrase that makes the book an entertaining read - "Far, far from theological clutter, God's being Father, Son and Spirit is just what makes the Christian life beautiful." (p. 82)

The point of the book, according to the author, is to help the reader see the real difference the Trinity makes:

"For all that we may give an orthodox nod of the head to belief in the Trinity, it simply seems too arcane to make any practical difference to our lives." (p. ix)

And what is the practical difference? Reeves summarizes:

"...but if God were just one person, then love of the other would not be central to his being. There would have been nobody in eternity for him to love. Thus the only God inherently inclined to show mercy is the Father who has eternally loved his Son by the Spirit. Only with this God do such winning qualities as love and mercy rank highly." (p. 91)

The book is structured very simply in to four chapters dealing with the Trinity as presented in the Bible and church history and a fifth chapter acting as a capstone focusing on the glory of the Trinity. These chapters are:

1. What was God Doing before Creation?
   • "Before creation, before all things, we saw, the Father was loving and begetting his Son. For eternity, that was what the Father was doing. He did not become Father at some point; rather, his very identity is to be the one who begets the Son. That is who he is. Thus it is not as if the Father and the Son bumped into each other at some point and found to their surprise how remarkably well they got on." (p. 15)
2. Creation: the Father's Love Overflows
   • "Single-person gods, having spent eternity alone, are inevitably self-centred beings, and so it becomes hard to see why they would ever cause anything else to exist ... [c]reating just looks like a deeply unnatural thing for such a god to do. And if such gods do create, they usually seem to do so out of an essential neediness or desire to use what they created merely for their own self-gratification. Everything changes when it comes to the Father, Son and Spirit. Here is a God who is not essentially lonely, but who has been loving for all eternity as the Father has loved the Son in the Spirit. Loving others is not a strange or novel thing for this God at all; it is at the root of who he is." (p. 23)
3. Salvation: the Son Shares what is His
   • "It means that this God makes no third party suffer to achieve atonement. The one who dies is the lamb of God, the Son. And it means that nobody but God contributes to the work of salvation: the Father, Son and Spirit accomplish it all. Now if God were not triune, if there was no Son, no lamb of God to die in our place, then we would have to atone for our sin ourselves. We would have to provide, for God could not. But - hallelujah! - God has a Son, and in his infinite kindness he dies, paying the wages of sin, for us. It is because God is triune that the cross is such good news." (p. 55)
4. The Christian Life: the Spirit Beautifies
   • "But the Spirit's first work is to set our desires in order, to open our eyes and give us the Father's own relish for the Son, and the Son's own enjoyment of the Father." (p. 80)
5. 'Who among the god is like you, O LORD?'
   • "Love for the Lord, love for neighbour - that is the heart of holiness and how the triune God's people get to be like him." (p. 95)

This book has given me a hunger to study more about the Trinity, in the Bible and in church history, but even more importantly, it has given me a great hunger for the triune God I claim to worship. I recommend it to all Christians as well worth a slow, contemplative read. It would be great for book clubs to read and discuss. Maybe it could result in healthier Christians who just want to overflow with love.