Customer Reviews

The Trinity: Evidence And Issues

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

this book was decent, but it certainly could have been better. on the positive side, many sources are cited, and the defense of the Trinity is actually quite thorough in the sense that it is dealt with from Genesis to Revelation and beyond. but unfortunately, several points are not given attention enough, and sometimes it even seemed that cap'n Morey was less than forthcoming with all the evidence. for example, in a hasty attempt to prove that prov. 8:22 doesn't speak of Jesus, Morey says that the idea of Jesus being identified as Wisdom was completely foreign to New Testament writers--a view which is honestly ridiculous, atleast according to most NT scholars i've read or heard of. but even worse, he compounds this mistake by -1-admitting that the ante-nicene fathers identified Jesus as Wisdom, -2-saying that it doesn't matter because the ante nicene fathers opinions aren't ultimately decisive, and then -3- citing some of the early fathers works to support the Trinity? unfortunately, such examples are commonplace. two more criticisms are that he didn't take the time to defend the Trinity in a logical/philosophical sense, nor did he delve into the historical development with as much gusto as i would have liked. surely such an attempt would have been worthwhile, but on the other hand, had such attention been given, we wouldn't be dealing with a book, but with several. be that as it may, the book does provide several points which i don't think the anti-Trinitarian can overcome, or if he/she can overcome those points, at the very least he/she will be less than comfortable. several venerable scholars are cited, and as aforesaid, in a sense, the issue is thoroughly dealt with. in closing i want to respond to the two critics below, lest anyone should be deterred from purchasing this decent book due to their (mostly) bogus complaints. first, the fellow from Germany named stefan. while what he says about the ebionites/nazarenes is true, he apparently is unaware of the fact that these views were not the norm back in Christianity's early days. as a matter of fact, some of the distinguishing elements of early Christianity were the exaltation and worship of Jesus as risen Lord (see Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volumes 1 and 2 by nt wright, and also Unity and Diversity in the New Testament, by jdg dunn). as for what stefan had to say about nicea, i honestly wonder where he got his facts. all but 2 bishops signed the creed (even though the issue was rather complicated). and also, i really doubt that stefan read the book, for approximately every biblical point he raised was dealt with by Morey. and now to the chap from oklahoma. first of all, he gives a rather poor bibliography for the subject. if you insist on reading the books he recommends, i would also like to recommend the titles mentioned above, along with the following: for christology: The Many Faces of Christ, ben witherington, A History of Christian Thought, Volume 1, justo gonzalez. william lane craig briefly deals with the self-understanding of Jesus, albeit more modestly, in a sense, in his book Reasonable Faith. for textual corruption of the NT go to integrityonline15.com the bottom line is that the NT has more textual integrity than any other work of antiquity (The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, josh mc dowell). as for the oklahomans biblical citations, a few brief comments are in order. 1 cor. 8:6 does say: 'for us their is but one God, the Father', but what he failed to mention is that immediately following is the phrase '...and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ'. what, is the Father not Lord? the best way to deal with these two statements is to view them in light of each other. if you exclude the Son, you have also excluded the Father--which is nonsense. as for the oklahomans citation of John 17:2, i don't really know what to say. the average person who reads John walks away feeling as though Jesus is, at least to the author, God. also, 1 John 5:20 calls Jesus 'the true God'. once again, we'd be better off reading these verses in light of each other. the fact that the author for both books is the same person (or at least from the same school), along with the fact of the overwhelmingly high christology of the gospel of John, makes the issue rather plain. in sum, the book Trinity: Evidence and Issues is decent, but it is by no means excellent, and it is plagued by a rather hasty style. allthesame, in it is evidence enough to support the Trinity from a biblical perspective.

A very good place to start. The Biblical material is well researched. Methodologically sound and Biblically faithful. This review has been edited after I realized I made a mistake in critiquing Dr. Morey's book.

I've always had a tough time trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity to people. But Dr. Morey does a solid job of discussing not only the history of the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, but he goes into the Old Testament (and even refers to the Hebrew text) and shows how there is evidence of plurality within the Godhead in texts such as Genesis 1:26; 3:2; Genesis 18; Is 9:6; 48:16; 63:9; Zech 2:10-11, and others.

He then moves through the New Testament evidence, and discusses such passages as Matthew 3:16-18; 28:18-20 and passages dealing with the relationship between the Father and the Son.

The book is academic in nature, yet is simply written and very informative. It isn't quite as engaging as his prior work, "Death and the Afterlife," but it is one of the better books on the subject of the Trinity.

Many non-Christian religions and philosophies attack the Trinity. They declare that the doctrine of the Trinity is irrational. Hume, Russell, Kant, Muhammad, and Jefferson were critical of the Christian God. Kant declared that the Trinity "provides nothing... even if one claims to understand it." Jefferson scoffed, "When we have done away with the incomprehensible jargon of the Trinitarian arithmetic... we shall then be... worthy disciples." And in "The Trinity: Evidence And Issues" by Dr. Robert A. Morey (scholar of comparative religions, the cults, and Islam; author 40+ books -- many translated into Spanish, Swedish, Hungarian, Norwegian, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Chinese) one finds a comprehensive and powerful presentation of the biblical truth for the triune nature of God. Morey utilizes Hebrew, Greek, and English to make a potent case for the Trinity forasmuch as Yahweh (YHWH) is three persons in one God and this essential truth is revealed throughout the Old Testament and the New.

Robert Bowman, James White, Robert Letham, Walter Martin and Ron Rhodes have produced fine works on the Trinity or witnessing to cultists, but Morey's work is the best of the popular contemporary works. "The Trinity: Evidence And Issues" is almost exhaustive in scope; it is readable as it is commanding.

Morey rightly declares the truth of the Trinity must be affirmed a priori; since scripture reveals this necessary doctrine, God must be the foundation of one's epistemic viewpoint. Morey notes that one must begin the knowledge enterprise confessing the biblical God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: One God.

The Creed sum sup the Biblical doctrine:
"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things... And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God... being of one substance with the Father... And in the Holy Spirit" (The Nicene Creed).

And the triune nature of God solves the problem of "the One and Many":

"The Trinity also means that God's creation can be both one and many. Secular philosophy veers between the two extremes of monism (the world is really one & plurality is an illusion) and pluralism (the world is radically disunited and unity is an illusion). Secular philosophy moves from one extreme to the other because it does not have the resources to define a position between the two extremes, and because it seeks an absolute extreme or another-as if there must be an absolute oneness (with no plurality) or else a universe of unique, unconnected elements, creating an absolute pluralism and destroying universal oneness... But the Christian knows there is no absolute unity (devoid of plurality) or absolute plurality (devoid of unity)... The Christian knows that God is the only absolute, and that the absolute is both one and many. Thus we are freed from the task of trying to find utter unity or utter disunity... When we search for ultimate criteria or standards, we look... to the living God."

Yet Most Important is The Scriptural Support

There are numerous scriptures that reveal to man that God is triune. This is important since there are many cults and false religions that appeal to the Bible in their attempt to deny the Trinity. The following scriptures are some of the key passages on the doctrine of the Trinity. I will offer a very incomplete list.

Some of the tri-unity scripture verses:

Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:6; Psalms 45:6-7;
Isaiah 6:8, 48:11-17; Hosea 1:7;
Zechariah 10:12, 12:10;
Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians. 13:14.

Bible verses that reveal that God is one:

Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10, 44:6, 45:5-6, 48:3-16.

The scriptures that reveal that the Father is God:

Matt. 6:8; John 4:23, 17:3; 1 John 2:23.

The verses of Holy Writ that teach that Jesus is God:

John 1:1, 8:58, 10:30; Hebrews 1; Isaiah 9:6, 7:14; Colossians 1:15;
Acts 20:28.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Timothy 3:16).

And Thomas answered and said unto him, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:7-8).

The Bible verses that instruct us that the Holy Spirit is God:

Acts 10:19-20, 13:2, 21:11; 1 Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 4:6; John 15:26, 16:7; Micah 2:7; Isaiah 61:1, 63:10-11; Psalms 55:11, 139:7.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, "Go near, and join thyself to this chariot" (Acts 8:29).

Most of the cults teach that Jesus is heter-ousia: a different substance or essence from the Father. But the Bible declares that Jesus is one with the Father (John 10:30). The Trinity is reasonable. However, I do not fully understand God's nature due to the fact that there will always remain some mystery about the being of God. Mysteries are not contradictions. The one true God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Huge at 587 pages. One reviewer noted: "This book is the most detailed exegetical work on the Trinity ever written by an evangelical scholar. It begins with a discussion on epistemology and hermeneutics and then proceeds to deal with all the Trinitarian passages found in the Old and New Testaments, the Intertestamental Jewish literature, and early Church writings. Includes refutations of anti-Trinitarian arguments."

"It is simply the best book on the Trinity! Morey has done an outstanding job."
-- Dr. Gleason Archer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

"This book not only offers indisputable biblical proof of the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity, carefully evaluating the Greek and Hebrew texts, it also evaluates a very large number of associated issues relating to historical theology, contemporary culture, denials of the Trinity and apologetics generally...If you purchase only one book on the Trinity, this must be the one."
-- Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon

This volume is circumspectly documented employing precise research as Morey uses a very readable style that makes this a useful yet profound resource; "Trinity" is an effective tool to help edify believers and equip them to reach out to cultists.
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This product is an invaluable resource for any person wanting to know the truth about the Godhead. There are many "Christian cults" who hold differing views on the who and what of God. This books sets the record straight.

Dr. Morey hit one out of the park with this book. I recommend it to all of you who want to know the truth about what the Trinity is.

this book is great well researched and a good referance for anyone wanting to learn the mystery o of gods nature

I'm... speechless! Dr. Morey is the only modern-day theologian to actually THINK through the issues! I would recommend any of his books to the public! This is readable, and provides all of the necesarry information!

THIS BOOK is set to become THE Comprehensive work on the subject of the Trinity. Dr. Morey not only examines the Biblical evidence, but as well the historical evidence, extra-canonical evidence and more. This book will teach you how to think on theological issues in general- the first few chapters (which deal with presuppositions regarding the approach to scripture) alone are worth buying this book for.

Dr. Morey's book demonstrates that theology leads to doxology. What we know about God leads us into worshipping Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. Even more, this work is not an unapplied theology. Morey's training in apologetics gives him a keen eye for comparison and contrast between the biblical Trinity and competing religious views. His chapters on Arianism and Modalism are particularly devastating to those views. Long have Trinitarians suffered under the accusation of reading Greek philosophy into the texts, driving them to a post-biblical view of God. Morey opens the vault of history and clearly documents the pagan Greek philosophy which drove Arius to his views. Those today who continue to raise the accusation of post-biblical theology would do well to consider what Morey has said concerning Arius. Though the book at times is written above the level which an average reader can follow, there is much to benefit from. I highly recommend this book.

This is an invaluable book to use when witnessing to those who do not believe in the triune G-d! It is clear and comprehensive and demonstrates that G-d took on the form of man many times in the Tenakh (Old Testament). Morey's occasional explanations of supporting verses in the Hebrew language lend support to his arguments, but a knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary to appreciate this book.

I doubt that you can find a more readable book on the topic of the "Trinity" that still qualifies as a scholastic masterpiece. I use this book almost daily in my Internet chats with nonbelievers, and it leaves them "standing in their tracks," unable to get around the truths that Morey has presented. It has convinced me to buy every book that I can find that is written by this author! Way to go, Robert Morey!