{"id":126,"date":"2009-01-08T07:21:01","date_gmt":"2009-01-08T07:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/comment-of-the-day-15.html"},"modified":"2009-01-08T07:21:01","modified_gmt":"2009-01-08T07:21:01","slug":"comment-of-the-day-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/comment-of-the-day-15.html","title":{"rendered":"Comment of the Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seth R.<\/a>, a practicing Mormon, weighs in on the Trinity<\/a> and, in particular, my chosen trinitarian formulation:<\/p>\n

\n

Tony, it’s interesting in the same article where you conclude that
\nMormons are not Christians, you admit that you yourself are a “Social
\nTrinitarian” in bent.<\/p>\n

You ought to check out Mormon scholars like Blake Ostler and David
\nPaulsen. Their central argument and thesis is that Mormonism is
\nactually social trinitarian. They make a pretty compelling case based
\non Mormon scripture in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.
\nThe idea is that there are three distinct individuals who are perfectly
\nunited in love. Perichoresis I believe is the term. A perfect unity of
\nwill and purpose such that each member of the godhead literally
\ninhabits the mind of the others. To know one is to know the others.<\/p>\n

I myself am an active Mormon and consider myself Social Trinitarian.
\nI find it to be completely compatible with Mormon scripture and the
\nstatements of Joseph Smith and other LDS leaders. Most Mormons would
\nnot know the correct theological term for their beliefs. But I believe
\nfew would find much to criticize in the language of social
\ntrinitarianism. Some Mormons do tend to lean more tri-theist. But then
\nagain, I’ve found modalism to be pretty darn prevalent in Evangelical
\nand Protestant circles – even the ministers are almost outright
\nmodalists (though they’d never admit it).<\/p>\n

Problem is that both modalism and tri-theism are at least logically
\ncoherent statements about God. Classical trinitarianism tries to have
\nit both ways and ultimately makes sense neither way. It’s an utterly
\nillogical and incoherent mess. Social Trinitarianism gets around the
\nproblem by making the unity of the three not one of “substance” (a
\npurely philosophical innovation the theologians at Nicea beggared from
\nthe Neo-Platonists), but rather a profound unity of purpose, will, mind
\nand love.<\/p>\n

This same sort of unity or perichoresis is at the very heart of the
\nhighest aspirations of every Mormon. I ultimately seek the same sort of
\nperichoresis with my wife. I hope ultimately to experience it with God
\nas well. “If ye are not one, ye are not mine.”<\/p>\n

Anyway, Social Trinitarianism is very much a possibility for any
\nMormon, and indeed, I think various passages in the Book of Mormon
\nabout the unity of God all but demand a Social Trinitarian read on
\nMormon theology.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I just found it rather odd that a professed Social
\nTrinitarian would have a problem with Mormonism’s views on trinity. We
\nbasically are social trinitarians, even if we don’t know the correct
\nterm for it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seth R., a practicing Mormon, weighs in on the Trinity and, in particular, my chosen trinitarian formulation: Tony, it’s interesting in the same article where you conclude that Mormons are not Christians, you admit that you yourself are a “Social Trinitarian” in bent. You ought to check out Mormon scholars like Blake Ostler and David…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment-of-the-day","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nComment of the Day - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/comment-of-the-day-15.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment of the Day - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seth R., a practicing Mormon, weighs in on the Trinity and, in particular, my chosen trinitarian formulation: Tony, it’s interesting in the same article where you conclude that Mormons are not Christians, you admit that you yourself are a “Social Trinitarian” in bent. You ought to check out Mormon scholars like Blake Ostler and David…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/comment-of-the-day-15.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-08T07:21:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comment of the Day - The New Christians","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/comment-of-the-day-15.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comment of the Day - The New Christians","og_description":"Seth R., a practicing Mormon, weighs in on the Trinity and, in particular, my chosen trinitarian formulation: Tony, it’s interesting in the same article where you conclude that Mormons are not Christians, you admit that you yourself are a “Social Trinitarian” in bent. 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