A Mythological Godhead
July 9, 2016
"It is very shameful, and not only shameful, but very foolish, to take from things below and guess at things above, and from a fluctuating nature at the things that are unchanging..."
Gregory of Nazianzus
I have truly tried to be as charitable as possible to Drs. Ware and Grudem during this debate over their theology of the Trinity. But when I read passages like the one below from Dr. Grudem's wildly popular Systematic Theology I can barely keep my head from spinning.
The husband's role is parallel to God the Father and the wife's role is parallel to that of God the Son. ... And, although it is not explicitly mentioned in Scripture, the gift of children within marriage, coming from both the father and the mother, and subject to the authority of both father and mother is analogous to the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and Son in the Trinity. (pp. 256-257)
Come let us reason together!
This goes far beyond reasonable speculation. In an effort to be charitable I want to call it exotic. But that will not do. It is worse than exotic. It may well be blasphemous.
I chose that word with no small amount of thought and sobriety.
The stubborn insistence of Drs. Ware and Grudem to force a parallel between the Father and the Son to a husband and wife is worse than troubling. And, as we can see from the passage cited above, it leads to the inevitable comparison of the Holy Spirit to the child of the divine husband (Father) and wife (Son). These parallels have far more in common with pagan mythology than Biblical theology.
I am angry about this. This is a distortion of the Godhead and there is nothing helpful or beautiful about it.
Can the defenders of Drs. Ware and Grudem offer ANY justification for such off the rails speculation as the above passage embodies?
I saw last night that Dr. Bruce Ware wrote an open letter to Liam, Carl and me. All I can say is that at this point Dr. Ware's friends are not serving him well. He continues to parse the language beyond recognition. I would direct the interested reader to read Stefan Linblad's devastating critique of Dr. Ware's misuse of the creedal language and orthodox categories.
