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I am interested in developing a systematic approach to Christian Thinking based on what I call a unified, Trinitarian covenantal paradigm. I have also ingrated insights from the Christian Reformational philosopher, Hermann Dooyeweerd, but also wideley on the Christian tradition generally, and modern theologians such as Jurgen Moltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg and (the subject of my own study) Robert Jenson

My Work in Progress (Trinitarian Faith in a Changing World: Trustworthiness, Truthfulness and Transformation) is filed and updated on my website TrinitiarianReformati (see below).

On this site I would particularly value interaction on the implications of a systematically Trinitarian approach to culture and society.

It will take me a little while to read through the files you offer. In the meantime, could you flesh out some of your ideas about the Trinitarian approach to Christian systematics? You could maybe present it in little pieces and I could respond or ask questions.

Thank you Grant,

I’m sorry that I have not replied to you before. I don’t seem to be getting the e-mail versions and this was the first time I have logged in since last week.

I shall do as you suggest.

Best wishes,

Jeremy

I’m sorry for the delay, but here is a start.

In the risen Jesus we see embodied what the Christian philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd calls the inter-modal systastic harmony – that is the way all aspects of reality integrate harmoniously with one another. But this also involves our encounter with the Transcendent One, whom Jesus taught us to call Father, and by whom we have been adopted as the brothers of Jesus (the process which in the Eastern Christian tradition is called divinisation or theosis). It is this encounter with the Transcendent One which I suppose one might call a supra-temporal experience, but which I would rather call calling (as in Isaiah 6) or vocation. This is the basis of our individuality (which is a very different thing from individualism, and indeed collectivism – just as rationality is very different from rationalism and irrationalism). Our individuality deepens our appreciation of our relationships with others which we have in Christ (the One in whom all things hold together). It is our individuality which makes the giving of God’s gifts to us possible. In this encounter also, we meet the Person of the Holy Spirit, the God of Surprises (to use Gerard Hughes evocative term). It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that who we are is opened to God’s purposes, and God realises in us his calling and deepens our relationships.

Whether this is theoretical or non-theoretical is not important (we cannot limit the ways in which God meets us) – what is important is that this is a matter of faith commitment, it affects the whole of life (not just part), and is radically transformative.

Yours in Christ,

Jeremy

You might have to dumb it down for me. If I understand you correctly, you’re saying.

1) We, as humans are flesh and spirit, therefore meant to live in harmony with the natural and spiritual realm. We in fact participate in ushering in God’s kingdom on earth. (“…thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven…”)

2) God made all of us special and every one of us has a divine calling. We are dependent on the Trinity to live it out.

Could you explain the brothers of Jesus thing and how that relates. Are you referring to Eph 2:6?

Dear Jason,

I’m sorry to take so long to respond. It is not so much that we live in two separate realms, as that we respond in our total humanity (created in the image of God) to the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit – through whom we are adopted (see Romans 8) as children of God, and so participate in the divine conversation.

In my work in progress, called “Trinatatarian Faith in a Changing World” (filed on my site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TrinitarianReformati/files ) I first set out a unified Trinitarian basis for Christian faith and life:

The Father calls us and so gives us our unique individuality
The Son makes relationships possible as the One in whom all things hold together.
The Spirit empowers us, and makes the new possible.

This runs through every aspect of life, and in Part 3 of Trinitarian Faith I explore its implications for cosmology (the nature of the universe), anthropology (the nature of humanity) and sociology (the nature of society and history).

Yours in Christ,

Jeremy