Reordering the Trinity: Six Movements of God in the New Testament

by Rodrick K. Durst

Publisher:

Kregel

, 2015

Overview

The New Testament writers present the Trinity in surprising ways, which impact our understanding of God and the mission of the church.

We’re used to hearing the traditional order of the Trinity, usually used in baptisms: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But why does the apostle Paul end his letter to the Corinthians with a benediction naming the triune God in a different order: Son, Father, Spirit? In fact, there are six possible arrangements for naming the Trinity, each of which is used numerous times in the New Testament.

Analyzing the seventy-five New Testament references to the persons of the Godhead, theologian Rodrick Durst demonstrates that the ways the early church thought and talked about the Trinity had a great deal of richness and diversity that has since been lost. From the context of these passages Durst concludes that each order of the three names corresponds to a particular purpose or movement of God that the New Testament author is invoking: mission, salvation, witness to Christ, sanctification, spiritual formation, and Church unity. These six Trinitarian orders reveal God’s calling to join Him in six different works.

Durst guides the reader through the significance of each formulation and how it can powerfully shape the twenty-first-century church and believers’ formation, worship, witness, and work.

Key Features

• Serves to call for a plainer reading of the triadic occurrences found in the New Testament
• Provides a list of discussion questions at the end of each chapter to encourage deeper reflection and critical thinking
• Offers useful sermons, reflections and information for ministry, as well as personal growth for pastors, preachers, professors, students and leaders

Contents

Part 1: Considering Four Key Questions

• The Status Question: The Search for Trinitarian Significance in Contemporary Theology
• The Data Question: The Trinitarian Matrix in the New Testament
• The Antecedent Question: Triadic Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures
• The Historical Question: The Karma of Dogma—The Trinity in Tradition

Part 2: The Contextual Question and the Trinitarian Matrix

• The Sending Triad: Father-Son-Spirit as the Missional Order
• The Saving Triad: Son-Spirit-Father as the Regenerative Order
• The Indwelling Triad: Son-Father-Spirit as the Christological Witness Order
• The Standing Triad: Spirit-Father-Son as the Sanctifying Order
• The Shaping Triad: Father-Spirit-Son as the Spiritual Formation Order
• The Uniting Triad: Spirit-Son-Father as the Ecclesial Order

Part 3: Everyday Applications and Further Resources

• The Application Question: Becoming a Functional Trinitarian for Everyday Worship, Life, and Ministry

Praise for Reordering the Trinity

Creative and methodical, clear and mature, practical and theoretical, Reordering the Trinity ably demonstrates the existence of Trinitarian thought throughout the New Testament as it systematically examines the six orders used by the New Testament in its seventy-five occurrences discussing the Father, Son, and Spirit. This important volume is exegetically driven, historically aware, theologically nuanced, pastorally helpful, and worthy of attention.

—Christopher W. Morgan, California Baptist University

This is a rich book that gleans many important theological and practical insights from a topic that almost no one has given much thought to: the different sequences by which the members of the Trinity are referred to in the New Testament. In addition to the widely known Father-Son-Spirit sequence, Professor Durst explores the meaning and significance of five other sequences found in the New Testament, yielding many fascinating new insights. He also shows many practical ways in which attention to these different orders can transform people’s prayer lives and their understanding of God. This book will amply repay careful study.

—David M. Howard Jr., Bethel Seminary

After mature and focused deliberation upon God as Trinity, Rick Durst offers his greatest gift yet to the church. While he is grounded in biblical exegesis, aware of history’s movements, and engaged with contemporary systematics, Durst never fails to remind us that there are practical, liturgical, and prayerful dimensions to the Trinity. For this magnificent and helpful rehearsal of the variety of Trinitarian manifestations in Scripture, we are thankful!

—Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Southwestern Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Reordering the Trinity
• Author: Rodrick K. Durst
• Publisher: Kregel
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:RRDRNGTRNTY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2021-03-15T15:37:55Z

About Rodrick K. Durst

Dr. Rodrick Durst has served as faculty and administration at Golden Gate since 1991. He served eleven years as the Vice President of Academic Affairs and, prior to that, three years as the Director of the Southern California Campus. Dr. Durst loves the classroom. He teaches theology and history from a leadership formation perspective. His passion is for developing life-changing ways of communicating and teaching Christian truth for transformation, retention and rapid reproduction. His current research includes study of emerging church movements, ecclesiology for rapid cell and simple church multiplication, research into a biblical doctrine of the Trinity, and faith and film. Dr. Durst tests what he teaches in his local church and in interim pastorates. He loves cooking, hiking, and art. He and his wife, Kristi, belong and serve at BayMarin Community Church (SBC), San Rafael. The Dursts have three children and one grandson, Donovan.