The Divine Trinity: A Dogmatic Treatise
Overview
In this volume, Pohle traces references to the doctrine of the Trinity in the Old and New Testaments, and shows how the Trinity is foreshadowed in God’s covenant with Israel and in the fulfillment of the covenant in Christ. He then outlines a detailed doctrine of the Trinity, drawing from the entire Bible, the liturgies of the Early Church, and the subsequent development of doctrine. A discussion of various heresies in the church’s history also figures prominently.
The second half of this volume deals with the relationships between each person within the Trinity, along with the ways in which the Trinity is revealed—through reason, revelation, and the acceptance of mystery. Pohle asserts that evidence for the Trinity exists in both reason and revelation, but famously states: “Christians must first believe, then inquire.”
- Detailed footnotes and bibliographical material
- Contains a detailed topical index
Top Highlights
“In essence, substance, and nature there is but one God. However, the Divine Nature does not subsist in one single Person or Hypostasis, but in three distinct Persons, i. e., Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” (Page 6)
“If any one does not with the Holy Fathers profess properly and truly the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, let him be anathema.’” (Page 2)
“St. Augustine,7 man’s self-knowledge corresponds to the process of divine Generation, his self-love to the process of divine Spiration.” (Page 204)
“It is to be noted that the Lord who appears to Moses is Jehovah Himself. Exod. 3:14: ‘God said to Moses: I am who am.’ Viewing this apparition in the light of the New Testament Revelation, the appearing God can be none other than the Logos, or Son of God, because the Father cannot be ‘sent.’ True, the Holy Ghost may also be ‘sent;’ but He cannot have appeared in the bush to Moses because the prophets expressly identify the ‘Angel of Jehovah’ with the future Messias (i. e., Christ).” (Page 13)
“Positive Revelation tells us, however, that there are in God three really distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” (Page 1)
- Title: The Divine Trinity: A Dogmatic Treatise
- Author: Joseph Pohle
- Edition: 2nd
- Publisher: B. Herder
- Publication Date: 1915
- Pages: 299
Joseph Pohle (1852–1922) studied in Trier, Rome, and was ordained as a priest in 1878. He served as a professor in Baar, Switzerland from 1881 to 1883, as professor at St. Joseph’s College in Leeds, England from 1883 to 1886, and as professor of philosophy in Fulda from 1886 to 1889. In 1889, he moved to America to teach at the newly-founded Catholic University. Pohle returned to Europe in 1894, teaching at Münster and then Breslau, where he served as professor of dogma, and wrote his Dogmatic Theology. He was also a frequent contributor to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Reviews
2 ratings
Albert Cooper
10/8/2014
Bill Shewmaker
10/2/2014
