The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology

"This collection will prove extraordinarily helpful for classes on Trinitarian theology. The essays introduce a wide variety of vital topics for those seeking to understand the development of Trinitarian doctrine in the first few centuries, with a laserlike focus on the ways in which scriptural language and themes--from both testaments--stimulated that development and were a constant focus of theological attention. In its focus on these concerns the collection can only encourage the burgeoning ecumenical interest in Patristic Trinitarian theology as a constant source of theological renewal. –"

~Lewis Ayers, Durham University & Australian Catholic University

"Pre-Nicene Trinitarian theology has long been a territory of scholarly misunderstanding, either from the side of those claiming that scriptural language of God could not genuinely fund ‘speculative’ Trinitarian notions, or those habitually holding up pre-Nicene Trinitarian constructions to the standards of later Nicene orthodoxy. This set of essays goes far to chart a more sensible course, duly considering the careful use of scripture in early Christian Trinitarian theology and letting it speak on its own terms, with its own coherences. -"

~Paul M. Blowers, Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan College

"Beeley and Weedman’s edited collection happily demonstrates how profoundly biblical studies has developed in the past few decades. Drawing on a dazzling interplay of cross-disciplinary reflection, in this case between a range of eminent biblical and patristic scholars, the volume manifests a supple theological creativity and intellectual insight that would have been unimaginable a few years ago when the divide between biblical critics and historians of dogma was almost impassable. Driven by the recognition that classic Trinitarian theology emerged quite directly from the early Church’s ‘attempt to make sense of the biblical text within the lived practice of the Catholic faith and vice versa,’ the authors of this stellar set of essays show, from diverse perspectives, how dogma is itself a lively and richly scriptural category, and not a textual superimposition. The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology marks a breakthrough moment in contemporary theological studies. –"

~Ephraim Radner, author of Time and the Word: Figural Reading of the Christian Scriptures