★★★★★ 5
A Clear, Readable, and Necessary Contribution
Format: Paperback
This is a clear, readable, and necessary book. The Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith, but it can be difficult to articulate in a simple and coherent way. As one who regularly teaches the topic in the Catholic high school setting, I appreciated the very accessible approach that the author takes. Anyone who struggles with the basic meaning of the doctrine would benefit from this text, as would those who are tasked with explaining it to others.
From the very first page of the book, the author presents the doctrine of the Trinity through three basic statements:
1. There is only one God.
2. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is each God.
3. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not the same.
Besides a very good opening chapter on the ability to speak about God at all, the entire book is basically an unpacking of why the Church came to believe in these three statements and the problems (aka heresies) that arise when any one of the three is denied. Over the course of the book, the reader will become familiar with many of the key biblical texts underlying the doctrine of the Trinity and the early theologians who defended it. While this is not primarily a work of doctrinal history, the arguments are almost entirely based on the thought of these fourth and fifth century theologians.
Two points are worth noting, though neither was a "deal breaker" for me:
First, be ready for lots of references to popular culture. I was surprised to see mentions of everything from Wayne's World and Borat to the song Achy Breaky Heart and the Three Amigos. These are no doubt great examples from the author's experience, as university teacher, in connecting the subject matter to his student audience. But in almost every instance I found myself drawn away from the topic at hand and in some cases I was left pondering the usefulness of the gratuitous reference itself. Luckily, I got almost every single one--until a late reference to the British TV series Father Ted forced me to look it up on Google. Second, I'm not sure if this book is still in such an early printing that it hasn't been physically typeset yet, but my edition looked as though an inkjet printer produced it. In an age of Retina display screens, it was a bit odd being disappointed in the quality of actual printed text.
Overall, I highly recommend the book. I've just ordered the author's previous book from Paulist Press and look forward to his future works.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2015
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