LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Final Essay
Submitted to Dr. Todd Buck
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
THEO 626 Doctrine of God
by
2 May, 2025
The Trinity is a foundational belief in Christianity. It is commonly held that God is One
and in that One there are three persons who are co-equal: The Father, The Son, and The Holy
Spirit. Understanding the Trinity has captured the minds of theologians for millennia. Oddly
enough, there are numerous indications of the Trinity, even though the term is not used in
scripture a single time. The Gospel of John is credited often as being the place where most
Trinitarian doctrine is found. Sanders quotes Plantinga in an article stating, “The Gospel of John
was a major source of trinitarian theology because among all the New Testament documents
the Fourth Gospel provides not only the most raw material for the church doctrine of the Trinity,
but also the most highly developed patterns of reflection on this material”1 The theologians at
hand, Plantinga and Sanders, both discuss the Trinity extensively, and this essay seeks to
compare and contrast their views and how such a model may aid the church theologically and
practically.
Plantinga models the evangelical task of thinking about the Trinity as consisting of raw
material: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as a framework from the book of John. He says, “The
New Testament doesn’t just give us the raw material, but material that’s already been
considerably cooked.”2 Patterns of reflection are the highly developed patterns that one might
see in scripture. This is elaborated in Plantinga’s viewpoint, “John’s Gospel is not just reciting the
adventures of three characters but is also posing questions and making claims about how they
are related to each other, who sends who, what glory is given and received, what kind of
relationships do they have with each other and how are they understood.”3 Lastly, there is
pressure; this is the need to account for the distinct personhood without comprising the Trinity
as a whole.4
Plantinga adheres to a social view of the Trinity. He describes, “Each member is a person,
a distinct person, but scarcely an individual or separate person. For in the divine life there is no
isolation, no insulation, no secretiveness, no fear of being transparent to another.”5 He answers
the Oneness/Threeness issue by defining each member of the Trinity as a person that is fully
1 Fred Sanders, “Three Elements of Trinitarianism in the New Testament,” The Scriptorium Daily, Last modified
February 10, 2021, https://scriptoriumdaily.com/three-elements-trinitarianism-new-testament/.
2 Sanders et al., The Triune God, 188
3 Sanders et al., The Triune God, 188
4 Ibid., 188
5 Plantinga, The Threeness/Oneness Problem of the Trinity, 51
divine together while remaining individual in essence6. One of Plantinga’s more interesting
contributions is to highlight the role of triune worship. In a 2023 blog post, he implores the
reader to remember that they do not have a single listener in prayer, even though we worship a
single God. He expands, “We are praying into a threefold society of listeners. Moreover, as
Romans 8 reveals, when we pray into the triune life, we are praying into a center of hospitality.
As we pray the Spirit intercedes for us. As we pray, Jesus Christ intercedes for us. The triune God
makes room for us in this wonderful way.”7 The main critique that could come from a statement
like this is that it potentially takes away from the Oneness nature of the Trinity and over
emphasizes the personhood of the Trinity.
Sanders agrees with Plantinga’s three point model of thinking about the Trinity, and
writes, “Taken together, I think the material, the patterns, and the pressure are enough to
support the positive answer that yes, even though we don’t have the fully-formulated
statement of the doctrine of the Trinity in Scripture, we do have the doctrine.”8 However,
Sanders adheres to a
more classical view of the Trinity. He would agree with the divine unity of the Trinity that
Plantinga describes, “The Bible is the story of how the one God reveals that divine unity
eternally has the form of the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”9 Sanders highlights the fact
that God is One but does understand that there is a divine unity of the persons that make up
the One. He sees both the Oneness and the Threeness without seemingly highlighting one or
the other. This differs from Plantinga whose social Trinitarian view focuses heavily on the
personhood.
6 Ibid., 52
7 Cornelius Plantinga, “The Holy Trinity and Trinitarian Worship,” Reformed Worship, Last modified October 17,
2023, https://www.reformedworship.org/blog/holy-trinity-and-trinitarian-worship.
8 Sanders, “Three Elements of Trinitarianism in the New Testament,” The Scriptorium Daily, Last modified February
10, 2021, https://scriptoriumdaily.com/three-elements-trinitarianism-new-testament/.
9 Sanders et al., The Triune God, 242.
Sanders and Plantinga’s views of the Triune God are quite informative, and both have
excellent points. Social Trinitarianism might lean more towards the personhood of the Trinity,
but it removes modalism entirely. One might critique Plantinga, but at least his view is not
straight heresy. Similarly, Sanders cannot be accused of heresy either. The classical view has a
solid history that dates back to the start of the Church. Sanders’ classical view of the Trinity
emphasizes that Trinitarian Theology is doxological, stating, “All theology ought to be doxology,
but Trinitarian theology in particular is essentially a matter of praising God.”10 This should be the
ultimate goal: praising God. No matter how much comparing and contrasting that could be done
between Plantinga and Sanders, they both lead Christians to praise God for salvation, which is
arguably one of the best and most practical things a theologian can do.
In summary, Plantinga’s view helps the church theologically by offering a relational view
of the Trinity that is grounded in scripture. Practically, his views model community, worship,
and ethics that are based on the Triune God’s self-sustaining love. Sanders classical view
provides a gospel-centered, orthodox foundation that ensures a solid understanding of the
Trinity that leads to worship and praise the God of salvation. Together, they allow Christians to
have a harmonious approach to the Trinity, leading to solid doctrine and worship of God the
Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
10 Ibid., 25.
Bibliography
Plantinga, Cornelius. “The Holy Trinity and Trinitarian Worship.” Reformed Worship, Last
modified October 17, 2023. https://www.reformedworship.org/blog/holy-trinity-
andtrinitarian-worship.
Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. 1988. “The Threeness/Oneness Problem of the Trinity.” Calvin
Theological Journal 23 (1): 37–53.
Sanders, Fred, R Michael Allen, and Scott R Swain. 2017. The Triune God. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan.
Sanders, Fred. “Three Elements of Trinitarianism in the New Testament.” The Scriptorium Daily,
Last modified February 10, 2021. https://scriptoriumdaily.com/three-
elementstrinitarianism-new-testament/.
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