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- P1 The Father is God
- P2 The Son is God
- P3 The Holy Spirit is God
- P4 The Father is not the Son
- P5 The Father is not the Holy Spirit
- P6 The Son is not the Holy Spirit
- P7 There is exactly one God
- These 7 premises form an inconsistent set—in other words, they cannot all be true.
- However, Trinitarianism affirms all 7 premises.
- What exactly is the problem? The basic problem is Tritheism.
- If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God, and not each other, it logically follows that there are 3 gods.
- This then calls into question how the statements are to be analysed.
- The key distinction is over the phrase "is God" in premises 1 to 3.
- if "is God" is taken to be an "'is' of identity", then by classical identity,
- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be identical to each other, which would entail Modalism.
- Modalism is a heresy. That's something Christians will want to avoid.
- Maybe it's an 'is' of relative identity?
- This would mean that 2 things (Father and Son)
- could be identical (to God) and yet not identical (to each other).
- This violates classical identity—and most people are reluctant to do so.
- What about analysing "is God" in terms of predication?
- Well, if each person is ascribed the quality of divinity & they are not each other—then we are back to 3 gods.
- No matter how similar they are in terms of their attributes, will, actions, etc.
- There may be another option.
- Maybe each person "is God" in the sense that they are "parts" of God.
- This is William Lane Craig's solution in an attempt to avoid Tritheism.
- However, this is clearly unorthodox Partialism, as none of the persons is said to possess the divine nature.
- What if all 7 premises are true, and we accept that true contradictions exist?
- This has recently been proposed by JC Beall, but involves denying the Law of Non-Contradiction,
- which most people will be reluctant to do—
- most people will not be likely to reject the Law of Non-Contradiction or the Law of Identity.
- Maybe the 7 premises are all true and they are only apparently contradictory, but not actually contradictory.
- Even if we cannot tell you how or why they aren't contradictory.
- This is a form of Mysterianism, which has been proposed by James Anderson.
- This isn't technically a "solution" to the Logical Problem of the Trinity from the Classical paradigm.
- Rather, it is questioning whether or not a solution is required from an epistemological standpoint—
- "are mysteries acceptable in theology, and if so, when?"—
- How do we determine when something is actually contradictory vs. merely apparently contradictory?
- Questions to consider.
- So, given the brief explanation of the Logical Problem of the Trinity and possible responses, we are left with:
- 1) Modalism
- 2) Denying Classical Identity with respect to this problem ('is' of identity option)
- 3) Tritheism or Partialism ('is' of predication option)
- 4) Denying the Law of Non-Contradiction
- 5) Affirming a form of Mysterianism
- and arguing that the Logical Problem of the Trinity may be unsolvable,
- but Christians are still justified in affirming the doctrine of the Trinity.
- Admittedly, this is a brief sketch of the complexities of the problem
- and its various solutions proposed, but I hope you find this somewhat beneficial.
- I, myself, am not satisfied with any of the above for reasons already stated.
- This problem has been around since the 4th century CE,
- when the doctrine was authoritatively established.
- Take, for example, the following sets of premises according to the classical paradigm:
- 1) Adam is Human
- 2) The Author is Human
- 3) The Reader is Human
- 4) Adam is not the Author
- 5) Adam is not the Reader
- 6) The Author is not the Reader
- 7) There are exactly 3 Humans
- Regarding what to believe for the Trinity, either:
- I) we can know what the true belief is
- ii) we can't know what the true belief is (the belief is rationally unknowable)
- if I, either:
- I.I) we can know the true belief is not a contradiction
- I.ii) we can know the true belief is a true contradiction (denying Laws of Non-Contradiction & Identity)
- if I.I, either:
- I.I.I) we know the belief is a statement of Predication
- I.I.II) we know the belief is a statement of Identity
- if I.I.I, either:
- I.I.I.I) the belief is classical Predication
- I.I.I.ii) the belief is non-classical Predication (special-pleading numerical identity — Social-Trinitarianism [1+1+1=1])
- if I.I.I.I, either:
- I.I.I.I.i) the predication subsists within some other essence (the belief is Partialism [⅓+⅓+⅓=1])
- I.I.I.I.ii) the predication does not subsist within some other essence (the belief is Tritheism [1+1+1=3])
- if I.I.II, either:
- I.I.II.i) the belief is modes of identity, mutually equative Predication (the belief is Modalism [1|2|3=1])
- I.I.II.ii) the belief special-pleads/denies the Law of Identity (Relative Identity Trinitarianism)
- So, there are three types:
- 1) ( ii, I.ii) — Some type of Mysterianism
- 2) ( I.I.I.ii, I.I.II.ii) — What is not a solution classically
- 3) (I.I.I.I.i, I.I.I.I.ii, I.I.II.i) — Heresies
- I don't think new solutions are coming.
- May Allah guide us all.
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