Review: "Trinity Without Hierarchy"

Paul writes, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God” (I Corinthians 11:3, ESV).

The collections of essays in Trinity Without Hierarchy:  Reclaiming Nicene Orthodoxy in Evangelical Orthodoxy, edited by Michael F. Bird and Scott Harrower, is largely concerned with how the above verse should be interpreted and how the church universal has interpreted it over the years. 

The essays also largely respond to the work of Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware who, when exegeting this verse to prove complementarianism between men and women, are forced to argue for the eternal functional submission of the Son to the Father.

Many might respond, “Who cares?”  But it is a critical issue.  If the Son is in any way substantially or essentially less than the Father, then the Son is not God – He is something else.  The reader enters the territory of Arianism here – and it is not the argument that Grudem and Ware are Arians, but that their arguments necessarily lead to this heresy.

Rather, the essays argue that the Father and Son (and Holy Spirit) are one in essence, but distinct in their roles in carrying out His Will.  Likewise, they argue that the submission that is found – especially in the Gospel of John – must be read with the understanding that Jesus is the God-Man.  He is 100% God and 100% human in one person, with two natures and two wills.  So, in His humanity, of course Jesus submits to God the Father.

The first four chapters look at the Scripture and what it has to say about the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Chapters five through nine engage historical theology through the ages, and chapters ten through sixteen engage systematic theology on the question and address Grudem and Ware directly.

Each chapter contains copious footnotes and bibliography, and the book ends with a Scripture and Ancient source index, as well as a name index.

This book is a powerhouse of scholarship which ought to greatly further the debate – and perhaps end it biblically.

I found the biblical chapters most helpful and the strongest.  And some essays were better than others – in my opinion – for a variety of reasons.  For example, as I read the chapter on John Owen, I felt like the author didn’t care for Owen, which distracted from the argument.

The book is well worth purchasing and reading and using in continuing to express the relationships, will and work, of the Trinity.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

            [This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, Kregel, and Goodreads.com.]