By Greg Goebel on 18 May 2016 (Reproduced with permission from Anglican Pastor.com)
For many years when I preached or taught on the Holy Trinity, I always started by saying basically the same thing, something like this: “I am as unsure as anyone how the doctrine of the Trinity makes sense or is directly relevant to daily life. However, it is a true biblical and Christian belief, and it is important, even if we don’t know exactly why.” Without meaning to, I was encouraging people to think of the Trinity as a theoretical doctrine that one must subscribe to in order to be orthodox, but one that was not practical.
I found out how unhelpful that approach was when I read the book The Cruelty of Heresy by Bishop Fitzsimmons Allison. Bishop Fitz rocked my world. Instead of describing orthodox Christian beliefs, including the Trinity, as a sort of “correct” set of beliefs, he revealed passionately how Christian faith is grounded in the salvation and healing of our souls. Nothing Christians believe is merely theoretical, even if grounded in mystery. Heresy is not merely incorrect, it is ultimately cruel: It cannot cure the soul… For the full article, click here to access Anglican Pastor.