What is the Promise of a Trinitarian Ecclesiology?

Christian doctrine and theology have been debated for centuries; one such doctrine is that of the Trinity. The debates have dealt with questions regarding defining what the Trinity is, how its three parts exist and operate, what the Trinity means for Christian faith, and also how we are to explain the Trinity without appearing to sound polytheistic. This paper will touch on some of these questions as it explains the place of Trinitarian belief in ecclesiology.

Augustine explained the relationship of the members of the Trinity as “each is in each, all are in each, each is in all, all are in all, and all are one.” This is a somewhat confusing, yet at the same time clear, description of the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This statement speaks to the all inclusive oneness of the relationship, while also allowing for the possibility of each part to stand out in their respective roles and identity. A perichoretical understanding of the Trinity says that “the Father exists in the Son, the Son in the Father, and both of them in the Spirit, just as the Spirit exists in the Father and the Son.” This provides what I consider to be clearer picture of the relationship than that described by Augustine. This view expresses the individuality of each while also emphasizing the connectedness of one to another; it also seems to correspond with what we know from the opening of the Gospel of John when it says in verse one “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This does not mean that this relationship is not confusing to a degree, but it does help to at least make the triune relationship somewhat understandable. The three persons or personalities of triune God must be understood in their individuality, as well as in their unity, because it is in their individuality that they can then see their divine interaction with one another. The relationship of the three must exist in a communal setting wherein each individual part is communing with the other two in their relatedness as well as in their existence and actions so that they are truly in unison in all things.

Kevin Giles identifies three approaches to Trinitarian ecclesiology: (1) The Trinitarian origin and edification of the church; (2) The Trinitarian model of ecclesiology; and (3) The Trinitarian ontological basis of the church. Each one has its own way of doing things, though they are not entirely different than one another. It is in light of these three approaches that the promise of a Trinitarian ecclesiology can be discovered.

The first of these approaches strives “to emphasize that all three persons of the Trinity are involved in the emergence and life of the Christian community.” This differs from what Giles considers to be the mistake that the church has made in emphasizing a christocentric approach in the past. This approach places equal emphasis upon the involvement of the Spirit and Christ in the establishment of the church, because the Spirit carried on the work of the church after Christ’s time on earth had passed:

“The church is the place where the Spirit is ever-active in giving new life to old forms, and constituting again and again the community called into existence by Christ. The church has an historical beginning in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ, but the Spirit of Christ enables it to grow as the body of Christ, and to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of subsequent history.”
This means that the church is not some static entity that has been doing things the same way for two thousand years; it indicates that the church has been growing and changing as its understanding of triune God and its relationship with the same increased.

The second approach makes a case for the life of the church needing to be a reflection of the life of the triune God. This requires that the church be communal, ecumenical, egalitarian, and non-sexist. In striving to be communal the church is more than just a gathering of believers or individual congregations in varying traditions and denominations; rather, when the church is truly communal it is the church universal as it is bound together by its faith in Jesus Christ and reflects the communion of triune God. This relates directly to the church’s need to be ecumenical. There are differences within the Christian tradition, depending upon many different factors, primarily surrounding a particular understanding of Scripture. These differences should not be divisive, but should actually serve to further unite the church together as it engages in a quest to come to know God more and more. The church is meant to be unified not divided; the church cannot fulfill its commission if it allows itself to be divided, and does not strive to be united.

This approach also recognizes the need for the church to observe the equality of all believers, and the equal worth of everyone in the eyes of God. This approach directly opposes hierarchal models of leadership and authority, such as that employed by the Roman Catholic Church:

“Trinitarian ecclesiology does not question the need of leaders, or the exercise of authority as such in the life of the church, but it does call into question all forms of domination by those who claim some innate right to rule, and al expressions of authoritarianism. It encourages instead the ministry of all believers, democratic and participatory decision-making, and everything that promotes the communal nature of the church.”

No person in the church is of more importance than another and each member should have a say in matters appertaining to the entire faith community. Men and women also are both seen as equal in this approach, which is why the fourth characteristic is non-sexist. “A Trinitarian ecclesiology demands a fully communal understanding of man and woman in Christ. It suggests that in all our relationships we should affirm what the Athanasian creed says of the Trinity: all persons are ‘co-equal’, ‘none is afore, or after other: none is greater, or less than another’.” Galatians 3:28 addresses such an ideal when it says that, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In this approach there is no room for individualism or segregation, all are equal and all are to be in relationship with one another, just as all three persons of the triune God are in perfect communion with one another.

The third approach of which Giles identifies the church as being those people who are in relationship with Jesus Christ and communing with others of the same beliefs. The church must have unity among the believers or else it cannot be the church. This is a direct result of the model which we have in the triune God of what communion really is. The church needs every part of itself in order to fully be itself. In Ephesians 4:4, Paul writes that there is “one body” and that is the church; there are not multiple bodies for multiple churches, but one body for one church that is made up of the united believers in Jesus Christ.

So then, what is the promise of a Trinitarian ecclesiology? The promise seems quite simple to me. The promise is unity in the church, both in its relationship with God, and in its relationships within itself. We are called to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” This is the promise of a Trinitarian ecclesiology because if the church truly follows the communal example of the Trinity, then there is no reason why the church would not be unified in its own communal purpose and endeavors.