The Trinity: How Not to Be a Heretic

"Trinity" is Christianity's most basic description of who God actually is―and who he needs to be in order to save us. It is at the very heart of what Christians believe, and very little else in Christianity makes sense without it. Despite this, a great many Christians, including significant numbers of teachers, catechists, and preachers, do not feel confident in talking about it. It is not that they don't believe in the Trinity, because they certainly do. But they are not altogether sure that what they think they believe about it is what they are "supposed" to, and they fear both revealing their ignorance, and leading others astray.

The central idea of this book is that, contrary to popular assumption, the Trinity is a very simple doctrine. It consists of just three short, deeply scriptural convictions:

There is only one God;

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all God; and,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not the same.

The Trinity: How Not to Be a Heretic explains how the earliest Christians came to be convinced by each statement, why they matter, and how―slowly, over a period of several centuries―it found a way of saying all three at once. Its sole purpose is to help Christians of all kinds better understand the Trinity so that they can then help others―Christians, non-Christians, and maybe even some not-yet Christians―better understand it too. †

Stephen Bullivant is senior lecturer in theology and ethics in the School of Education, Theology, and Leadership at Saint Mary s University, Twickenham, London. In June 2010, he was awarded the Catholic Theological Society of America's Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for New Scholars. He is the author of Faith and Unbelief (Paulist Press, 2014).

Brilliantly clear, succinct, readable, informed. Here is winsome erudition that teaches us not only who it is that Christians worship, but also the sheer joy, vitality, and graced intelligence that pertain to worshiping this God. Stephen Bullivant is a breath of fresh air for Christian intellectual life. --Matthew Levering, Perry Family Foundation Professor of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

In this very engaging book, Stephen Bullivant takes us to the truth that lies at the very heart of the Christian faith: God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By exploring sacred scripture and the apostolic tradition, he helps us to appreciate how the challenges that the church faced during her earliest centuries helped her to deepen her understanding of how the Father reveals himself to us, and offers us the free gift of salvation, in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, calling us to share forever the eternal life of the Blessed Trinity. I recommend this book to all who wish to learn more about who God is. --Most Rev. Malcolm McMahon, OP, Archbishop of Liverpool