11: The Trinity and the Old Testament

Question 1

Gen 1:26 “Let us make man…”

To whom does the us refer? What are the options?

Answer 1

• Representative we
• Polytheistic reference
• The angelic host or heavenly assembly
• A statement of self-deliberation
• Proclamation to the angelic host
• Anticipation of human plurality

Question 2

Why is the “representative we” not a good option?

Answer 2

God is an absolute being

Question 3

Why is the polytheistic reference not a good option?

Answer 3

It goes against the anti-polytheistic intention of Genesis narrative

Question 4

Why is “the angelic host or the heavenly assembly” not a good option?

Answer 4

1. Angels do not depict an advisory role in scripture
2. Human beings are made in the image of God, not of angels
3. Only God is the subject of the verbs asa (make) and bara (create) in creation account
4. Gen. 11: “Let us go down…”, only God is said to go down

Question 5

What about “a statement of self-deliberation”?

Answer 5

Could be the only good option but should be embraced as a last resort.

Question 6

What is the suggestion for the meaning of “let us make man…”?

Answer 6

• Within the horizon of the human author: self-deliberation
• Within the sensus plenior of Scripture: a veiled trinitarian reference

Question 7

What are other OT trinitarian hints?

Answer 7

• Genesis 3:22. “the man has now become like one of us”
• Genesis 11:7. “Let us go down and confuse their language”
• Genesis 18. Abraham and the three men at Mamre
• Genesis 19. Lot and the angelic visitors
• Isaiah 6:8. “Whom shall I send? And who shall go for us?”

Question 8

What about the Angel of the Lord?

Answer 8

• Paradoxically, the angel of the Lord was both God and was not God. The angel is clearly theophanic.
• The angelic theophany bridges the divine between Creator and creature but remains simultaneously mysterious.

Question 9

Which theologian of the first century started to see OT theophanies as christophanies? Based on what scripture?

Answer 9

• Justin Martyr
• John 1:18
  
  • θεόν οὐδεις ἑώρακεν πώποτε, ὁ μονογενὴς ὑιός ὁ ὤν είς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρός, έκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο

Question 10

What to respond to “the angel of the Lord” christophanies?

Answer 10

No NT text identifies the angel of the Lord with Jesus.

Question 11

What does the first commandment (Exodus 20:3) mean?

Answer 11

• That God is one is not an assertion of God’s ontology
• Most likely it is an instruction to Israel not to divide her confessional allegiance.
  
  • For Israel, YHWH is to be her only God

Question 12

What are the two Hebrew words for “one”? What word does the Shema use?

Answer 12

1. Yahid = unique
2. Echad = unified

“Hashem echad”

Question 13

What about ruach YHWH?

Answer 13

• Appears 400 times
• emphasis in its empowerment, not ontological

Question 14

What is the Conclusion for trinitarian hints in the OT?

Answer 14

1. The Old Testament certainly does not teach trinitarianism
2. The Old Testament hints at something more than unitarianism
3. Complex monotheism