GA06044

Theological Issues and Institutions committee

Trinity paper approved with amendments

by Bill Lancaster

BIRMINGHAM, June 17 — The Theological Issues and Institutions Committee of the 217th General Assembly approved, with amendment, the paper entitled, "The Trinity: God's Love Overflowing." The vote was 42-16-3 (for-against-abstain).

A substitute motion for the item, which would have referred the paper back to the Office of Theology and Worship and the drafting committee for review, was defeated by a vote of 23-33-3.

The paper affirms Father, Son and Holy Spirit as the church's anchor language for the Trinity, but lifts up other biblical images of the Trinity for study and use in worship.

One approved amendment adds a paragraph affirming that Jesus Christ is the very image of God. The full text, to be added at line 436 in the paper, states, "We must always bear in mind that Scripture affirms Jesus Christ is the very image of God. This means the Triune God has chosen to reveal the Divine identity in the life and work of Jesus Christ. Christ is the mystery of our salvation and the revelation of God in the world."

This amendment was offered by Aurelio Garcia, a pastor from San Juan Presbytery. Charles Wylie, associate for theology in the office of Theology and Worship, told the committee it would be a positive addition to the report.

A group of 10 amendments offered by the Office of Theology and Worship also were approved. Most were minor editorial changes or clarifications.
The committee voted not to recommend an overture that also would have referred the paper back to the Office of Theology and Worship for further consideration. They approved letting the action on the Trinity paper be the answer to the overture.

An amendment was defeated that would have recommended that the Assembly simply "receive" the report rather than "approve" it. Under this amendment, the paper still would have been commended to the churches for study.

Jonathan Lovelady, a pastor from Shenandoah Presbytery, announced at the end of the meeting that there would be a minority report. The report will seek to adopt an overture from the Presbytery of Shenandoah that was not affirmed by the committee. It would send the paper back to the Office of Theology and Worship for further consultation with churches, and have them re-submit it to the 218th General Assembly (2008). The minority report may potentially be signed by 15 to 20 of the committee's members.

The rationale for the minority report claims that the Trinity paper creates confusion by using analogies or metaphors for God as actual names of God. "Thus the line is blurred between a metaphor for God and the reveal[ed] names for God in Scripture," the writers say. For example, it is one thing to say that God is like a rainbow, and a very different one to say that God's name is Rainbow.

The supporters of the minority report also say the paper omits some critical passages of Scripture, namely, John 14-16 and Matt. 6. "Our desire is not to squelch imagination," they say, "but to be true to the Reformed tradition and offer appropriate boundaries to the human imagination."

Related article

June 19, 2006
GA acts on Trinity paper

June 16, 2006
Trinity paper draws both praise, criticism in hearings

Items marked with are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.