In this blog
I will be "publishing" a work which I began several years ago, when trinitarian theology was just beginning to receive notice. Now it has become popular, and others far more qualified than me have written on it, with far greater precision and grace.
So why add yet another work to the corpus?
1) My greatest motivation is to try to discuss this theology in a way that might be more accessible to laypersons. (A practical purpose: to edify the members and friends of Valley Covenant Church. I may use it to teach an adult Christian Ed class this fall or next spring.)
2) Another is to challenge myself to revisit this material and rethink it in light of all that I have learned over the past five years. (A devotional purpose: to deepen my own relationship with the Lord.)
3) Finally, it seems to me that the only way the Evangelical Covenant Church will be able to continue to hold together, maintaining its distinctives of freedom and fellowship is if it recognizes that our story is grounded in God's story--which understands God as Three Persons in one Substance: Father, Son and Spirit. (An ecclesiastical purpose: to edify and serve the church as a whole at a time when our identity is increasingly being questioned.)
So why add yet another work to the corpus?
1) My greatest motivation is to try to discuss this theology in a way that might be more accessible to laypersons. (A practical purpose: to edify the members and friends of Valley Covenant Church. I may use it to teach an adult Christian Ed class this fall or next spring.)
2) Another is to challenge myself to revisit this material and rethink it in light of all that I have learned over the past five years. (A devotional purpose: to deepen my own relationship with the Lord.)
3) Finally, it seems to me that the only way the Evangelical Covenant Church will be able to continue to hold together, maintaining its distinctives of freedom and fellowship is if it recognizes that our story is grounded in God's story--which understands God as Three Persons in one Substance: Father, Son and Spirit. (An ecclesiastical purpose: to edify and serve the church as a whole at a time when our identity is increasingly being questioned.)
May the Lord guide and bless this effort, and use it for His glory.
--Beth Bilynskyj,
Springfield, Oregon
June, 2007
