Participating in God: A Pastoral Doctrine of the Trinity

Rating:
Summary: A Life-giving Consideration of the Trinity
Review: This is a well-written and insightful consideration of a doctrine that is difficult but supremely important. The book's primary virtue is that it shows the value of the trinity by developing the doctrine in light of real life. It is a valuable contribution to the best recent thought on the subject, but it is accessible and helpful even to a theological novice as myself.

Fiddes mines the riches of Christian theology from the Capadocian fathers of the patristic east to classical Western theology from Augustine and Aquinas to modern thinkers as diverse as Jurgen Moltmann and John Zizioulas. With grace and care, he takes the best from the breadth of trinitarian thought and presses still further. He is especially conscious of Biblical texts, which he interprets with acumen and respect. In general, he is sensitive to the Christian community even as he urges it onward.

Through the course of the book, Fiddes deals with some of the most difficult tensions of real life and Christian theology. He has chapters on living in community, dealing with destructive authority, the point of prayer, the problem of suffering, the practice of forgiveness, death, spiritual gifts, and the nature of sacrament. He illuminates each of these profound problems through his model of the trinity as a dynamic community of relationship in which we may participate through the gracious love of the Father who draws us through the Son and in the Spirit. With insightful sensitivity and amazing grace, Fiddes shows how the trinity provides practical help, both as a symbol through which we may learn and as an actual, personal presence in our lives.

Where much philosophy and theology has little contact with life, Participating in God attempts to say something that will actually enrich real lives. It is rigorous and erudite, but it is also practical and accessible. Since it is cogent and daring, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the contemporary dialogue on the trinity; since it touches on all major aspects of Christian faith (including soteriology, Christology, and ecclesiology), it could serve as a compelling consideration of Christianity, both to the non-Christian and to the Christian wishing deeper immersion in their faith. To anyone interested in Christianity and willing to learn a little more, this book offers very, very much.

Rating:
Summary: A Life-giving Consideration of the Trinity
Review: This is a well-written and insightful consideration of a doctrine that is difficult but supremely important. The book's primary virtue is that it shows the value of the trinity by developing the doctrine in light of real life. It is a valuable contribution to the best recent thought on the subject, but it is accessible and helpful even to a theological novice as myself.

Fiddes mines the riches of Christian theology from the Capadocian fathers of the patristic east to classical Western theology from Augustine and Aquinas to modern thinkers as diverse as Jurgen Moltmann and John Zizioulas. With grace and care, he takes the best from the breadth of trinitarian thought and presses still further. He is especially conscious of Biblical texts, which he interprets with acumen and respect. In general, he is sensitive to the Christian community even as he urges it onward.

Through the course of the book, Fiddes deals with some of the most difficult tensions of real life and Christian theology. He has chapters on living in community, dealing with destructive authority, the point of prayer, the problem of suffering, the practice of forgiveness, death, spiritual gifts, and the nature of sacrament. He illuminates each of these profound problems through his model of the trinity as a dynamic community of relationship in which we may participate through the gracious love of the Father who draws us through the Son and in the Spirit. With insightful sensitivity and amazing grace, Fiddes shows how the trinity provides practical help, both as a symbol through which we may learn and as an actual, personal presence in our lives.

Where much philosophy and theology has little contact with life, Participating in God attempts to say something that will actually enrich real lives. It is rigorous and erudite, but it is also practical and accessible. Since it is cogent and daring, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the contemporary dialogue on the trinity; since it touches on all major aspects of Christian faith (including soteriology, Christology, and ecclesiology), it could serve as a compelling consideration of Christianity, both to the non-Christian and to the Christian wishing deeper immersion in their faith. To anyone interested in Christianity and willing to learn a little more, this book offers very, very much.