1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
God is love; no Christian can deny this. But I am convinced that there is more to unpack from this statement then you may have originally thought. God is also triune; no orthodox Christian would deny this statement either. Here again, I think there is more to this fact than is usually acknowledged. I believe that these two aspects of God when seen together provide important and practical implications for our understanding of human relations, justice and God.
God has expressed eternal love within the Trinity for all eternity. The three persons of the Trinity God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit exist in an infinitely deep interpenetrating bond often referred to as the perichoresis. This bond is so great that it actually has substance, and within this substance love is certainly elemental. The relationship between the persons of the Trinity is defined by love, although it may be defined by other qualities as well.
Further, all authentic relationships were designed by God to take part in and be defined by mutual, reciprocating love. In a broader sense, communities which consist of a group, or groups of individuals, who share and participate with one another in relationships, should also be marked by love. This seems to follow because relationships should be marked by love and communities consist of relationships between persons. What’s more, a society which is essentiality the totality of a group of social/communal relationships (communities), it seems, should be marked by love as well.
Once again, the paradigm for any relationship or group of relationships is shown to us by God himself within the Trinity, and this model is marked by love. Thus, we have a model in God’s own relations within himself for how we should behave toward one another and it would seem that this model would have implications on society as well if society consists of totalities of relationships. My proposal is that if we believe that God is one in three persons, and we believe that God is love, that the doctrine of the Trinity has direct implications on societal relations and thus, justice within society. Further, it seems that a society marked by divine love would be devoid of injustice. Let me know what you think, and your thoughts on how the doctrine of the Trinity can and should bare on the work of justice in the church.
God is love; no Christian can deny this. But I am convinced that there is more to unpack from this statement then you may have originally thought. God is also triune; no orthodox Christian would deny this statement either. Here again, I think there is more to this fact than is usually acknowledged. I believe that these two aspects of God when seen together provide important and practical implications for our understanding of human relations, justice and God.
God has expressed eternal love within the Trinity for all eternity. The three persons of the Trinity God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit exist in an infinitely deep interpenetrating bond often referred to as the perichoresis. This bond is so great that it actually has substance, and within this substance love is certainly elemental. The relationship between the persons of the Trinity is defined by love, although it may be defined by other qualities as well.
Further, all authentic relationships were designed by God to take part in and be defined by mutual, reciprocating love. In a broader sense, communities which consist of a group, or groups of individuals, who share and participate with one another in relationships, should also be marked by love. This seems to follow because relationships should be marked by love and communities consist of relationships between persons. What’s more, a society which is essentiality the totality of a group of social/communal relationships (communities), it seems, should be marked by love as well.
Once again, the paradigm for any relationship or group of relationships is shown to us by God himself within the Trinity, and this model is marked by love. Thus, we have a model in God’s own relations within himself for how we should behave toward one another and it would seem that this model would have implications on society as well if society consists of totalities of relationships. My proposal is that if we believe that God is one in three persons, and we believe that God is love, that the doctrine of the Trinity has direct implications on societal relations and thus, justice within society. Further, it seems that a society marked by divine love would be devoid of injustice. Let me know what you think, and your thoughts on how the doctrine of the Trinity can and should bare on the work of justice in the church.
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