Understanding Present Anti-Trinitarian Debates

This week on Advent Next, a theological podcast curated for curious faith discussions, we are continuing our conversation with Dr. Denis Kaiser, assistant professor of Church history at Andrews University. We will continue to explore the development of the trinity doctrine, anti-trinitarianism and the present controversies surrounding the role of Jesus in salvation and the nature of His subordination to the Father. Last week we discussed the history of the trinity from the 4th century on, what is the trinity and anti-trinitarianism exactly, and lastly focusing particularly on the progressive understanding of the nature of Christ within early Adventism. This week we will discuss the recent debates surrounding the trinity, how the trinity became recently related to the issue of women’s ordination, and how the nature of Christ impacts the work of salvation. “In the pew people get kind of suspicious of scholars. So again the question is ‘who can we trust?’ And so there was a movement rising in the Adventist church where people left or retired and created their own independent ministries, and the mindset is what we call ‘historic adventism’. But it’s a very static monolithic view of Adventism.