Social Trinitarianism: A Discussion of Some Recent Theological Criticisms

In this article I briefly summarize the development of social trinitarianism in order to arrive at a description of its most important defining coordinates. Next, leaving aside the philosophical debate, I discuss some of the theological criticisms that have recently been leveled against it. It will turn out that social trinitarianism can be redefined in such a way that these objections are taken into account insofar as they are justified, but without losing the momentum social trinitarianism gave to the recent renewal of trinitarian thinking. Finally, having proceeded thus far in a defensive way, I will briefly explore two more constructive arguments in favour of social (or relational) trinitarianism. © 2014 John Wiley and Sons Ltd