The importance of the subject treated in this book can hardly be
overstated. It is admitted on all sides that the doctrine of the Trinity, as
we have it at present, is the result of developments in thinking and
expression that took place mainly in the first three centuries after Christ.
Have those developments obscured the biblical teaching about God and Jesus
Christ? How did the recipients of the original Christian message of salvation
understand the passages about which there is now so much debate? Would a first
century reader of the early Christian documents have reached the same
conclusions about them as did later readers? This is what we attempt to
address in these pages, using as our sole guide the teaching of the Bible,
only supplemented for historical data by the well-documented views of those
who lived in those formative years.
Neither of the authors lay claim to any biblical 'scholarship' as it is
normally defined. This we see as an advantage because of the independence it
confers. Their only qualification for this task is a lifetime's regard for and
study of Scripture, and a desire that its teaching should be correctly
understood. In the use and meaning of original Greek and Hebrew words we have
had to rely heavily on standard works of reference and sometimes the views and
comments of the 'experts'. Every effort has been made to ensure such use and
meanings have been correctly interpreted; but even if an inadvertent slip may
have occurred, we are confident that the main thrust of the book is in no way
impaired.
As far as the division of labour is concerned, chapters 4, 5, 7 and the
greater part of 3 are the work of Jim Broughton and the balance that of his
co-author. Because of the input of two different minds, and especially because
the subjects under consideration are so intertwined that divisions become
somewhat arbitrary, we are conscious of overlap or duplication in the
treatment of some aspects. The reader's indulgence is requested on the few
occasions that this occurs.
The authors' preferred Bible translation for this study is the Revised
Standard Version, and this is used throughout, except where otherwise
indicated. This version is generally considered to be unsurpassed for accuracy
even
if its literary merit is surpassed by other versions.
Our thanks are due to several of our fellow Bible students to whom we
showed the early drafts, and who made many helpful comments and suggestions.
Above all are we conscious of the greatness and loftiness of the subject of
this book, and recognise that it is impossible to even come near to doing
justice to so lofty a theme. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, says the Lord" (Isaiah 55.8). We pray that in
attempting to study some of those divine thoughts and revelations found
exclusively in His Word, we have done so to the glory of God and to the honour
of His Son in whom all His fullness dwells.
P.J.S., J.H.B.
Produced by the Dawn Christadelphians
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