Trinity
The God We Don't Know
Published May 2015
Who is this God we worship?
Most people assume they know what they mean when they use the word “God.” They mean a powerful old guy in the sky ready to obliterate us if we do wrong but basically benevolent, if a little senile.
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity shows us God is vastly more interesting. God is actually fleshed among us in Jesus, poured out on us in the Holy Spirit’s intoxication of the church. God is three divine persons in perfect harmony and beauty—and God invites us into that unimaginable intimacy. We don’t know this God, but we should.
Trinity uses scripture, the Early Church tradition, and some modern theology to argue that God is a mystery whom we can’t understand but who can shape our misunderstanding to allow for faithful living and holy love of God and neighbor.
“Jason Byassee thinks like a theologian, writes like a journalist, and communicates like a storyteller. We live in a time of trinitarian dissonance, when the central doctrine of the Christian faith is strangely neglected by most Christians. Byassee’s wonderful exploration of the Trinity offers a remedy for that by providing a meat-and-potatoes introduction to the God who is at once Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. An excellent spiritual guide for both mature Christians and those brand new to the Christian faith.” —Rev. Dr. Andrew C. Thompson, Assistant Professor of Historical Theology &Wesleyan Studies, Memphis Theological Seminary, Memphis, TN, and Wesley Scholar for the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church
“In trying to communicate the trinitarian relationship, Byassee succeeds in making the indescribable a little more coherent while reminding us of the all-consuming love of God. Trinity is a little book of rigorous thought and deep devotion. It is rare these days to find a work of theology that stirs the intellect, the heart, and the spirit. And I have to admit, in reading this book, I fell in love with the Holy Spirit all over again." —Enuma Okoro, Nigerian-American writer, speaker, and award-winning author of Reluctant Pilgrim, Silence, and Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
About the Author
Dr. Jason Byassee
Jason Byassee is the Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Interpretation at Vancouver School of Theology. He previously served as senior pastor of Boone United Methodist Church, a 1500-member congregation in Boone, NC. He is trained in systematic theology with a PhD from Duke, and he worked as a journalist at faithandleadership.com and at The Christian Century magazine. He authored six books, including The Gifts of the Small Church and Trinity: The God We Don’t Know with Abingdon Press.