Trinitarian Dogmatics: Exploring the Grammar of the Christian Doctrine of God

This book was MUCH needed. It covers how the doctrine of the Trinity was developed and why the Trinitarian terminology matters so very much. A must for every theologian, seminary student, and pastor.

Glenn Butner does a superb job of capturing the elements of the classical understanding of Trinitarianism, while also giving differing views a fair read even when disproving them. In fact, he leaves hardly a stone unturned in dealing with various views and heresies. He adeptly models retrieval and the difficult task of bringing it to bear upon the modern mind. While Butner may go deeper than the unread person in the pew may be able to follow, the truly theologically minded churchgoer, though challenged, will find a wealth of doctrine to absorb, and the well-versed pastor and scholar will benefit from its Biblical, Dogmatic, and Historical riches.

Of all the books and articles I’ve read on the Trinity, this book has helped my understanding the most. It covers a great deal of ground and fills many gaps that I’ve had when thinking critically about such a weighty subject. I’m grateful for it. He carefully defines terms and meticulously unpacks topics — many of which are foundational to understanding the Trinity — that either have been assumed or altogether ignored by other writers. It is historically informed, exegetically sound and biblically faithful, philosophically rigorous, and fully engaged with scholarly voices past and present. Tolle lege!

OK. The chapter on EG was well done, the rest of it was decidedly more obtuse than it needed to be. Would recommend other treatments instead

This book is particularly useful for those studying the nature and being of God in order to offer a more precise and truthful worship during times of private meditation.

This is a clear and substantive introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity. Butner's thematic/conceptual structure is helpful and instructive. Recommended!

This text is not easy reading, at least not for someone who is not a "professional" theologian. But as I work through the text, I am gaining a better appreciation of the triune God, and the detailed foundation of our beliefs. The author presents and critiques thought from the earliest times and effectively works through the subtleties of the evolving understanding. I think your faith will be strengthened by working thru this book.

Glen Butner's book is outstanding. Clear, insightful, irenic, attentive to Scripture, and able to keep the end goal in view, namely to know and have communion with this Triune God. I especially appreciated chapter 2 on processions and personal properties, chapter 4 on persons and relations (including helpful reflections on how to go about defining divine personhood), chapter 7 on missions, and chapter 8 on how to think about communion with the Triune God. Also helpful was the list of further recommended reading at the end of each chapter, and the way Butner is able to draw from a wide variety of theological traditions.