Monday, October 9, 2017

[Notes] A Clarkian Solution to the Ontological Trinity : A Proposal

A Clarkian Solution to the Ontological Trinity : A Proposal

by Benjamin Wong


Original: Monday, October 9, 2017

Last updated: Monday, October 9, 2017


Acknowledgement:

The following notes are write-up from fruitful email exchanges with Doug Douma.

I like to thank him for the discussion.


Outline:


A. Introduction (section 1)
B. Definition of Key Terms (sections 2 and 3)
C. Defining God (sections 4 and 5)
D. Defining the Three Persons of the Trinity (sections 6 to 11)
E. Against Modalism (section 12)
F. Against Tritheism (section 13)
G. A Miscellany (section 14)


A. Introduction

1. The purpose of these notes is to outline a propose solution to the Problem of the Ontological Trinity along the lines of Gordon H. Clark's The Trinity ([1985] 1990).

Ontology is that philosophical discipline concerned with the nature of being and existence.

The doctrine of the Trinity claims that there is one God but in the Godhead there are three distinct Persons.

The explanatory slogan of the Trinity is: "Three in Persons and One in Essence".

In considering God as an ontological Being, there are two errors to be avoided:

(a) Modalism : The three Persons are just three modes or manifestations of one divine Person.

(b) Tritheism : There are three Gods.

For the purpose of these notes, the Problem of the Ontological Trinity is the problem of how to define God as three in Persons and one in essence without falling into the errors of modalism and tritheism.


* Since some consider "Fatherhood", "Sonship", and "Holy Spirithood" as economic properties of the Trinity, I will refrain from using these terms when discussing the ontological aspects of the Trinity.


B. Definition of Key Terms

2. God is a Trinity of three Persons; there is unity and there is diversity to the being and existence of God.

Ontologically, the unity of God is conceptualized in terms of "essence" and the diversity in terms of "Persons".

Over the centuries, many key terms used in the discussions of the ontological Trinity have not been defined properly with the result that there is a certain vagueness and ambiguities to the discussions.

Gordon Clark's slogan in this regard is "define or discard".

Following Clark's advice, the following are definition of some key terms.


3. The purpose of a definition is to uniquely identified an object, property or relation by some of their properties.

The purpose of a definition is not to completely or exhaustively list the properties of an object, property or relation.

The following two definitions are from Alvin Plantinga:

An essence of an object is a property that is essential and essentially unique to that object. (Plantinga 1974, v).

The nature of an object is a conjunctive property including as conjuncts just those properties essential to that object. (Plantinga 1980, 7 n.1)

Following Gordon Clark's strategy, a person will be defined by the set of true propositions he thinks or could have thought.

That is, the set of true propositions a person thinks or could have thought expresses an essence of that person.

A particular person can be defined by the set of true propositions that particular person thinks or could have thought.


C. Defining God

4. There are two techniques used in the definition of God and the three Persons of the Trinity:

(a) Definition by Essence; and

(b) Definition by Genus and Difference.

God cannot be defined by genus and difference because God is "sui generis" (i.e. in a class by itself).

The proper technique to use in defining God is definition by essence.

An essence of God is a property that is essential and essentially unique to God.

God can be defined or uniquely identified by enumerating an essence of God.

One essence of God is the property "omniscience".

The property "omniscience" is essential to God in that God could not have been God without being omniscient.

The property "omniscience" is essentially unique to God in that no objects other than God could be omniscient.

The definition "God is that which is omniscient" is an adequate definition of "God" since God and only God could be omniscient; the property "omniscience" uniquely identified God.

God has been successfully defined using the technique of definition by essence.


5. God has more than one essences.

Examples of essences of God are such properties as omniscience, omnipotence, perfect goodness, etc.

As the "etc." indicates, there are indefinitely many essences of God.

All the indefinitely many essences of God are collectively known as "the Divine Essence".

Although God can be defined using "the Divine Essence", it is an overkill for most purposes.

But in the following, I will follow tradition and use the Divine Essence to define God.


D. Defining the Three Persons of the Trinity

6. The three Persons of the Trinity can be defined using the technique of definition by genus and difference.

In definition by genus and difference, a "genus" is marked out by one or more properties that are essential to the genus.

A "species" is that which is a member of a genus.

When a species belongs to a genus, it must possesses all the essential properties of that genus as have been marked out.

Species within a genus are differentiated by properties that are accidental to the genus but specific to the species.

In definition by genus and difference, the accidental properties are called "differences" or "specific differences".

For example:

The species Adam, Barry, and Charles belongs to the genus "man"

The essential property of the genus is "man-ness"

The species Adam, Barry, and Charles can be differentiated by their heights.

Adam is 5'6"; Barry is 5'8"; Charles is 7'1".

"5 feet 6 inches" is the specific difference that differentiates Adam from Barry and Charles.

"5 feet 8 inches" is the specific difference that differentiates Barry from Adam and Charles.

"7 feet 1 inch" is the specific difference that differentiates Charles from Adam and Barry.

Height is the "accidental property" that differentiates the three species of this genus.


7. In defining the three Persons of the Trinity by the technique of genus and difference, the genus is God and the three species are the three Persons of the Trinity.

The essential property that mark out the genus "God" is the Divine Essence.

The Divine Essence has "two" different uses in this situation:

(a) The Divine Essence is used as the essential property that mark out the genus "God".

(b) The Divine Essence is also used as the essence that define the thing "God".

Each of the three Persons of the Trinity possesses the Divine Essence.

Since anything that possesses the Divine Essence is God, each of the three Persons of the Trinity is God.


8. Species within a genus are differentiated by properties that are accidental to the genus but specific to the species.

Three properties that are accidental to the genus "God" but specific to the three Persons of the Trinity are:

(a) A property that specifically differentiates the First Person of the Trinity from the other two Persons is: "to be able to think truly the proposition that I eternally generate another Person".

(b) A property that specifically differentiates the Second Person of the Trinity from the other two Persons is: "to be able to think truly the proposition that I am eternally generated by another Person and I do not eternally generate another Person."

(c) A property that specifically differentiates the Third Person of the Trinity from the other two Persons is: "to be able to think truly the proposition that I eternally process from two other Persons, and I neither eternally generate nor is eternally generated by any other Persons."

The three Persons of the Trinity have been successfully defined by using the technique of definition by genus and difference.

In using the technique of genus and difference to define the three Persons of the Trinity:

(a) The essential property that is used to mark out the genus "God" is the Divine Essence.

(b) The three accidental properties that are not essential to the genus "God" that are use to specify the three Persons of the Trinity are the three indexical propositions formulated using the two relations eternal generation and eternal procession.


9. The doctrines of eternal generation and eternal procession have two uses:

(a) To distinguish the three Persons of the Trinity.

(b) To act as "ontological glue" that binds the three Persons of the Trinity.

I will follow the Western Church in treating the Third Person of the Trinity as processing from both the First and Second Persons of the Trinity.

The Eastern Church considers the Third Person from processing from the First Person of the Trinity alone.

Thus, Eternal Generation is a two terms relation:

Eternal Generation (Person A, Person B)

and is read as "Person A eternally generates Person B".

Eternal Procession is a three terms relation:

Eternal Procession ((Person A, Person B), Person C)

and is read as "Person C eternally processes from Person A and Person B".


10. Using the relational properties of eternal generation and eternal procession:

(a) The First Person of the Trinity is the one who eternally generates another Person.

The First Person of the Trinity is commonly known as God the Father.

(b) The Second Person of the Trinity is the one who is eternally generated by another Person and who does not eternally generate another Person.

The Second Person of the Trinity is commonly known as God the Son.

(c) The Third Person of the Trinity is the one: (i) who is eternally processes from two other Persons, and (ii) who neither eternally generate nor is eternally generated by any other Persons.

The Third Person of the Trinity is commonly known as God the Holy Spirit.

(d) There are no other Persons in the Godhead.


11. The eternal generation and eternal procession relations are of the nature of God but not of the essence of God.

Recall:

An "essence" of an object is a property that is essential and essentially unique to that object.

The "nature" of an object is a conjunctive property including as conjuncts just those properties essential to that object.

Since the eternal generation and eternal procession relations are essential properties of the Godhead, they are of the nature of God.

Two reasons why eternal generation and eternal procession are not of the essence of God:

(a) The eternal generation relation is not a positive property of the Third Person of the Trinity.

Eternal generation characterizes the Third Person only in a negative way in that the Third Person of the Trinity is not related to the other two Persons through this relation.

(b) The terms in the two relations are "order specific" and do not apply to the three Persons of the Trinity distributively and indiscriminately, like the other essences of God.

Since the two relations do not apply to each Person of the Trinity in the same way, they are not of the Divine Essence.


E. Against Modalism

12. Modalism is the claim that the three Persons of the Trinity are just modes or manifestations of one Divine Person.

A reason why the three Persons of the Trinity are not just modes of one Divine Person is because each Person possesses an individual essence(s) that is distinct from the Divine Essence.

Since an individual essence(s) is essential and essentially unique to each Person, it is an ontological property that can be used to distinguish each Person of the Trinity from the other two.

As a matter of fact, the three properties used in defining the three Persons of the Trinity also express an individual essence of that Person:

(a) The property "to be able to think truly the proposition that I eternally generate another Person" is essential to the First Person in that He could not have been the First Person of the Trinity unless He is able to think truly the proposition that I eternally generate another Person.

The property "to be able to think truly the proposition that I eternally generate another Person" is essentially unique to the First Person of the Trinity in that no Persons other than the First Person of the Trinity could be able to think truly the proposition that I eternally generate another Person.

So this property is an individual essence of the First Person of the Trinity but not of the Divine Essence.

(b) The property "to be able to think truly the proposition that I am eternally generated by another Person and I do not eternally generate another Person" is essential to the Second Person in that He could not have been the Second Person of the Trinity unless He is able to think truly the proposition that I am eternally generated by another Person and I do not eternally generate another Person.

This property is also essentially unique to the Second Person of the Trinity.

So this property is an individual essence of the Second Person of the Trinity but not of the Divine Essence.

(c) The property "to be able to think truly the proposition that I eternally process from two other Persons, and I neither eternally generate nor is eternally generated by any other Persons” is essential to the Third Person in that He could not have been the Third Person of the Trinity unless He is able to think truly the proposition that I eternally process from two other Persons, and I neither eternally generate nor is eternally generated by any other Persons.

This property is also essentially unique to the Third Person of the Trinity.

So this property is an individual essence of the Third Person of the Trinity but not of the Divine Essence.

Since an essence of an object is an ontological property of that object and since each Person of the Trinity possesses an individual essence other than the Divine Essence, therefore each Person of the Trinity can be ontologically distinguish from the others.

Therefore, modalism is false.


F. Against Tritheism

13. Tritheism is the claim that there are three ontologically unrelated Gods.

In Trinitarianism, the three Persons of the Trinity are ontologically related by the relations eternal generation and eternal procession.

Eternal generation and eternal procession are like "ontological glue" that binds the three Persons of the Trinity.

If Trinitarianism is true, then tritheism is false.

Trinitarianism is true.

Therefore, tritheism is false.


G. A Miscellany

14. Another philosophically interesting way to explore the ontological Trinity is by way of universal and particular.

In metaphysical realism:

An universal is an abstract object.

A particular is a concrete object.

The relation between an universal and its particulars is "exemplification".

An universal is that which can be wholly and completely exemplified in more than one particulars.

The Divine Essence, being a conjunction of properties, is an abstract object.

The Divine Essence must be exemplified because God is a necessary Being.

The Divine Essence is an universal of which the three particulars are the three Persons of the Trinity.

The universal is the Divine Essence.

Any particulars that exemplified the Divine Essence is God.

The three Persons of the Trinity each exemplified the Divine Essence.

Therefore, the three Persons of the Trinity are each God.

Since each Person of the Trinity exemplifies the identical Divine Essence, therefore the formulation "Three in Persons and One in Essence".


References:

Clark, Gordon H. [1985] 1990. The Trinity. 2e. Jefferson, Maryland: The Trinity Foundation.

Hurley, Patrick J. 2014. A Concise Introduction to Logic. 12e. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

Loux, Michael J. and Thomas M. Crisp. 2017. Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction. 4e. New York, NY: Routledge.

Plantinga, Alvin. 1974. The Nature of Necessity. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Plantinga, Alvin. 1980. Does God Have a Nature? Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.

End.