Books and Resources on the Trinity

Books

1. Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Second Edition) (book). I recommend this introduction to the Trinity more than any other, especially to pastors. It is aimed at evangelicals and especially helpful for seeing how the Trinity is revealed by the gospel and deepens our understanding of the gospel. The chapters and study guide also work well for a Sunday School class or small group study.
2. Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (book). This is a shorter introduction that is warm, pastoral, and devotional. It is a good option for putting in the hands of a lay person.
3. Scott Swain, The Trinity: An Introduction (Short Studies in Systematic Theology) (book). While I prefer Sanders’ introduction above, this is a bit shorter and gets right to the point. It packs a lot into a small space and introduces the key distinctions.
4. Fred Sanders, The Triune God (New Studies in Dogmatics) (book). This is a longer and more in-depth and academic version of Sanders’ work above. I found the Trinitarian exegesis to be especially helpful in this book, especially of key passages in John’s Gospel.
5. Gilles Emery, The Trinity: An Introduction to Catholic Doctrine on the Triune God (Thomistic Ressourcement) (book). This is a more advanced book than those above, but it has some extremely helpful definitions, especially in the chapter on “persons.”
6. Fred Sanders and Scott Swain, eds., Retrieving Eternal Generation (book). I am convinced that the missing key in our Trinitarian theology is eternal relations of origin. As Matt Emerson says in his essay in this book, the eternal generation of the Son is the lynchpin of Nicene theology.
7. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (see the first key section here). While I obviously disagree with the Roman Catholic Catechism on numerous points, most of its teaching is thoroughly orthodox, succinct, and beautiful. The sections on the Trinity are worth careful attention.
8. Gregory of Nazianzus On God and Christ (book of key historical orations/sermons). Gregory’s theological orations are challenging but incredible. Some of my favorite all-time quotes and passages come from these orations. Those who persevere will be richly rewarded. They deserve many rereadings across a lifetime of study.
9. Augustine On the Trinity (key historical book). While this book has a few oddities, it is mostly the clear and concise distillation of three centuries of the Church’s Trinitarian reflection. It is a must-read.
10. Richard of St. Victor On The Trinity (book).
11. Michael Bird and Scott Harrower, eds., Trinity Without Hierarchy: Reclaiming Nicene Orthodoxy in Evangelical Theology (book). This book argues against the now-popular teaching that there is a hierarchy or authority structure in the Trinity, where the Son eternally submits to the Father, and that this is the basis for human authority structures. See also Glenn Butner, The Son Who Learned Obedience: A Theological Case Against the Eternal Submission of the Son.
12. Brandon Smith, The Biblical Trinity: Encountering the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Scripture (book). This book is especially helpful for those who might be skeptical that the Trinity is actually biblical. It offers careful theological exegesis of numerous key texts.

Other Resources

1. The Athanasian Creed. The Athanasian Creed is surprisingly straightforward and clear. It has tremendous teaching value.
2. Protestant Confessional Statements on the Trinity. Protestants have drawn from the Nicene Creed and the church fathers to provide numerous concise statements on the Trinity.
3. God is Not Like an Egg: Teaching the Trinity without Using Misleading Illustrations (article). This article helps to show why many common illustrations of the Trinity are at best unhelpful and at worst misleading or heretical.
4. Jesus Is the Son of God, and “Son” Means “Son” (article). This article is a short primer on the eternal begetting or generation of the Son. It addresses the unfortunate way in which much evangelical teaching on the Son of God, in its eagerness to defend the deity of the Son, simply drops the words “Son of” as if they are meaningless.
5. I Believe in God the Father, Not Just A Fatherly God (article). This article is another primer on eternal generation that addresses the common misconception that God is called “the Father” primarily in relation to creatures rather than his eternal Son.
6. Eternal Generation and Adoption in Christ (sermon). This sermon explains how God the Father becomes our Father when we become his sons through union with his only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
7. Fred Sanders on Hilary of Poitiers and the Trinity (podcast). This podcast with Fred Sanders, a leading evangelical theologian on the Trinity (see his books below), discusses a key but neglected book on the Trinity from church history.
8. Making the Most of Trinity Sunday (article). This article provides guidance, especially to pastors, for how to avoid common mistakes on Trinity Sunday and use it as an opportunity to strengthen the church’s Trinitarian faith and worship.