Editing Trinity (section)

=== Relationship between the persons ===
Although all Trinitarians agree that there exists one God in three persons, Trinitarian theologians have differed on how to explain the relationships of the persons of the Trinity, among them are the [[eternal generation of the Son]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Giles |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lo42zEOKobwC&dq=eternal+generation+wayne+grudem&pg=PA147 |title=The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology |date=2012-05-07 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-3965-0 |language=en}}</ref> [[Eternal functional subordination|the functional subordination of the Son]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erickson |first=Millard J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNVTBmnZTlUC&dq=J.+Oliver+Buswell+eternal+generation&pg=PA61 |title=Who's Tampering with the Trinity?: An Assessment of the Subordination Debate |date=2009 |publisher=Kregel Academic |isbn=978-0-8254-9918-0 |language=en}}</ref> the [[Eternal procession of the Holy Spirit|eternal procession of the Spirit]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryrie |first=Charles C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F55Dx_kFcZIC |title=Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth |date=1999-01-11 |publisher=Moody Publishers |isbn=978-1-57567-498-8}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Waldron |first=Sam |date=2011-12-07 |title=Who's Tampering with the Trinity? (Part 17) The Eternal Procession of the Holy Spirit Proved |url=https://cbtseminary.org/the-trinity-17/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary |language=en-US |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161843/https://cbtseminary.org/the-trinity-17/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Filioque]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Filioque |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06073a.htm |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=www.newadvent.org |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161847/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06073a.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[subordinationism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beisner |first=E. Calvin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cgFLAwAAQBAJ&dq=Subordinationism+and+Arianism&pg=PA107 |title=God in Three Persons |date=2004-02-10 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-59244-545-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ramelli |first1=Ilaria L. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yyJIEAAAQBAJ&dq=Origen+Subordinationism+and+Arianism&pg=PA435 |title=T&T Clark Handbook of the Early Church |last2=McGuckin |first2=J. A. |last3=Ashwin-Siejkowski |first3=Piotr |date=2021-12-16 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-68039-6}}</ref>
[[File:The church of SS Peter and Paul in Brockdish - stained glass - The Holy Trinity.png|thumb|The Holy Trinity on the stained glass windows of the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in [[Brockdish]]|left]]
The doctrine of eternal generation is defined as a necessary and eternal act of [[God the Father]], in which he generates (or begets) [[God the Son]] by communicating the whole divine essence to the Son. Generation is not defined as an act of the will, but is by necessity of nature.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2019-12-01 |title=God the Son |url=https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/12/god-the-son/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |magazine=Tabletalk |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161843/https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/12/god-the-son/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hodge |first=Charles |title=Outlines of Theology |quote=The eternal generation of the Son is commonly defined to be an eternal personal act of the Father, wherein by necessity of nature, not by choice of will, he generates the person (not the essence) of the Son, by communicating to him the whole indivisible substance of the Godhead, without division, alienation, or change, so that the Son is the express image of His Father’s person, and eternally continues, not from the Father, but in the Father, and the Father in the Son}}</ref> This doctrine has been affirmed by the [[Athanasian creed]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=The Blessed Trinity |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm |access-date=2023-11-20 |via=New Advent |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001144038/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Nicene creed]]<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Parkison |first=Samuel |title=The Only Begotten God |magazine=Credo |url=https://credomag.com/article/the-only-begotten-god/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128110542/https://credomag.com/article/the-only-begotten-god/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and by church fathers such as [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], [[Augustine]], and [[Basil of Caesarea]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trinitarian Agency and the Eternal Subordination of the Son: An Augustinian Perspective |first1=Keith E. |last1=Johnson |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/trinitarian-agency-and-the-eternal-subordination-of-the-son-an-augustinian-perspective/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The Gospel Coalition |archive-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501100658/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/trinitarian-agency-and-the-eternal-subordination-of-the-son-an-augustinian-perspective/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wedgeworth |first=Steven |date=2020-04-15 |title=Athanasius on the Simple God And Eternal Generation |url=https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/athanasius-on-the-simple-god-and-eternal-generation/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The Gospel Coalition |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161843/https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/athanasius-on-the-simple-god-and-eternal-generation/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Graham |first=Wyatt |date=2022-02-13 |title=Impassibility Makes Sense of Our Faith in the Father and Son |url=https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/detrinitate/impassibility-makes-sense-of-our-faith-in-father-and-son/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The Gospel Coalition {{!}} Canada |language=en-US |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161843/https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/detrinitate/impassibility-makes-sense-of-our-faith-in-father-and-son/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Giles |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lo42zEOKobwC&dq=Eternal+generation+early+church&pg=PA87 |title=The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology |date=2012-05-07 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-3965-0 |language=en}}</ref> being mentioned explicitly first by [[Origen]] of Alexandria.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-08-28 |title=Bavinck On Eternal Generation |url=https://heidelblog.net/2014/08/bavinck-on-eternal-generation/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=[[The Heidelblog]] |language=en-US |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161844/https://heidelblog.net/2014/08/bavinck-on-eternal-generation/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Those who teach the traditional doctrine of eternal generation have often used biblical texts such as Proverbs 8:23,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Proverbs 8:23, the Eternal Generation of the Son and the History of Reformed Exegesis |url=https://www.reformation21.org/blogs/proverbs-823-the-eternal-gener.php |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=reformation21.org |language=en |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161843/https://www.reformation21.org/blogs/proverbs-823-the-eternal-gener.php |url-status=live}}</ref> Psalm 2:7, Micah 5:2, John 5:26, John 1:18, 3:16, Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Hebrews 1:3 to establish their understanding of eternal generation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the Doctrine of Eternal Generation? |url=https://ps.edu/eternal-generation/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=Phoenix Seminary |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last1=Sanders |first1=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGVDDgAAQBAJ&dq=Micah+5%3A2+eternal+generation&pg=PA73 |title=Retrieving Eternal Generation |last2=Swain |first2=Scott R. |date=2017-11-21 |publisher=Zondervan Academic |isbn=978-0-310-53788-5 |language=en |archive-date=19 January 2025 |access-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119141627/https://books.google.com/books?id=dGVDDgAAQBAJ&dq=Micah%205%3A2%20eternal%20generation&pg=PA73 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, some modern theologians reject the doctrines of eternal generation and procession, disputing the idea that these texts teach the doctrine of eternal generation. To reject eternal generation, [[William Lane Craig]] has argued, is to introduce subordinationism into the Trinity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is God the Son Begotten in His Divine Nature? {{!}} Reasonable Faith |url=http://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/scholarly-writings/christian-doctrines/is-god-the-son-begotten-in-his-divine-nature/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=reasonablefaith.org |language=en |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161910/https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/scholarly-writings/christian-doctrines/is-god-the-son-begotten-in-his-divine-nature |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Among modern Trinitarian debates, the issue of [[Social trinitarianism|social Trinitarianism]] is often discussed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Stephen R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl9tAgAAQBAJ |title=Two Views on the Doctrine of the Trinity |last2=Molnar |first2=Paul D. |last3=McCall |first3=Thomas H. |last4=Fiddes |first4=Paul |date=2014-09-02 |publisher=Zondervan Academic |isbn=978-0-310-49813-1 |language=en |archive-date=19 January 2025 |access-date=1 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119141849/https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl9tAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Although it is a diverse theological movement, many of its advocates argue that each person of the Trinity has their own center of consciousness and own will united in a loving relationship.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monothelitism and the Trinity {{!}} Reasonable Faith |url=https://www.reasonablefaith.org/question-answer/P50/monothelitism-and-the-trinity |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=www.reasonablefaith.org |language=en |archive-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225161843/https://www.reasonablefaith.org/question-answer/P50/monothelitism-and-the-trinity |url-status=live}}</ref> Critics argue it risks veering into tritheism (belief in three gods) by overemphasizing the distinctness of the persons, while proponents say it better reflects the biblical portrayal of the Trinity as relational and active in history. Social Trinitarianism is in contrast to what is often called "[[Classical trinitarianism|classical Trinitarianism]]" due to its association with many classical theologians such as Augustine, which instead distinguishes the persons by their eternal relations of begetting and procession.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=Matthew |title=Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit |publisher=Baker Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-5409-0007-4 |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-n2EAAAQBAJ&dq=classical+vs+social+trinitarianism&pg=PP438 |title=On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God |date=2024-10-01 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-1-5140-0035-9 |language=en}}</ref>