Challenging the Trinity: Indexicals and the Leftow Dilemma

Challenging the Trinity: Indexicals and the Leftow Dilemma

 

 

The Doctrine of the Trinity stands as a central tenet of Christian belief, positing the existence of three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—within the divine unity of God. However, a nuanced examination reveals intriguing challenges that will be discussed in detail. This blog post will present two more arguments against the Doctrine of the Trinity. I have already discussed the Logical Problem of the Trinity (LPT) and how the Trinity contradicts Divine Simplicity elsewhere on my blog.

 

The Argument from Indexicals:

 

Indexical: A linguistic expression whose reference can change based on the context. Examples of indexicals include I, he, she, here, that, etc. If Person A says I am happy and Person B utters the same sentence, even though the sentence is the same, Person A is saying it while person B is saying it.

In the orthodox conception of the doctrine of the Trinity, there is only one mind or one will in the Trinity due to the doctrine of perichoresis. Each thought of each of the persons are eternally known to each other. No thought is independent or hidden from the other, therefore, each thought is known simultaneously and eternally.

However, a problem arises pertaining to indexicals. The Father alone can affirm the proposition, “I am the Father” while the Son alone can affirm the proposition, “I am the Son”. Therefore, the divine persons are aware of different propositions if they use a mental token with the indexical “I” in it. To be aware of a proposition is precisely to perform a mental act. If there is an instance where the persons are aware of different propositions then they are performing different mental acts. Therefore, it cannot be the case that the persons between them have only one mind. Other examples include only the Father knowing, “I am unbegotten” while the Son knows. “I am the begotten of the Father”. Therefore, the orthodox view of one mind and one will is indefensible. If there are three minds and three wills in the Trinity then this is polytheism which contradicts the claim that there is only one God. How could it be the case that there are three persons each with their own intellects and wills and being considered fully God and yet there is one God? Furthermore, how can the persons of the Trinity share all the same actions? If this is the case then it is not only the Father who begets the Son but the Son brings himself to be which is incoherent. If their intentions are also the same in the Trinity, how can the Son intend to beget himself before he exists?

 

The Quadrinity Argument – The Leftow Dilemma:

 

         One may ask the Christian whether the Father is equal to God. The Christian may respond with that God is triune by definition and therefore, to say that the Father is triune is the fallacy of equivocation. Therefore, when one says the Father is God, this is not an “is” of identity. Therefore, when an individual claims that one of the divine persons is God it should be understood as an “is” of predication. Furthermore, when it is said that the Trinity is God, this should be understood as an “is” of identity. However, this invites a serious dilemma noted by scholar Brian Leftow. It seems that there are now four things that are divine: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the Trinity itself – a Quadrinity instead of a Trinity. If the Trinity is identified with God then the Trinity is not simply shorthand for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but a concrete entity in which the persons subsist in. The diagram below can help explicate this dilemma.

According to the diagram, if the Trinity is God then is it a fourth instance of the divine nature? If yes, then there are four Gods. If the Trinity is not a fourth instance of the divine nature then either the Trinity is divine or it is not. If it is not then one must abandon identifying the Trinity with God. If the Trinity is divine then there are either one way or two ways to be divine. If there are two ways of being divine then this results in what Dr. Leftow calls Plantingian Arianism. One way to be divine is to possess the divine nature and the other is by being the Trinity, either way, there are four divine things. If there is only one way to be divine then there are two options, either only the Trinity is God and the three persons are not divine or only the persons are divine. If the Trinity is said to possess the omni properties then there are four divine persons. If the Trinity is God and does not possess these qualities then the Trinity cannot be divine. Furthermore, God is understood to be a person, if the Trinity is not a person but is God then God is not a person.

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