Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) is an important, highly respected Christian theologian whose main theological four volume work has just appeared in English in its entirety for the first time. (It is said that old Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield learned Dutch just so that he could read Bavinck.) Bavinck was especially careful to ground all his theology in the progressive revelation of God recorded and given for us in the Scriptures. Here are some choice quotations from Bavinck on the Trinity:
"In the outpouring of the Son and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the one true God is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit...All salvation, every blessing, and blessedness have their threefold cause in God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The New Testament revelation is trinitarian through and through." (volume 2, page 256)
"The confession of the Trinity is the heartbeat of the Christian religion. All error is traceable to a departure from this doctrine." (vol 2, p. 258)
"In fact, the entire Christian belief system stands or falls within the confession of God's Trinity. It is the core of the Christian faith, the root of all its dogmas, the basic content of the new covenant... It is in the doctrine of the Trinity that we feel the heartbeat of God's entire revelation for the redemption of humanity. We are baptized in the name of the Triune God, and in that name we find rest for our soul and peace for our conscience. Our God is above us, before us and within us." (vol 2, p. 260)
I hope that these thoughts will help you esteem the doctrine of the Trinity more in your own Christian thought and life. It is helpful to reflect on what each person of the Trinity has done for you in your salvation, and to use that reflection to fuel your own worship and praise to the great One in Three.
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