Yarnell III, Malcolm, God the Trinity: Biblical Portraits. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2016.
Introduction
Malcolm Yarnell is the research professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX, where he also completed his MDiv (1991). Yarnell earned his ThM at Duke University (1996) and a DPhil at Oxford University (2000). He is a Baptist minister serving as the teaching pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church of Granbury, TX. While Yarnell’s expertise is in Systematic Theology, his academic research writings (over 160 essays) and book publications (30 books, including monographs and edited volumes) span from biblical theology and philosophical theology to historical theology and theological method.
Moreover, he has recently been advocating for the inclusion of the Nicene Creed in the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Faith and Message and defending the significance of grounding contemporary confessions in historical creeds, such as the Nicene Creed. By doing so, it preserves and helps purify any theological confusion and syncretism against the Triune God.
Review of Yarnell’s Work
The purpose of God the Trinity is to examine Trinitarian patterns in the Scripture. Yarnell aims to present various biblical portraits of the Triune God. These various biblical portraits are from his selected passages, both found in the Old and New Testaments. The passages are Matthew 28:19, Second Corinthians 13:14, Deuteronomy 6:4-7, John 1:18, John 16:14-15, John 17:21-22, Ephesians 1:9-10, and Revelation 5:6. From these biblical passages, Yarnell exposes the author’s context and meaning, including theological underpinnings that paint several angles and truths about the Triune God. It includes the revealed name of God as YHWH, who is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ontologically, he speaks about God’s eternal relation of origins and procession; economically, the inseparable operations of the Trinity and proper operations.
What is vital in Yarnell’s biblical theology, exegetical, and doctrinal work is his methodology. He utilizes a theological interpretation of the Scripture (ix), which reads and interprets the Scripture through a historical-critical method alongside the precritical exegesis of the early church fathers (26). The former appreciates the original intent of the author, as well as the context, grammar, genre, and other historical factors. The latter appreciates the canonical unity reading and how the church throughout history—ancient, medieval, reformation, and modern—has interpreted a certain passage. This method enables a careful and immersive exegetical approach to Scripture, informing biblical theology, which in turn informs systematic theology. In the same manner, it balances the significant theological grammar of the Triune God in reading and interpreting other implicit passages or those that require more exegetical clarity.
Throughout the chapters in the book, Yarnell faithfully grounds each theological portrait of the Trinity in his selected biblical passage. He surveys every possible theologian (and even philosopher) in church history, spanning from the early church and medieval period to the Reformation and the modern era. Moreover, he analyzes and parses the passage from its original grammatical language of Greek and Hebrew, then provides alternative interpretations before offering what best fits in that specific context (e.g., 74, 116).
Additionally, an excellent glimpse of how he engages contemporary secondary literature is found in chapter 7, specifically in the section where he explains Karl Rahner’s axiom. In this section, after explaining Rahner’s view, Yarnell provides differing views and responses to this axiom. While it is easier to choose the nearest option that aligns closest to the Scripture, Yarnell provided a tertiary option over the strict realist and loose realist readings of Rahner’s axiom. In his proposal to correct Rahner, Yarnell stated, “The economic Trinity reveals the immanent Trinity truly but not exhaustively” (173). By providing this statement, Yarnell agrees with Rahner’s understanding of the revealed Trinity through economy or how God relates to His creation as genuine and true to the ontological or immanent Trinity, which includes the taxis of the eternal relations of origin. However, also through this statement, Yarnell also disagrees with Rahner’s view that economic Trinity is fully the immanent Trinity, as it endangers the transcendence of the Godhead or divine incomprehensibility.
While it is arguably excellent to read Yarnell’s approach on how he exposes theological truths through biblical exegesis, I think the real gem in here is his handling of early church fathers, medieval theologians, a few ministerial reformers, and enlightened philosophers. It is one thing to be great at arguing a theological doctrine, but it is another thing to stay true to the arguments and contexts of what other authors said. Though Yarnell presents this in an artistic manner, I felt that I was time-traveling throughout time, leaping from one person’s perspective to another’s, then finally receiving all the conclusions at the end of each chapter. It not only includes the orthodox doctrines about God, but also those heretical teachings such as Arianism, Sabellianism or modalism, adoptionism, Docetism, Pneumatomachianism, and even the contemporary eternal functional subordinationism.
Conclusion and Recommendation
In conclusion, while Yarnell presents robust theological portraits of the Triune God grounded in Scriptural exegesis, his posture and writing style are consistently marked by humility. This theological humility has two sides: first, humility in front of the incomprehensible God, to whom he contemplates His essence and nature through divine revelation; second, humility and grace towards those who err in minor parts of theology proper. For example, he acknowledges Rahner’s axiom as fundamentally significant in the Twentieth century, even though he disagrees with half of its argument. This posture is also true to his engagement with Millard Erickson and B.B. Warfield, but is especially evident to those who support subordinationism.
The last one needs clarification; Yarnell does not support eternal functional subordinationism or eternal relations of authority and submission (EFS/ERAS). However, he clarifies that not all subordinationist terms should be condemned for fear of ERS/ERAS or a version of Arianism (172). Moreover, this book was written and published before the peak of the Trinity Debate in 2016, which EFS proponents emphasize in relation to gender, authority, and social Trinitarianism. It is important to note here that when reading this work, do not apply the post-Trinity debate of 2016 definitions to his understanding of subordinationism. What Yarnell means is the Taxis or the order in the eternal relation of origins. It is not in authority or power, but in the processional order of the Son and the Spirit from the Father (217).
One can go directly to the epilogue chapter and read Yarnell’s conclusion, still learning a great deal about the biblical portraits of the Triune God, much like viewing a painting in a museum exhibit. However, it is in the process of creating art that one can truly find appreciation, beauty, and the sublime. I read this work in 2017 at my coffee shop in the Philippines in our book club. It was one of the books that moved and sparked my desire to pursue further studies. In retrospect, it is due to the ongoing desire to really know and understand more of God’s nature as the blessed Triune God. I recommend this work for all seminary students, theologians, and even Christians who simply enjoy reading a book in a coffee shop.
John&Paul's Reflections 