The Trinity, Society, and Politics

Abstract

Abstract “The trinity is our social programme.” “This statement is found in the 19th Century in the Orthodox theologian Nicolai Fedorov and also in the Anglican theologian F. D. Maurice and the Danish Lutheran Nicolai Gruntvig.” So writes Jiirgen Moltmann in an address given at the Conference of European Churches in Goslar, Germany, in 1982.1 Moltmann’s concern to relate the Trinity to society stems from his particular view of God as a union of three divine persons or distinct, but related subjects. The Trinity forms the social paradigm since it is a mutually loving, interacting, sustaining society. It is, as he puts it, “the exemplar of true human community, first in the church and also in society.”2 Moltmann believes that the concept of person, stemming largely from the Christian doctrine of God, has had a permanent effect upon Western political thought. It has had much less of an impact on the social aspects of life. This stems from the fact that God was conceived too much in a monotheistic way rather than as a God of trinitarian unity and community. Moltmann therefore sees the social view of the Trinity as being both a proper paradigm for society and a critique of a false idea of God.