Trinity in German Thought, The

By Samuel M. Powell. New York and Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001. viii + 280 pp. $60.00 (cloth); L40.00 (cloth).

I am a map person. I enjoy studying maps because they help me to find my way around complicated terrain. Powell's much needed book is a map of the complex terrain of the doctrine of God as Trinity in German Protestantism from the Reformation to the present. The area covered begins with Luther and Melanchthon, travels through the alternately destroying and refining fires of Enlightenment criticism, continues along the intricate and heady byways of Hegelian idealism, and, ventures into the variously modified Hegelian approaches to the doctrine in the works of recent Trinitarians Barth, Moltmann, and Pannenberg. Powell's thesis, which serves as compass for this particular genetic journey, is that "modern Trinitarian thought is driven by three engines: the concept of the Word of God (i.e. revelation), the concept of reflective selfhood, and the concept of history. The importance and form that the doctrine of the Trinity assumes in any given period depends on the ways in which the theologian or philosopher understands these concepts and on the relative weight assigned to them" (p. 2). At the very end of his treatment of the peregrinations of the doctrine of the Trinity in German Protestant thought, Powell sketches possible directions which future Trinitarian journeys might take.

In my judgment, this is a book that desperately needed to be written and I am deeply grateful to Powell for having found a way to navigate and link together a series of very difficult and complex theological and philosophical works. The book's power lies in the deep level of connections which are fostered by the thesis. For example, Powell's schema provides a rich exploration of the pervasive, if controversial, influence of Hegel on the Trinitarian approaches of Barth, Moltmann, and Pannenberg in terms of the way in which each thinker defines and formulates the themes of revelation, selfhood, and history with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity. The book's glaring weakness is that there is no effective and sustained treatment of Kant's critical philosophy and the ways in which Kant represents a decisive watershed in German thought, whether theological or philosophical. In particular I would have appreciated a chapter on Kant which included a careful consideration of the range of comments Kant himself made on the doctrine of the Trinity in several of his writings and of the substantial effect that the critical philosophy has had on the development of all subsequent Trinitarian theology. On a related note, Powell says that there is nothing particularly sacred about the three interlocking themes of his theses and that other themes might well be added. I would have liked to see the theme of freedom lifted into the thematic mix along with Word, selfhood, and history since it is so influential on German thought from Kant to the present.

On the whole I found this to be an engaging and stimulating book. As with all good maps, Powell's work has better equipped me to find my way around the many primary sources with which he so ably works. I highly recommend this book to professors and pastors alike who are interested in the many fascinating dimensions of the doctrine of the Trinity in contemporary debate.

Gordon S Mikoski

Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Winter 2003
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