It has come to our attention that there is to be a debate on the Trinity between two staunch proponents of hierarchy, namely Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware and two theologians of apparent egalitarian persuasion, Tom McCall and Keith Yandell. The following announcement was made by the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
The Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological understanding of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is excited to announce that on October 9th, 2008 at 6.30 pm, it will host a Trinity Debate at the TEDS Chapel featuring Drs. Bruce Ware (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) and Wayne Grudem (Phoenix Seminary) versus Drs. Tom McCall (TEDS) and Keith Yandell (University of Wisconsin-Madison) on the question: “Do relations of authority and submission exist eternally among the Persons of the Godhead?”
This is a very significant event which happens to be scheduled just one month prior to the annual gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society and may very well provide impetus for a challenge to be presented to the ETS on their collective standing on the matter. Kevin Giles, our man on the ground in this ever widening debate says of those who will oppose the proposition “Tom McCall has his doctorate from Calvin and has published on the Trinity and Keith Yandell is a very competent and well published philosopher in his 60’s.”
This debate is of tremendous significance to egalitarians, as a further comment by Kevin Giles reveals, as quoted from his more recent work, Jesus and the Father, page 42. The chapter is titled, “Contemporary Evangelicals and the Doctrine of the Trinity.”
“Virtually every evangelical theologian who has written in support of the eternal subordination of the Son in function and authority is committed to the permanent subordination of women in the church and home. Because the subordination of women and the subordination of the Son are inextricably united in the minds of those with whom I am debating, getting them to consider honestly and openly what they are saying on the Trinity is almost impossible. Too much for them is at stake. Some of them have said to me quite openly, “We will never give way on the Trinity, because this would be the first step in giving way on our case for the subordination of women.” Professor Wayne Grudem is firmly of this opinion. He says the “most decisive factor” in the case for the permanent subordination of women is “a proper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity,” by which he means understanding the Trinity as hierarchically ordered so that the Son is bound to obey the Father. Nothing is more important “in the whole universe,” he says, than maintaining “the equality of being together with authority and submission” in the relationship between the Father and Son in the immanent Trinity.” (Grudem, Evangelical Feminism, 411 and n. 12; ibid., 429.)
We invite your comments and encourage you to follow the progress and outcome of this important event.
