The Trinity & Subordinationism: The Doctrine of God & the Contemporary Gender Debate - Paperback

by Kevin Giles (Author)

Subordination has been and still is a controversial subject within the church.The concept has been vigorously debated in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity since the fourth century. Certain New Testament texts have made it part of discussionsof right relations between men and women. In recent years these two matters have been dramatically brought together. Indeed, today the doctrine of the Trinity is being used to support opposing views of the right relationship between men and women inthe church.At the center of the debate is the question of whether or not the orthodox view of the trinitarian relations teach the eternal subordination of the Son of God. In this book Kevin Giles masterfully traces the historic understanding of thedoctrine of the Trinity from the patristic age to our own times to help resolve this important question. But he does not stop there.Giles goes on to provide an illuminating investigation of a closely related question--whether or not women, even in terms of function or role, were created to be permanently subordinated to men. By surveying the church's traditional interpretation of texts relating to the status of women and inquiring into the proper use of the doctrine of the Trinity, Giles lays out his position in this current debate.

Author Biography

Kevin Giles (Th.D., Australian College of Theology) is an ordained Anglican minister who was in parish ministry for forty years. Giles has contributed numerous articles to scholarly journals and to IVP's Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Development. Among his books are What on Earth Is the Church? and Patterns of Ministry Among the First Christians.