Duotarians

It’s always fun to invent new terminology! So just what is a Duotarian? Of course, we all know what a Trinitarian is. I’m a very strong one. A Unitarian, it has been said, is one who believes in "one God at the very most."

A Duotarian then, is going to be one of those evangelical Christians, and unfortunately there are many, who believe in God the Father, and Jesus Christ, God the Son, but who believes that the one who we Trinitarians call the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, it not an equal member of the Godhead, but simply an extension of the Father and the Son.

Now I grant you that you will not find a written statement to that effect in the doctrinal statement of any church or denomination that I am aware of. Their public, written doctrinal statements will give the standard pronouncements and accompanying scripture references that all traditional Trinitarians have used throughout the history of the Church. But their informal pronouncements and writings tell a different story. First, they have an abject fear of pronouncing the “H name”. Second, they will not recognize His work, and power, or even mention the subjects of His gifts if at all possible.

Just a few weeks ago, when I was visiting a church service, I was shocked to hear a pastor, who was giving an otherwise very good message on worship, to make a scarcely veiled admission that he looked at the Holy Spirit as a lesser being than God the father and God the Son.

He was talking about worship music, and touching on the subject that I have recently heard referred to as “Worship Wars” in which there is so much strife over the “old” vs. the “new” music (see my last posting, February 11, entitled “Worship Wars”). Anyway, he was talking about that chorus that goes:

Father we adore Thee,

Lay our lives before Thee,

How we love you!

The subsequent verses substitute “Jesus”, for Father, and then “Spirit” in the third verse. This preacher then said that the thing that was wrong with this “theologically” was that nowhere in the Bible are we “commanded” to worship the Holy Spirit!

I thought that this was a rather peculiar statement in light of his selected text for his message which was:

“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is [the] Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24 NLT italics added)

And if that doesn’t say it all right there, let’s throw in this one:

“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NLT, italics added).

Lest you think that I am making a mountain out of the proverbial molehill, and that this is just a senseless rant, let me demonstrate that I am in good company in my opinion on this matter. Many others have expressed a similar concern, not the least of whom is the late A.W. Tozer (1897-1963). On pages 60-61 of his book The Pursuit of Man he wrote:

“Our blunder (or shall we frankly say our sin?) has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to a point where we virtually deny Him His place in the Godhead. This denial has not been by open doctrinal statement, for we have clung closely enough to the Biblical position wherever our creedal pronouncements are concerned. Our formal creed is sound; the breakdown is in our working creed.

This is not a trifling distinction. A doctrine has practical value only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives. By this test the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as held by evangelical Christians today has almost no practical value at all. In most Christian churches the Spirit is quite entirely overlooked. Whether He is present or absent makes no real difference to anyone. Brief reference is made to Him in the Doxology and the Benediction. Further than that He might as well not exist. So completely do we ignore Him that it is only by courtesy that we can be called Trinitarian. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity boldly declares the equality of the Three Persons and the right of the Holy Spirit to be worshipped and glorified. Anything less than this is something less than Trinitarianism.” (This selection is quoted not directly from the above book, but from an email sent from a friend a couple of years ago. I do not doubt that it is substantially intact from its original source.)

Amen brother Tozer!

The apostle Paul warned Timothy about some folks that he would deal with who “[have] a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:5) He also cautioned the Thessalonians, “Do not quench the [Holy] Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). When we deny the name, the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we do just that, and we deny ourselves the power and the multitude of benefits that He brings into our lives.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.