KNOWING THE TRIUNE GOD

Volume 1 gave you the map of Christianity. It began with God, creation, humanity, sin, Jesus, the cross and resurrection, grace, faith, salvation, prayer, Scripture, church, and discipleship. It deliberately introduced those ideas without assuming that you grew up around church. Volume 2 slows down around the most important subject in the entire series: God Himself. Christians do not mean a generic higher power when they use the word God. Historic Christianity confesses one God who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. Yet Christians do not worship three gods, and the Father, Son, and Spirit are not simply three names or temporary roles of one Person. If that sounds difficult, this book will not ask you to pretend otherwise. The Trinity is not explained responsibly by saying, "It is just like an egg," or "It is just like water." God is not a larger version of something inside creation. We will learn the biblical claims, the language Christians developed to protect those claims, the limits of common analogies, and the reason the doctrine matters to salvation, prayer, worship, love, and ordinary Christian life. We will also study several attributes of God: His eternality, self-existence, holiness, love, justice, mercy, knowledge, power, presence, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and sovereignty. These are not abstract properties collected for a theology exam. They answer deeply practical questions. Can God be trusted? Does He know? Is He present? Does evil matter to Him? Does mercy mean He ignores wrongdoing? Does His power mean Christians should never experience weakness? What happens when He feels distant? This volume remains written for the reader who may be very new to Christianity. Terms are defined. Difficult questions are not mocked. Differences among faithful Christian traditions are acknowledged when they matter. You are not expected to become an expert before turning the page. At the same time, the series is moving forward. We will not restart Christianity in every volume. Ideas from Volume 1 will reappear as foundations, and this book will prepare you for Volume 3, where the eternal Son we study here enters the human story as Jesus Christ. The aim is simple: know whom Christians mean when they say God, and let that knowledge grow into reverence, trust, worship, honesty, and love.