Herman Bavinck has seen a renaissance in the last few years. One thing that is often mentioned about his theological approach is that he is deeply trinitarian. This trinitarian approach has significant implications for how one thinks about human diversity and social ethics. There has been significant work done on the Organic Motif in Bavinck’s trinitarian theology (see Eglinton, Doornbos, and Ragusa), but there does not seem to be much scholarship on his relationship to social trinitarianism. Social trinitarian theology also suggests that their doctrine of the trinity has insights into human diversity and social ethics. With that said, this paper will seek to answer the following question: How might we faithfully use trinitarian theology to think about human diversity and social ethics?
This paper will seek to answer this question by comparing and contrasting Herman Bavinck and Jürgen Moltmann’s trinitarian insights. Firstly, this paper will seek to look at the methodology and theological articulation of Herman Bavinck’s doctrine of the trinity. Afterward, this paper will seek to investigate how Bavinck uses his doctrine of the trinity to talk about human diversity and social ethics. Secondly, this paper will seek to look at Moltmann’s methodology and theological articulation. Afterward, it will seek to investigate how Moltmann uses his doctrine of the trinity to talk about human diversity and social ethics. Thirdly, this paper will critically put these two voices in conversation in order to provide a faithful construction of trinitarian theology and its use for human diversity and social ethics.
The thesis of this paper, then, will be that although social trinitarianism contends that it gives helpful categories to think about human diversity and social ethics, Bavinck provides a more robust articulation that is consistent with classic trinitarian theology. My goal in this paper is to further develop scholarship regarding Bavinck’s trinitarian thought.