Abstract
The Father-Son Relationship within the Trinity is ontological or metaphysical rather than moral or mystical. After a critical examination of A. J. Appasamy, who develops his theology from John’s Gospel to formulate the moral/mystical unity view, the essay argues for the following thesis: a proper interpretation of John’s Gospel does not support a moral/mystical unity model of the Trinity but an ontological or metaphysical model. Three lines of argument from the Gospel of John support an ontological/metaphysical unity: (1) Jesus’ exclusive claim of “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30); (2) Theological synthesis of four crucial texts unique to Johannine Christology (John 1:1, 18; 5:16-18; and 20:28); and (3) Theological structure of the Gospel of John. By attempting to provide a biblically faithful reading of the Father-Son unity in John’s gospel against the moral/mystical unity view, this essay envisions helping the Indian Church formulate a biblically faithful Christology that does not diminish the deity of Christ.
Proposal
The relationship between the persons within the Godhead is a contentious issue in contemporary Trinitarian theology. A. J. Appasamy, considered to be one of the most prominent contributors to Christian theology in India, is one among those Christian theologians who tried to explain this relationship with a moral/mystical view of the Trinitarian relationship from an Indian perspective. His view is rooted in his concept of man’s mystical union with God and was exegetically anchored in certain key Christological texts from the Gospel of John.
Adherents of a moral unity view, including Appasamy, argue that the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ in the Trinity is not ontological or metaphysical (unio hypostatica) but a moral or mystical unity (unio mystica). Such a view of the Trinitarian relationship diminishes the deity of Christ, a theological trend found among several Christian theologians in India. Therefore, this paper argues that a proper interpretation of John’s Gospel does not support a moral/mystical unity model of the Trinity but an ontological or metaphysical model.
By arguing for the ontological/metaphysical unity view, this essay seeks to provide a biblically faithful reading of the Father-Son unity in John’s gospel against the moral unity view. Also, it envisions contributing to the field of conservative evangelical theology so that the Indian Church will formulate a biblically faithful Christology that does not diminish the deity of Christ but confess with the saints throughout the centuries, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.”
The essay is divided into four parts. First, it presents Appasamy’s moral unity view of the Trinity with its theological and exegetical formulations. The second section deals with the biblical difficulties associated with a moral unity view from John 10:30 by comparing Appasamy’s key interpretive texts from John’s Gospel. The third section argues for the ontological unity between Jesus and the Father from four crucial texts in the fourth Gospel, and the same theme is elaborated in the final section from the “Descent and Ascent Structure” of the Gospel of John.