Trinity, Society and Solidarity (CT9000P)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit will explore the origins and contemporary significance of the doctrine of the Trinity. Key historical developments in the Eastern and Western traditions will be surveyed. Against this historical background, the re-emergence of the doctrine of the Trinity in the twentieth century will be explored. Attention will be paid to the role which this doctrine is playing in the global church’s encounter with modern atheism, religious pluralism, global inequality, Indigenous rights, and issues around gender and sexuality.

Unit code: CT9000P

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Systematic Theology

Delivery Mode: Blended

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify the key developments in the emergence of the doctrine of the Trinity.
2.

Articulate and assess the various sense(s) in which the doctrine of the Trinity can be described as ‘biblical’.
3.

Understand the different trajectories, and assess the significance, of the doctrine of the Trinity in the classical Eastern and Western traditions of Christianity.
4.

Identify and articulate the reasons for the re-emergence of the doctrine of the Trinity in the twentieth century, including in the theologies associated with ‘world Christianity’.
5.

Explain and assess the potential contributions of the doctrine of the Trinity to the church’s dialogue with to the church’s dialogue with contemporary issues.
6.

Evaluate the role of the doctrine of the Trinity within the wider matrix of Christian doctrines.

Unit sequence

CT8000P (Christianity’s Big Ideas) or CT8010P (Culture, Beliefs and Theology)

Pedagogy

Lectures will introduce the key themes and ideas of the unit. They will be accompanied by tutorials in which key critical issues and background readings will be discussed

Indicative Bibliography

  • Boff, Leonardo. Trinity and Society. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1988.
  • Coakley, Sarah. God, Sexuality and the Self: An Essay ‘On the Trinity’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  • Deverell, Garry W. Contemplating Country: More on Gondwana Theology. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2023.
  • Kärkkainen, Veli-Matti. Christian Understandings of the Trinity: The Historical Trajectory. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017.
  • Bacon, Hannah. What's Right with the Trinity? Conversations in Feminist Theology. London: Routledge, 2021.
  • Chua, Edmond Zi-Kang. A Systematic Theology from East Asia: Jung Young Lee's Biblical-Cultural Trinity. Eugene: Pickwick, 2023.
  • Pannikar, Raimundo. The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man. New York: Orbis, 1973.
  • Phan, Peter C. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Trinity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  • Tonstad, Linn Marie, God and Difference: The Trinity, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Finitude. New York: Routledge, 2016.
  • Vaai, Upolu Luma. "Va'atapalagi: De-Heavening Trinitarian Theology in the Islands." In Colonial Contexts and Postcolonial Theologies. Edited by Mark G. Brett and Jione Havea. New York: Palgrave, 2014.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Seminar or Tutorial - Document analysis

Presentation of a critical review of a selected key text on trinitarian theology.

 1400 20.0
Essay - Research Essay

Research essay on the trinitarian theology of a selected theologian

 2800 40.0
Essay - Article for a general audience

Article for a general audience on the contribution of trinitarian theology to one key contemporary issue OR Article for a general audience on an aspect of the historical development of the doctrine of the Trinity.

 2800 40.0

Variant 2

Seminar or Tutorial - Document Analysis

Presentation of a critical review of a selected key text on trinitarian theology

 1400 20.0
Essay - Research Essay

Research essay on the trinitarian theology of a selected theologian

 2800 40.0
Learning Resource - Group Learning Resource

A group study resource on the contribution of Trinitarian theology to one key contemporary issue.

 2800 40.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Naomi Wolfe on 26 Oct, 2026

Unit record last updated: 2026-10-26 16:57:04 +1100