YHWH, His Son and his Spirit: A biblical theology of God

Abstract

I articulate a biblical theology of God in outline in the hope of making a contribution to shape views of God amongst African Christians through the theological education of clergy. In the OT, YHWH, the God of Israel, is almighty and thus Lord. He is the only God and therefore referred to as the Most High, the true God, the living God, the Lord of Lords and King of kings, and the Lord of the earth. YHWH is also eternal, perfect in knowledge, of unmeasured wisdom, and merciful. This view of God is sustained in the NT. However, the nature of YHWH is implicitly elaborated as a trinity by virtue of YHWH having a son and a spirit who is also a person, which makes both divine persons. But YHWH’s Son and Spirit do not become two Gods besides YHWH for they share his nature and are thus divine in unity with him, i.e., the divinity of YHWH is the divinity of his Son and Spirit. Furthermore, they are not two Gods besides him because they are united with him in his will, purposes, and motivations.