“We are not yet speaking of heavenly things, nor yet of God the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, but of that inadequate image, which yet is an image, that is, man; for our feeble mind perhaps can gaze upon this more familiarly and more easily. Well then, when I, who make this inquiry, love anything, there are three things concerned — myself, and that which I love, and love itself. For I do not love ‘love’, except I love a lover; for there is no love where nothing is loved. Therefore, there are three things — he who loves, and that which is loved, and love.
Augustine, On the Trinity, 2.
That which Augustine attempts to articulate here may not appear instantly decipherable, but it is in fact, at least theoretically, not complex. It is not dissimilar to Paul's ‘Trinitarian’ attempt to decipher the Godhead (1 Cor. 2:10–16). Augustine is attempting to explain the Triune God, by suggesting that God is the Lover, Jesus is the Beloved and the Spirit is the very love that binds them. It is a powerful and beautiful, if not wholly accurate image; but serves as a useful way of thinking about the central role that the Spirit plays in understanding how Christ-centeredness is the key to unlocking all theology.
In this interview I conducted with my friend Kyle Spears, I address questions by which I hope readers and viewers will appreciate how the Spirit is the very interpretation of God. It is by the Spirit that the eternal nearness and presence of Messiah Jesus is experienced as living amongst those who trust him. As such, He cannot be left out of any discussions about deconstruction and authority. In due course, questions about authority and the Spirit will feed into questions about our understanding of the biblical text, in what way the Bible is understood to be authoritative and why it remains an indispensable component of our Christ-centred deconstruction journeys.
Please give your attention to this interview below and feel free to offer comments and questions.
