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                                                                                                   On the Doctrine of the Trinity

Whether it be a doctrine of the economic trinity or a doctrine of the immanent trinity, a doctrine of the trinity is in any case a properly theological doctrine, in that it has to do with the meaning of God for us as distinct from the structure of God in itself.

Of course, a doctrine of the trinity, especially a doctrine of the immanent trinity, is a doctrine about God, not about ourselves. But, as true and important as this is, a doctrine of the trinity, even of the immanent trinity, affirms certain things to be true about God only because a certain understanding of ourselves is the authentic understanding of human existence in relation to the mysterious ultimate reality encompassing it.

22 August 1981; rev. 1 September 2003