What is social trinitarianism?

God, dwelling in the unapproachable light, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; a community of essence, a community of moral nature and character, a community of life both in principle and continuous activity — a community of fellowship peculiar to themselves, known only to themselves and enjoyed only by themselves; and that jointly and co-equally. It is an eternal fellowship, abiding, unchangeably the same from everlasting to everlasting, an eternally mutual and reciprocal fellowship.

"There never was a moment when God was incomplete, as He would have been without Son or Spirit. The whole three Persons are co-equal. God would be still incomplete if Son or Spirit were not in everything 'such as the Father is' … The union of the Three is not one of barren necessity. It is a free and living union in which all are bound together by an absolute outpouring of each to other in love. We may think of the joy which the Father has in giving—in communicating without reserve to the Son 'all the fulness' (Col. 1:19) of His being … and it is the joy of the Son to receive—to feel the infinite flow of the Father's love concentrated in Himself, and … the gladness with which He welcomes most those wishes of the Father which will cost most to Himself … It is the glory of them all to be One … by a moral living for and in each other, in a mutual devotion such as serves as an example for men." (emphasis ours,),

"There is but one cognition in the Divine being, although the Father, the Son, and the Spirit partake in the cognition in different ways… This it is which makes, we may say, the true oneness in the Eternal Trinity. God is love: and the union of the Three is not one of barren necessity. It is a free and living union in which all are bound together by an absolute outpouring of each to other in love. We may think of the joy which the Father has in giving—in communicating without reserve to the Son, 'all the fulness' (Col. 1:19) of His being … and finding it all the more His own because lavished freely on the Only Begotten. And it is the joy of the Son to receive—to feel the infinite flow of the Father's love concentrated in Himself; and in the gratitude which must always be a part of filial love we may understand, to some extent, the gladness with which He welcomes most those wishes of the Father which will cost most to Himself, (the joy) with which He reflects that He mixes nothing of His own with what the Father gives Him."

To employ again words used by another with regard to the Trinity and quoted elsewhere (See "'The eternal Son," by R.E., p. 3). "Here and there (in Scripture) we are shown (as it were) an opened heaven and the Godhead is revealed in its 'essential Trinity.' … God is shown to us as dwelling in no solitary grandeur. One who called Him 'Father' is in His company, and who establishes the truth of the title by sharing with Him the full possession of that glory, which created things may 'see' but none but God can 'have' … God is love, and the union of the Three is not one of barren necessity. It is a free and living union in which all are bound together by an absolute outpouring of each to other in love. … It is the glory of Them all to be one … by a moral living for and in each other, in a mutual devotion such as serves as an example for men."

C.C. — Yes; note carefully that God is a trinity in unity. It means, to use different terms, that the Godhead expresses the idea of an association, a partnership, a fellowship, but such terms imply unity.

C.C. — Then notice: If the Godhead is a trinity, there must of necessity be distinctions in the Godhead. We speak commonly of three persons. That is, we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All are in perfect fellowship. But if you speak of fellowship, persons are implied. If you speak of association, persons are implied. If you speak of partnership, it is the same thing — there must be persons.

"I cannot join in this. If there are Persons in the Godhead, as we know there are, are we not to know also that there are relationships between them? Can we dispense with such a thought? Is there not revealed to faith, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: the Son begotten, and the Spirit proceeding? Indeed there is. The Persons in that glory are not independent, but related. Nor is it beyond our measure to say that the great archetype of love, the blessed model or original of all relative affection, is found in that relationship.

I cannot join in this. If there are Persons in the Godhead, as we know there are, are we not to know also that there are relationships between them? Can we dispense with such a thought? Is there not revealed to faith, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; the Son begotten, and the Spirit proceeding? Indeed there is. The Persons in that glory are not independent, but related. Nor is it beyond our measure to say that the great archetype of love, the blessed model or original of all relative affection, is found in that relationship.

If God is love there must of necessity have been an outflow for that love to express itself from all eternity. Does not Scripture fully show that there were Father, Son and Holy Spirit—one God, yet in relationships beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our apprehension, between whom was the outflow of love One to Another, and with whom were divine counsels as to how to bring man into the circle of these divine affections. And we are asked to give up this blessed knowledge, for what?

Take one more instance, this time from the New Testament. John 14:26 tells us that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the Name of the Son; chapter 15:26 tells us the Lord Jesus sends the Holy Spirit from the Father; chapter 16:13 says, “When the Spirit is come,” i.e. the Spirit comes of His own initiative. So we have the Father sending the Spirit; the Son sending the Spirit; the Spirit coming. These statements could not be true save as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are ONE God.

Gathering up our thoughts from these and other Scriptures such is the unity of the Godhead that there cannot be one thought in the Father’s mind that is not altogether shared and approved by the Son and the Spirit—not one intention or purpose in the mind of One of the Persons in the Godhead but what is fully shared and endorsed by the other Two Persons in the Godhead, for God is One.