Analysis Of Jimmy Kimmel's Man On The Street Interviews

Introduction

Jimmy Kimmel’s Man on the Street Interviews likely would herald some hilarious responses when random people respond to the question, “How would you define the Trinity?” Call it pure ignorance, indifference, or misunderstandings, the answers are bound to be as different as the individuals who responded. Wayne Grudem presents three statements, based on Scripture that define the Trinity: 1) God is three persons; 2) Each person is fully God; 3) There is one God (1994, Sect. A.4). Human attempts to come up with simplistic definitions would necessitate the denial of one of those statements, but history shows these attempts to be futile, as we will soon discover. Analogies for the Trinity inevitably come up short as well. Suffice it

Evaluation of the Trinity Point One/Topic Sentence: Amidst an immensely important time in the development of Christian theology, the doctrine of the Trinity emerged causing a separation between the eastern and western churches; each church had their own distinct understanding of the Trinity (McGrath, 2013, p. 32). Support #1: The Eastern Church’s position thrived on the writings of the Cappadocian fathers (McGrath, 2013, p. 32) and their theology centered on the distinct individuality of the hypostases and that the Son and the Spirit derived from the Father (McGrath, 2013, p. 55). Support #2: Augustine, significant in establishing the theology of the western church, focused on the unity of God, specifically the work of revelation and redemption, and the relationship between the three persons, with respect to their mutual fellowship (McGrath, 2013, p.

113-114). Point Two/Topic Sentence: With the development of the doctrine of the Trinity at this critical stage in history, a number of Trinitarian heresies arose (Grudem, 1994, sect .C) Support #1: Modalism, or Sabellianism, claims that there is only one person who appears in different modes at different times (Grudem, 1994, sect. C.1) Support #2: Another Trinitarian heresy, Arianism, caused great controversy at the Council of Nicea, by denying the full deity to the Son and the Holy Spirit (Grudem, 1994, sect. C.2a). Support #3: Closely related to Arianism, Subordinationism and Adoptionism were two additional heresies addressed at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople (Grudem, 1994, sect. C.2b,c). Point Three/Top Sentence: Debates and controversies were commonplace concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, but a number of ecumenical Councils eventually resolved a number of these controversies (McGrath, 2013, p.