Amidst the current evangelical Trinitarian resurgence, Fred Sanders has provided a wonderful feast. Very few works have been so bold as this, arguing that evangelicals “have been in reality the most thoroughly Trinitarian Christians in the history of the church” (p. 9). Accordingly, he provides evidence for this in numerous evangelical forebears (and contemporaries), showing that the doctrine of the Trinity is inherent to the gospel (pp. 9–10, 13, 18–21, 83, 98, 165, 191, 239) and its necessary presupposition since those who believe it are already immersed in the Trinitarian reality, having everything necessary to be robustly Trinitarian (pp. 19, 21–23).

Currently Associate Professor of Theology at Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute and a well-known blogger (www.scriptoriumdaily.com), Sanders has provided a rich treasure-trove for those seeking to understand more of God’s ways and how he has invited us to participate in his Trinitarian life (pp. 21, 98, 120, 191, 227, 234). Employing sources from Puritans Isaac Watts and Bunyan to Holiness evangelist Amanda Smith and Nicky Cruz, chapter 1 develops methodologically how evangelicalism displays enough promise of tacit Trinitarianism to be seen as having “within its own particular genius” everything necessary to be even more robustly Trinitarian (p. 58).

Chapter 2 highlights God’s triune self-sufficiency as the gospel’s ground of grace (p. 66) and that God’s being is behind his action in the salvation economy (p. 70). God’s inner life, Sanders says, is the only thing “even better than the good news,” since it is the infinite depth to which the doctrine of the Trinity points (pp. 83–84). Herein Sanders unpacks traditional Western ideas of intra-Trinitarian relations (generation, procession, mission), yielding somewhat a Trinitarian ontology, ably distinguishing God’s work in the gospel from God “within the happy land of the Trinity.”

After establishing from Eph 1 the necessary disorientation for proper praise and the unfortunate reductionism evangelicals have tended to, chapter 3 expounds God’s working in the salvation economy. In the gospel God’s grace is extended in a manner that opens up his heart in the most intimate way—in the very giving of God’s own life made lavishly available to fallen humanity (p. 122). Chapter 4 continues the gospel theme, seeking to show the gospel’s explicitly Trinitarian shape, including how Trinitarian members work together for our salvation, and how God has given his own life in the economy of salvation to bring about “adoption into the Trinity” (p. 162).

With an illustration from the life and Trinitarian theology of Francis Schaeffer (pp. 175–84), chapter 5 unpacks how Trinitarian theology is properly Christ-centered meanwhile granting the experience of present life with the three Trinitarian persons and the doctrine of assurance inherent to this Trinitarian framework. Chapters 6–7 offer rich, practical approaches to a Trinitarian doctrine of Scripture and prayer, cohering entirely with emphases evangelicals have always stressed—although here Sanders explicitly shows just how tacitly Trinitarian these practices are.

This book is wonderfully written, filled with rich imagery, vivid illustrations (verbal and pictorial), and a persuasive argument. It is biblically and theologically responsible, historically conscious, pastorally sensitive, and doxologically oriented. Reading like a C. S. Lewis work, or some other theological piece from a prior century, with all the dignity and wonder that earlier evangelical theologians inspired, Sanders provides an inviting, witty, and edifying treat, displaying the way theology really should be done.

While this work intends not to be as academically rigorous as Sanders is capable of, and would likely do in a different publication, there remains tension-points that beckon further clarification. Sanders has no problem noting peculiar views of the Trinity (p. 90) and conceding that some things simply cannot be known about God’s eternal life (p. 83), and yet I wonder if perhaps he too hastily dismisses some models.

On the matter of the Trinity being eternally named Father, Son, and Spirit, Sanders neither defines these terms nor allows them to be analogous. The terms are, of course, explicitly used in the economy, but with reference to the immanent Trinity, it seems like contra his avoidance of apophatic theology (p. 82; although Sanders makes concessions on pp. 86–91), here is a prime example of exactly where it should be done. Otherwise, precisely what is meant by “Father” and “Son” from eternity? Or what kind of social Trinity or Feuerbachian assertion is being posited? And if an “infinite distinction” exists between God in himself and God for us in salvation, how does this work in the revealed identity of the Three-in-One? And why is the “anonymous Three” the only alternative (p. 90) instead of something like eternally imaged or imageless relations (Torrance) or subsisting relations with perhaps one member imaged? Accordingly, it seems like the economic and immanent Trinities become blurred sometimes for Sanders (e.g., pp. 122, 132, 162–63). Are creatures really brought into God’s life as it is in itself, or are we brought into this relationship in the economy where the salvation drama is actualized and wherein creaturely relations with the Trinity exist and always will exist? Sanders opts for the traditional relations of origin for Trinitarian members (pp. 92–93), which, besides penetrating the boundaries of the economy’s access, doesn’t seem to reckon with what this does to relational reciprocity.

Points of disagreement aside, this reviewer greatly looks forward to how Sanders will further develop his Trinitarian methodology in future academic publications, especially as related to how evangelicals, with their definite interests and concerns, might be able to integrate additional features of a doctrine of God into the traditional one for a more robust evangelical doctrine of God. Fred Sanders is arguably one of the next generation’s leading English-speaking evangelical theologians. He clearly understands the evangelical ethos (pp. 98, 167, 193) and is a well-equipped guide to lead us into the wonderful paths that this book has provided.

It is not an overstatement to suggest that this book should probably be read by every undergraduate student in any evangelical academic institution in North America and should also be on the reading list for every seminary-level class in theology proper. It really is that good. It will refresh the souls of busy pastors who have wrestled many times over with how to find a practical role in their ministries for particular Christian doctrines because the book explains both what evangelicalism is and how it has been deeply Trinitarian at its core. Finally, this book will serve as an encouraging and equipping resource in the hands of lay people eager to know precisely how the Trinity changes everything. It could not be recommended highly enough.