The doctrine of divine simplicity is formulated from biblical texts and the implications we can draw from them that God is not made up of more basic ingredients (for instance, Deuteronomy 4:15–16; John 4:24; and Luke 24:39). We cannot even think of the three persons that way. God the Father is not one third of the Triune Godhead, the Son a third, or the Spirit another third. Each person of the Godhead is wholly God and the full God due to the mutual interpenetration of the persons in one another (called perichoresis in Greek or circumincessio in Latin).[ii]

The doctrine of divine simplicity is a doctrine that some philosophers and theologians love to hate. The doctrine is accused of being confusing, incoherent, unbiblical, and just plain muddleheaded. One prominent example of rejection of the doctrine is Alvin Plantinga’s lecture turned book Does God Have a Nature?. Although this book is somewhat dated now it has exercised a larger influence than its diminutive size would suggest.[i] Even when the doctrine of divine simplicity is not rejected outright it has been retooled to cohere with some notion of human rationality. Sometimes it has been like theological taffy and been stretched out of all recognizable shape. My goal here is simply (pun intended!) to offer a brief consideration of the doctrine. It is not all that we say about our great and glorious Triune God. But it is essential (yes, this pun is intended too).

Let’s formulate a simple doctrine of simplicity. The doctrine of divine simplicity affirms that God is not made up of more basic parts (or any parts whatsoever). Perhaps two illustrations will help us understand this. First, consider a brick wall. A brick wall is a single thing, right? Yes and no. Yes, it is one thing. It is a wall. But it is made up of more basic or primitive parts, namely: bricks and mortar. Second, my wife makes a wonderful Johnny Cake (cornbread). It is one thing: it is Johnny Cake. But as I watch my wife make the Johnny Cake I see that she uses many ingredients. She uses corn meal, eggs, butter, salt, sugar, etc. We say that the ingredients that go into making the Johnny Cake are more basic than the Johnny Cake itself. In like manner, bricks and mortar are more basic than the brick wall.

The doctrine of divine simplicity is formulated from biblical texts and the implications we can draw from them that God is not made up of more basic ingredients (for instance, Deuteronomy 4:15–16; John 4:24; and Luke 24:39). We cannot even think of the three persons that way. God the Father is not one third of the Triune Godhead, the Son a third, or the Spirit another third. Each person of the Godhead is wholly God and the full God due to the mutual interpenetration of the persons in one another (called perichoresis in Greek or circumincessio in Latin).[ii]

You may be wondering what the big deal is. Perhaps this all strikes you as so much abstract philosophizing. But it isn’t. Let’s consider some implications of the doctrine of divine simplicity and connections it may have with other aspects of what we know about God as revealed in the pages of Scripture and developed in systematic theology (see the Westminster Confession of Faith chapters 2, 5, and 8; the Larger Catechism Q&A 7, 10, and 12; and the Shorter Catechism Q&A 4).

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