Colossians -- Christos Singularis

The aloneness of the gospel has been a topic of interest and confusion for eons. It was Martin Luther (1483-1546) who coined the term “grace alone” in response to the arguments by a corrupt church that relied upon non-biblical sources to define the biblical gospel. Luther’s concern was to return to the original biblical sources in order to recover the original biblical teachings.

The Reformers proclaimed five Solas: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and Soli Deo Gloria (God’s Glory Alone). The enemies of the Gospel have twisted these solas every which way, and have confused many people. For example, the emphasis upon sola scriptura does not mean that other books are off limits. And yet solus Christus (Christ alone) does mean that other mediators between man and God are not simply off limits, but that no other mediators actually exist. Each sola must be understood individually and holistically, within the context of Scripture.

Singularity
Singularities, popularized by Ray Kurzweil1 are all the rage. In mathematics a singularity is defined as “a point at which the derivative does not exist for a given function but every neighborhood of which contains points for which the derivative exists.” Got it? It is the point at which math gets quirky, and normal analysis fails. It is the point on a graph which must exist mathematically, but cannot itself be known, defined or computed. It can only be inferred from neighboring points.

If it sounds confusing, it is because it is. But is it important? Yes and no, depending on what you believe about the creation of the universe and how important you think creation is for understanding the world today. Another dictionary defines singularity as “a point of infinite density and infinitesimal volume, at which the descriptions of space and time become abnormal according to the theory of General Relativity. According to the big bang theory, a gravitational singularity existed at the beginning of the universe.” According to the Theory of Evolution, everything came from a singularity at the beginning of time, which means that for the Theory of Evolution a singularity takes the place of God regarding the creation of the universe in the sense that this singularity is the source of the universe in the same way that for Christians God is the source of the universe.

The insight or speculation that a singularity may be Godlike comes from the doctrine of the Trinity, which posits that God is One yet Three. God holds unity and particularity together without damaging or diminishing either. It’s not a hard-and-fast comparison, nor a fully-formed theory. It’s just an idea that may be worth exploring. And that is some of what I will do in the pages.

In this study of Colossians I have taken the doctrine of the Trinity seriously and applied it broadly. This means that I have assumed it to be true of God, and therefore true of people because we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). We are not trinitarian in the same way that God is, but in a similar way, in the way that the image of a thing is not identical to the thing, but is recognizably similar. God’s trinitarian character is the “image” in which He created us because God’s trinitarian character is the way that He has revealed Himself to us. It is the “image” of Him that we are to “see” in Scripture. And occasionally, the idea of God as singularity seems to find expression in Scripture.

The assumption of the immediate reality of the Trinity adds a depth and texture to the biblical text that is not available apart from it. Why? Because if God’s character is trinitarian, then the characters of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are also trinitarian. There is both unity and multiplicity, individuality and corporality, in the Godhead and in reality because of the divine role that God plays in reality. The God of Scripture is both one and three at the same time without losing any of the meaning or uniqueness. God is also Son and Spirit. The Son is also Father and Spirit. The Spirit is also Father and Son. God’s identity is, then, both individual and corporate at the same time and without any loss of identity regarding the integrity of His wholeness or the individuals involved.

Many people find that the idea of the Trinity is impossible to understand or just a figment of imagination. Yet, those same people readily believe in black holes, even though there is no actual evidence for their existence. Black holes cannot be seen, they’re black — dark. They are constructs of calculation or mathematical entities. They exist by implication of the surrounding space and neighboring objects. And yet scientists and astronomers swear that they are real.

Is it such a stretch to compare the reality and existence of God to the reality and existence of a singularity or black hole? Obviously, I don’t think so. There are some interesting similarities, though the idea of such similarities does not suggest a plurality of Gods apart from the Trinity. No, the Trinity is absolutely unique and is probably related to the three dimensionality of space (length, width, height) and time (past, present future). Nor can it be denied or ignored that the Trinity is a unity of Persons, not forces, conditions or entities.

The central characteristic of a singularity that is Godlike is its simultaneous oneness and manyness, its simplicity as a single entity and its complexity as the locus of several entities. Like the Godhead, a singularity is both simple and complex, both one and many. I am not going beyond this most basic comparison. It is simply a thought, not a full-blown thesis. But it’s interesting, and it may be useful for the reconsideration of the reality of God by mathematicians and scientists.

This book, however, is not about black holes or singularities. It is about Colossians. It is about God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. It doesn’t hijack Colossians to justify the idea of God as a singularity. Rather, it suggests the complexity of God’s singularity, the Solas Christos Singularis of God, as a way to understand the depth and texture of Paul’s letter. This book is theology, not science. And yet, Scripture does suggest that theology and science are intimately related in that God is central to the world and everything in it.

Presuppositional Trinitarianism

The Trinity is a difficult concept. I am applying the perspective that I believe the Bible teaches, which I am calling presuppositional trinitarianism, to all reality. So, while God’s ultimate being as the Trinity is absolutely unique, all of reality shares the characteristics of God’s trinitarian being — not perfectly, but through a glass darkly. That means that we are trinitarin, and that everything in this world is trinitarian because everything issues out of God. The Father/Son relationship in the Trinity includes a kind of common DNA structure to everything that God has created.

The Trinity is absolutely unique to Christianity, and is why Christianity is the only true religion. The Trinity hasn’t gotten much press since the early church fathers mangled it in the press of Greek philosophy. The truth is that the Bible stands in opposition to Greek (and all other man-made) philosophies or categories of thought. This work is an effort to express what the Bible teaches in a way that stands apart from the categories of Greek thought, while being faithful to the trinitarian categories of Scripture. The Trinity is everywhere in Scripture.

Presuppositional trinitarianism is simply a matter of presupposing the reality and veracity of the Trinity as the foundation of all reality as a matter of faith. I am trying to read the book of nature and the Bible faithfully, by assuming the reality of the Trinity. I’m trying to read Scripture with the eyes of faithfulness to the Trinity.

This is not a novel approach, but is a very ancient approach that has been obscured by the overlays of Greek philosophy by the early church fathers. I have used this approach in my treatment of Corinthians, as well, and am assuming some familiarity with that work. A few other writers are working in the same vein—Peter Leithart, Ralph Smith and R.J. Rushdoony’s work, The One And The Many: Studies In The Philosophy Of Order And Ultimacy (Ross House Books, second edition, 2009).

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