This was a wonderful book. I loved how she explained the trinity, which is something that is VERY hard to explain. I ended up feeling closer to God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as a result of this book, and that was the reason why I wanted to read it in the first place, so the author was able to help me achieve that goal. It's told in an intellectual way (meaning the author really researched and took her time figuring out how to explain things to the reader) but in a conversational tone so I didn't feel lost or overwhelmed with big words or concepts that I couldn't grasp. Definitely a great book for a book club so you can talk about each section with someone before moving on to the next section.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book by netgalley and under no obligation to leave a review. All opinions are strictly mine.

This book provides a comprehensive look at the Trinity of God in an easy-to-understand way. The concept of God 3-in-1 is hard (if not impossible) to grasp, and Tara-Leigh Cobble helps us understand and appreciate and marvel at it a little more.

What do you know about the Trinity?


What do you believe about who God is?


These are fundamental questions to our Christian faith.


Consider this statement:

There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Would you agree or disagree?


In the 2022 report on the State of Theology, they found only 54% of professing evangelical Christians strongly agreed with this statement—just over half!


Tara-Leigh Cobble asserts that, “without the Trinity as the core of our beliefs, every other doctrine of our faith starts to come unglued and unhinged." Our belief about the nature of God’s oneness and threeness is essential and she writes The Joy of the Trinity: One God, Three Persons to teach us about it.


Content
Purpose of the Book
The author’s purpose in writing this is to help Christians consider their understanding of God, specifically his Trinitarian nature. She acknowledges the three-in-one can be difficult to comprehend, but knowing more about our God leads us to greater joy in worship of him.


Table of Contents
Introduction


CHAPTER 1 Unity & Diversity

CHAPTER 2 God the Father

CHAPTER 3 God the Son

CHAPTER 4 God the Spirit

CHAPTER 5 Prayer & Communication

CHAPTER 6 In His Image


Summary
This resource outlines what Christians believe about the Father, Son and Spirit and how it makes a difference for us. First that God is one but has three natures; both unified and diversified. Then she takes a chapter to look at the unity and diversity within each member of the Godhead, Father, Son and Spirit. Then, she takes a chapter to discuss how the doctrine of the Trinity shapes our life of prayer, and, lastly, how knowing God as three-in-one informs our relationships with the world.



My Take: On Knowing and Loving the Lord
To love God we must know him.


You might think this is easy for me to say, since my personality bends toward learning and reading. But knowledge alone isn’t sufficient for discipleship, for “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1). Yet neither is love sufficient on its own because, “the heart cannot love what your mind does not know.” [1] Knowing and loving exist as both-and in our relationship with the Lord.


The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks;


What is the chief end of man?

The answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.


Our ultimate purpose is to make God’s name great and to enjoy him, so we learn to know who he is as he’s revealed in the scriptures that we may believe and behold his greatness. Trevin Wax describes it this way, “Christians care about the details of doctrine because we love the God those doctrines describe.” [2]


We may approach the topic of the Trinity with trepidation because it seems difficult to describe, but the purpose of theology—of knowing God, “is for doxology and devotion—that is, the praise of God and the practice of godliness.” [3]


Reflecting on the unity and diversity of the Father, Son and Spirit helps shift our gaze upward so that we can worship him rightly for who he is and find joy in his presence with us.



My Recommendation
For extra resources, you’ll find the bible study she’s written and published through Lifeway titled, He’s Where the Joy Is, and the accompanying video sessions and leader’s material.


For an introductory book to the doctrine of the Trinity, add this one to your list! You’ll be encouraged and a little challenged to step into theological concepts and understanding.


Quick Stats
# of Pages: 224

Level of Difficulty: Easy-Moderate

My Rating: 4 stars


*A big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review!