1932–1988

The revival of the doctrine of the Trinity in the 20th century: Barth, Rahner, Moltmann, Pannenberg

In contrast to Schleiermacher, Barth made the Trinity the cornerstone of his system: from the reality of revelation he concluded that God is at once the author, the event and the effect of revelation, and instead of "persons" he spoke of "modes of being". Rahner formulated the rule: "the economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity, and vice versa". Moltmann, starting from the cross (The Crucified God, 1973), understood the Trinity as a history of "separation-in-unity" and in The Trinity and the Kingdom of God (1980) developed a social doctrine of the Trinity, beginning not with the unity of God but with the history of the three Persons. Pannenberg in his Systematic Theology (1988) moves from revelation directly to the Trinity and only then to the unity of God, building the immanent Trinity from the economic one.