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who was the Father, and then they tried to explain how the Son and the Spirit could also be God.

Giles's labeling of the second century fathers as "subordinationists" and his suggestion that they

"were doing their best" may seem strange when one considers that these writers--some of whom were
later regarded as "saints"--were viewed as consistent with and the basis for the orthodox faith.

In fact,

the definition of Chalcedon (451) begins, "Following, then, the holy fathers" and ends with "Thus have
the prophets of old testified; thus the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us; thus the Symbol of the Fathers
has handed down to us."

What, then, did the first and second century fathers hand down to Nicaea and Chalcedon? Was it a

Trinity of interpersonal mutuality and temporary incarnational submission of the Son to the Father? Or
was it a consistent presentation of the Father, Son, and Spirit in ordered, hierarchical relationships, either
extending into eternity or spanning the economy of creation?

A survey of works on Trinitarianism itself reveals that a large number virtually ignore the first

century after the apostolic age as they attempt to reconstruct the development of Trinitarian thought.

While some may begin their history of Trinitarianism in the later second century, either with Irenaeus

or Justin Martyr,

others start in the third century with Origen's controversial treatments of the Logos.

Still others skip the first two centuries altogether and begin their discussions with Athanasius

or the

Cappadocians.

One author even begins with Augustine, for which he actually apologized.

There are other scholars who attempt to take the contributions of the first two centuries seriously, but

they often provide what I consider to be rather random, vague, or even unhelpful summaries.

There are

Ibid., 60, 62.

Cf.

Robert M. Grant, Jesus after the Gospels: The Christ of the Second Century, The Hale Memorial Lectures of Seabury-

Western Theological Seminary (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1990), 6667.

In this paper I use the terms "economy" and "economic" in its general sense as the outworking of the divine plan, that

is, any activities of God toward any external object for any purpose. When limited by modifiers such as "economy of
creation," "of salvation" or "of the incarnation," the activities are limited to these particular works. Various authors--both
ancient and modern--will not always share my use of these terms.

Cf. Philip W. Butin, The Trinity, Foundations of Christian Faith (Louisville: Geneva, 2001), 18-23; Bruno Forte, The Trinity

as History: Saga of the Christian God, trans. Paul Rotondi from the 3d Italian ed. (New York: Alba House, 1989), 45-52; Catherine
Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1991), 24-30, 53-79; Gerald
O'Collins, The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity (New York: Paulist, 1999), 85-103.

Bertrand de Margerie, La Trinité Chrétienne dans L'histoire, ed. Charles Kannengiesser, Théologie Historique 31 (Paris:

Éditions Beauchesne, 1975), 91-172. Gunton writes, "I continue to believe that Irenaeus provides an essential biblically-based
starting point for discussion" (Colin E. Gunton, The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, 2nd ed. [Edinburgh: Clark, 1997], xxi).

Colin E. Gunton, The Triune Creator: A Historical and Systematic Study, ed. Philip D. Clayton, Edinburgh Studies in

Constructive Theology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), 47-50; Levi Leonard Paine, A Critical History of the
Evolution of Trinitarianism and Its Outcome in the New Christology (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900), 24.

Leonard Hodgson, The Doctrine of the Trinity, Croall Lectures (New York: Charles Scriber's Sons, 1944), 142-75; Norman

Pittenger, The Divine Trinity (Philadelphia: United Church Press, 1977), 39-43.

Gordon H. Clark, The Trinity, 2d ed. (Jefferson, MD: Trinity Foundation, 1990), 17-28. Giles disregards the first two

centuries and starts with Athanasius, promising that in the next chapter he will "discuss earlier attempts at constructing a doctrine of
the Trinity that proved to be inadequate" (Giles, Trinity and Subordinationism, 32). However, he skips the apostolic fathers and
begins with Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian before contending with Arianism (ibid., 60-62).

Mary Ann Fatula, The Triune God of Christian Faith, ed. Monika Hellwig, Zacchaeus Studies: Theology (Collegeville, MN:

Michael Glazier, 1990), 62-64.

E. L. Mascall, The Triune God: An Ecumenical Study (Allison Park, PA: Pickwick, 1986), 8, 11.

Elijah Bailey, Primitive Trinitarianism, Examined and Defended (Bennington: Darius Clark, 1826), 260-64; E. Calvin

Beisner, God in Three Persons (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1984), 46-49; J. R. Illingworth, The Doctrine of the Trinity
Apologetically Considered (London: Macmillan, 1907), 102-25; K. E. Kirk, "The Evolution of the Doctrine of the Trinity," in
Essays on the Trinity and the Incarnation, ed. A. E. J. Rawlinson (London: Longamns, Green and Co., 1933), 208-19; Abbe Felix
Klein, The Doctrine of the Trinity, trans. Daniel J. Sullivan (New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1940), 85-94; Jules Lebreton,
Histoire du Dogme de la Trinité, 7th ed., 2 vols., Bibliothèque de Théologie Historique, vol. 1, Les Origines (Paris: Gabriel
Beauchesne, 1927), 560-67; Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God, trans. Margaret Kohl
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 130; Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1991), 268-71; Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1994), 381-82; Hugh H. Stannus, A History of the Origin of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Christian Church (London:
Christian Life Publishing, 1882), 28.