Engaging Rian Venter's Trinitarian Theology

In this article, I engage in a preliminary manner with Venter’s understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. It is preliminary, because it gives only a brief overview of some of the main themes in Venter’s theological career, and not an in-depth study of all his publications. Furthermore, I will focus mainly on his seminal work on the Trinity and space, as elaborated upon in his 2006 article ‘Space, Trinity and City: A Theological Exploration’. To talk about the Trinity’s own space in relation to our physical spaces such as cities quickly steers the discussion in the direction of the dynamics between the three persons of the Trinity, and specifically then the space and time they have with each other. In the last part I will therefore focus on the question of transcendence, and I will bring Jenson’s perspective into the conversation as an alternative. I will furthermore investigate to what extent Venter’s work also incorporates the Trinity’s time in his theological thinking. The article concludes with an appreciation of Venter’s valuable theological contributions in developing trinitarian theology in the South African context.