In our own day, we have a theoretical Trinitarianism, but in many instances we have a practical Unitarianism. For instance, there are many churches where the person and work of Christ are given such focus that all thought of the Father and the Holy Spirit is removed. These churches seem to have as their creed, 'Jesus is all that I need.' Of course, these churches affirm that they believe in the Father and the Spirit, but for all practical purposes, they are Unitarian in their religious behavior. Theirs is a Unitarianism of the second person. At the same time, in the past century, there probably have been more books written on the person and work of the Holy Spirit than were written in the first nineteen centuries of the Christian church. This is a direct result of the charismatic movement and Pentecostalism, which give so much attention to the Holy Spirit. Please don't misunderstand. I think it is a wonderful thing that the church has been awakened to the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We need that. But we need to be careful that we don't slip into a practical Unitarianism of the third person, because the Scripture shows that the work of God is Trinitarian in every dimension.
R. C. Sproul
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