In this interview with philosopher Dr. Dale Tuggy, I ask him questions about his personal spiritual journey. Dr. Tuggy is an analytic philosopher who works on world religions and the doctrine of the Trinity. He’s a tenured professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Furthermore, he runs a popular website called trinities.org where he blogs and hosts a podcast of the same name. Dr. Tuggy also wrote the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the Trinity, an excellent read, including a very informative supplemental reading called “unitarianism.” In what follows I interview Dr. Tuggy about his own journey of faith, including how he became a Christian, what got him into philosophy, how he came to doubt the traditional doctrine of the trinity, and where he sees the future of the biblical unitarian movement going.
To get in touch with Professor Tuggy, visit Trinities.org or his personal bio page. Also, you can subscribe to his podcast on iTunes or Google Play and follow him Youtube.
Humorous. Where is the unity of which Paul spoke in 1 Corinthians 1?
Thanks much! I enjoyed the discussion. The goal of our instruction is love… ! Timothy 1:5
Excellent! Thank you, both.
Tuggy articulated something that has been brewing in the back of my mind lately: “God would rather have ten humble Trinitarians that are trying to follow Jesus every day, and act his teachings in their daily lives, he’d rather have ten of those guys than one constantly battling and self-righteous, angry, condemning, doctrine-obsessed Unitarian, who’s got the correct theology. So…don’t be that guy. If we’re that guy, the movement’s doomed.”
Amazing and edifying. Its what I needed at the right time.
In my experience of growing up in the Roman Catholic church, the trinity doctrine, three persons in one God, did not really have a great impact on how we viewed God and Jesus Christ. We were taught that the trinity was a blessed mystery and so we kind of left it at that, and so whenever we spoke about God and Jesus it was always as two separate persons.
I think for many truth seekers/church attenders, the trinity is not always such a big deal, though for many others it is of course as we know. There are a lot of people who are genuinely interested in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus etc, and that interest then can eventually lead into the truth about who God and Jesus are.
I think a big problem for the biblical Unitarian movement is lack of churches and Christian fellowship.
Dear Sean and Dale
Thank you for this interview, I would like to thank Dale for his comments regarding Trinitarians not being idolators.
Every now and then I will have discussions about this topic and the two opposing views that I cant decide which is right. On the one side my belief that Jesus is not God makes me think that those who think and worship Jesus as God is idolatry and then I think that many of these people are sincere genuine christians who love God and Jesus and desire to serve God and do His will. It’s a dichotomy between biblical correctness and love. Dales comments really helped me settle this as he comes from this background and understands their heart. I think I would often conclude that love is the greater as thats the general tenor of scripture, so thanks for setting this straight.
Sometimes I think God didn’t make it crystal clear just to see how we could handle getting along with others and walking is love towards them.
I know this is interview is several years old, but I just came across it today. As an atheist, I enjoyed listening to your perspectives. You both sound like very thoughtful gentlemen and good people. Something I found interesting is how some of Dale’s experiences are the same as those of a once-Christian-turned-atheist person’s. “Different philosophies on the Trinity—they can’t all be right.” “My friends stopped talking to me.” “I was once in their camp so I know all their arguments.” It’s fascinating to me that you could apply certain logic and lines of thinking to the doctrine of the Trinity but not apply it to all religions, which is what has led some of us to atheism.
Best of luck to you both, wherever you are now in 2024.