Timothy Keller like Piper is influenced by Edwards this really shows in his chapter The Dance of Love. Keller begins by pointing out that if there is no God, love is nothing more than a biochemical accident, it lacks meaning. He then goes on to show that we can only understand 'God is love' through Christian Trinitarianism.
'But if there is a God? Does love fare any better? It depends on who you think God is. If God is unipersonal, then until God created other beings there was no love, since love is something that one person has for another. This means that a unipersonal God was power,sovereignty, and greatness from all eternity, but not love. Love then is not the essence of God, nor is it at the heart of the universe. Power is primary.
However, if God is triune, then loving relationships in community are "the great fountain...at the centre of reality." When people say, "God is love," I think they mean that love is extremely important, or that God really wants us to love. But in the Christian conception, God really has love at his essence. if he was only one person he couldn't have been loving for all eternity. If he was only the impersonal all-soul of Eastern thought, he couldn't have been loving, for love is something persons do.' Keller, p.216
philos
Stephen
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