The importance of the subject treated in this book can hardly be overstated. It is admitted on all sides that the doctrine of the Trinity, as we have it at present, is the result of developments in thinking and expression that took place mainly in the first three centuries after Christ. Have those developments obscured the biblical teaching about God and Jesus Christ? How did the recipients of the original Christian message of salvation understand the passages about which there is now so much debate? Would a first century reader of the early Christian documents have reached the same conclusions about them as did later readers? This is what we attempt to address in these pages, using as our sole guide the teaching of the Bible, only supplemented for historical data by the well-documented views of those who lived in those formative years.

Neither of the authors lay claim to any biblical 'scholarship' as it is normally defined. This we see as an advantage because of the independence it confers. Their only qualification for this task is a lifetime's regard for and study of Scripture, and a desire that its teaching should be correctly understood. In the use and meaning of original Greek and Hebrew words we have had to rely heavily on standard works of reference and sometimes the views and comments of the 'experts'. Every effort has been made to ensure such use and meanings have been correctly interpreted; but even if an inadvertent slip may have occurred, we are confident that the main thrust of the book is in no way impaired.

As far as the division of labour is concerned, chapters 4, 5, 7 and the greater part of 3 are the work of Jim Broughton and the balance that of his co-author. Because of the input of two different minds, and especially because the subjects under consideration are so intertwined that divisions become somewhat arbitrary, we are conscious of overlap or duplication in the treatment of some aspects. The reader's indulgence is requested on the few occasions that this occurs.

The authors' preferred Bible translation for this study is the Revised Standard Version, and this is used throughout, except where otherwise indicated. This version is generally considered to be unsurpassed for accuracy ) an essential factor in a detailed study such as this ) even if its literary merit is surpassed by other versions.

Our thanks are due to several of our fellow Bible students to whom we showed the early drafts, and who made many helpful comments and suggestions.

Above all are we conscious of the greatness and loftiness of the subject of this book, and recognise that it is impossible to even come near to doing justice to so lofty a theme. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord" (Isaiah 55.8). We pray that in attempting to study some of those divine thoughts and revelations found exclusively in His Word, we have done so to the glory of God and to the honour of His Son in whom all His fullness dwells.

P.J.S., J.H.B.