The birth of the trinity jesus god and the spirit in new testament early christian interpretations of the old testamentby matthew w batespp xii 234 oxford university press 2015 8463. The birth of the trinity jesus god and spirit in new testament and early christian interpretations of the old testament matthew w bates abstract this book explores how first and second century christians read the old testament in order to differentiate the one god as multiple persons the earliest christians felt they could metaphorically overhear divine conversations between the . The birth of the trinity is a stunning achievement that makes a powerful argument for the origins of the doctrine of the trinity by means of close attention to the reading practices of the early church and the nt authors batess thesis further makes a powerful argument for shifting the language from bauckhams christology of divine identity to a christology of divine persons batess work provides a helpful demonstration for the way in which the early church fathers open up new vistas . The birth of the trinity jesus god and spirit in new testament and early christian interpretations of the old testament by matthew w bates new york oxford university press 2015 xii 234 . Matthew w bates the birth of the trinity jesus god and spirit in new testament and early christian interpretations of the old testament steve moyise theology 2016 119 4 287 288