John Duns Scotus on the Trinity
One substance, three persons, co-equal and co-eternal
THE POSITION
Nicene. His distinctive contribution is the formal distinction, used to hold the divine simplicity and the real distinction of persons together without collapsing either.
WHY THERE IS NO QUOTATIONNo quotations. Scotus died in 1308 and the Latin is public domain, but the usable English translations are modern and in copyright, so these positions are paraphrased from standard scholarly accounts rather than reproduced.
21 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Franciscan, the Subtle Doctor. Argued for the univocity of being and for a will free in its own right rather than moved by the intellect's judgment — the point where the Franciscan schools part from Aquinas.
Cite this page
"John Duns Scotus on the Trinity", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/scotus/trinity (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/scotus/trinity).