You may have accidentally believed this...

A bite-sized lesson in doctrine: 1 Concept, 2 Definitions, 3 Passages...

Welcome back to Theology Thursday!

Here is your bite-sized lesson in orthodox biblical doctrine in 3 simple steps:

ONE concept explained

TWO concise definitions that must be kept distinct

THREE Scripture passages to meditate on

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Concept: Modalism (Sabellianism)

Often, we grow in our knowledge of God when we study what God is not rather than just what He is. One trinitarian heresy that arose in the third century was called Modalism or Sabellianism, named after its most prominent proponent, Sabellius (excommunicated in 220AD). He emphasized the oneness of God to the exclusion of His threeness. In his view, the Father, Son, and Spirit are simply three different names for one divine being. God, he taught, doesn’t subsist in three distinct persons but rather, like one man trying on three different masks, God simply reveals Himself as three different (and sometimes successive) modes or manifestations throughout History. You and I may have accidentally believed this! Have you ever used the water, vapor, ice analogy? Three different forms, but all of them are H₂O? This is Modalism. Water is one substance that takes on three different modes or states of matter. While the Scriptures and true trinitarian theology emphasize the oneness of God, they also teach that this one undivided divine essence is truly shared by three distinct persons (not manifestations). No need to despair if you used this illustration (I’ve used it too)! We’re all seeking to figure out and conceptualize infinite, eternal realities. But we do well to avoid illustrations and avoid the error of Sabellius, which is the attempt to solve the mystery of the Trinity rather than simply revel in the mystery.

Definitions/Distinctions:

Mode: A temporal or sequential way something is expressed or experienced. There may be one thing, experienced in a few different ways, but not necessarily as distinct entities. God is not experienced by us in three different ways throughout redemptive history, each of these ways or “modes” being non-personal expressions of God.

Modes of subsistence: This refers to the correct teaching that God is one being but exists eternally (not temporally) as three distinct persons, not as one being taking on three parts or roles. Unlike the “modes” of modalism, these three persons are co-equal, co-eternal persons in relationship, each of whom fully shares the divine essence simultaneously.

Passages:

“...he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove... and a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son...’”

Matthew 3:16–17

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth...”

John 14:16–17

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