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118-548: Sabellianism appeared for the first time in the second century in the form of Monarchianism . While "this movement called themselves 'Monarchians', the Greek Fathers called them 'Sabellians', as Sabellius was the person who has put this doctrine in its philosophical form." Monarchianism opposed the Logos-theology. As from the late second century, non-Jewish Christianity was dominated by Logos-theology which taught

236-762: A "preincarnate appearance of the Messiah". While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , the New Testament contains several Trinitarian formulas , including Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 4:4–6, 1 Peter 1:2, and Revelation 1:4–6. Reflection by early Christians on passages such as the Great Commission : "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in

354-578: A ' monarchian '." "Adolph Von Harnack coined the term ' Modalism ' for this 2nd-century doctrine, which referred to the Trinity as consisting of 'three modes or aspects of one divine existence'." Following Tertullian, "The Latin Fathers ... called them ' patripassians ' because they have identified the Father and the Son to such an extent that they believed that it was the Father who suffered and died on

472-544: A German immigrant, had a vision of Jesus and woke up the camp shouting that the name of Jesus needed to be glorified. From that point, Frank J. Ewart began requiring that anyone baptized using the Trinitarian formula needed to be rebaptized in the name of Jesus "only". Support for this position began to spread, along with a belief in one Person in the Godhead, acting in different modes or offices. The General Council of

590-546: A Sabellian tendency." For Sabellius, this term means that the Father and Son were one essential person, operating as different manifestations or modes. Simonetti sees Arianism "as an extreme reaction against a Sabellianism which was at the time rife in the East." Arianism advocated three hypostases. The Trinitarian view also presents three distinct persons within the Godhead , but while Arianism taught three distinct substances,

708-610: A common ritual practice inducting new members into the early Jesus sect by baptizing them in Jesus' name (2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5). According to Dale Allison , Acts depicts the appearances of Jesus to Paul as a divine theophany , styled on and identified with the God responsible for the theophany of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. The Gospel of John has been seen as especially aimed at emphasizing Jesus' divinity, presenting Jesus as

826-512: A form of Sabellianism, as both are nontrinitarian , and as both believe that Jesus was "Almighty God in the Flesh", but they do not totally identify each other. It cannot be certain whether Sabellius taught Modalism completely as it is taught today as Oneness doctrine, since only a few fragments of his writings are extant and, therefore, all we have of his teachings comes through the writing of his detractors. Monarchianism Monarchianism

944-591: A man is one person, but has a body, a soul, and a spirit, so God is one Person, yet in that Person, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit can be discriminated. Hippolytus of Rome knew Sabellius personally, writing how he and others had admonished Sabellius in Refutation of All Heresies . He knew Sabellius opposed Trinitarian theology, yet he called Modal Monarchism the heresy of Noetus, not that of Sabellius. In (Modalistic) Monarchianism, Jesus Christ

1062-498: A native of Smyrna ... introduced (among us) this heresy which originated from one Epigonus. It reached Rome, and was adopted by Cleomenes, and so has continued to this day among his successors. Tertullian also perceived modalism as entering into the Church from without as a new idea, and opposing the doctrine which had been received through succession. After setting forth his understanding of the manner of faith which had been received by

1180-505: A pitch of pride, that he established a school. Today's Oneness Pentecostal organisations left their original organization when a council of Pentecostal leaders officially adopted Trinitarianism, and have since established schools . Epiphanius (Haeres 62) about 375 notes that the adherents of Sabellius were still to be found in great numbers, both in Mesopotamia and at Rome. The First Council of Constantinople in 381 in canon VII and

1298-514: A presumption of equal force against all heresies whatsoever—that whatever is first is true, whereas that is spurious which is later in date. The simple, indeed, (I will not call them unwise and unlearned,) who always constitute the majority of believers, are startled at the dispensation (of the Three in One), on the ground that their very rule of faith withdraws them from the world’s plurality of gods to

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1416-466: A rash and audacious dogma they have introduced, when they say without shame, the Father is Himself Christ, Himself the Son, Himself was born, Himself suffered, Himself raised Himself. But it is not so. From these notions came the pejorative term " Patripassianism " for the movement, from the Latin words pater for "father", and passus from the verb "to suffer" because it implied that the Father suffered on

1534-507: A separate entity but rather as a mere descriptor of God's action. Notable adherents included Noetus , Praxeas , and Sabellius , hence why the view is commonly called Sabellianism . Nevertheless, Sabellius's writings did not survive and so the little that is known about his beliefs is from secondary sources. The name "Monarchian" properly does not strictly apply to the Adoptionists, or Dynamists, as they (the latter) "did not start from

1652-707: A single substance, despite the plurality of persons. Christians interpret the theophanies , or appearances of the Angel of the Lord , as revelations of a person distinct from God, who is nonetheless called God. This interpretation is found in Christianity as early as Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis , and reflects ideas that were already present in Philo . The Old Testament theophanies were thus seen as Christophanies , each

1770-465: A slave performs προσκύνησις to his master so that he would not be sold after being unable to pay his debts). The term can also refer to the religious act of devotion towards a deity. While Jesus receives προσκύνησις a number of times in the synoptic Gospels , only a few can be said to refer to divine worship. This includes Matthew 28:16–20, an account of the resurrected Jesus receiving worship from his disciples after proclaiming his authority over

1888-609: A son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." This is because both the Ancient of Days (God the Father) and the Son of Man (Jesus, Matt 16:13) have an everlasting dominion, which

2006-494: A temple of God, thus proving that the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son. They also combined "the servant does not know what his master is doing" (John 15:15) with 1 Corinthians 2:11 in an attempt to show that the Holy Spirit is not the slave of God, and therefore his equal. The Pneumatomachi contradicted the Cappadocian Fathers by quoting, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for

2124-562: A two-stage existence for the Logos: He always existed inside God but became a separate Being - a distinct Reality - when God decided to create. Monarchians claimed "that the theology of the Apologists involves a division in the being and unity of God that is unacceptable" and that Logos-theology teaches two creators and two Gods (bi-theism), "inconsistent with monotheism". In Monarchianism, "the Father and Son were different expressions of

2242-404: A way which shall nevertheless tally with their own opinions: so that, all in one Person, they distinguish two, Father and Son, understanding the Son to be flesh, that is man, that is Jesus; and the Father to be spirit, that is God, that is Christ. Thus they, while contending that the Father and the Son are one and the same, do in fact begin by dividing them rather than uniting them.” A comparison of

2360-545: Is God. In Dynamic Monarchianism , Jesus Christ is a mere man. It has been reported that Sabellius used the Greek term homoousian ( ὁμοούσιος , 'same substance', 'consubstantial'), which is also used by the Nicene Creed . The term describes the relationship between Father and Son. Many who held with Athanasius were uneasy about the term. Their objection was that it was considered to be un-scriptural, suspicious, and "of

2478-462: Is a divine being manifest in flesh, and the point of the texts is in part to make his higher nature known in a kind of intellectual epiphany." In the Gospels Jesus is described as forgiving sins, leading some theologians to believe Jesus is portrayed as God. This is because Jesus forgives sins on the behalf of others, people normally only forgive transgressions against oneself. The teachers of

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2596-483: Is a doctrine that emphasizes God as one indivisible being, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism , which defines the Godhead as three co-eternal, consubstantial , co-immanent , and equally divine hypostases . During the patristic period , Christian theologians attempted to clarify the relationship between the Father , Son and Holy Spirit . Monarchianism developed in the 2nd century and persisted further into

2714-468: Is ascribed to God in Psalm 145:13. Some also argue "Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven." to be Trinitarian in apparently distinguishing between the Lord in heaven and the Lord on earth. People also see the Trinity when the Old Testament refers to God's word (Psalm 33:6), His Spirit (Isaiah 61:1), and Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1), as well as narratives such as

2832-538: Is at variance with Isaiah 40:13–14, Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? That is, if the plural pronouns of Genesis 1 teach that God consults and creates with a 'heavenly court', then it contradicts the statement in Isaiah that God seeks

2950-452: Is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Oneness Pentecostals also cite Christ's response to Philip 's query on who

3068-456: Is comprehensible since God the Father has no origin and is eternal and infinite. Thus it is improper to speak of things as "physical" and "metaphysical"; rather it is correct to speak of things as "created" and "uncreated." God the Father is the origin and source of the Trinity of Whom the Son is begotten and the Spirit proceeding, all Three being Uncreated. Therefore, the consciousness of God is not obtainable to created beings either in this life or

3186-830: Is generally regarded as a spurious text in First John (1 John 5:7) known primarily from the King James Version and some versions of the Textus Receptus , but not included in modern critical texts, is an instance (the only one expressly stated) of the word Three describing God. Many modalists point out the lack of the word "Trinity" in any canonical scripture. Passages such as Deut 6:4-5; Deut 32:12; 2Kings 19:15-19; Job 6:10; Job 31:13-15; Psalm 71:22; Psalm 83:16,18; Is 42:8; Is 45:5-7; Is 48:2,9,11-13; Mal 2:8,10; Matt 19:17; Romans 3:30; 2Cor 11:2-3; Gal 3:20; and Jude 1:25 are referenced by modalists as affirming that

3304-463: Is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:11). They reasoned that this passage proves that the Holy Spirit has the same relationship to God as the spirit within us has to us. The Cappadocian Fathers also quoted, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) and reasoned that it would be blasphemous for an inferior being to take up residence in

3422-528: Is literally "living," and literally Creator of everything together with God the Father and the Spirit of God. In the Trinitarian view, the above usage not only takes John 14:10 out of its immediate context, but is also resolutely contrary to the congruence of the Gospel of John as a whole, and strongly suspected of begging the question in interpretation. Trinitarians understand John 14:10 as informed by parallel verses such as John 1:14 and John 1:18, and as affirming

3540-411: Is lying to the Holy Spirit, he then says he is lying to God. In the New Testament, the Spirit is not portrayed as the recipient of cultic devotion, which instead, is typically offered to God the Father and to the risen/glorified Jesus. Although what became mainstream Christianity subsequently affirmed the propriety of including the Spirit as the recipient of worship as reflected in the developed form of

3658-505: Is one Person, and that the Father (a spirit) is united with Jesus (a man) as the Son of God. However, Oneness Pentecostalism differs somewhat by rejecting sequential modalism, and by the full acceptance of the begotten humanity of the Son, not eternally begotten, who was the man Jesus and was born, crucified, and risen, and not the deity. This directly opposes the pre-existence of the Son as a pre-existent mode, which Sabellianism generally does not oppose. Oneness Pentecostals believe that Jesus

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3776-414: Is revealing the roles of the Son and Holy Spirit as co-creators. And since, according to them, because only the holy God can create holy beings such as the angels, the Son and Holy Spirit must be God. Yet another argument from the Cappadocian Fathers to prove that the Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and Son comes from "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which

3894-598: Is said to have recanted his modalistic views in writing, teaching again his former faith. Sabellius likewise was excommunicated by council in Alexandria, and after complaint of this was made to Rome, a second council then assembled in Rome and also ruled against Sabellianism. Johann Lorenz von Mosheim , German Lutheran theologian who founded the pragmatic school of church historians, argued that Sabellius described God as three in one sense but one in another. "Sabellius held to

4012-631: Is the reference in Christian fellowship for a religious ritual meal (the Lord's Supper ; 1 Corinthians 11:17–34). Jesus is described as "existing in the very form of God" (Philippians 2:6), and having the "fullness of the Deity [living] in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is also in some verses directly called God (Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1). The Gospels depict Jesus as human through most of their narrative, but "[o]ne eventually discovers that he

4130-605: The Logos , pre-existent and divine, from its first words: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God " (John 1:1). The Gospel of John ends with Thomas's declaration that he believed Jesus was God, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Modern scholars agree that John 1:1 and John 20:28 identify Jesus with God. However, in a 1973 Journal of Biblical Literature article, Philip B. Harner, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Heidelberg College , claimed that

4248-651: The Nicene Creed , perhaps the closest to this in the New Testament is in Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 which describe the Spirit as the subject of religious ritual. As the Arian controversy was dissipating, the debate moved from the deity of Jesus Christ to the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son. On one hand, the Pneumatomachi sect declared that the Holy Spirit was an inferior person to

4366-518: The One God , as perceived by the believer , rather than three co-eternal persons within the Godhead , or a "co-equal Trinity". Modalists note that the only number expressly and repeatedly ascribed to God in the Old Testament is One, do not accept interpreting this number as denoting union (i.e. Gen 2:24) when it is applied to God, and dispute the meaning or validity of related New Testament passages cited by Trinitarians. The Comma Johanneum , which

4484-564: The Paraclete , and he crucified the Father." Likewise Hippolytus wrote, Do you see, he says, how the Scriptures proclaim one God? And as this is clearly exhibited, and these passages are testimonies to it, I am under necessity, he says, since one is acknowledged, to make this One the subject of suffering. For Christ was God, and suffered on account of us, being Himself the Father, that He might be able also to save us.... See, brethren, what

4602-481: The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 in canon XCV declared the baptism of Sabellius to be invalid, which indicates that Sabellianism was still extant. The chief critics of Sabellianism were Tertullian and Hippolytus . In his work Adversus Praxeas , Chapter I, Tertullian wrote "By this Praxeas did a twofold service for the devil at Rome: he drove away prophecy, and he brought in heresy; he put to flight

4720-405: The divine messenger of Genesis 16:7, Genesis 21:17, Genesis 31:11, Exodus 3:2 and Wisdom of the sapiential books with the Son, and "the spirit of the Lord" with the Holy Spirit. Other Church Fathers, such as Gregory Nazianzen , argued in his Orations that the revelation was gradual, claiming that the Father was proclaimed in the Old Testament openly, but the Son only obscurely, because "it

4838-589: The "trinitarian" formula in his later writings. (Conybeare ( Hibbert Journal i (1902-3), page 102). Matthew 28:19 is quoted also in the Didache (Didache 7:1), which dates to the late 1st Century or early 2nd Century) and in the Diatesseron (Diatesseron 55:5-7), which dates to the mid 2nd Century harmony of the Synoptic Gospels. The Shem-Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (George Howard), written during

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4956-405: The 14th century, also has no reference of baptism or a "trinitarian" formula in Matthew 28:19. However, it is also true that no Greek manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew has ever been found which does not contain Matthew 28:19. The earliest extant copies of Matthew's Gospel date to the 3rd Century, and they contain Matthew 28:19. Therefore, scholars generally agree that Matthew 28:19 is likely part of

5074-510: The 3rd century. Monarchianism (from the Greek monarkhia , meaning "ruling of one," and -ismos , meaning "practice or teaching") stresses the absolute, uncompromising unity of God in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity, which is often lambasted as veiled tritheism by nontrinitarian Christians and other monotheists. Monarchians were opposed by Logos theologians ( Tertullian , Hippolytus , Clement of Alexandria , and Origen of Alexandria ). The Trinitarian view gained prominence and

5192-593: The 4th century and found in later translations such as the King James Translation, cannot be found in the oldest Greek and Latin texts. Verse 7 is known as the Johannine Comma , which most scholars agree to be a later addition by a later copyist or what is termed a textual gloss and not part of the original text. This verse reads: Because there are three in Heaven that testify – the Father,

5310-572: The Assemblies of God convened in St. Louis, Missouri in October 1916, to confirm their belief in Trinitarian orthodoxy. The Oneness camp was faced by a majority who required acceptance of the Trinitarian baptismal formula and the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity or remove themselves from the denomination. In the end, about a quarter of the ministers withdrew. Oneness Pentecostalism teaches that God

5428-637: The Being of the One God is an eternal, personal, and mutually indwelling communion of Father [God], Son [the Word of God], and Holy Spirit [the Spirit of God]. Addressing the fact that the word Trinity does not occur in scripture, Trinitarians attest that extra-biblical doctrinal language often summarizes our understanding scripture in a clear and concise manner—other examples being even the words modalism , mode , and role —and that use of such language does not of itself demonstrate accuracy or inaccuracy. Further,

5546-424: The Being of the One God is solidly single, and although known in several modes, precludes any concept of divine co-existence. Hippolytus described similar reasoning by Noetus and his followers saying: Now they seek to exhibit the foundation for their dogma by citing the word in the law, "I am the God of your fathers: ye shall have no other gods beside me;" and again in another passage, "I am the first," He saith, "and

5664-470: The Christian doctrine of God taking on flesh as Jesus Christ. Like Trinitarians, Oneness adherents attest that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. However, Trinitarians believe that the "Word of God," the eternal second Person of the Trinity, was manifest as the Son of God by taking humanity to Himself and by glorifying that Humanity to equality with God through His resurrection, in eternal union with His own Divinity. In contrast, Oneness adherents hold that

5782-434: The Church, and examined him. But he denied at first that he held such opinions. Afterwards, however, taking shelter among some, and having gathered round him some others who had embraced the same error, he wished thereafter to uphold his dogma openly as correct. And the blessed presbyters called him again before them, and examined him. But he stood out against them, saying, "What evil, then, am I doing in glorifying Christ?" And

5900-600: The Church, he then describes how the "simple" who always constitute the majority of believers are often startled at the idea that the One God exists in three and were opposed to his understanding of "the rule of faith." Proponents of Tertullian argue that he described the "simple" as the majority, rather than those who opposed him as the majority. This is contended from Tertullian's argument that they were putting forth ideas of their own which had not been taught to them by their elders: We, however, as we indeed always have done (and more especially since we have been better instructed by

6018-452: The Cross. It is important to note that our only sources extant for our understanding of Sabellianism are from their detractors. Scholars today are not in agreement as to what exactly Sabellius or Praxeas taught. It is easy to suppose that Tertullian and Hippolytus at least at times misrepresented the opinions of their opponents. The Greek Orthodox teach that God is not of a substance that

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6136-564: The Father and Son. On the other hand, the Cappadocian Fathers argued that the Holy Spirit was equal to the Father and Son in nature or substance. Although the main text used in defense of the deity of the Holy Spirit was Matthew 28:19, Cappadocian Fathers such as Basil the Great argued from other verses such as "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of

6254-573: The Father in the sense of different roles of God: giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created through him and for him. And he

6372-457: The Father was in John 14:10 to support this assertion: Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Trinitarian Christians hold that verses such as Colossians 1:12-20 remove all reasonable doubt that scripture teaches the Son, Who IS the Word of God (i.e. John 1:1-3),

6490-581: The God who visited Abraham as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. Augustine, in contrast, held that the three visitors to Abraham were the three persons of the Trinity. He saw no indication that the visitors were unequal, as would be the case in Justin's reading. Then in Genesis 19, two of the visitors were addressed by Lot in the singular: "Lot said to them, 'Not so, my lord ' " (Gen. 19:18). Augustine saw that Lot could address them as one because they had

6608-616: The Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost. That this rule of faith has come down to us from the beginning of the gospel , even before any of the older heretics, much more before Praxeas, a pretender of yesterday, will be apparent both from the lateness of date which marks all heresies, and also from the absolutely novel character of our new-fangled Praxeas. In this principle also we must henceforth find

6726-514: The Holy Spirit , three distinct persons ( hypostases ) sharing one essence/substance/nature ( homoousion ). As the Fourth Lateran Council declared, it is the Father who begets , the Son who is begotten , and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. In this context, one essence/nature defines what God is, while the three persons define who God is. This expresses at once their distinction and their indissoluble unity. Thus,

6844-624: The Holy Trinity. While many Unitarians are Arians, modalists differentiate themselves from Arian or Semi-Arian Unitarians by affirming Christ's full Godhead , whereas both the Arian and Semi-Arian views assert Christ as not of one substance (Greek: οὐσία ) with, and therefore also not equal with, God the Father. Dionysius, bishop of Rome, set forth the understanding of traditional Christianity concerning both Arianism and Sabellianism in Against

6962-474: The Messiah will represent the Trinity on earth. This is because Counselor is a title for the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), the Trinity is God, Father is a title for God the Father, and Prince of Peace is a title for Jesus. This verse is also used to support the Deity of Christ . Another verse used to support the Deity of Christ is "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like

7080-573: The New Testament references often portray actions that seem to give the Spirit an intensely personal quality, probably more so than in Old Testament or ancient Jewish texts. So, for example, the Spirit "drove" Jesus into the wilderness (Mk 1:12; compare "led" in Mt. 4:1/Lk 4:1), and Paul refers to the Spirit interceding for believers (Romans 8:26–27) and witnessing to believers about their filial status with God (Romans 8:14–16). To cite other examples of this, in Acts

7198-464: The New Testament were brought together to form the concept of the Trinity—one Godhead subsisting in three persons and one substance . The concept of the Trinity was used to oppose alternative views of how the three are related and to defend the church against charges of worshiping two or three gods. Modern Biblical scholarship largely agrees that 1 John 5:7 seen in Latin and Greek texts after

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7316-600: The One and Only true God—Who manifests Himself in any way He chooses, including as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (though not choosing to do so in an eternally simultaneous manner)—became man in the temporary role of Son. Many Oneness Pentecostals have also placed a strongly Nestorian distinction between Jesus' humanity and Divinity as in the example compared with Tertullian's statement above. Oneness Pentecostals and other modalists are regarded by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and most other mainstream Christians as heretical for denying

7434-471: The Paraclete, who leads men indeed into all truth), believe that there is one only God, but under the following dispensation , or οἰκονομία, as it is called, that this one only God has also a Son, His Word, who proceeded from Himself, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. Him we believe to have been sent by the Father into the Virgin, and to have been born of her—being both Man and God,

7552-494: The Sabellians , ca. AD 262. He, in similarity to Hippolytus, explained that the two errors are at opposite extremes in seeking to understand the Son of God, Arianism misusing that the Son is distinct respecting the Father, and Sabellianism misusing that the Son is equal respecting the Father. In fact, he also repudiated the idea of three Gods as error as well. While Arianism and Sabellianism may appear to be diametrically opposed,

7670-423: The Son of Man and the Son of God, and to have been called by the name of Jesus Christ; we believe Him to have suffered, died, and been buried, according to the Scriptures, and, after He had been raised again by the Father and taken back to heaven, to be sitting at the right hand of the Father, and that He will come to judge the quick and the dead; who sent also from heaven from the Father, according to His own promise,

7788-578: The Spirit alerts Peter to the arrival of visitors from Cornelius (10:19), directs the church in Antioch to send forth Barnabas and Saul (13:2–4), guides the Jerusalem council to a decision about Gentile converts (15:28), at one point forbids Paul to missionize in Asia (16:6), and at another point warns Paul (via prophetic oracles) of trouble ahead in Jerusalem (21:11). The Holy Spirit is described as God in

7906-473: The Spirit within the Old Testament and 35 identified in the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls , the New Testament, despite its significantly shorter length, mentions the Spirit 275 times. In addition to its larger emphasis and importance placed on the Spirit in the New Testament, the Spirit is also described in much more personalized and individualized terms than earlier. Larry Hurtado writes; Moreover,

8024-532: The Trinity doctrine asserts that the three Persons exist in one substance. Sabellianism was embraced by Christians in Cyrenaica , to whom Dionysius , Patriarch of Alexandria (who was instrumental in the excommunication of Sabellius in Alexandria), wrote letters arguing against this belief. Hippolytus wrote: Some others are secretly introducing another doctrine, who have become disciples of one Noetus, who

8142-456: The Trinity in many places. For example, in the Genesis creation narrative , specifically the first-person plural pronouns in Genesis 1:26–27 and Genesis 3:22 ('Let us make man in our image [...] the man is become as one of us '). "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over

8260-417: The Word and the Holy Spirit – and these three are one. This verse is absent from the Ethiopic, Aramaic, Syriac, Slavic, early Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic translations of the Greek New Testament. It is primarily found in Latin manuscripts, although a minority of Greek, Slavonic and late Armenian manuscripts contain it. In the Pauline epistles , the public, collective devotional patterns towards Jesus in

8378-420: The above statement by Tertullian with the following example statement made by Oneness Pentecostals today is striking: "Jesus is the Son of God according to the flesh ... and the very God Himself according to the Spirit ..." The form of the Lord's Name appearing in verse nineteen of the Great Commission , Matthew 28:16-20, has also historically been spoken during Christian baptism, Trinitarian Christians believing

8496-468: The accusative implication that the word Trinity gained common use apart from careful and pious fidelity to scripture may be associated with ad hominem argumentation. Hippolytus described his own response to Noetus' doctrine, claiming the truth to be more evident than either of the two mutually opposed views of Arianism and Sabellianism : In this way, then, they choose to set forth these things, and they make use only of one class of passages; just in

8614-410: The appearance of the three men to Abraham . However, it is generally agreed among Trinitarian Christian scholars that it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the Old Testament to correlate these notions directly with later Trinitarian doctrine. Some Church Fathers believed that a knowledge of the mystery was granted to the prophets and saints of the Old Testament, and that they identified

8732-547: The author of Genesis was too theologically primitive to deal with such a concept as 'plurality within unity'; Hamilton thus argues for a framework of progressive revelation , in which the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed at first obscurely then plainly in the New Testament. Another of these places is the prophecy about the Messiah in Isaiah 9. The Messiah is called "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Some Christians see this verse as meaning

8850-548: The book of the Acts of the Apostles But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God". Acts 5:3–4 Peter first says Ananias

8968-416: The cosmos and his ever-continuing presence with the disciples (forming an inclusion with the beginning of the Gospel, where Jesus is given the name Emmanuel, "God with us," a name that alludes to the God of Israel's ongoing presence with his followers throughout the Old Testament (Genesis 28:15; Deuteronomy 20:1). Whereas some have argued that Matthew 28:19 was an interpolation on account of its absence from

9086-424: The counsel of nobody. According to Hamilton, the best interpretation 'approaches the trinitarian understanding but employs less direct terminology'. Following D. J. A. Clines , he states that the plural reveals a 'duality within the Godhead' that recalls the 'Spirit of God' mentioned in verse 2, And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Hamilton also says that it is unreasonable to assume that

9204-457: The credit of being worshippers of the One God; just as if the Unity itself with irrational deductions did not produce heresy, and the Trinity rationally considered constitute the truth. According to modalism and Sabellianism, God is said to be only one person who reveals himself in different ways called modes , faces , aspects , roles or masks (Greek πρόσωπα prosopa ; Latin personae ) of

9322-425: The cross." Sabellianism is named after Sabellius (fl. c. 215), who taught a form of it in Rome in the 3rd century . None of his writings have survived, and all that is known about him comes from his opponents, which is not the most reliable source. Monarchianism had come to Sabellius via the teachings of Noetus and Praxeas . Noetus was excommunicated from the Church after being examined by council, and Praxeas

9440-537: The developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , the New Testament possesses a triadic understanding of God and contains a number of Trinitarian formulas . The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated among the early Christians (mid-2nd century and later) and fathers of the Church as they attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. The Old Testament has been interpreted as referring to

9558-400: The developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , it was first formulated as early Christians attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. According to Margaret Baker, trinitarian theology has roots in pre-Christian Palestinian beliefs about angels. An early reference to

9676-496: The different "modes" of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Following this view, all of the Godhead is understood to dwell in the person of Jesus from the incarnation . The terms "Father" and "Son" are then used to describe the distinction between the transcendence of God and the incarnation. Lastly, since God is understood as a Spirit in the context of the Gospel of John, it is held that the Holy Spirit should not be understood as

9794-527: The early Christian community are reflective of Paul's perspective on the divine status of Jesus in what scholars have termed a "binitarian" pattern or shape of devotional practice (worship) in the New Testament, in which "God" and Jesus are thematized and invoked. Jesus receives prayer (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9), the presence of Jesus is confessionally invoked by believers (1 Corinthians 16:22; Romans 10:9–13; Philippians 2:10–11), people are baptized in Jesus' name (1 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 6:3), Jesus

9912-453: The early Christian movement as a public cult centered around Jesus in several passages. In Acts, it is common for individual Christians to "call" upon the name of Jesus (9:14, 21; 22:16), an idea precedented in the Old Testament descriptions of calling on the name of YHWH as a form of prayer. The story of Stephen depicts Stephen invoking and crying out to Jesus in the final moments of his life to receive his spirit (7:59–60). Acts further describes

10030-537: The economy [i.e., the number and disposition of persons in the Trinity]. The proper way, therefore, to deal with the question is first of all to refute the interpretation put upon these passages by these men, and then to explain their real meaning. Tertullian said of Praxeas' followers: For, confuted on all sides on the distinction between the Father and the Son, which we maintain without destroying their inseparable union ... they endeavour to interpret this distinction in

10148-587: The entire process of creation and grace is viewed as a single shared action of the three divine persons, in which each person manifests the attributes unique to them in the Trinity, thereby proving that everything comes "from the Father," "through the Son," and "in the Holy Spirit." This doctrine is called Trinitarianism and its adherents are called Trinitarians , while its opponents are called antitrinitarians or nontrinitarians and considered non-Christian by most mainline groups. Nontrinitarian positions include Unitarianism , Binitarianism and Modalism . While

10266-677: The eternal union of the Son with His Father: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth ... No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. Many doctrinal exchanges between modalists and Trinitarians are similar to the above. Passages such as Gen 1:26-27; Gen 16:11-13; Gen 32:24,30; Judg 6:11-16; Is 48:16; Zech 2:8-9; Matt 3:16-17; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:10; John 5:18-27; John 14:26-28; John 15:26; John 16:13-16; John 17:5,20-24; Acts 1:6-9; and Heb 1:1-3,8-10 are referenced by Trinitarians as affirming that

10384-559: The first few centuries of early Christian quotations, scholars largely accept the passage as authentic due to its supporting manuscript evidence and that it does appear to be either quoted in the Didache (7:1–3) or at least reflected in the Didache as part of a common tradition from which both Matthew and the Didache emerged. Jesus receiving divine worship in the post-resurrection accounts is further mirrored in Luke 24:52. Acts depicts

10502-518: The former claiming Christ to be created and the latter claiming Christ is God, both in common deny the Trinitarian belief that Christ is God Eternal in His Humanity , and that this is the very basis of man's hope of salvation. "One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God." Hippolytus' account of the excommunication of Noetus is as follows: When the blessed presbyters heard this, they summoned him before

10620-529: The indwelling Presence of the eternally incarnate ( Phil 3:21 ) Son of God and His Father by the Spirit ( John 17:22–24 , Rom 8:11,16-17 ). At the Arroyo Seco World Wide Camp Meeting, near Los Angeles, in 1913, Canadian evangelist R.E. McAlister stated at a baptismal service that the apostles had baptized in the name of Jesus only and not in the triune Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Later that night, John G. Schaeppe,

10738-452: The last; and beside me there is none other." Thus they say they prove that God is one.... And we cannot express ourselves otherwise, he says; for the apostle also acknowledges one God, when he says, "Whose are the fathers, (and) of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." Oneness Pentecostals , an identifier used by some modern modalists, claim that Colossians 1:12-20 refers to Christ's relationship with

10856-399: The law next to Jesus recognizes this and said "Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7 Jesus also receives προσκύνησις ( proskynesis ) in the aftermath of the resurrection, a Greek term that either expresses the contemporary social gesture of bowing to a superior, either on one's knees or in full prostration (in Matthew 18:26

10974-550: The literal existence of God's Beloved Son from Heaven, including His eternal Being; rejecting the direct succession of apostolic gifts and authority through the ordination of the Christian bishops; rejecting the identity of mainstream Christians as the God-begotten Body and Church which Christ founded; and rejecting the affirmations of the ecumenical councils such as the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople , including

11092-464: The livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' [...] "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil [...]" A traditional Christian interpretation of these pronouns is that they refer to a plurality of persons within the Godhead. Biblical commentator Victor P. Hamilton outlines several interpretations, including

11210-513: The logos, no less than the theos, had the nature of theos," which in his case means the Word is as fully God as the person called "God". John also portrays Jesus as the agent of creation of the universe. Some have suggested that John presents a hierarchy when he quotes Jesus as saying, "The Father is greater than I", a statement which was appealed to by nontrinitarian groups such as Arianism . However, influential theologians such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas argued this statement

11328-473: The monarchy of God, and their doctrine is strictly Christological". Trinitarian The Trinity ( Latin : Trinitas , lit.   'triad', from Latin : trinus 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God , which defines one God existing in three, coeternal , consubstantial divine persons : God the Father , God the Son ( Jesus Christ ) and God

11446-538: The most widely held among Biblical scholars, which is that the pronouns do not refer to other persons within the Godhead but to the 'heavenly court' of Isaiah 6 . Theologians Meredith Kline and Gerhard von Rad argue for this view, as von Rad says, 'The extraordinary plural ("Let us") is to prevent one from referring God's image too directly to God the Lord. God includes himself among the heavenly beings of his court and thereby conceals himself in this majority.' Hamilton notes that this interpretation assumes that Genesis 1

11564-534: The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and Paul the Apostle 's blessing: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all", leading theologians across history in attempting to articulate the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eventually, the diverse references to God, Jesus, and the Spirit found in

11682-646: The next (see apophatism ). Through co-operation with the Holy Spirit (called theosis ), Mankind can become good (God-like), not becoming uncreated, but partaker of His divine energies ( 2 Peter 1:4 ). From such a perspective Mankind can be reconciled from the Knowledge of Good and the Knowledge of Evil he obtained in the Garden of Eden (see the Fall of Man ), his created substance thus partaking of Uncreated God through

11800-497: The one only true God; not understanding that, although He is the one only God, He must yet be believed in with His own οἰκονομία . The numerical order and distribution of the Trinity they assume to be a division of the Unity; whereas the Unity which derives the Trinity out of its own self is so far from being destroyed, that it is actually supported by it. They are constantly throwing out against us that we are preachers of two gods and three gods, while they take to themselves pre-eminently

11918-439: The original Gospel of Matthew, though a minority disputes this. In passages of scripture such as Matthew 3:16-17 where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are separated in the text and witness, modalists view this phenomenon as confirming God's omnipresence , and His ability to manifest himself as he pleases . Oneness Pentecostals and Modalists attempt to dispute the traditional doctrine of eternal co-existent union, while affirming

12036-412: The other was an intriguing text for those who believed in a single God in three persons. Justin Martyr , and John Calvin similarly, interpreted it such that Abraham was visited by God, who was accompanied by two angels. Justin supposed that the God who visited Abraham was distinguishable from the God who remains in the heavens, but was nevertheless identified as the (monotheistic) God. Justin interpreted

12154-457: The plans of God and for his own perfect life and works. Different variations of Dynamism hold that Jesus was "adopted" either at the time of his baptism or his ascension . Notable adherents included Artemon , Beryllus of Bostra , a third-century bishop who debated with Origen , Paul of Samosata , a bishop of Antioch , and Theodotus of Byzantium . Modalistic monarchianism (or Modalism) considers God to be one, who appears and works through

12272-412: The presbyters replied to him, "We too know in truth one God; we know Christ; we know that the Son suffered even as He suffered, and died even as He died, and rose again on the third day, and is at the right hand of the Father, and cometh to judge the living and the dead. And these things which we have learned we allege." Then, after examining him, they expelled him from the Church. And he was carried to such

12390-578: The proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. ' " (Acts 5:3–4). Another passage the Cappadocian Fathers quoted from was "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host" (Psalm 33:6). According to their understanding, because "breath" and "spirit" in Hebrew are both "רוּחַ" ("ruach"), Psalm 33:6

12508-399: The sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) in effect arguing that the Holy Spirit is no different from other created angelic spirits. The Church Fathers disagreed, saying that the Holy Spirit is greater than the angels, since the Holy Spirit is the one who grants the foreknowledge for prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:8–10) so that the angels could announce events to come. While

12626-474: The same being, without any personal distinctions between them. In other words, the Father is himself the Son , and therefore experiences the Son’s human frailties." "In the words of Noetus: … the Father … Himself became His own Son." "It was therefore God who was born from a virgin and who confessed himself to humankind as the Son of God. At the cross, God commended his spirit to himself, as he acted to be dead, but he

12744-409: The same one-sided manner that Theodotus employed when he sought to prove that Christ was a mere man. But neither has the one party nor the other understood the matter rightly, as the Scriptures themselves confute their senselessness, and attest the truth. See, brethren, what a rash and audacious dogma they have introduced... For who will not say that there is one God? Yet he will not on that account deny

12862-431: The simple unity of the person and nature of God." However, the form of Sabellianism taught by Sabellius is not the same as Monarchianism. He did not believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are simply three names for the same Reality. He "believed the distinction of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, described in the Scriptures, to be a real distinction, and not a mere appellative or nominal one." He maintained that, just like

12980-520: The three "persons" of later Trinitarian doctrines appears towards the end of the first century, where Clement of Rome rhetorically asks in his epistle as to why corruption exists among some in the Christian community; "Do we not have one God, and one Christ, and one gracious Spirit that has been poured out upon us, and one calling in Christ?" (1 Clement 46:6). A similar example is found in the first century Didache , which directs Christians to "baptize in

13098-436: The three distinct, albeit co-inherent, persons of the Holy Trinity received witness by Jesus' baptism. Many modalists do not use this form as the Lord's Name. It is also suggested by some modern Oneness Pentecostal critics, that Matthew 28:19 is not part of the original text, because Eusebius of Caesarea quoted it by saying "In my name", and in that source there was no mention of baptism in the verse. Eusebius did, however, quote

13216-520: The traditional translation of John 1:1c ("and the Word was God") is incorrect. He endorses the New English Bible translation of John 1:1c, "and what God was, the Word was." However Harner's claim has been criticized by other scholars. In the same article, Harner also noted that; "Perhaps the clause could be translated, 'the Word had the same nature as God". This would be one way of representing John's thought, which is, as I understand it, that

13334-640: Was "Son" only when he became flesh on earth, but was the Father before being made man. They refer to the Father as the "Spirit" and the Son as the "Flesh", but they believe that Jesus and the Father are one essential Person, though operating as different "manifestations" or "modes". Oneness Pentecostals reject the Trinity doctrine, viewing it as pagan and nonscriptural, and hold to the Jesus' Name doctrine with respect to baptisms. They are often referred to as "Modalists" or "Jesus Only" . Oneness Pentecostalism can be compared to Sabellianism, or can be described as holding to

13452-464: Was a native of Smyrna, (and) lived not very long ago. ... This person introduced a heresy from the tenets of Heraclitus. Now a certain man called Epigonus becomes his minister and pupil, and this person during his sojourn at Rome disseminated his godless opinion. But Cleomenes, who had become his disciple, an alien both in way of life and habits from the Church, was wont to corroborate the (Noetian) doctrine. | But in like manner, also, Noetus, being by birth

13570-502: Was adopted at the First Council of Constantinople in 381. Monarchianism was considered a heresy after the 4th century. Two types of monarchianism were propounded. Adoptionism (or dynamic monarchianism or Dynamism ) holds that God is one being, above all else, wholly indivisible, and of one nature. It holds that the Son was not co-eternal with the Father and that Jesus Christ was essentially granted godhood (adopted) for

13688-554: Was not dead in reality, although he raised himself on the 3rd day." Tertullian was one of the Logos theologians and strongly opposed Monarchianism. "The treatise Against Praxeas is widely recognized as Tertullian's greatest work on the Trinity. The view apparently taught by Praxeas has come to be called ' modalism ', thanks to that designation appearing in Adolf von Harnack's History of Dogma (1897). Tertullian simply calls his opponent

13806-458: Was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son". Genesis 18–19 has been interpreted by Christians as a Trinitarian text. The narrative has the Lord appearing to Abraham, who was visited by three men. In Genesis 19, "the two angels" visited Lot at Sodom. The interplay between Abraham on the one hand and the Lord/three men/the two angels on

13924-476: Was to be understood as Jesus speaking about his human nature. Prior Israelite theology held that the Spirit is merely the divine presence of God himself, whereas orthodox Christian theology holds that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person of God the Father himself. This development begins early in the New Testament, as the Spirit of God receives much more emphasis and description comparably than it had in earlier Jewish writing. Whereas there are 75 references to

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