Knowra Modalism Modalism Modalism is the view that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are modes or manifestations of one divine person, not distinct persons. It is rejected by mainstream Trinitarian Christianity.
Trinity : The Christian doctrine that one God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Modalism is a non-Trinitarian account of how the three names relate to one God.
Sabellius : A third-century Christian teacher traditionally associated with modalist views of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Later writers made him the namesake of a major label for modalism.
Tritheism : The view that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three separate gods. Modalism emphasizes unity where tritheism separates the divine persons into gods.
Monarchianism : A broad early Christian effort to preserve God's unity, encompassing approaches that emphasized either one divine person or the Son's subordination. Modalism is commonly classified as a form of modalistic monarchianism.
Hypostasis : A Greek theological term for an individual reality or person, especially in Christian debates about the Trinity. The dispute turns on whether Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct hypostases.
Noetus of Smyrna : An early Christian teacher condemned at Rome for identifying the Father with the suffering Christ. His teaching is among the earliest recorded forms associated with modalism.
Arianism : A Christian theological position that regards the Son as subordinate to, and not coeternal with, the Father. Unlike modalism, Arianism distinguishes Father and Son while denying their equal eternal divinity.
Patripassianism : The claim that the Father himself suffered and died in the crucifixion of Jesus. Critics argued that identifying Father and Son in one person implied this consequence.
Divine simplicity : The doctrine that God is not composed of separable parts or properties. Modalists appeal to divine unity, though simplicity does not itself entail one divine person.
Praxeas : An early Christian teacher whom Tertullian opposed for views linking the Father and Christ too closely. Tertullian's polemic against Praxeas preserves an early controversy over modalist claims.
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