Clarifying the Trinity in Response to Modalism
The doctrine of the Trinity asserts that God is one being who exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit [1, 6]. This concept is not explicitly named in Scripture but is derived from biblical revelation and articulated through theological reflection [1]. The term "Trinity" comes from the Greek trias, first used by Theophilus (c. 168-183 AD), or the Latin trinitas, first used by Tertullian (c. 220 AD) [1].
Modalism, also known as Sabellianism, is a theological perspective that the church has historically rejected as heretical. Modalism proposes that God is a single person who appears in different "modes" or manifestations at different times, rather than existing eternally as three distinct persons [6]. For example, God might act as the Father in creation, then as the Son in redemption, and finally as the Spirit in sanctification, but never simultaneously as all three. This view "confounds the persons" of the Godhead, failing to distinguish them adequately [6].
In contrast, orthodox Trinitarian theology emphasizes both the unity of God's essence and the distinctness of the three persons. The Athanasian Creed, an ecumenical statement of faith, articulates this by stating, "we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance" [6]. It further clarifies that "there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal" [6].
The distinctness of the persons is crucial. The Father is a distinct divine Person, as is the Son and the Holy Spirit [1]. The Apostle Paul's benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all," demonstrates this distinction by referring to all three persons in a single blessing [5]. The order of the persons can vary in scripture and tradition, which indicates that "in this Trinity none is afore or after other" [5, 6].
Theological figures like Augustine and Aquinas have stressed the careful language required when discussing the Trinity, noting that "nowhere is error more harmful, the quest more toilsome, the finding more fruitful" [4]. John of Damascus, an Eastern Orthodox theologian, speaks of worshipping Christ "along with the Father and the Spirit, with one obeisance," emphasizing the unity of worship directed to the distinct persons [2]. John Calvin also affirmed the "most perfect unity" of God while maintaining the distinctness of the three persons, refuting various anti-Trinitarian heresies [3]. The doctrine thus navigates between the error of modalism (confounding the persons) and tritheism (dividing the substance into three separate gods) [6].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Trinity — A word not found in Scripture, but used to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. This word is derived from the Gr. trias, first used by Theophilus (A.D. 168-183), or from the Lat. trinitas, first used by Tertullian (A.D. 220), to express this doctrine. The propositions involved in the doctrine are these: 1. That God is one, and that there is but one God (Deut. 6:4; 1 Kings 8:60; Isa. 44:6; Mark 12:29, 32; John 10:30). 2. That the Father is a distinct divine Person (hypostasis, subsistentia, persona, suppositum int”
- CCEL (Eastern Orthodox) “John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, section 54: man: and Him we worship along with the Father and the Spirit, with one obeisance, adoring even His immaculate flesh and not holding that the flesh is not meet for worship: for in fact it is worshipped in the one subsistence of the Word, which indeed became subsistence for it. But in this we do not do homage to that which is created. For we worship Him, not as mere flesh, but as flesh united with divinity, and because His two natures are brought under the one person and one subsistence of God the Word. I fear to touch coal”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 29: destroy, but constitute the most perfect unity 20. Conclusion of this part of the chapter, and summary of the true doctrine concerning the unity of Essence and the Three Persons. 21. Refutation of Arian, Macedonian, and Anti Trinitarian heresies. Caution to be observed. 22. The more modern Anti Trinitarians, and especially Servetus, refuted. 23. Other Anti Trinitarians refuted. No good objection that Christ is called the Son of God, since he is also called God. Impious absurdities of some heretics. 24. The name of God sometimes giv”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), Of What Belongs to the Unity or Plurality in God, Art. 2: Article: Whether the Son is other than the Father? I answer that, Since as Jerome remarks [*In substance, Ep. lvii.], a heresy arises from words wrongly used, when we speak of the Trinity we must proceed with care and with befitting modesty; because, as Augustine says (De Trin. i, 3), "nowhere is error more harmful, the quest more toilsome, the finding more fruitful." Now, in treating of the Trinity, we must beware of two opposite errors, and proceed cautiously between them---namely, t”
- 2 Corinthians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 2 Corinthians 13:14: The benediction which proves the doctrine of the Divine Trinity in unity. "The grace of Christ" comes first, for it is only by it we come to "the love of God" the Father (Joh 14:6). The variety in the order of Persons proves that "in this Trinity none is afore or after other" [Athanasian Creed]. communion--joint fellowship, or participation, in the same Holy Ghost, which joins in one catholic Church, His temple, both Jews and Gentiles. Whoever has "the fellowship of the Holy Ghost," has also "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," and "the love”
- Athanasian Creed (Ecumenical) “Athanasian Creed (Ecumenical, c. 5th-6th century AD), Section 2: And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the So”