Modalistic Monarchianism (also known as Modalism or Oneness Christology) is a Christian theology that upholds the oneness of God as well as the deity of Jesus Christ. It is a form of Monarchianism and that stands in contrast to Trinitarianism and Arianism. Modalistic Monarchianism considers God to be one while working through the different "modes" or "manifestations" of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without limiting his modes or manifestations.^[1] Following this view, all the Godhead is understood to have dwelt in Jesus from the incarnation. The terms "Father" and "Son" are then used to describe the distinction between the transcendence of God and the incarnation (God in immanence). Lastly, since God is a Spirit, it is held that the Holy Spirit should not be understood as a separate entity but rather to describe God in action.

Modalistic Monarchians believe in the deity of Jesus and understand Jesus to be a manifestation of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, in the flesh. For this reason they find it suitable to ascribe all worship appropriate to God alone to Jesus also. Modalistic Monarchianism is closely related to Sabellianism and Patripassianism.

History

A Biblical passage in the Old Testament attributed to the Jewish prophet Isaiah that is used as evidence for Modalism is found in Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) ^[2]

"For to us a child is born,

   to us a son is given,

   and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Here Isaiah predicts that the Messiah and Son will be the Everlasting Father. No distinction is made describing two separate persons of Father and Son as is found in Trinitarian and Arian theological doctrines. An issue that Modalist theologians have with Trinitarianism is the popular diagrams used to describe the Trinity are logically questionable. Trinitarian theologians describe God as three coequal persons that are separate from each other but each is still said to be God.

The reasoning behind this Trinitarian idea can be shown to be problematic by a symbolic logical representation. If Father=A, Son=B, Holy Spirit=C, and God=D, then Trinitarians say A=D, B=D, C=D, but A ≠ B, etc. Modalists claim that if A equals D, and B equals D, then both A and B should be logically equivalent to each other. This rather obvious shortcoming of Trinitarian doctrine may have encouraged some individuals such as Thomas Jefferson to believe in Arianism^[3].

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, Jesus made the following claim to Philip which Modalist theologians use to support their perspective. In verses 9-12,^[4] Jesus stated:

"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’?

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.

Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;

or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."

Theologian and church historian Adolf von Harnack first used the term Modalism to describe a doctrine believed in the late 2nd century and 3rd century.^[5] During this time period, Christian theologians were attempting to clarify the relationship between God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.^[6] Concerned with defending the absolute unity of God, modalists such as Noetus, Praxeas, and Sabellius explained the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as the one God revealing himself in different ways or modes:

1. God revealed as the creator and lawgiver is called "the Father".
2. God revealed as the savior in Jesus Christ is called "the Son".
3. God revealed as the one who sanctifies and grants eternal life is called "the Spirit".^[7]

By the 4th century, a consensus had developed in favor of the doctrine of the Trinity, and Modalism was generally considered a heresy.^[8]

Modern adherents

Modalistic Monarchianism is accepted within Oneness Pentecostalism. A leading 21st Century advocate of Modalism among Oneness Pentecostals is the General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International, David K. Bernard.^[9][10] Oneness Pentecostals believe in the deity of Jesus and understand Jesus, the Son of God, to be a manifestation of the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh, in the flesh. When Jesus was on Earth, he referred to God as his Father since God caused his conception through the Holy Spirit. They also believe that, since God is spirit, the Holy Spirit is used to describe God in action. In this way, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are considered titles pertaining to the one God, not descriptions of distinct individuals.

Much of their theology attempts to begin with an Old Testament understanding of God in order to understand what the first apostles would have believed about Jesus. They also seek to avoid use of theological categories produced by Platonic-Aristotelian epistemologies, preferring rather to tell the story of redemption through narrative.^[11] Thus, the distinction found in the New Testament writers between God the Father and Jesus is understood to be from the attempts to identify God the Father and Jesus together, rather than to separate them more than necessary.

See also

• Names of God in Christianity
• Nontrinitarianism

References

Citations

Sources

• McGrath, Alister E. (2013). Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-470-67286-0.
• "Monarchianism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. July 10, 2015.
• Norris, David S. (2009). I Am: A Oneness Pentecostal Theology. Hazelwood, Mo.: Word Aflame Press. ISBN 9781567227307. OCLC 312444348.