sabellius heresy modalism

Sabellius Heresy: Modalistic Monarchianism Or Modalism

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Today we’re going to be talking about Sabellius Heresy aka modalism that occurred during the third century AD. I’ve always known that heresies were dangerous but I didn’t know the extent to which they were destructive until I faced a Jehovah witness a couple of weeks ago. Every bible believing christian knows by default that Jehovah witness adherents are heretic, but we don’t understand the nature of their heresies. We just know that they are wrong about their beliefs. In this post I won’t be talking about the origin of the Jehovah witness heretical view but we’ll address the Sabellius heresy also known as modalistic monarchianism or modalism. First let’s define some of the terminologies.

Monarchianism: I will lean on the late DR RC Sproul explanation to define this term, he does it in a very concise way

Another term for monotheism is the word monarchianism, meaning that the God of the Bible is a monarch. Monarch comes from a Greek word that has a prefix and a root. The prefix mono means “one” or “single.” The root word archē means “beginning, chief, or ruler.” We hear of archbishops, archenemies, archangels, all of which employ the root term archē.

A monarchy is a form of government in which the rule is restricted to one person, a king or a queen, as distinguished from the rule of the few (oligarchy) or the rule of many (plutarchy). The doctrine of the Trinity, central to Christian confession, is not the result of abstract speculation. Rather, it is the result of the church’s reflection on the teaching of the Bible. With respect to the doctrine of the Trinity, or what I call “triune monarchy,” the church was faced with two distinct issues

src: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/triune-monarchy/

Basically every bible believing christian is an adherent to Monarchianism. So how did Sabellius heresy begin? Most heresies begin when people exalt one truth about God over another. And this was the case with Sabellius who was deeply influenced by the Greek philosopher Plotinus, who taught that everything is divine, an emanation from God. I will again lean on RC Sproul’s explanation of Sabellius’ modalistic monarchianism,

Sabellius believed God is like the sun that emanates light and heat. At different points in history we see God differently, just as we experience the sun’s light and heat differently. Ultimately, Sabellius erased all distinctions between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he taught that the Father is the Son is the Spirit: in ages past, God was the Father; during Jesus’ ministry, God was the Son; today, God is the Spirit. There is no eternal, personal communion between three distinct persons. We have one God who wears three masks, not three distinct persons in relationship with one another even though they share the same essence, according to Sabellius.

Modalistic monarchianism or modalism is a belief system that thinks that God is like an actor who wears three different masks, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They espouse that in ancient days He was the Father; two thousand years ago, He walked the earth as the Son; and since the time of Pentecost, He is the Spirit. Where do they err? They don’t believe that the three persons of the Triune God or the Trinity are distinct. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we are told that there is nothing new under the Sun, and that is so true because there are many churches today that promote Modalism and TD Jakes is one of the popular pastors who teaches this type of heresy. My whole point in writing this post is to help you understand what the heresy is and recognize it when you see it. For more on this, I’ll strongly encourage you to watch RC Sproul series on the doctrine of the Trinity. See link below

Exposing Modalism and Arianism

RC Sproul on the Trinity -6 lectures