Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Modalism (Sabellianism)

The teaching that Father, Son, and Spirit are not three persons but three names, roles, or modes of one solitary person.

From modus, 'mode'; also 'Sabellianism' after Sabellius (early 3rd century), and 'Patripassianism' (the Father suffered).

Argued from 'I and the Father are one' (John 10:30) and 'the Father is in me' (John 14:10), read as identity rather than union.

Opposed by Tertullian and Hippolytus; condemned repeatedly. Nicaea's homoousios was briefly suspected of tending this way.

Rejected because Scripture shows the persons addressing and sending one another, and because it makes the Father suffer on the cross.

Held today by 'Oneness' Pentecostals, who baptise 'in the name of Jesus' only.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.