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Modalism


In Christianity, Sabellianism in the Eastern church or Patripassianism in the Western church (also known as modalism, modalistic monarchianism, or modal monarchism) is the nontrinitarian or anti-trinitarian belief that the Heavenly Father, Resurrected Son, and Holy Spirit are three different modes or aspects of one monadic God, as perceived by the believer, rather than three distinct persons within the Godhead—that there are no real or substantial differences among the three, such that there is no substantial identity for the Spirit or the Son.

The term Sabellianism comes from Sabellius, who was a theologian and priest from the 3rd century.

God is said to have three "faces" or "masks" (Greek πρόσωπα prosopa; Latin personae). Modalists note that the only number ascribed to God in the Holy Bible is One and that there is no inherent threeness ascribed to God explicitly in scripture. The number three is mentioned in relation to God in scripture, which of course is the number that is central to the word Trinity. The main examples of this are the Great Commission Matthew 28:16-20, 2 Corinthians 13:14, and the Comma Johanneum, which some regard as a spurious text passage in First John (1 John 5:7) known primarily from the King James Version and some versions of the Textus Receptus but not included in modern critical texts. It is also suggested by some modern "Oneness Pentecostal" critics, that Matthew 28:19 is not part of the original text, because Eusebius of Caesarea quoted it by saying "In my name", and there is no mention of baptism in the verse. Eusebius did, however, quote the trinitarian formula in his later writings. (Conybeare (Hibbert Journal i (1902-3), page 102). Matthew 28:19 is quoted also in the Didache (Didache 7:1), which dates to the late 1st Century or early 2nd Century) and in the Diatesseron (Diatesseron 55:5-7), which dates to the mid 2nd Century harmony of the Synoptic Gospels. The Shem-Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (George Howard), written during the 14th century, also has no reference of baptism or a trinitarian formula in Matthew 28:19. However, it is also true that no Greek manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew has ever been found which does not contain Matthew 28:19. The earliest extant copies of Matthew's Gospel date to the 3rd Century, and they contain Matthew 28:19. Therefore, scholars generally agree that Matthew 28:19 is likely part of the original Gospel of Matthew, though a minority disputes this.


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