Modalism: The Last Volley of 2007

Before we get out of 2007, I want to fire my last volley into the ghastly beast which is the Modalist heresy.

I doubt it will be enough to put the monster out of it's misery, but I hope that my posts on the topic will have alerted some of my readers to the fact that this heresy is dangerous and not in keeping with the orthodox understanding of the Godhead.

For the uninitiated, Modalism or "Oneness" theology is that theology concerning the Godhead that denies the historical orthodox teaching that there is one true God who exists in three distinct Persons revealed in Scripture as the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.

Modalists believe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be "manifestations" of the one true God whom they understand to be Jesus Christ alone. They see God as one in person, but manifesting himself in three forms. Their view can be illustrated with water, which can be in the form of a solid, liquid, or gas at different times. You may be familiar with this illustration as it is often used in ignorance by Trinitarians to explain the Trinity. Ironically, the water, ice, steam, illustration actually explains the Modalistic view of God -not the Trinitarian view!

To the Modalist, Jesus Christ isn't the Eternally begotten Son of the Father. Instead, they teach that Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit: just in different modes or manifestations and appearing as each at different times. While they do not deny Jesus is God, what they do teach is just as bad because they actually deny the existence of the persons of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Forms of this heresy can be traced all the way back to the middle of the third century A.D.

Modalists focus on the "oneness" of God. They see Trinitarian theology as teaching that there are three Gods, but this not the case. Trinitarians are not Tri-theists. We fully affirm that God is one God. Dr James P. Boyce explains:

"The doctrine of the Trinity is not opposed to the unity of God, but only enables us to form just conceptions as to that unity. It presents to us three Persons who are not three gods, but one God, and, as will hereafter be seen, shows us that the unity of God is to be found in his nature or essence and not in the personal relations in that essence, so that there is but one divine nature or essence, one being, one god, although there are three persons subsisting therein, who, by virtue of that subsistence, are each God.

We are not led by this doctrine of the unity of God, therefore, to adopt the Arian notion that the Father is Supreme God and the Son only a divine being in a subordinate sense. Nor is it proper to accept the Sabellian notion, that God is one person, manifesting himself sometimes as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometimes as Holy Ghost. 'Neither does it at all teach tritheistic unity by which these are really three gods, but considered one because they have the same nature, just as three men may be said to be one because of the same human nature.' See Gill, vol. 1, pp. 183, 184 from which this is condensed." (J. P. Boyce, Abstract of Systematic Theology, pp. 60-61)

Modalists also reject the words "Trinity" or "Person" as being unbiblical. They bolster their disdain for these words by pointing out that thee terms are not found in Scripture. To that point, I concede that these theological terms do not appear in the Bible. However, we must ask the question: Does the absence of these words in the Bible make them invalid for use in formulating theology? I shall allow John Calvin to answer the charges:

"Now, although the heretics rail at the word "person," or certain squeamish men cry out against admitting a term fashioned by the human mind, they cannot shake our conviction that three are spoken of, each of which is entirely God, yet that there is not more than one God. What wickedness, then, it is to disapprove of words that explain nothing else than what is attested and sealed by Scripture!" (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1:13:3)

In our day, the Modalist heresy is taught primarily by the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) or other so-called "Apostolic" churches". Though forms of Modalism have been around for centuries, the UPCI doesn't trace their teaching back quite so far. The following quote has been cited as coming from the Forward of a statement of faith that was published by the United Pentecostal Church International:

"In the year 1914 came the revelation on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The pivotal doctrines of the absolute deity of Jesus Christ and baptism in his name became tenets of faith. God marvelously confirmed our message as the Gospel was preached in its fullness. The power which was hidden in the name of Jesus began to be revealed."

The quote is a clear declaration that what the UPCI teaches is actually a new "revelation", and not what the Bible or the Church throughout history has taught. Christians who don't affirm the closure of the Canon may not have a problem with such "new revelations", but as someone who is serious about affirming the closure of the Canon and the sufficiency of Scripture, I find this quote and their supposed afflatus to be about as authoritative as last week's grocery list.


When it comes to the "new revelations" proclaimed by cults and heretics, I fully agree with Charles Spurgeon who once preached:

"Do not think that the Spirit of God has come or ever will come among us to teach to us a new gospel or something other than is written in the Scriptures. Men come to me with their fudges and fancies, and tell me that they were revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. I abhor their blasphemous impertinence, and refuse to listen to them for a minute." (C. H. Spurgeon, The Indwelling and Outflowing of The Holy Spirit, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol. 28, No. 1662)

Mr. Spurgeon hits the nail on the head here. These "revelations" in which the UPCI and other cults look to in order to justify their aberrant and/or heretical teachings were never inspired by the Holy Spirit. God didn't inspire them, nor did He confirm them. Somebody is lying and I promise you it isn't God! One must beg the question, if the UPCI revelations are so important, and indeed vital to salvation as some of them claim, why did God wait until 1914 to reveal it?

The current UPCI website states something rather interesting:

"The UPCI holds a fundamental view of the Bible: 'The Bible is the only God-given authority which man possesses; therefore all doctrine, faith, hope, and all instructions for the church must be based upon and harmonize with the Bible' (Manual of the United Pentecostal Church, 19). The Bible is the Word of God, and therefore inerrant and infallible. The UPCI rejects all extra biblical revelations and writings, and views church creeds and articles of faith only as the thinking of men."

How ironic..! Here we have a group that embraces a heretical doctrine that was "revealed" to them in 1914, over and against the dominate Christian understanding of the Godhead for the last 2000 years, and now they want us to believe that the Bible is their sole authority?! Even if they do hold to that position now, they are still interpreting the Bible through the lens of the 1914 revelation!

In addition to Modalism, the UPCI teaches that in order for a person to be justified and saved, repentance and faith are not enough. They also teach that a person must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (alone) and that speaking in tongues is necessary for salvation. Nowhere does the Bible teach that speaking in tongues is necessary for Salvation: orthodox Pentecostals disagree with the UCPI on this as well. This is faith + works theology pure and simple. It's what the Apostle Paul calls "another gospel." Therefore, even if we remove the Modalist heresy from the picture entirely, we still have more than enough Scriptural justification to "let them be accursed" because of their position on baptism and tongues! (See Gal 1:9)

Heresies such as Modalism and works salvation are bound to find a fertile ground in the evangelical world today. We live in a generation that has largely cast off the historic creeds and confessions of orthodox faith. Mention the words "creed," "confession," or "catechism" in some churches and you'll be tossed out on your head! Instead of trying to glean from the history of Christianity, many have cast aside the wisdom of the past generations thinking they have no need of it.

Our generation can be likened unto a young man who inherits the family business and decides to cast off everything his ancestors learned in order to run the business his own way. Within a short time the business is in utter bankruptcy. By ignoring the wisdom and learning of his fathers and setting out to do everything his own way, the young man reaps the fruit of his obstinacy. The UPCI and it's heretical doctrines are the tragic legacy of an era where many people cast off all historic creeds, confessions, and traditions thinking they were ridding themselves of past errors, and ironically, some ended up heaping onto themselves the worst kinds of heresies through new "revelations" and poor scholarship.

In conclusion, please do not think I am out here trying to anathematize people over theologically insignificant issues. Quite the contrary! The denial of the Trinity is about as serious as it gets and I'm trying to sound the alarm! I'm calling upon all who believe in justification by faith and the Doctrine of the Trinity to rise up! Pray up! Get in the Scriptures! Put away Your Best Life Now and break out some dusty old theological volumes and try to understand why these doctrines have been so important for so many centuries!

For more information on this subject, Matt Slick has a lots of of information and refutations at Carm.org.