In this powerful and insightful teaching, God Honest Truth examines a major theological concept—Oneness, also known as Modalism. What does it truly mean when some say, “God is one”? Are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit merely different modes or manifestations of a single divine Person?
With boldness and reverence, we walk through the Scriptures, exploring the roots of Oneness theology, and looking at Oneness in early church history. This is not another theological debate. This is an exploration of a concept of the godhead that goes way back.
So join us as we learn the God Honest Truth about Oneness, otherwise known as modalism.
#GodHonestTruth #Oneness #Modalism #Trinity #BiblicalTeaching #DoctrineMatters #TruthUnfiltered #ChristianApologetics
Transcript
So this is our last concept that we’re going to be looking at of the Godhead and it’s called oneness or otherwise known as modalism. Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe you haven’t, But make sure to stay tuned for this teaching on what oneness is, a little bit about the history of oneness, where it might have come from, and also some people and ministries who nowadays believe and teach in oneness. That way you can contact them for further information. But all that coming up in this video from God Honest Truth Ministry. So this teaching is going to be another concept of the Godhead that we’re gonna be studying and this is gonna be the concept of oneness or otherwise known as modalism.
So make sure to stay tuned to find out what is oneness or modalism, a little bit of the history, a little bit about where it kinda started and came from, and also to learn about some modern day people who teach and believe this concept of the Godhead. But before we get to that, we’re gonna be recapping some various information to kind of go along with the series, this Godhead series. But as we go through this, make sure to have your notes ready. And if you happen to miss anything or if you would like even more notes than what we’ve got in this particular presentation, make sure to go to our website at godhonesttruth.com. Click on the post for this draw for the modalism or oneness teaching, and there you’ll be able to find the on demand video.
You’ll be able to see the slides that you see here on your screen. You’ll also be able to see the notes that we took for this particular episode, and you’ll be able to see the transcript if that is something that is of assistance to you. And it’s all right there on godhonesttruth.com, or you can go down below in the description, and there you’ll find a convenient link to take you directly to that article post on godhonesttruth.com. And that link should be in the description whether you’re watching on a video platform or an audio podcasting platform. It should still be down there all the same.
Now, in case you’re just joining us for the first time, the purpose of this particular Godhead series is so that you can start from knowing absolutely nothing about the Godhead, learn what it is that scripture has to say about the Godhead as well as some history to go along with it, And then at the end, come to a conclusion as to which concept of the Godhead that you most agree with. And whichever concept you come to or if you come to no concept, you say, well, this is just a matter of splitting hairs. I don’t really see the point. I’m not making a decision. Hey.
That’s fine by us, and that’s fine by scripture as well. Because regardless of what conclusion you come to, your salvation is a okay. Do not let anyone try and fear monger you into believing that you have to go with one particular concept of the Godhead because your salvation is not dependent on any particular concept of the Godhead. You follow your heart and you follow scripture and the way that you feel you’re being led by scripture. Don’t let anyone pressure you into a particular concept of the Godhead.
And once again, whichever way you decide to go, that’s okay with us. You’re still a brother or a sister in Messiah to us. We’re still willing to come and give you a big hug and break bread with you and fellowship with you. We may not agree, but that’s okay. We’re not gonna agree on everything.
This is one of those things that we can have differing opinions on and still be okay. Now just to recap what we have covered so far in this particular godhead series, in episode one, we went over various terminology and an introduction to the series and terminology we’ll be using in this particular series. And we also went over real quickly about what is salvation just to give you assurance at that you’re not gonna be losing your salvation if you come to one particular conclusion or not because your salvation is not dependent on any particular concept of the godhead. We also went over terminology like fear mongering, exegesis and exegesis, heresy and orthodoxy and things like that, as well as the four main concepts of the godhead. In episode two, we went over the word god or gods in Elohim, how that relates to names and titles, how it’s used in scripture, the concept of invariant nouns.
Then in episode three, we went over the Shema, what it is, how it relates to this concept or the study of the godhead. Episode four went over the phrase, son or sons of God and how that relates that phrase relates to angels, men, and also our Messiah, Yeshua. In episode five, we went over the meaning of names. What’s in a name? What does the meaning of names actually signify?
Does it signify anything at all? As well as some names of places and men and women. In episode five I’m sorry. Episode six, we went over name of the father, son, and holy spirit as it comes from Matthew chapter 28 verse 19. We went over that particular phrase as it’s used in scripture as it’s used in the early church.
We also went over the word, I’m sorry, the concept of name as authority, and not the specific utterance that comes out of your mouth. We also looked at the singular name referring to multiple people in scripture as well. We also looked at various things like the Kamajohaniem, Shem Tov, Didache, and various early writers. In episode seven, we went over the concept of worship and how words change over time and when the early translators of English I’m sorry. The early English translators went and translated it into this word worship.
They meant something different than what we mean now by the word worship. We went over that and what worship actually means in scripture. So that’s very important episode. One of the very important episodes, but definitely make sure you catch that one if you haven’t already. Episode eight, we went over the general term spirit.
How what spirit actually is and how it’s used in scripture, a description of spirit, how scripture makes a distinction between body, soul, and spirit, move over spirit and scripture, and the various spirit types, as it relates to men, various supernatural beings, such as angels, as relates to Yahweh, and also various attributes that can be applied when it says like spirit of jealousy, etcetera, etcetera. Then in episode nine, we went over the specific spirit of the holy as it relates to Yahweh. We went over a quick synopsis of the previous episode of spirit. We also looked at some various problems that arise when looking at Spirit of the Holy such as capitalization and translations, grammar, the concept of person, which is very difficult and hard to nail down and very confusing but all the same. And then we went over personification of various things and concept in scripture as well.
And then, of course, the whole episode was about the set apart spirit. So we went and took a look and study on the set apart spirit. Episode 10, we went over the concept of original sin, what it is, where it came from, what it’s all about, how it does or does not relate to our study of the godhead. We also looked at various things like logic, reason, and how how that all pertains to original sin. Then in episode 11, we went over various distinctions, why we would want to consider distinctions and then various distinctions between particular parties in scriptures such as Yahweh, Yeshua, angels, and humans.
And these are various attributes like mortality, omniscience, sin, sleeping, forgiving sins, doing miracles, whether the particular person and question can be hindered, all that good stuff. In episode 12, we went over various miscellaneous items, things that which did not really merit a episode in and of themselves, so we just kinda stuck these in in one episode altogether. And these are things like basic language, like basic reading comprehension. The word father, what that means just to bring it to your the forefront and so you can keep that in mind when you’re studying scripture. The word son, so you can keep that in mind when you’re studying scripture.
What begotten means, so you can keep that in mind when you’re studying scripture. And we also looked at the word lord and lord is a lot like that word worship. It doesn’t mean to us, especially here in America, it doesn’t mean to us what it meant back then when they first translated the word into English, the English word Lord. Episode 13, we started the concepts of the Godhead and we started out with Trinitarianism. We defined it, clarified it, looked at some history of Trinitarianism, and we looked at some of the evolution of the idea of Trinitarianism through the lens of art, and we also went over and looked at or presented to you various people and ministries who teach and proclaim and believe in Trinitarianism.
Then episode 14, we went over the concept of Benitarianism, how it’s defined, some history about Benitarianism, and then some people nowadays who teach and believe in the concept of Benitarianism. And then last episode, episode 15, we went over Unitarianism. We went over what Unitarianism is as it’s defined. We went over the history of Unitarianism, at least real briefly. There’s a whole lot more that we could’ve went over, but just for the sake of time, we shortened it down.
And then we went over, once again, some various ministries and people nowadays who uphold and teach and believe in Unitarianism or biblical Unitarianism as it’s more specifically defined. So now we’re on to our last concept and fourth concept of the Godhead, and that’s going to be oneness or what’s rather known as modalism in the annals of history. And this is gonna be a rather straightforward and quick teaching because there’s really not a lot of historical information on oneness doctrine. It comes up and you’ll see that in here in a moment. It comes up in the early church and then it’s kind of prosecuted and persecuted and the writings and stuff like that are burnt and destroyed and the people are oppressed and so there’s not much history there.
It’s like Benetarianism. So there’s not gonna be too much in the way of history. We’re gonna outline it for you here in just a moment as to exactly what oneness is. And that way, at least you’ll know the concept so that when you got all your pieces from scripture learned and you’ve got the concepts from scripture learned and you start putting them together, you can compare that with the definition of oneness and see if what you found in scripture lines up with this concept just like we did with all of the other concepts, Trinitarianism, Benitarianism, and Unitarianism or Biblical Unitarianism. Now, I forgot to put the slides in here, but keep in mind the various things that, we covered in the previous three concepts.
Number one, we’re not gonna be fear mongering. This is just a straight explanation and teaching on what oneness is. We’re not gonna try to scare you into believing oneness. We’re not gonna try and scare you into disbelieving oneness. We’re just gonna put it out there as the facts stand so that you can make up your own mind.
A fear mongering would be trying to scare you into believing one way or the other, and that’s just not the right thing to do. It’s not the scriptural thing to do, at least in most cases. And this is one of those cases where it is not a scriptural way of doing things. Number two, we want to reiterate what the study of the Godhead is. The study of Godhead is the study of who God is, who is God, and how many is God, and specifically the essence and nature of the almighty God himself.
And also don’t be concerned so much about the terms orthodoxy and heresy. The term orthodoxy technically means correct opinion, But correct opinion according to who? Well, it’s according to whoever is in power at the time, and history has shown that. And whoever has the most votes at a particular council and whatever gets voted in, that is what is considered orthodoxy. That’s what’s considered right.
It doesn’t have to be biblical. It doesn’t have to be correct. That’s what’s considered right, and that’s what’s considered orthodoxy because it got voted in. It got the most votes. On the flip side, we have the word hered heresy.
And if orthodoxy means right opinion, heresy is considered to be wrong opinion. And just like the flip side of orthodoxy, heresy is the concept or the beliefs that did not win the vote at the time. And throughout history, things have flopped back and forth. Some things were orthodoxy and then another council came up and they were heresy and some things were heresy and another council came up and they were orthodoxy. It’s mind boggling.
Don’t go by these terms and don’t go by the councils. Go by scriptures. Study for yourself. Don’t be scared into believing one thing or the other. Go with what scripture teaches, not what one particular council voted in at a particular date.
Go with scripture. So that brings us to this teaching or this concept of the Godhead known as Oneness nowadays or it’s also known as Modalism back in the day, but it’s also known by other things as well throughout history. Sometimes, certain points of history is referred to as modalism, like we said, monarchianism, Sabellianism, Modalistic Monarchianism because there’s various types of monarchianism, but oneness or modalism is more along the modalistic monarchianism side of things. It’s also sometimes known today as Jesus only or Patrapas Patrapassianism in the past, but rarely known as Patripassianism because that was more of a derogatory term than anything else. But you’ll hear these various terms come up as we look through some of the definitions and some of the history, but just know it’s all speaking about the same thing and that is the concept of Oneness as it is known nowadays.
But how it’s defined, Merriam Webster defines Oneness or Modalism as the theological doctrine that God is three modes or forms of activity, the father, son, and holy spirit under which God manifest himself. According to wikipedia.org, modalistic monarchianism, also known as modalism or oneness Christology, is a Christian theology upholding the universal oneness oneness of God while also affirming the divinity of Jesus. As a form of monarchianism, it stands in contrast with dynamic monarchianism or adoptionism. Say, there’s more than one type of monarchianism, but, you know, they like their labels. The geeks and scholars do sometimes.
And then from theopedia.com, quote, modalism also called Sabellianism is the belief that God is one person who has revealed himself in three forms or modes in contrast to the Trinitarian doctrine where God is one being eternally existing in three persons. According to modalism, during the incarnation, Jesus was simply God acting in one mode or role, and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was God acting in a different mode. Thus, God does not exist as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. Rather, he is one person and has merely manifested himself in these three modes at various times. And finally, from a oneness ministry that exists today that we’ll get into here in just a little bit or present to you their information here in just a little bit.
But this comes from the Pentecostal Churches of Christ, quote, there is only one God, the creator of the heavens and the earth and all mankind, manifested to mankind as father, creator, son, redeemer, and holy ghost, indwelling spirit, end quote. So one of those definitions contrasted it with trinitarianism. So let’s go along that concept real quick. If you look at trinitarianism, the basic overall theory of Trinitarianism is that god exists as three persons in one essence. In contrast, oneness or modalism posits that god exists as one person who exists as three modes or manifestations that we know him as.
Some go along the lines of dispensationalism saying that the father was the manifestation during the Old Testament, that the son was the manifestation or the mode during the especially the messianic ministry part of Jesus’ life. And then after the events at Shavuot, otherwise known as Pentecost, God is known to us as the Holy Spirit or the spirit of the Holy. And that’s the mode or the manifestation that he’s known to us nowadays. Other times, certain oneness people will believe that it’s all depends on whose life and which situation it is as to which mode or manifestation that God is presenting himself as. But in a nutshell, trinitarianism teaches that God exists as three persons in one essence, three who’s and one what, and oneness or modalism belief posits that god exist as one person in three modes or manifestations, one who and three whats.
So you got that contrast there. There’s a lot of other nuances that go into these, but that’s the basic overall gist of what Trinitarianism is and oneness is and how they contrast with each other. Going on to look at some history of oneness and some speculation as to where oneness came from. Now, like with all the other concepts that we’ve looked at, each and every single concept and those who believe that concept always believe that goes back to the time of the Messiah and the apostles and back to scripture. Oneness is no different.
Those who believe in oneness also believe the exact same thing as Trinitarians, Benitarians, and Unitarians. It goes back to the scriptures. But we’re not gonna get into that argument. We’re not gonna make a case one way or the other. We’ll let you decide on whether it does or does not.
We’re just gonna present to you the historical facts after scripture like we’ve done with the other three. And that way, at least, you can read your own Bible for yourself. But here’s some of the historical information that we get from the annals or chronicles of history. From a concise encyclopedia of religious knowledge, quote, modalism, a term used to denote the doctrine first set forth by Sebelius that the father, the son, and the holy spirit were not three distinct personalities, but only three different modes of manifestation, end quote. Once again, going back to that definition of what modalism or oneness in a nutshell actually is, but here they’re trying to say that it started with Sabellius.
That may or may not be true. I think it there’s some hints of it even before Sabellius, but we’ll get to that in just a moment. From the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, quote, at the time of Victor, which would have been during the years January through January, a theology of modalism, the Trinity represents God the Father in three different historical modes, appeared in Rome, but the great writer Hippolytus described the Trinity with an emphasis on function. So, Sibelius was more like the early third century, and here we’ve got hints of modalism in the late second century. Maybe they’re talking about maybe they’re already talking about Sebelius here during the time of Victor in the late second century.
Not entirely sure because this particular quote doesn’t say one way or the other. But like I said, like I always encourage you, go forth, do your own research, do even deeper research. And if you find out something that we didn’t present or don’t have in the notes, please let us know so that we can all benefit and we can add it to our notes for other people. Then from Wikipedia.org, Sibelius, who was around circa 02/15, was a third century priest and theologian who most likely taught in Rome, but may have been a North African from Libya. What is known as Sabellius is drawn mostly from the polemical writings of his opponents.
Sabellius taught that god was single and indivisible with father, son, and holy spirit being three modes or manifestations of one divine person. This understanding has been called Sabellianism or modalistic monarchianism. A Sabellian modalist would say that the one god successfully revealed himself to man throughout time as the father in creation, the son in redemption, and the spirit in sanctification and regeneration, end quote. So once again, these where I put this entry in here is once again tracing the origin or the start of oneness or modalism back to Sabellian, calling it Sabellianism or modalistic monarchianism. Well, like I said at the beginning, it’s all different terms for the same concept.
Looking at an encyclopedia of religions, quote, modalists. The modalists were one of the schools of theologians produced by the doctrine of the logos. They would not recognize any intermediary between God and the world. Jesus Christ, according to them, was an incarnation of the one God. According to them, the names of father and son corresponded only to different aspects of the same person, playing transitory parts and not to divine realities.
Modalism spread from Asia to Rome. Here early in the third century, Praxeas became a leading exponent of it. In course of time, however, he was brought to admit that the doctrine was erroneous. Noetius taught similar doctrines in Smyrna for which he was excommunicated. He said, I know but one God.
It is no other than he who was born, who suffered, and who died. For this kind of teaching, the modellists were called Patropassians. Epigonus, a disciple of Noetius, opened a school in Rome. He was succeeded first by Cleomenes and then by Sibelius. So here it looks like we got even people before Sibelius that were teaching this concept of oneness or modalism, but obviously, it wasn’t called Sabellianism at that point because Sabellianism was not or Sabellius was not a thing.
But you also see the name here, Praxeas, and you can look up some writings by the writer Tertullian, who has a book called Against Praxis where he goes and argues against things that Praxis is saying or teaching. It’s kinda interesting and there’s a little bit of information there about this whole concept of the Godhead, but you really need to be kind of studied the pickup on what he’s saying there. All the same, go look it up. There’s some links down in the notes actually or should be for some of those writings as well. Now we move on through history and we get into today’s time and look at some people and some ministries nowadays that believe and teach this concept of oneness or modalism as it pertains to the Godhead.
We’ll start out with the Apostolic Assemblies of Christ. You can find them on YouTube and then there’s their website and, of course, their Facebook link. And once again, if you want an easier time seeing these links, you can go to our notes and all these links or these particular ministries or people are provided for you right there in the notes. And then all you gotta do is click on it. You don’t have to type anything out.
Number two, the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is their YouTube channel and their website address. And any of these that we present to you, if you would like to know more information about oneness or modalism, once again, hopefully, they’re open to taking questions and answering your questions and help them to further your education. But all we can say right now is to send them an email or a tweet or something like that and see if they’ll respond and find some more information about this particular concept. Then we have the Pentecostal Churches of Christ, and there is their contact information.
Then we have the United Pentecostal Church International. And some of these names get rather long winded. You’ll see here in just a moment. But here is the contact information for United Pentecostal Church International, their website, their YouTube channel, and their Facebook page. And just to keep this from getting too too long, here is a list of other oneness teachers or ministries nowadays that you can go and check out.
You can find some teaching sometimes on their websites, on their YouTube channel, or you can just contact them directly through email or Twitter or what have you. But here are some some just for your reference, the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus, the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ worldwide, the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ International Incorporated, the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, the True Jesus Church, the Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. And there’s more than that, but I figured that was a good selection for your research and for your study if you’d like to contact any of these. That gives you a good list to contact and find out more information about what oneness is, what they believe, and all that good stuff. So in summary, oneness or modalism states that God consists of one person and that he manifests himself in three modes, and that is the mode or the manifestation of the father, son, or holy spirit.
These three modes of God are not three persons, but rather manifestations. Oneness and modalism really got its footing through Sibelius. That’s really what it’s known for, though it there is evidence, in my opinion, that it was in existence even before Sebelius and also through other teachers in the early church such as Noetus and Praxeas. And that many denominations and people over the centuries and even up until today hold to the concept of oneness or what’s rather otherwise known as modalism. And that’s just the God honest truth.
