Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanah
Pel - I need to respectfully ask you something, because I want to understand.
Would you say that there is no distinction between standard Oneness doctrine on the Godhead, and standard Trinitarian doctrine on the Godhead?
I don't think Trinitarians view it that way
http://www.gospeloutreach.net/optrin.html |
No, I would not say that, especially of today. However, the state of affairs in the Second and Third Centuries was quite a bit different. At times, it seemed that most of the arguments centered around "Dispensational Modalism" and "Simultaneous Modalism."
"Dispensational Modalism" (or "Sequential Modalism") is the idea that Father, Son and Holy Ghost were manifestations of the one God that appeared at different times in history. This implied that at some point God "stopped being the Father" and "became the Holy Ghost" and etc.
Sabellius (an ancient Modalist "heretic") is said to have argued that God did not ever stop being "Father" and etc. His theological adversary, Tertullian, actually praised Sabellius for this. It is from the writings of Tertullian that we get Sabellius' famous analogy of God being likened to the sun. I've discussed this recently in another thread, so I don't want to bore you be repeating it over and over. But I do find it significant.
The guy who coined the phrase "Trinity" (trinitas) in the first place (Tertullian) was in fact more of a Modalist than even many later Trinitarians have believed. At that time, it probably was just a matter of "semantics."
Then, with the barbarian invasions and the fall of Rome, the writings of Tertullian were lost in the West for almost 1,000 years. During this time the Latin language changed and developed - just like all languages do over time. Tertullian's phrase "persona" was adopted to mean more than a "theater mask" or role. It took on the idea of "hypostasis" - the underlying reality of what makes a person or being what they are. Thus, the "Trinity" in the minds of many became "Three Beings Who are All God."
Yet, the ancient creeds and other writings refute this interpretation. I'm not advocating a "modern Trinitarian" view be adopted. I am saying that the ancient beliefs that "modern Trinitarians" claim as their own were really more "Modalist" than they realize.