The Heresy of Modalism
Modalism is another Christological heresy. What is Modalism? Merrian-Webster defines it as: “Monarchianism holding that Jesus Christ was not a distinct person of the Trinity but was rather one of three successive modes or manifestations of God.”1 Modalism began in the late second and third centuries AD. One of its chief proponents was Sabellius who was born in the early third century (circa 215). He was believed to have been a theologian in Rome.
Little is known of Sabellius and what is known comes from the Church Father Hippolytus. Sabellius came to prominence at a time when Modalism was in its infancy and was being opposed by the Trinitarians in Rome. Those who supported what would become Modalism were called “Monarchians.” According to Encyclopedia Britannica: “The Monarchians, in their concern for the divine monarchy (the absolute unity and indivisibility of God), denied that such distinctions were ultimate or permanent. Sabellius evidently taught that the Godhead is a monad, expressing itself in three operations: as Father, in creation; as Son, in redemption; and as Holy Spirit, in sanctification.”2
In other words, Modalism (Monarchianism) denies that there are three Persons in the Godhead. Instead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are different “modes” or “personas” that the One God takes on. For example, a Modalist would argue that they are a parent, a father and a brother all at once, yet they are one person. They would argue that each member of the Trinity is not a Person, but instead can be likened to God “switching caps.”
Sabellianism or Modalism resurfaced 30 years later in Libya and was opposed by Dionysus of Alexandria.3 The heretic Arius wildly accused Trinitarians of Modalism as he believed Trinitarianism erased distinctions between the Father and the Son.4
Ancient heresies have a hard time staying dead. They always resurface under a new name. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). And so Modalism/Sabellianism resurfaced in the Twentieth Century by the Oneness Pentecostals. They refer to it as the “Jesus Only” Movement. They deny the three Persons of the Godhead and claim Jesus alone is God and that He is the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost. They do not baptize in the name of all three members of the Trinity. Instead, they baptize in the name of Jesus only.
The Oneness Pentecostals grew out of the Pentecostalism that was birthed by the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in the early 20th Century. Charles Fox Parham was a Wesleyan trained minister; after leaving the Methodist Episcopal Church, he and a group of women began experimenting with group hypnosis. Parham encouraged the idea of a “baptism of the Spirit”, and thus the Pentecostal Movement was born. Pentecostals, of course, are loathe to admit that their founder, Parham, was kicked out of the movement and subsequently arrested in Texas for sodomy.5
William Seymour moved to Los Angeles in the early stages of the American Pentecostal Movement. Thousands of people flocked to his church on Azusa Street in L.A. Four major denominational sects had their origins in the so-called “Azusa Street Revival”: The Church of God in Christ, the Assemblies of God, the United Pentecostal Church and the Pentecostal Church of God.
Michael Bunker wrote of the effect on American Christianity that came about through all these “revivals”: “By 1999, 1 in 4 professing Christians in the world would consider themselves ‘Pentecostal’, and most ‘evangelism’ done in the name of Jesus Christ was done by Pentecostals teaching Jesuitical Catholic Doctrines.”6
All of the major “charismatic” denominations owe their existence to the early Pentecostal Movement. According to Michael Bunker: “Eventually, the Neo-Pentecostal movement would break forth as the ‘Third Wave’ or Latter Rain Charismatic movement. Virtually every last days mass evangelical movement, including The Vineyard Movement, Promise Keepers, the Kansas City Prophets, the ‘Toronto’ manifestations, and the Pensacola heresies have their roots in Arminian Pentacostalism.”7
The Oneness Pentecostals believe the true spark that started their movement began in 1913 at a world-wide camp meeting held in Arroyo Secco, California. One preacher preached from Jeremiah 31:22 and claimed that God was doing new things.8 Prior to a baptismal service at the event, evangelist R.E. McAlister concluded his sermon by thundering: "The apostles invarariably baptized their converts once in the name of Jesus Christ; that the words Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were never used in Christian baptism."9
A young minister named John G. Schaepe was so moved by McAlister’s fiery preaching that he prayed and read the Bible all night. The next day he claimed he received a new revelation from “God” that each member of the Godhead was named “Jesus.”10
On April 15, 1914, famed Pentecostal ministers Frank Ewart and Glenn Cook publicly baptized each other in the name of “Jesus Only.” Soon, others followed suit.
And so the “Jesus Only” Movement (Oneness Pentecostalism) was born.
Their denial of the Trinity and their claim that each member of the Godhead was Jesus caused the Trinitarian Assemblies of God to separate from them.
The debate continues even into Baptist Churches as Modalist Baptist minister Tyler Baker separated from the famed (or infamous depending on who you ask) Baptist minister Steven Anderson circa 2017. In response, Steven Anderson released a documentary refuting Modalism and defending the Trinity.
The Bible expressly refutes Modalism. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to not baptize in His name only, but: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19).
From the very Creation of the world God revealed Himself in plural persons:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created hehim; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:26-27).
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: (Genesis 3:22).
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech (Genesis 11:7).
The Oneness Pentecostals claim that the name of God is “Jesus.” It is true that Jesus is God. But “Jesus” is not the name of the Triune Godhead. God revealed that the name of the Trinity is “Jehovah.” “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them” (Exodus 6:3). “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18). “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).
As shown above, God revealed His name to Isaiah as being Jehovah. See also Isaiah 26:4. In Isaiah 6, God showed Isaiah His glory and then commands him to go preach. He asks Isaiah who will go for Him. How does He word it? He states: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Again, the Lord refers to Himself in plurality.
The name of “Jesus” was given to the Incarnate Son of God by the Angel Gabriel (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31). Where do the Oneness Pentecostals get the idea that God’s Old Testament name was Jesus when that name was not given until His conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary?
Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. How could this be true if the Godhead was Modalistic? The Bible very clearly reveals Jesus as God. How then can Jesus sit at the right hand of God unless the Godhead were a Trinity? Psalm 110:1-2 says: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” And Jesus applied this verse to Himself in Matthew 22:44-45.
The Book of Hebrews tells us that after He finished His atoning work, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:” (Hebrews 1:3). “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;” (Hebrews 8:1). “ But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;” (Hebrews 10:12). “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).
How do the above verses make sense from a Modalistic model? If the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are merely different masks worn by God, then how does He sit at His right hand? But from a Trinitarian view, it makes perfect sense for God the Son to be set down at the right hand of God the Father.
Paul wrote that the Son is subject to the Father: “For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:27-28). If the Son and Father are merely different hats God puts on, how is the Son in subjection to the Father? The Trinity is true!
Not only this, but Paul reveals that each member of the Trinity works together to save a believer in Jesus. They each have different functions. “ Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (1 Peter 1:2). The Father elects according to His foreknowledge. The Holy Spirit sanctifies. And the Son, as high priest, sprinkles His blood. Each member of the Godhead plays a distinct yet united role in salvation. Paul lays this out in more detail in his Epistle to the Ephesians:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:3-14).
Paul lays out each member of the Trinity’s role in our salvation. God the Father has chosen His elect His to be saved from before the foundation of the world and predestinated them to be adopted as children by Jesus Christ to Himself. God the Son shed His blood upon the cross to forgive our sins by paying the sin debt of the elect in full. And the God the Holy Spirit seals the believer and is the earnest (“down payment”) of that salvation.
Salvation is planned by the Father.
Purchased by the Son.
Sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Each member of the Trinity saves. Yet the Bible tells us that God alone is the Savior and there is no other Savior with Him. “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour” (Isaiah 43:11). “Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me” (Hosea 13:4). “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).
God says that apart from Him there is no Savior. He is the only Savior. Yet the Father saves. The Son saves. The Holy Spirit saves. Thus, all three must be God! The Trinity must be true!
John warned that those who deny the Scriptural relationship between the Father and the Son (the Biblical Trinity) are of the spirit of the antichrist!
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us (1 John 2:18-19).
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also (1 John 2:22-23).
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world (1 John 4:1-3).
Paul echoed John’s warnings. He warned that false teachers and false prophets would get into the Church and present another Jesus, and another gospel by Satan’s spirit!
Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him (2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
Peter had the same warning!
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Christians are called to mark such false teachers and avoid them. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18). “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us” (2 Thessalonians 3:6).
Modalists are to be marked and avoided. The doctrine and practice of the Oneness Pentecostals (their denial of the Trinity and Eternal Security i.e. Arminianism) and their fascination with signs and wonders shows them to be heretics under the strong delusion of Satan and his ministers (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Corinthians 1-1:14; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 1 John 2:22-23; Revelation 13:11-15).
“Modalistic Monarchianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Modalistic%20Monarchianism. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023.
Britannica, “Sabellius,” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sabellianism
Op. cit.
Op. cit.
Michael Bunker, Swarms of Locusts: The Jesuit Attack on the Faith, p. 84, Writers Club Press, 2002.
Op. cit., at p. 86.
Op. cit., at p. 87
Apostolic Archives International, Inc., “The Jesus Name Movement,” https://www.apostolicarchives.com/articles/article/8795236/172416.htm
Op. cit.
"Oneness Pentecostalism - ReligionFacts". religionfacts.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022.