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            Since the time of the Reformation, when the light of religious liberty spread throughout much of the world, many old heresies arose that challenged the modern Church. These heresies included Arianism (i.e. the denial of the full deity of Christ, a denial of the deity of the Holy Spirit, and thus, the denial of the Trinity) and Modalism (i.e. the denial of the distinction between persons of the Godhead; a denial of the Trinity). 

            In this article, it will be proven that the Scriptures teach that the Godhead consists of three persons.  I will highlight those portions of the Athanasian Creed that are pertinent to the subject of Modalism (and in particular, Oneness Pentecostal style Modalism):

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son and such is the Holy Spirit.

The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.

As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensibles, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty;

And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

And yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord;

so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say: There are three Gods or three Lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity none is afore, nor after another; none is greater, or less than another.

But the whole three persons are co-eternal, and co-equal.

So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and made of the substance of His mother, born in the world.

Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God.

One altogether, not by the confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;

He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty;

From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;

And shall give account of their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

           -The Athanasian Creed

The Trinitarian believes that there is but one Being Who is the true God: “That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.” 

God exists in the form of three eternal persons: “For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son and another of the Holy Spirit...The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.” 

Yet, these three persons are not three beings but one Being, not three gods but one God: “And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.” 

They are separate but one at the same time: “…one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.”  Thus, the Persons should not be confused as modes of God, and neither should the Godhead be divided into three gods: “Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.”

           However, Modalism teaches that God exists not only as one in Being but also as one in Person.  Robert Morey describes Modalism:

“Thus, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not to be viewed as three distinct Persons, but as three different manifestations, modes, administrations, disguises, roles, or offices of one and the same Person…Who is this One Person?  The first Modalists believed that the Father was the Person hiding behind the masks.  Thus, if you removed the mask of the Son or the mask of the Holy Spirit, you would find the “Father only.”  It was, thus, the Father who was incarnate in the womb of the Virgin…The Son and the Holy Spirit are only the Father manifesting Himself in different disguises, ways, or modes.”

-Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues(Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers, 1996), pp.507-508.

This doctrine was an ancient heresy that has been called many names throughout the centuries:  Sabellianism, Patripassianism, Monarchianism, Modalistic Monarchianism, functionalism, Jesus Only, Father Only, and Oneness Pentecostalism.  The early Christians realized the unbiblical nature of this heresy, and it was universally condemned.  The following are Scripture quotes which prove that God is multi-personal in nature.  All quotes are from the NASB (emphasis mine):

Genesis 19:24

Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven,

Commentary:

           Here, we have ‘two’ YHWH.  One of them was He who appeared in human form and talked to Abraham on earth, and the other was in heaven.  The One on earth called down fire from the One in heaven.  There are two YHWH, and yet they are both called YHWH.               

Numbers 22:20-22, 35

God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.”  So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.  But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him…But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

Commentary:

            God is the One who stated that Balaam would speak only the words that He told him to.  Then, when the angel of the LORD appeared, He told Balaam that he should only speak the words which the angel of the LORD spoke.  Here, the text clearly identifies the “angel of the LORD” as both the One who is sent by YHWH and YHWH himself!  So, we have one YHWH sending another YHWH and they are both the same Being!  [Note:  the word ‘angel’ merely means messenger.  It is used as a title for humans throughout both the Old and New Testaments.  It does not necessarily denote a created spiritual being of immense power such as Gabriel (Luke1:19-20).]

Deuteronomy 6:4

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”

Commentary:

           This is a passage frequently used by Unitarians.  However, the Hebrew of this passage actually supports the Trinitarian doctrine! David Cooper notes:

“Prior to the days of Moses Maimonides, the unity of God was expressed by [echad] which, as has been proved beyond a doubt, has as its primary meaning that of a compound unity.  Maimonides, who drafted thirteen articles of faith, in the second one sets forth the unity of God, using the word [yachid] which in the Tenach is never used to express God’s unity. From these facts it is evident that a new idea was injected into this confession by substituting [yachid] which in every passage carries the primary idea of oneness in the absolute sense for [echad] which primarily means a compound unity.  Hence from the days of Maimonides on, an interpretation different from the ancient one was placed upon this most important passage.”

-David L. Cooper, as found in Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers, 1996), p.90.

Deuteronomy 6:4 actually supports the doctrine of the Trinity because its word for “one”, ‘echad’, expresses a compound unity and not an absolute oneness.  This passage implies a doctrine of multiple ‘persons’ within the Godhead rather than Unitarianism.  [Note: When Trinitarians use the word ‘person’ in reference to the Godhead, it does not mean the same thing as ‘being’.  ‘Person’ is a Greek word that was used in the early centuries of Christianity to describe Trinitarian doctrine.]

Judges 6:11-22

Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.  The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior."  Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."  The LORD looked at him and said, "Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?"… But the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man."

Commentary:

           This is probably the clearest identification of the “angel of YHWH” with YHWH Himself.  In verse 11, it is the “angel of the LORD” Who is sitting under the oak tree, and then, in verse 14, the One who is sitting under the tree is identified as the LORD himself! Here, the text clearly identifies the “angel of the LORD” as both the One who is sent by YHWH and YHWH himself!

Judges 13:2-23

There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.”… God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her… Now the angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.  So Manoah said to his wife, "We will surely die, for we have seen God."  But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time."

Commentary:

           Again, the Scriptures describe the “angel of the LORD” as the LORD Himself!  He is both the Messenger of YHWH and YHWH Himself! This is exactly what we would expect if God is Trinitarian in nature.

Isaiah 48:16

"Come near to Me, listen to this: from the first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."

Commentary:

           How can the Father (i.e. “the Lord GOD”) send the Holy Spirit if the Holy Spirit is merely one of the manifestations of the Father? It only makes sense if the Father and the Holy Spirit are different ‘Persons’.

Daniel 7:13

"I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.”  

Commentary:

            This is the passage where the title, ‘Son of Man’, for the Messiah came from.  It was used by Jesus on several occasions (Matthew 26:64 for example).  Here, the Prophet Daniel clearly shows that the ‘Son of Man’ (i.e. God the Son) is a different Hypostasis (i.e. “Person”) than the ‘Ancient of Days’ (i.e. God the Father).  

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