Accidental Modalism

During the 3rd century CE, some false teachers taught that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the same person. Sometimes God is the Father, sometimes God is the Son, and sometimes God is the Holy Spirit. This is the false teaching known as Modalism.

According to Modalism, God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same way that a volume of water can exist in different states: as either solid (ice), liquid (water), or gas (steam). Another way to describe Modalism is that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same way that a man can be a father, a son, and a brother: to his children, he is a father; to his parents, he is a son; and to his siblings, he is a brother.

This might sound familiar because this is how many Christians think about God! We say that we believe the concept of the Trinity but we actually believe Modalism. When people ask us to explain the concept of the Trinity, we say that the Trinity is like how water can be either solid, liquid, or gas; or that the Trinity is like how a man can be a father, a son, and a brother. However, this is not true!

According to the biblical concept of the Trinity, the three Persons of the Trinity are distinct; they are not one another. In other words, the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the Father!