(Peacebewithyou;26766)
I've come across some posters on another thread that dismiss that concept of the Trinity. Rather than the historical Christian view that God is one being eternally existing in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) Modalism is embraced. 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 never exists as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time, he can only manifest himself as one person at any specific time. This view was rejected as heresy in the 3rd century. I'm curious if others on the forums reject the Trinity and also believe in Modalism?
I think this heresy may even be traced back to the Gnostics. Not a wholly bad bunch, but their Ideas were definitely off the wall, and, as you can see, deserved rejection.what I find a more interesting question though, is how do you understand the Trinity? Though it seems that Nicea, acting as an ecumenical council, sets the doctrine in stone as normative, there are many who still see the Trinity slightly differently, and understand it differently. Even while all agreeing with the creed of Nicea. Jonous, I think your understanding of the Trinity is what is leading you to those conclusions. There are thousands of Christian scholars who know about the passages often used to show that the Trinity isn't "right", and they don't just ignore these passages. In fact, I don't think these passages even pose a real problem for them, as they have a correct.. or what I think is correct.. understanding. Perhaps you should try to look at it from a different angle? I myself don't know if I should share what I think about the Trinity, as I might get myself into trouble until things cool down. However, I would like to stress that the apostolic teaching is amply evidenced to include the trinitarian concept. We can trace it back to the early church way before Nicea.In Hope,~Tyrel