Three Hypostases

Definition

A Trinitarian error that overemphasizes the sameness of the Persons, so that Father, Son, and Spirit are modes rather than distinct hypostases; Marcellus of Ancyra was condemned for a modalistic tendency.

Episodes

  • Modalism Sabellianism

Biblical References

  • Colossians 1:15 — * He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, *
  • Isaiah 53:8 — *He was led away after an unjust trial— but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded. *
  • John 14:28 — You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father because the Father is greater than I am.
  • Hebrews 13:4 — *Marriage must be honored among all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. *