| This article is a short comparison of some key factors of Trinitarian, Oneness, and Biblical Christianity:
Origins of Doctrines
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Explanation
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| Oneness
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Unitarianism (modalism) began with the teachings of Sabellius, who was a member of the church of Rome under Bishop Zephyrinus (199-217 AD) and Bishop Callixtus I (217-222 AD. Callixtus I excommunicated Sabellius as a heretic as a result of this doctrine.
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| Biblical
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The Godhead is described in depth in the New Testament by Jesus, Paul, John, Peter, Luke and Mark. Irenaeus (130-202AD) wrote extensively on the Godhead and was neither Oneness nor Trinitarian. Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John, Jesus' disciple.
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| Trinitarian
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Tertullian and Hippolytus were the first Christians to write about the Trinity. Tertullian later abandoned his form of Christianity for Montanism - of which little is known of these later beliefs. Hippolytus established another church in Rome (and is known as the first anti-pope) from which he wrote harsh criticism about Bishop Callixtus' doctrine and moral practices (stemming from Callixtus' doctrine of absolution for repentant sinners). By 270 AD the Roman Church had become Trinitarian, and Bishop Felix I (269-274 AD) was introducing this doctrine to other churches, notably Alexandria.
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Note: Anastasius I was the first Bishop of Rome to use the title "Pope" in 400 AD. Prior to Anastasius I, the pastor of the Church at Rome was simply called the "Bishop of Rome".
Unresolved issues with Doctrines
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Explanation
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| Oneness
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How can Jesus be his own Father? If Jesus is the Father, how was he begotten? Does this doctrine deny that Jesus is the Son of God? Consider the scripture "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father" (I John 2:23 NASB).
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| Trinitarian
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How can God the Father be the Father when Matthew 1:18 says that Mary was "found with child of the Holy Ghost"? How can the Father be a different person from the Son of God if Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus "The everlasting Father"?
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Who is the Father?
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Explanation
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| Oneness
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Jesus (The Father is the same person as the Son)
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| Biblical
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Jehovah God. The fullness of the Godhead without form. Learn more about Jehovah (I Am) and Elohim (God).)
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| Trinitarian
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The Father (the first person of the Trinity, and a separate person than the Son and the Holy Spirit)
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Who is the Son of God?
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Explanation
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| Oneness
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Jesus
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| Biblical
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Jesus Christ. The fullness of the Godhead bodily, born of a virgin, anointed for a purpose. (Learn more about the Son of God)
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| Trinitarian
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Jesus (the second person of the Trinity, and a separate person than the Father and the Holy Spirit)
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Who is the Holy Spirit?
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Explanation
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| Oneness
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Jesus (the Holy Spirit is the same person as the Son)
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| Biblical
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The Holy Spirit is also called the "Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:19), the "Spirit of [God's] Son" (Galatians 4:6), the "Spirit of your Father" (Matthew 10:20), the "Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9), and the "Spirit of God" (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit is the fullness of the Godhead in the form of a spirit. (Learn more about the Holy Spirit.)
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| Trinitarian
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The Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity, and a separate person than the Father and the Son))
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The Early Church of Rome did not believe the doctrine of the Trinity
As evidence that the Catholic Church has not always been Trinitarian, the doctrine of the Bishop of Rome, Callixtus I, who was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, is summarized below. Note that this summary is by Hippolytus, an early trinitarian and dissenter from the Church of Rome:
- "For," says (Callistus), "I will not profess belief in two Gods, Father and Son, but in one. For the Father, who subsisted in the Son Himself, after He had taken unto Himself our flesh, raised it to the nature of Deity, by bringing it into union with Himself, and made it one; so that Father and Son must be styled one God, and that this Person being one, cannot be two."
- “And Callistus...acknowledges that there is one Father and God, viz., the Creator of the universe, and that this (God) is spoken of, and called by the name of Son, yet that in substance He is one Spirit. For Spirit, as the Deity, is, he says, not any being different from the Logos, or the Logos from the Deity; therefore this one person, (according to Callistus,) is divided nominally, but substantially not so. He supposes this one Logos to be God, and affirms that there was in the ease of the Word an incarnation. And he is disposed (to maintain), that He who was seen in the flesh and was crucified(2) is Son, but that the Father it is who dwells in Him.”
- (Hippolytus, the Refutation of all Heresies: Chapter XXIII)
Who is Melchizedek
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Explanation
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| Oneness
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Unknown
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| Biblical
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God in the form of a man. As Melchizedek was neither born nor begotten, he was not the Son of God. However, just like the Angel of the Lord is God in the form of an Angel, Melchizedek is God in the form of a man - only without the attribute of our redeemer as he is not in the lineage of Adam. (Learn more about Melchizedek.)
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| Trinitarian
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Unknown
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Navigation
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