monarchianism

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Monarchianism, a Christian heresy that developed during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It

opposed the doctrine of an independent, personal subsistence of the Logos, affirmed the sole

deity of God the Father, and thus represented the extreme monotheistic view. Though it regarded

Christ as Redeemer, it clung to the numerical unity of the Deity. Two types of Monarchianism

developed: the Dynamic (or Adoptionist) and the Modalistic (or Sabellian).

Dynamic Monarchianismheld that Christ was a mere man, miraculously conceived, but

constituted the Son of God simply by the infinitely high degree in which he had been filled with

divine wisdom and power. This view was taught at Rome about the end of the 2nd century by

Theodotus, who was excommunicated by Pope Victor, and taught somewhat later by Artemon,

who was excommunicated by Pope Zephyrinus. About 260 it was again taught by Paul of

Samosata. It is the belief of many modern Unitarians.

Modalistic Monarchianismtook exception to the subordinationism of some of the Church

Fathers and maintained that the names Father and Son were only different designations of thesame subject, the one God, who with reference to the relations in which He had previously stood

to the world is called the Father, but in reference to His appearance in humanity is called the

Son. It was taught byPraxeas, a priest from Asia Minor, in Rome c. 206 and was opposed

byTertullianin the tractAdversus Praxean (c. 213), an important contribution to the doctrine of

the Trinity.See alsoSabellianism;Adoptionism.

Sabellianism, Christian heresy that was a more developed and less naive form of

ModalisticMonarchianism(seeMonarchianism); it was propounded bySabellius(fl. c. 217

c. 220), who was possibly a presbyter in Rome. Little is actually known of his life because the

most detailed information about him was contained in the prejudiced reports of his

contemporary, Hippolytus, an anti-Monarchian Roman theologian. In Rome there was an active

struggle between the Monarchians, or Modalists, and those who affirmed permanent distinctions

(Persons) within theGodhead. The Monarchians, in their concern for the divine monarchy (the

absolute unity and indivisibility of God), denied that such distinctions were ultimate or

permanent. Sabellius evidently taught that the Godhead is a monad, expressing itself in three

operations: as Father, in creation; as Son, in redemption; and as Holy Spirit, in sanctification.

PopeCalixtuswas at first inclined to be sympathetic to Sabellius teaching but later condemned it

and excommunicated Sabellius.

The heresy broke out again 30 years later in Libya and was opposed by Dionysius of Alexandria.

In the 4th century,Ariusaccused his bishop of Sabellianism, and throughout the Arian

controversy this charge was levelled at the supporters of Nicene orthodoxy (those who accepted

the doctrine of theTrinityset forth in the Nicene Creed), whose emphasis on the unity of

substance of Father and Son was interpreted by Arians to mean that the orthodox denied any

personal distinctions within the Godhead. About 375 the heresy was renewed at Neocaesarea and

was attacked by Basil the Great. In SpainPriscillianseems to have enunciated a doctrine of the

divine unity in Sabellian terms.
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At the time of the Reformation, Sabellianism was reformulated byMichael Servetus, a Spanish

theologian and physician, to the effect that Christ and the Holy Spirit are merely representative

forms of the one Godhead, the Father. In the 18th century,Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish

mystical philosopher and scientist, also taught this doctrine, as did his disciples, who founded the

New Church.

Adoptionism, either of two Christian heresies: one developed in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and

is also known as Dynamic Monarchianism (seeMonarchianism); the other began in the 8th

century in Spain and was concerned with the teaching of Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo.

Wishing to distinguish in Christ the operations of each of his natures, human and divine,

Elipandus referred to Christ in his humanity as adopted son in contradistinction to Christ in his

divinity, who is the Son of God by nature. The son of Mary, assumed by the Word, thus was not

the Son of God by nature but only by adoption.

Opposition to this view of Christ was expressed, which led PopeAdrian Ito intervene andcondemn the teaching. Elipandus gained the support ofFelix, bishop of Urgel, who eventually

engaged in a literary duel with Alcuin of York over the doctrine.

In 798 PopeLeo IIIheld a council in Rome that condemned the Adoptionism of Felix and

anathematized him. Felix was forced to recant in 799 and was placed under surveillance.

Elipandus remained unrepentant, however, and continued as archbishop of Toledo, but the

Adoptionist view was almost universally abandoned after his death. It was temporarily revived in

the 12th century in the teachings of Peter Abelard and his followers.

MONARCHIANISM. Down to the end of The second century, not only theLogos doctrine, but also the conception of Christ as the Son of God, pre-existingbefore the creation of the world, was the exclusive possession of a few theologians.Though it was generally recognized that there should be spoken ofChrist, (" in the same manner as of God,"II. Clem. ad Cor., 1.),hardly any one, with the exception of the philosophically trained apologists, wasthereby led to speculate on the idea of God. All that was developed and definedconcerning the personality of the Redeemer during the period between 140 and 180was based upon the short formula of Matt. xxviii. 19. The acknowledgment of thesupernatural conception of Jesus, by which his preexistence was vaguely but

indubitably presupposed, was considered sufficient to distinguish the true Christianfrom the strict Jewish-Christians and those who in Christ admired only a secondSocrates; while, on the other hand, the acknowledgment of a real birth by awoman, and a real human life in accordance with the prefigurations of the

prophets, formed a bar againstGnosticism.

During this state of incipiency, a multitude of various christological views began togerminate, co-existing, at least for a time, peacefully side by side. In spite of theirmultitudinousness, however, they may all be reduced to two formulas, - eitherChrist was considered a man in whom the Deity, or the Spirit of God, had dwelt; orhe was considered the Divine Spirit, who himself had assumed flesh, and appeared
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in the world. For both formulas, Scripture might be quoted. Proofs of the formerwere taken from the synoptical Gospels; of the latter, from a series of apostolicalwritings which also claimed absolute authority. Nevertheless, there existed aradical difference between them; and though, for a long time, that difference may

have been visible to the theological reflection only, without touching the religiousinstinct, there came a time when it could not fail to attract the attention even of themasses.

In the contest which then arose, the latter formula had one decided advantage: itcombined more easily with those cosmological and theological propositions whichwere borrowed from the religious philosophy of the time, and applied asfoundation for a rational Christian theology. He who was conversant with the ideaof a divine Logos as the explanation of the origin of the world, and the motive

power in the history of mankind, found in that very idea an easy means by which to

define the divine dignity and Sonship of the Redeemer. There seemed to be nodanger to monotheism in this expedient; for was not the infinite substance behindthe created world capable of developing into various subjects without exhaustingitself, and splitting? Nor did the idea itself - the idea of an incarnate Logos seeminsufficient to explain the Godhead of Christ. On the contrary, the moreenergetically it was handled, the more fertile it proved, able to correspond to anydepth of religious feeling and to any height of religious speculation. Nevertheless,in spite of this great advantage, as long as the idea of a divine Logos had notreached beyond such definitions as "the fundamental type of the universe," "therational system of the laws of nature," etc., the second formula could not helprousing a certain suspicion among those who in the Saviour wanted to see theGodhead itself, and nothing less.

It was, however, not an anxiety with respect to the divine dignity of Christ, which,in the second century, called forth the first direct opposition to the Logos-christology: it was an anxiety with respect to monotheism. For was it not openditheism, when worship was claimed for two divine beings? Not only uneducatedlaymen were forced to think so, but also those theologians who knew nothing ofthePlatonicandStoicphilosophy, and would hear nothing of its applicability in

Christian dogmatics. How the controversy began, and who made the first attack, isnot known; but the contest lasted for more than a hundred and fifty years, andpresents some aspects of the highest interest. It denotes the victory of Plato overZeno andAristotlein Christian science; it denotes the substitution, in Christiandogmatics, of the pre-existent Christ for the historical, of the ideal Christ for theliving, of the mystery of personality for the real person; it denotes the firstsuccessful attempt at subjecting the religious faith of the laity to the authority of atheological formula unintelligible to them.

The party which was defeated in the contest, the representatives of that severe

monotheism in the ancient Church which retained the office of the Redeemer in thecharacter of Christ, but clung with obstinate tenacity to the numerical unity in the
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personality of the Deity, are generally called "Monarchians," - a term brought intocirculation byTertullian, but not perfectly adequate. In order to fully appreciate the

position which this party occupies in the history of Christian dogmatics, it must beremembered that it originated within the pale of Catholicism itself, and had a

common basis with its very adversaries. In its deviations from what has afterwardsbeen defined as true Catholicism, it is pre-catholic, not a-catholic. Thus, forinstance, with respect to the canon of the New Testament. The deviations ofseveral Monarchian groups on this point are simply due to the circumstance thatthe true canon of the New Testament had not yet been established. Nor should it heoverlooked, that, with the exception of a few fragments, the writings of theMonarchians have perished. The party is known only through the representationsof its adversaries. The history of Monarchianism is consequently very obscure:indeed, it cannot be written with any continuity. Only the various groups can be

pointed out and described. Even the old and generally accepted division into

dynamic and

[1549]

modalistic Monarchianism cannot be carried through without straining the texts onwhich it is based.

I. THEALOGIANS. - The first opponents to the Logos-christology, the so-calledAlogians" in Asia Minor, were undisputed members of the Church, and weretreated as such by Hippolytus and Irenus. It was only by comparing their tenets

with a later development of Catholicism, that Epiphanius found out they wereheretics: it was also lie who gave them their name. The starting-point of theiropposition was theMontanistprophecy. which they rejected. They rejected,indeed, all prophecy as a still existing charisma; but in doing so they were onlymore catholic than the Church itself. Their disbelief, however, in an age of theParaclete, led them into a criticism of the writings of St. John; and the result was,that they rejected both his Gospel and the Apocalypse, probably, also, his Epistles.The Gospel, they ascribed toCerinthus: the Apocalypse, they ridiculed. But,rejecting the Gospel of St. John, they also rejected the doctrine of the Logos; and

thus they came into conflict with the new christological issue.Hippolytus,however, who knew them only from their writings, and Irenus, treated them withmuch circumspection: they regretted their opinions, and warned against theinferences which might be drawn from their tenets; but they did not condemnthem.

LIT. - The principal sources areEPIPHANIUS(Hr., 51) and PHILASTRIUS(Hr., 60), both of whom have derived their information from the Syntayma ofHIPPOLYTUS. On Epiphanius depend Augustine, Isidore, Paulinus, Honorius,and John of Damascus. See also MERKEL:Aufklrung der Streitigkeiten der

Aloger, 1782; HEINICHEN:De Alogis,1829; and the respective chapters inSCHWEGLERMontanismus;
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VOLKMAR:Hippolytus; DLLINGER:Hippolytus und Kallistus; LIPSIUS:Quellenkritik d. Epiphanius and Quellen der altesten

Ketzergeschichte; SOYRES;Montanism; JWANZOW-PLATONOW;Haresienund Schismen d. 3 ersten Jahrhund., etc.

II. THEODOTUS THE LEATHER-DEALER, HIS PARTY IN

ROME (Asclepiadotus, Hermophilus, Apollonides, Theodotus the Money-Broker,Natalias), AND THE ARTEMONITES. - Towards the close of the episcopate ofEleutherus, or in the beginning of that of Victor, about 190, Theodotus, a leather-dealer from Byzantium, came to Rome, and began to expound his christologicalviews, which he probably had developed under the influence of the Alogians ofAsia Minor. Orthodox in other points, he taught, with respect to the personality ofChrist, that Jesus was not a heavenly being, which had assumed flesh in the wombof the Virgin, but a human being, which had been borne by a virgin, in accordance

with a special providence and under the concurrence of the Holy Spirit; that,having proved himself worthy by a pious life, he had received in the baptism theHoly Spirit, and thereby the powers ( ) necessary to fill his office, etc.Theodotus was thus a representative of the dynamic Monarchianism, which heldthat the divinity of Christ was only a power communicated to him. It is not knownhow many adherents he found in Rome, but the number was probably small.

Nevertheless, he was excommunicated by Victor between 189 and 199. UnderVictors successor, however, Zephyrinus (199-218) his pupil, Theodotus themoney-broker, probably also a Greek, attempted, in connection withAsclepiadotus, to form an independent congregation, and found an independentchurch, in Rome. A certain Natalius, a native of Rome, and a confessor, was, for amonthly salary of a hundred and seventy dinari, induced to become the bishop ofthe new church; but he was afterwards, by visions of "holy angels," who whippedhim while he was sleeping, forced back into the bosom of the great Church.Twenty or thirty years later on, a new attempt at reviving the old Monarchianchristology was made by Artemas; but lie seems not to have identified himself withthe Theodotians. Very little is known of him, however. He was still living about270, as proven by the decision of the synod of Antioch against Paulus of Samosata.

Generally speaking, the dynamic Monarchians of Rome present the same realisticcharacter as their brethren, the Alogians of Asia Minor. They studied Aristotle andTheophrastus, Euclid and Galen; but they neglected Plato and Zeno. Theysubstituted the grammatico-historical method for the allegorical intheinterpretation of Scripture; and, as foundation for their Bible study, theyemployed a very sharp text-criticism. With respect to the canon they were perfectlyorthodox. They accepted the writings of St. John, which, however, simply meansthat the canon of the New Testament in which those writings were contained hadnow been firmly and finally established. But they remained an army of officers,without any rank and file. For their text-criticism, their grammar, their historical

researches, the mass had no sense. Their church in Rome waned away, leavingbehind no traces of itself; and it took about seventy years before the school of
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Autioch was strong enough to throw the dogmatics of the church into one of themost violent crises it ever has had to go through.

LIT. - The principal sources are the Syntaynza of HIPPOLYTUS, represented byEPIPHANIUS (54), PHILASTRIUS (50), and PSEUDO-TERTULLLAN (28);hisPhilosophumena (vii. 35, x. 23); his fragment against Notus (c. 3); and, mostimportant of all, the so-calledLittle Labyrinth, an excerpt preserved by EUSEBIUS(Hist. Eccl., V. 28), dating back to the fourth decade of the third century, and bymany ascribed to Hippolytus. See also KAPP:Hist. Artemonis, 1737, and theliterature given at the end of the first division.

III. PAULUS OF SAMOSATA. - By the Alexandrian theology of the thirdcentury, the dogmatical use of such ideas as , etc., was notonly made legitimate, but indispensable; and, at the same time, the view of the

essential nature of the Saviour, as being not human, but divine, became more andmore prevalent. Though Ebionitic elements were still found in the intricatechristology ofOrigen, they were present only in a latent and ineffective state; andthough he himself taught a Godhead in Christ, to which it was not allowed toaddress prayers, he directly attacked all those teachers who attempted to establishsuch a difference between the personality of the Son and that of the Father asseemed likely to destroy the essential Godhead of the former. A few years,however,

[1550]

after his death, Paulus of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, that is, occupant of themost illustrious episcopal chair of the Orient, undertook once more to emphasizethe old view of the human personality of the Saviour, in opposition to the

prevailing doctrine. The next occasion of the controversy is not known; but it isworth noticing, that, at that time, Antioch did not belong to the Roman Empire, butto Palmyra. Paulus was vicegerent of the realm of Zenobia. To reach such a manwas no easy task. Through a common provincial synod, over which he presidedhimself, it could not be done. But, during the Novatian controversy, the experimentof a general Oriental council had been successfully tried, and it was now repeated.The two first councils, however, failed to accomplish the condemnation of Paulus:at the third, probably in 268, he was excommunicated, and Dommus chosen hissuccessor. But, by the support of Zenobia, he continued in possession of his seeuntil 272. In that year, Antioch was reconquered by Aurelian. An appeal was madeto the emperor; and he decided that the church-building should be surrendered tothose who maintained communication with the bishops of Italy and of the city ofRome. The deposition, however, and removal of Paulus, did not at once destroy hisinfluence. On the contrary, under the three following bishops of Antioch, Lucianstood at the head of the rising Antiochian school of theology, and lie taught in the

spirit of Paulus. Yea, in the persons of the great Antiochian Fathers, Paulus may,indeed, be said to have been condemued a second time; and how long the dynamic
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Monarchianisni lived on in Asia Minor may be seen from the christology of theauthor of theActa Archelai.

The christology of Paulus is characterized by the total absence of all metaphysicalspeculation, instead of which he employs only the historical research and theethical reflection. Essentially it is simply a development of the christologyofHermasand Theodotus, only modified in its form by accommodation to the

prevailing terminology. The unity of the personality of God is most severelyvindicated. Father, Son, and Spirit are the one God; and, when a Logos or Sophiacan be distinguished in God, they are only qualities or attributes. From eternity,God has brought forth the Logos in such a way that the latter may jus tly be calledhis Son; but that Son remains, nevertheless, an impersonal power, and can never

become a concrete manifestation. In the prophets, the Logos was active; also inMoses, and in many others, more especially in the son of David, born by the

Virgin. But Marydidnot bear the Logos: she bore only a man, who in the baptismwas anointed with the Logos.

LIT. - The principal sources are the acts of the Antiochian synod of 268; that is,the report of the disputation between Paulus amid the presbyter Malchian, and thefinal decision of the synod. In the sixth century those documents were stillextant in extenso; but only fragments of them have come down to us, inEUSEBIUS:Hist. Eccl., VII. 27-30; JUSTINIAN:Tract. e. Monophysit.;Contestatio ad Clerum C. P.; the acts of the Council of Ephesus; LEONTIUSBYZANTIUS:Adv. Nestor et Eutych., etc., - all gathered together by Routh,

inEel. Sacr., iii. Important are also the testimonies of the great Fathers of thefourth century, -Athanasius,Hilary,Ephraem,Gregory of Nyssa,Basil, etc. SeeFEUERLIN:De haeresi P. S., 1741; EHRLICH:De erroribus P. 8., 1745;SCHWAR:Diss. de P. 8., 1839.

IV. THE MODALISTIC MONARCHIAN5 IN ROME AND

CARTHAGE (Notus, Epigonus, Kleomenes, Praxeas, Victorinus, Zephyrinus,Kallistus). - In the period between 180 and 240, the most dangerous opponents tothe Logos-christologv were not the dynamic, but the modalistic Monarchians,

known in the West asMonarchiani orPatripassiani; in the East, as Sabelliani;though the namePatripassiani was used there too. They taught that Christ wasGod himself incarnate, the Father who had assumed flesh, a mere modus of theGodhead: hence their name. Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, and Hippolytus wroteagainst them.

Like the dynamic Monarchians, the modalistic arose in Asia Minor; and thencethey brought the controversy to Rome, where, for a whole generation, theirdoctrines formed the official teachings of the Church. Notus was the first of thisgroup of Monarchians who attracted attention. lie was a native of Smyrna, taught

there, or in Ephesus, and was excommunicated about 230. Epigonus, a pupil of his,came to Rome iii time times of Zephyrinus, about 200, amid founded there a
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Patripassian party. At the head of that party stood, afterwards, Kleomenes, andthen, after 21 5. Sabellius. The latter was vehemently attacked by Hippolytus, buthad the sympathy of the great majority of the Christians in Rome: even among theclergy Hippolytus was in the minority. Bishop Zephyrinus tried to temporize, in

order to prevent a schism from taking place; and his successor, Kallixtus, orCallistus (217-222), adopted the same policy. But the controversy grew so hot, thatthe Pope was compelled to interfere. Kallistus chose to excommunicate bothSabellius and Hippolytus, and draw up a formula of reconciliation, as theexpression of tIme views of the true Catholic Church; and, indeed, the formula ofCallixtus became the bridge across which the Roman congregation was led towardsthe hypostasis-christology.

It is a curious circumstance, that Tertullian, in his polemics against theMonarchians, never mentions the names of Notus, Epigonus, Kleomenes, and

Kallistus; while, on the other hand, the name of Praxeas, against whom lie chieflydirects his attack, does not occur in the numerous writings of Hippolytus. Theexplanation seems to be, that, when the controversy was at its highest in Rome,Praxeas had been forgotten there, while Tertullian might still find it proper to startfrom him, because he had been the first to bring the controversy to Carthage.Praxeas was a confessor from Asia Minor. In Rome he met with mo resistance; butwhen, in Carthage, he began to expound his Patripassian views, in opposition tothe Logos-christology, he was by Tertullian compelled, not only to keep silent, buteven to retract. A representation of the individual system of Praxeas cannot begiven, on account of the scarcity of the sources. It is, nevertheless, evident that adevelopment had taken place from the Notians to those Monarchians againstwhom Hippolytus amid Tertullian wrote. The Notians said, "If Christ is God, hemust certainly be the

[1551]

Father; for, if he is not the Father, he is not God." And this very same passionatevindication of pure monotheism is also found among the later Monarchians. Butwhen the Notians went further, and declared, that, if Christ had suffered, the

Father had suffered, because Christ was the Father, the later Monarchians avoidedthis Patripassian proposition by recognizing a difference of subjectivity betweenthe Father and the Son.

LIT. - HIPPOLYTUS:Philosophumena; TERTULLIAN:Adu.Praxeain; PSEUDO-TERTULLIAN (30), EPIPHANIUS (57), PHILASTRIUS(53-54), and the literature given after the art. CALIXTUS I. See alsoLANGEN: Geschichte der rom. Kirche, Bonn, 1881, pp. 192-216.

V. SABELLIANISM AND THE LATER MONARCHIANISM. - During the

period between Hippolytus and Athanasius, Monarchianism certainly developedseveral different forms; but this whole various development was, by the writers of


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the fourth and fifth centuries, comprehended under the one term, "Sabellianism."The consequence is, that it would be very difficult to point out in details the

propositions which actually made up the individual system of Sabellius. He wasprobably a Libyan by birth, and stood, even in the time of Zephyrinus, at the head

of the Monarchian party in Rome. By Kallistus he was excommunicated, but theexcommunication produced only a schism. His party was too strong to be at oncesuppressed: it lived on in Rome until the fourth century. Of the latter part of his

personal life nothing is known. It seems that he was still living in Rome whenHippolytus wrote hisPhilosophumena. A dim but characteristic reflex falls on him- or, rather, on the Monarchians in Rome - from the works of Origen. The lattercame to Rome in the time of Zephyrinus, and sided, as was natural, withHippolytus. But that circumstance had, no doubt, something to do with hiscondemnation by Pontianus in 231 or 232; and the hints which he himself throwsout, about bishops who can make no difference between the Father and the Son,

are, no doubt, aimed at the bishops of Rome. It was, however, in another direction,Origen had to encounter the Monarchians. In Bostra in Arabia, Bishop Beryllusopenly taught Monarchianism. His brother-bishops of the province remonstratedwith him, but in vain. Then Origen was invited, in 244, to hold a public disputationwith him in Bostra, and he succeeded in converting him. Unfortunately, the acts ofthat synod have perished.

The principal tenet of Sabellius says, that the Father is the same as the Son, and theSon the same as the Spirit: there are three names, hut only one being. That being heoften designates as , - an expression which he had no doubt chosen inorder to prevent any misunderstanding with respect to the strict nionotheism of thesystem. Nevertheless, Sabellius taught that God was not Father and Son at thesame time; that he had been active under three successive forms of energy (

, - as the Father, from the creation of the world; as the Son, from timeincarnation in Christ; and as the Spirit, from the day of the ascension. How farSabellius was able to keep those three forms of energy distinct from each othercannot be ascertained. It is probable that he could not help ascribing a continuousenergy (in nature) to God as the Father, even while the energy was active as theSon or as the Spirit. However that may be, the doctrine of three successive forms

of energy was at all events a step towards that formula, the Athanasian ,which finally made Monarchianism superfluous, and founded Trinitarianism.

LIT. - Besides some sporadic but very important notices in the works of Origenand Athanasius, the principal sources areHIPPOLYTUS (Philosophumena), EPIPHANIUS (51), and PHILASTRIUS (54).See also ULLMANN:De Beryllo, 1835; FOCK:De Christol. Berylli, 1843;ZAHN:Marcellus, 1867.


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Adolf, Harnack, "Monarchianism," Philip Schaff, ed.,A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of

Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn, Vol. 3. Toronto, New York &

London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894. pp.1548-1551.

MonarchianismAlso spelled: Monarchism

InChristianity, sectarian doctrines (seeheresy) dealing with the unity and nature

ofGod, belonging to the 2nd through 4th centuries.

Monarchianism opposes the concept ofTrinity, the divine unity of God, the Holy Sprit

andJesusChrist. Monarchianism also was a rejection of the doctrine of the Logos as an

independent, personal subsistence (as defined inGospelofJohn). Monarchianism

represents an ultimatemonotheism. In Monarchianism, only God was the deity. But as

Monarchianism did not reject the existence of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, it faced

the similar problems of definition as the advocates of Trinity did.

Monarchianism was represented in two orientations,SabellianismandAdoptionism.

Sabellianism, or Modal Monarchianism as it often is called, defined God to be a single

unity appearing in three modes.

Adoptionism, or Dynamic Monarchianism as it often is called, also declared God to be

a single unity, but explained Jesus Christ to be of divine nature only temporarily, only for

as long as his mission lasted.

Monarchians

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Heretics of the second and third centuries. The word, Monarchiani, wasfirst used byTertullianas a nickname for the Patripassian group(adv.Prax., x), and was seldom used by the ancients. In modern times ithas been extended to an earlier group ofheretics, who are distinguishedasDynamistic, or Adoptionist, Monarchians from the Modalist Monarchians,or Patripassians [Sabellians].
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Dynamists, or Adoptionists

AllChristianshold the unity (monarchia) ofGodas afundamentaldoctrine. By the Patripassians this first principle was used to

deny the Trinity, and they are with some reason called Monarchians. Butthe Adoptionists, or Dynamists, have no claim to the title, for they did notstart from the monarchy ofGod, and theirerroris strictlyChristological.An account of them must, however, be given here simply because thename Monarchian has adhered to them in spite of the repeated protestsof historians ofdogma. But their ancient and accurate namewas Theodotians. The founder of thesectwas a leather-sellerof Byzantium named Theodotus. He came toRomeunder Pope Victor (c.190-200) or earlier. He taught (Philosophumena, VII, xxxv)thatJesuswas a man born of a virgin according to the counsel of theFather, that He lived like other men, and was most pious; that atHisbaptismin theJordanthe Christ came down upon Him in the likenessof a dove, and therefore wonders (dynameis) were not wrought in Himuntil the Spirit (which Theodotus called Christ) came down and wasmanifested in Him. They did not admit that this made HimGod; but someof them said He wasGodafter Hisresurrection. It was reportedthat Theodotus had been seized, with others, at Byzantium as aChristian,and that he had deniedChrist, whereas his companions hadbeenmartyred; he had fled toRome, and had invented hisheresyinorder to excuse his fall, saying that it was but a man and notGodthat hehad denied. Pope Victorexcommunicatedhim, and he gathered together

asectin which we are told much secular study was carriedon.Hippolytussays that they argued onHoly Scripturein syllogistic form.Euclid,Aristotle, and Theophrastus were their admiration, and Galen theyeven adored. We should probably assume, with Harnack,thatHippolytuswould have had less objection to the study ofPlatoortheStoics, and that he disliked their purely literalexegesis, whichneglected the allegorical sense. They also emended the text of Scripture,but their versions differed, that of Asclepiodotus was different from thatof Theodotus, and again from that of Hermophilus; and the copiesof Apolloniades did not even tally with one another. Some of them

"denied the law and theProphets", that is to say, they followedMarcioninrejecting theOld Testament. The only disciple of the leather-seller ofwhom weknowanything definite is his namesake Theodotus the banker(ho trapezites). He added to his master'sdoctrinethe viewthatMelchisedechwas a celestial power, who was the advocate fortheangelsinheaven, asJesus Christwas for men upon earth (a viewfound among latersects). (SeeMELCHISEDECHIANS). This teaching wasof course grounded on Hebrews, vii, 3, and it is refuted at length bySt.Epiphaniusas Heresy 55,"Melchisedechians", after he has attacked theleather-seller under Heresy 54, "Theodotians". As he meets a series of

arguments of bothheretics, it is probable that some writings ofthesecthad been beforeHippolytus, whose lost "Syntagma against
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allheresies" suppliedSt. Epiphaniuswith all his information. After thedeath of Pope Victor, Theodotus, the banker, and Asclepiodotus designedto raise theirsectfrom the position of a mereschoollike those oftheGnosticsto the rank of a Church like that ofMarcion. They got hold ofa certain confessor named Natalius, and persuaded him to be called

theirbishopat a salary of 150 denarii(24 dollars) a month. Natalius thusbecame the firstantipope. But after he had joined them, he wasfrequently warned in visions by the Lord, Who did not wish Hismartyrtobe lost outside theChurch. He neglected thevisions, for the sake ofthehonourand gain, but finally was scourged all night by theholy angels,so that in the morning with haste and tears he betook himselfin sackcloth and ashes toPope Zephyrinusand cast himself at the feet oftheclergy, and even of thelaity, showing the weals of the blows, and wasafter some difficulty restored to communion. This story is quotedby Eusebius II (VI, xxviii) from the "Little Labyrinth" of the

contemporaryHippolytus, a work composed againstArtemon, a lateleader of thesect(perhaps c. 225-30), whom he did not mention in the"Syntagma" or the "Philosophumena". OurknowledgeofArtemon,or Artemas, is limited to the reference to him made at the end ofthe Council ofAntioch againstPaul of Samosata(about 266-268), wherethathereticwas said to have followedArtemon, and in fact the teachingof Paul is but a more learned andtheologicaldevelopmentof Theodotianism (seePaul of Samosata).

Thesectprobably died out about the middle of the third century, and can

never have been numerous. All ourknowledgeof it goes backtoHippolytus. His "Syntagma" (c.205) is epitomized in Pseudo-Tertullian(Praescript., lii) andPhilastrius, and is developed by Epiphanius (Haer.,liv. lv); his "Little Labyrinth" (written 139-5, cited by Eusebius, V, 28) andhis "Philosophumena" are still extant. See also his "Contra Noetum" 3,and a fragment "On the Melchisedechiansand Theodotians and Athingani", published by Caspari (Tidskr. fr derEvangel. Luth. Kirke, Ny Raekke, VIII, 3, p. 307). But the Athingani are alatersect, for which see MEDCHISEDECHIANS. The Monarchianismof Photinus seems to have been akin to that of the Theodotians. All

speculations as to the origin of the theories of Theodotus are fanciful. Atany rate he is not connected with theEbionites. TheAlogihavesometimes been classed with the Monarchians. Lipsius in his "Quelenkritikdes Epiphanius" supposed them to be evenPhilanthropists, on account oftheir denial of the Logos, and Epiphanius in factcalls Theodotus an apopasma of theAlogi; but this is only a guess, and isnot derived by him fromHippolytus. As a fact, Epiphanius assures us(Haer. 51) that theAlogi(that is, Gaius and his party) wereorthodoxintheirChristology(seeMONTANISTS).
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Modalists

The Monarchians properly so-called (Modalists) exaggerated the onenessof the Father and the Son so as to make them but one Person; thus the

distinctions in theHoly Trinityare energies or modes, not Persons:Godthe Fatherappears on earth asSon; hence it seemed to their opponentsthat Monarchians made the Father suffer and die. In the West they werecalled Patripassians, whereas in the East they are usually calledSabellians.The first to visitRomewas probablyPraxeas, who went onto Carthage some time before 206-208; but he was apparently not inreality a heresiarch, and the arguments refuted byTertulliansomewhatlater in his book"Adversus Praxean"are doubtless those ofthe RomanMonarchians (seePRAXEAS).

History

Noetus (from whom the Noetians) was a Smyrnaean (Epiphanius, by aslip, says an Ephesian). He called himself Moses, and his brother Aaron.When accused before the presbyterate of teaching that the Fathersuffered, he denied it; but after having made a few disciples he was againinterrogated, and expelled from theChurch. He died soon after, and didnot receiveChristian burial.Hippolytusmockingly declares him to havebeen a follower of Heraclitus, on account of the union of the oppositeswhich he taught when he calledGodboth visible and invisible, passibleand impassible. His pupil Epigonus came toRome. As he was notmentioned in the "Syntagma" ofHippolytus, which was written in one ofthe first five years of the third century, he was not then well knowninRome, or had not yet arrived. According toHippolytus(Philos., IX,7), Cleomenes, a follower of Epigonus, was allowed byPope Zephyrinustoestablish aschool, which flourished under hisapprobationand thatof Callistus.Hagemann urges that we should conclude that Cleomenes wasnot a Noetian at all, and that he was anorthodoxopponent of theincorrecttheologyofHippolytus. The same writer gives most ingeniousand interesting (though hardly convincing) reasons foridentifyingPraxeaswithCallistus; he proves that the Monarchians

attacked inTertullian's"Contra Praxean"and in the "Philosophumena" hadidentical tenets which were not necessarilyheretical; he deniesthatTertullianmeans us to understand thatPraxeascame toCarthage,and he explains the nameless refuter ofPraxeasto be,notTertullianhimself, butHippolytus. It istruethat it is easy tosupposeTertullianandHippolytusto have misrepresented the opinions oftheir opponents, but it cannot beprovedthat Cleomenes was not afollower of thehereticalNoetus, and that Sabellius did not issue fromhisschool; further, it is not obvious thatTertullianwouldattack Callistus under a nickname.
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Sabellius soon became the leader of the Monarchians inRome, perhapseven before the death ofZephyrinus(c. 218). He is said by Epiphanius tohave founded his views on the Gospel according to the Egyptians, and thefragments of that apocryphon support thisstatement.Hippolytushoped to convert Sabellius to his own views, and

attributed his failure in this to the influence of Callistus. Thatpope,however,excommunicatedSabellius c. 220 ("fearing me",saysHippolytus).Hippolytusaccuses Callistus of now inventing anewheresyby combining the views of Theodotusand those of Sabellius,although heexcommunicatedthem both (seePOPE CALLISTUSI). Sabellius was apparently still inRomewhenHippolytuswrotethe Philosophumena (between 230 and 235). Of his earlier andlater history nothing isknown.St. Basiland others call him a LibyanfromPentapolis, but this seems to rest on the fact that Pentapolis wasfound to be full of Sabellianism byDionysius of Alexandria, c. 260. A

number ofMontanistsled by Aeschines became Modalists (unless Harnackis right in making Modalism the originalbeliefof theMontanistsand inregardingAeschines as a conservative). Sabellius (or at least his followers)may have considerably amplified the original Noetianism. There wasstillSabellianism to be found in the fourth century.Marcellus ofAncyradeveloped a Monarchianism of his own, which was carried muchfurther by hisdisciple, Photinus. Priscillian was an extreme Monarchianand so was Commodian ("Carmen Apol.", 89, 277, 771). The "MonarchianPrologues" to the Gospels found in most oldmanuscriptsof theVulgate,were attributed by von Dobschtz and P. Corssen to a Roman author of

the time ofCallistus, but they are almost certainly the workof Priscillian. Beryllus,BishopofBostra, is vaguely saidbyEusebius(Church HistoryVI.33) to have taught that the Saviour hadno distinct pre-existence before the Incarnation, and had no Divinity ofHis own, but that the Divinity of the Father dwelt in Him.Origendisputedwith him in a council and convinced him of hiserror. The minutes of thedisputation were known toEusebius. It is not clear whether Beryllus wasa Modalist or a Dynamist.

Theology

There was much that was unsatisfactory in thetheologyof the Trinity andin theChristologyof theorthodoxwriters of the Ante-Nicene period. Thesimple teaching of tradition was explained byphilosophicalideas, whichtended to obscure as well as to elucidate it. The distinction of theSon fromthe Father was so spoken of that the Son appeared to have functions ofHis own, apart from the Father, with regard to the creationandpreservation of the world, and thus to be a derivative and secondaryGod.The unity of the Divinity was commonly guarded by a reference toa unity of origin. It was said thatGodfrometernitywas alone, with

His Word, one with Him (as Reason, in vulca cordis, logos endiathetos),before the Word was spoken (ex ore Patris, logos prophorikos), or was
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generated and became Son for the purpose of creation.The Alexandriansalone insisted rightly on the generation of the Son fromalleternity; but thus the Unity ofGodwas even less manifest. The writerswho thus theologize may often expressly teachthe traditional Unity in Trinity, but it hardly squares with thePlatonismof

their philosophy. Thetheologianswere thus defending thedoctrineofthe Logos at the expense of the two fundamentaldoctrines of Christianity,theUnity of God, and the Divinity of Christ. They seemed to makethe Unity of theGodheadsplit into two or even three, and to makeJesusChristsomething less than thesupreme God the Father. This iseminentlytrueof the chief opponents ofthe Monarchians,Tertullian,Hippolytus, andNovatian. (SeeNewman,"The Causes of Arianism", in "Tracts theol. and eccles.") Monarchianismwas the protest against this learned philosophizing, which to the simplicityof the faithful looked too much like a mythology or

aGnosticemanationism. The Monarchians emphatically declaredthatGodis one, wholly and perfectly one, and thatJesus ChristisGod,wholly and perfectlyGod. This was right, and even mostnecessary, andwhilst it is easy to see whythetheologianslikeTertullianandHippolytusopposed them (for theirprotest was precisely against thePlatonismwhich thesetheologianshadinherited fromJustinand the Apologists), it is equally comprehensiblethat guardians of the Faith should have welcomed at first the return oftheMonarchians to the simplicity of the Faith, "ne videantur deos dicere,neque rursum negare salvatoris deitatem" ("Lest they seem to be

asserting twoGodsor, on the other hand, denyingthe Saviour'sGodhead". -Origen, "On Titus", frag. II).Tertullianinopposing them acknowledges that the uninstructed were against him;they could not understand the magic word oikonomia with which heconceived he had saved the situation; they declared that he taught two orthreeGods, and cried "Monarchiam tenemus."So Callistus reproachedHippolytus, and not without reason, with teachingtwoGods.

AlreadySt. JustinknewofChristianswho taught the identity of the Father

and the Son ("Apol.", I, 63;Dialogue with Trypho 128). In Hermas, asin Theodotus, the Son and the Holy Ghost are confused. But it wasreserved for Noetus and hisschoolto deny categorically that the unity oftheGodheadis compatible with a distinction of Persons. They seem tohave regarded the Logos as a mere name, or faculty, or attribute, and tohave made the Son and the Holy Ghost merely aspects of modesof existence of the Father, thus emphatically identifying Christ with theoneGod. "What harm am I doing", was the reply made by Noetus tothepresbyterswho interrogated him, "in glorifying Christ?" They replied:"We tooknowintruthoneGod; weknowChrist; weknowthatthe Son suffered even as He suffered, and died even as He died, and roseagain on the third day, and is at the right hand of the Father, and cometh
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