Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 2 | GOD THE FATHER: THE TRIUNE GOD – THE GREATNESS OF GOD / 209

B. Dynamic Monarchianism: God coming in power upon the person Jesus

1. Developed in the late 2nd and 3rd centuries, originated by Theodotus

2. God was present in the life of the man, Jesus of Nazareth.

a. God was a working force upon, in, or through Jesus, but no real presence within Jesus.

b. Before his baptism, Jesus was simply an ordinary man (although a remarkably virtuous one), cf. Matt. 3.16-17.

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c. At the baptism, the Spirit descended on Jesus, and God’s power flowed through him from that point onward.

T heology and E th i c s

3. This view never became popular in the Church.

C. Modalistic Monarchianism: One God manifesting himself in three forms

1. There is one Godhead, which may be designated as Father, Son, or Spirit.

2. These terms do not stand for real distinctions of different members or personalities within the Godhead.

3. These terms refer to the one God working at different times in different modes.