Monarchianism

The basic thrust of the heresy known as monarchianism—a term derived from Greek and Latin, meaning "single and individual rule"—is that God is one and He is the role ruler of all things. Defined this way, no Christian can, of course, deny it, and it served well in the battle against polytheism. But monarchianism, as it developed in the 2nd and 3rd Cent, affirmed the unity of God at the expense of Christ's deity. This it did in two ways.

What is called dynamic monarchism held that Jesus was simply a human indwelt by the dynamis (Greek for 'power') of God. Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch (flourished 260-72, taught that Jesus grew progressively in his ethical relationship with God and became interpenetrated by the divine substance (ousia) until "out of man he became God." More famous than Paul of Samosata as an exponent of dynamic monarchianism is Arius.

Modalist monarchianism, on the other hand, held firmly to the deity of Christ but questioned the nature of his humanity. To resolve this it taught that God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit were simple different and temporary modes, or self-expressions, of the one God. The most infamous representative of modalist monarchianism is Sabellius (c198-220), a teacher in Rome, after whom the heresy termed Sabellianism is named.