An Informed Faith: The Position Papers of R.J. Rushdoony

Modalism: A Modern Return to an Ancient Error

Modalism denies the Trinity by reducing Father, Son, and Spirit to temporary “modes” of a single, unknowable force. It presents God as evolving, changeable, and ultimately beyond clear revelation—making Scripture, theology, and doctrine negotiable rather than authoritative.

When God is treated as a shifting life force instead of the unchanging Triune Creator, truth collapses into relativism. Modalism may sound spiritual and humble, but it replaces the biblical God with another religion altogether—one that leaves the church vulnerable to new prophets, new revelations, and enduring confusion.

Monarchianism: The Subtle Denial of the Trinity

Monarchianism uses orthodox language while quietly emptying it of Trinitarian meaning. God is spoken of as the Father alone, while the Son and the Spirit are reduced to mere modes or manifestations. Jesus becomes a merely “historical” man ethically united to God, not God incarnate—someone to imitate, but not a Savior who redeems.

This error drains Christianity of its power. Without the true incarnation and the triune God acting in history, faith collapses into moralism, rhetoric, and personality-driven religion. Where the Trinity is denied or neglected, pride replaces truth, and preaching shifts from exposition to performance.

The Manichaean Heresy Today: From Conversion to Destruction

Manichaeanism replaces the Bible’s moral conflict (sin vs. obedience) with a false conflict of being—spirit vs. matter, light vs. darkness. When evil is treated as something inherent in people, classes, races, or institutions, the solution is no longer repentance and conversion, but suppression, exclusion, or death. This logic has fueled revolution, Marxism, racism, and modern statism.

Christianity offers a radically different answer: creation is good, sin is moral, and the remedy is regeneration in Christ. Where Manichaean thinking produces endless conflict, Scripture calls the church back to faithfulness, conversion, and practical obedience under the one true God.

The Carpocratians: Remaking Jesus to Fit the Age

The Carpocratians reshaped Jesus to suit their culture—turning Him into a religious genius, rejecting the Old Testament, denying His uniqueness, and redefining justice as radical equality. By accommodating Christ to contemporary philosophy, they created a fictitious “modern” Jesus whose relevance vanished with the culture that produced Him.

This impulse is still with us. Whenever Christ is revised to fit the spirit of the age, faith is emptied of power. The answer then—and now—is unwavering allegiance to the whole Word of God and the true Christ it reveals.

The Carpocratian Heresy: “Spiritual” License to Sin

Carpocratianism dressed itself up as Christianity while rejecting God’s law, Scripture’s authority, and Christ’s atonement. Claiming a “higher spirituality,” it taught that faith and love freed people from obedience, turning grace into permission for immorality and elitism.

This heresy lives on wherever believers pick and choose God’s Word, spiritualize away His commandments, and call lawlessness “freedom.” True faith does not rise above God’s law—it submits to it under Christ the King.

Marcionism: The Gospel Cut in Half

Marcionism divides Scripture, rejects God’s law, and pits the Old Testament against the New—turning grace into escapism and faith into retreat from the real world. By denying the unity of God’s revelation, it replaces Christ the King with a “spiritual” Christ who rules nothing.

Biblical faith is not separation from creation but redemption of it. Grace restores us to obedience, victory, and dominion under the one Lord of all Scripture.

The Montanist Outlook: Zeal Without Wisdom

Montanism began with a desire for spiritual purity and urgency but drifted into error by exalting personal revelation, instant holiness, and end-times obsession over Scripture, discipline, and growth. By dividing believers into “spiritual” and “carnal,” it undermined authority, fostered legalism, and replaced patient sanctification with demands for perfection now.

True Christianity calls for tested faith, humility, and long obedience in history. When zeal outruns wisdom, the result is not renewal—but irrelevance to Christ’s kingdom work in the world.

R.J. Rushdoony recounts his visit to Australia and New Zealand, praising the active Reconstruction movement under Howard Carter and urging prayer and support.

He reviews books showing the importance of biblical knowledge, historical awareness, and societal responsibility: Whately’s Historic Doubts critiques rationalistic methods, Gura’s A Glimpse of Zion’s Glory highlights the Puritans’ focus on God’s kingdom, Smalley emphasizes the need for resources in biblical scholarship, and Shevchenko exposes Soviet leaders’ dangerous isolation. He also notes the decline of U.S. denominations, Greeley’s reminder that most Americans remain Christian, and Lukacs’ warning about modern education degrading historical understanding.

Rushdoony stresses the central role of strong Christian families, homeschooling, and schools in shaping the future, countering societal decay and preparing for Christ’s kingdom.

Marcionism: The Ancient Error Still with Us

Marcionism separates law from grace, the Old Testament from the New, and faith from real life. By rejecting God’s law, creation, and covenant unity, it turns Christianity into escapism—“spiritual” but powerless. This error still weakens the church today whenever Scripture is divided and God’s law is dismissed.

Biblical faith is not retreat from the world but Christ’s kingship over it. Grace restores us to obedience, dominion, and victory under the one, unified Word of God.

Docetism and the Mandate for Dominion

Docetism denies Christ’s true incarnation and, in doing so, empties Christianity of its power in history. By treating salvation as escape from the material world rather than deliverance from sin, it undermines God’s law, Christ’s kingship, and the biblical call to exercise dominion.

The incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ redeems flesh and history, restoring His people to righteous rule under God. Dominion is not unspiritual—it is the fruit of the true gospel lived out in obedience.