Modalism, Tritheism, and the Pure Revelation of the Triune God according to the Bible
The New Testament reveals that our God is triune. During the centuries three main schools of teaching concerning the Trinity have emerged: modalism, tritheism, and the pure revelation according to the Bible. Modalism teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not all eternal and do not all exist at the same time, but are merely three temporary manifestations of the one God. Tritheism teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three Gods. We should have nothing to do with modalism, for that extreme view concerning the Trinity is a heresy. It is also a great heresy to teach that there are three Gods.
According to the natural law in God’s creation, there is the law of balance. Nothing can exist without having two sides. For example, the earth exists because of two forces: centrifugal/Spiral force thrusts the earth away, and centripetal/unify force holds it back. This is the balance of power. All the truths in the Bible also have two sides. In order to hold a biblical truth properly, we must hold both sides of it. The pure revelation of the Triune God in the Bible occupies a central position between the extremes of modalism and tritheism. Because the truths in the Bible have two sides, there are two aspects to the Trinity: the aspect of the one-in-three and the aspect of the three-in-one.