Binitarianism
Encyclopedia
Binitarianism is a Christian theology
of two personae, two individuals, or two aspects in one Godhead (or God). Classically, binitarianism is understood as strict monotheism
— that is, that God is an absolutely single being; and yet with binitarianism there is a "twoness" in God. The other common forms of monotheism are "unitarianism
", a belief in a single God with one aspect, and "trinitarianism", a belief in a single God with three aspects.
While binitarianism is sometimes used self-descriptively, it is also used to denote Christian error or heresy as are the following related terms:
of University of Edinburgh
uses the word binitarian to describe the position of early Christian devotion to God, which ascribes to the Son (Jesus) an exaltedness that in Judaism would be reserved for God alone, while still affirming as in Judaism that God is one, and is alone to be worshiped. He writes:
Hurtado does not cite "binitarianism" as antithetical to Nicene Christianity, but rather as an indication that early Christians, before Nicea
, were monotheistic (as evidenced by their singular reference to the Father as God), and yet also devoted to Jesus as pre-existent, co- eternal, the creator, embodying the power of God, by whom the Father is revealed, and in whose name alone the Father is worshiped. He writes, "The central place given to Jesus…and…their concern to avoid ditheism by reverencing Jesus rather consistently with reference to "the Father", combine to shape the proto-orthodox "binitarian" pattern of devotion. Jesus truly is reverenced as divine" (Ibid, p. 618).
Hurtado's view might be interpreted as urging that, at this stage of the development of the Church's understanding, it could be said that God is a person (the Father), and a single being; and that Jesus is distinct from the Father, was pre- existent with God, and also originating from God without becoming a being separate from him, so that he is God (the Son). This view of a binitarian pattern of devotion would posit a unity of God's being, and a singleness of the object of worship, which is sympathetic to its predecessor view in Judaism; and it also displays a plurality of simultaneous identities which is sympathetic to its successor in trinitarianism. It is a development of understanding of Christ, in other words, from which arose several understandings in the course of development, that eventually came into conflict with one another.
Before Hurtado's influential work, one classic scholarly theory of binitarianism was that the Holy Spirit was seen as in some sense identical to the Son, or uniquely embodied in him. The Shepherd of Hermas, among other sources, is cited to support the theory. In one of the parables, for example, an angel declares:
The classic theory of Christian binitarian theology, assumed by most dictionary definitions of binitarianism, asserts that some early Christians conceived of the Spirit as going out from God the creator, and is the creator: an aspect of God's being, which also lived in Jesus (or from other sources, appears to be thought of as Jesus's pre-existent, divine nature). This view further asserts that the same Spirit is given to men, making them a new creation, and sharers in the same hope of resurrection and exaltation. This interpretation of early Christian belief is often cited in contrast to trinitarianism. However, trinitarians cite the same sources as examples of pre-Nicene Christian monotheism, not orthodoxy, but "proto-orthodox" - that is, one of several versions that existed among Christians, which explain monotheism as a plurality (Father, Spirit and Son) in a single being, prior to orthodoxy's settlement in Christianity.
By the time of the Arian controversy, some bishops defended a kind of dual conception of deity, which is sometimes called "Semi-Arianism
". The Macedonianism
or Pneumatomachi
typifies this view, which some prefer to call binitarian. The Semi-Arian view at that time was the Father and Son were God, but not the Holy Spirit; but none of the Arian views were strictly monotheistic (one being). All asserted that the God who speaks and the Word who creates are two beings similar to one another, of similar substance (homoiousia), and denied that they are one and the same being, or two beings of the same substance (homoousia) in which two are distinguished, as Nicaea eventually held. Nevertheless, the term binitarian is considered to be a more descriptive term than Semi-Arian, by current scholars, because the latter term has no precise meaning.
perspective most accurately reflects that of the "original Christians", the Messianic Jews. Certain scholars have noted that, "Earliest Christian worship specifies two figures, God and Jesus, as recipients" (Hurtado, Larry, "The Binitarian Shape of Early Christian Worship". International Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, 13–17 June 1998), and that early rabbis considered early Christianity to be binitarian (Summary of response by Alan F. Segal, International Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, 13–17 June 1998).
Near the end of the second century, Melito of Sardis
(whom Catholics and others consider to be a saint) wrote, "No eye can see Him, nor thought apprehend Him, nor language describe Him; and those who love Him speak of Him thus: "Father, and God of Truth" (A Discourse Which Was in the Presence of Antoninus Caesar). Melito also wrote, "For the deeds done by Christ after His baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. For, being at once both God and perfect man likewise…He concealed the signs of His Deity, although He was the true God existing before all ages" (Melito. On the Nature of Christ. From Roberts and Donaldson. In Ante-Nicene Fathers). This clearly shows that Melito considered Christ to be God, as well as the Father. There is no indication in any of the surviving writings of Melito that he considered that the Holy Spirit was also God, furthermore, the following passage suggests that he seemed to hold a binitarian view as he wrote, "The finger of the Lord-the Holy Spirit, by whose operation the tables of the law in Exodus are said to have been written"
Some non-binitarians claim that Melito contradicted the belief of the modern [Church of God] binitarians by insisting the Jesus remained fully God while He walked on earth as a man when he wrote: "On these accounts He came to us; on these accounts, though He was incorporeal, He formed for Himself a body after our fashion, -appearing as a sheep, yet still remaining the Shepherd; being esteemed a servant, yet not renouncing the Sonship; being carried in the womb of Mary, yet arrayed in the nature of His Father; treading upon the earth, yet filling heaven; appearing as an infant, yet not discarding the eternity of His nature; being invested with a body, yet not circumscribing the unmixed simplicity of His Godhead; being esteemed poor, yet not divested of His riches; needing sustenance inasmuch as He was man, yet not ceasing to feed the entire world inasmuch as He is God; putting on the likeness of a servant, yet not impairing the likeness of His Father. He sustained every character belonging to Him in an immutable nature: He was standing before Pilate, and at the same time was sitting with His Father; He was nailed upon the tree, and yet was the Lord of all things." Some claim that like the Chalcedonian Creed
adopted by later trinitarians, he here makes no mention of the Holy Spirit because his attention is focused on demonstrating the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. Binitarians, point out, however that they believe that Melito's statements do not contradict their position and no speculation about why he left out the Holy Spirit in that passage is not support for a trinitarian viewpoint.
After the 325
Council of Nicaea defeated Arianism
, the Council of Constantinople
was called in 381
in order to attempt to deal with the binitarians, who were referred to as "Semi-Arians". However, as the Trinity was finalized at this time as official Christian doctrine, the offended Semi-Arians walked out. "They rejected the Arian view that Christ was created and had a different nature from God (anomoios dissimilar), but neither did they accept the Nicene Creed which stated that Christ was 'of one substance (homoousios) with the Father'. Semi-Arians taught that Christ was similar (homoios) to the Father, or of like substance (homoiousios), but still subordinate" (Pfandl, Gerhard. The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Adventists. Biblical Research Institute
, Silver Spring, MD June 1999).
In the mid-4th century, orthodox apologist Epiphanius of Salamis
noted, "Semi-Arians…hold the truly orthodox view of the Son, that he was forever with the Father…but has been begotten without beginning and not in time…But all of these blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and do not count him in the Godhead with the Father and the Son" (The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide; Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp. 471–472).
Binitarians believe that other later groups throughout history such as some who were called Paulicians, Albigensians, and Bogomils were holders of a binitarian view. However, since these were names that the Roman Church coined in reference to what it considered to be heretical gnostic
sects, it is not always entirely clear what these groups may have affirmed.
Dualistic faiths, as many forms of gnosticism were, often conceived of the "Logos" as a demiurge
; and these have consistently been considered to be heretics by many in the Catholic
or Protestant faiths, "A heresy during the Middle Ages that developed in the town Albi in Southern France. This error taught that there were two gods…The Albigenses taught that Jesus was God but that He only appeared as a man while on earth" (Albigenes, Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry). But again, not all identified as Albigenses were binitarian, and those that were binitarian would have stated that Jesus was only a man on earth, not stated that He only appeared as a man. Binitarians strongly dispute that they are Gnostic and claim that history supports their claim—and state, for example, that if Melito was binitarian (which is a subject of debate), then binitarians did not derive from any form of Gnosticism.
After Ellen White gained influence in the American Adventist movement, in 1858 the binitarian Church of God (Seventh Day) was founded in the U.S. midwestern states of Michigan and Iowa, having split from the group of Adventists which in 1863 founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church
. Later, in 1897, Ellen White published a pamphlet declaring the Holy Spirit "the third person of the Godhead". Andrews University, an Adventist institution for higher learning, suggests that the Seventh-day Adventists were inclined towards binitarianism before this, which Gerhard Pfandl describes by the term "Semi-Arian" (Pfandl, Gerhard. "The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Adventists", Biblical Research Institute, Silver Spring, MD June 1999).
, and the Living Church of God
. Other groups, scattered spinoffs from the breakup of the previously sabbatarian Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong
, also hold to a binitarian view of God. The sabbatarian Churches of God persist in their worship of Jesus and the Father; insisting that in their worship of the "plural" God, "Elohim", as multiple separate and individual God-beings of which only the Father and Son are now very God, they are practicing monotheism, in the sense that "God" is a single family unit. Adherents of these churches believe they will eventually be born into that family as sons and daughters of God at a resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ. They also believer that others will follow as sons and daughters of God after Christ rules on Earth and teaches the correct way to live and follow him. These same groups insist certain human beings may eventually be gifted with all the attributes of the Father and Jesus. These humans who may enter the "God family" are currently only those found to be attending the congregations that openly support "pluralism", but then after Jesus's return, salvation shall be offered to all during the White Throne Judgment. God's plural identification in Genesis as "Elohim", as the Father, and the Word or Logos (John 1:1-18) who became Jesus, the firstborn of many brethren, leaves room for untold numbers to be added to God's family.
This binitarian view posits that humanity eventually will have access to become members of God's family in their own right each with the power of the Holy Spirit, however, not equal to Father, or Son. As part of the binitarian view it is also believed that, as the Bible states, the Father is greater than Jesus.
Binitarians do not believe that Jesus "was fully human and fully God", which is the position held by trinitarians
. They believe that Jesus was God (the Word) prior to His incarnation, that He became fully human (finite) yet he was not fully God during the pre-resurrection incarnation as He did not have the powers etc. of God then, and that all authority was restored to Him (as well as his infinite God-status) at or shortly after the resurrection. They make four major claims to support that position:
In other words, binitarians tend to believe that in the flesh Jesus was not who He was prior to His incarnation (God the Word), not what He was (i.e. not fully God with all authority) prior to His resurrection. He was God, then he was not fully God, then he was God again.
Trinitarians teach that the Holy Spirit is another being like the Son, who comes from the Father without becoming separate from him (Matthew 28:19-20; John 16:5-7; Acts 1:8, 2:4). Most binitarians teach that the Holy Spirit is essentially the power of God, with no distinct identity within God, and not a separate Being as they conceive the Son to be. For example, in its Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs, the binitarian Living Church of God, "The Holy Spirit is the very essence, the mind, life and power of God. It is not a Being. The Spirit is inherent in the Father and the Son, and emanates from Them throughout the entire universe (1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 139:7; Jeremiah 23:24). It was through the Spirit that God created all things (Genesis 1:1-2; Revelation 4:11). It is the power by which Christ maintains the universe (Hebrews 1:2-3). It is given to all who repent of their sins and are baptized (Acts 2:38-39) and is the power (Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:6-7) by which all believers may be "overcomers" (Romans 8:37, KJV; Revelation 2:26-27) and will be led to eternal life."
Scripture mentions prayer mainly to the Father, and perhaps to the Son, but the Holy Spirit is never prayed to nor worshiped in the Bible; in the Revelation of John, there is praise to the "one who sits upon the throne" (God), "and to the lamb" (Jesus), but the Spirit is not mentioned; modern binitarians conclude that this is because the Holy Spirit is not a separate being of the God family, and therefore the Holy Spirit/the living power of God is seated where ever both the Father and the Father's Word/the Father's Firstborn Son is seated/enthroned.
Binitarians believe that statements from early Christian leaders such as Melito of Sardis and Polycarp
of Smyrna were binitarian, though most mainstream scholars do not accept this assertion. Binitarians point out, for example, while both call the Father and Son "God", not only do neither refer to the Holy Spirit as God, Melito's Oration on Our Lord's Passion suggests that the Holy Spirit is simply the power of God in action. Binitarians have noted that Paul honors the Father and the Son towards the beginning of every book he wrote, but never does so for the Holy Spirit. Trinitarians see Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:", Ephesians 1:13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,", 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost(cor. gk. pneuma, air, breath, breeze, Spirit), and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost(cor. Spirit):" and 1 Timothy 1:14 "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." as exceptions.
By not considering that the Holy Spirit is a separate Being, some form of binitarians were also called the Pneumatomachi, as a subset of Semi-Arians. The Catholic historian Epiphanius described them as "A sort of monstrous, half-formed people of two natures" (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verse 1,1. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, p. 471).
(the current Worldwide Church of God is now trinitarian), believe that the teaching from Romans 8:29 about Jesus being "the firstborn among many brethren" demonstrates that Christians will be in the Family called "God". The view that God is a family that Christians can expect to be born into is not widely held within groups that profess Christianity
. However, there is a sense in which trinitarians believe that, by being united with Christ a Christian becomes a participant in the Son's communion with the Father, they become sons by adoption and brothers to Christ, and "sharers in the divine nature" (although Eastern Orthodox Christians would have reservations regarding how "nature" would be interpreted). This contrasting, majority view, has been thoroughly developed in the catholic, Trinitarian tradition inherited by most Protestants.
For example, the Trinitarian Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that Christians will by grace become so entirely conformed to the will, purpose, and character of God
, that they will be like gods by the grace of God, but not on the same level of the Uncreated God. Timothy Ware, an Eastern Orthodox Bishop wrote, "St. Athanasius summed up the purpose of the Incarnation by saying, 'God became human that we might be made God'…we are God's 'offspring' (Acts xvii, 28), His kin…we will become 'like' God, we will acquire divine likeness; In the words of John Damascene…To acquire the likeness is to be deified, it is to become a 'second god', a god by grace'. 'I said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High' (Psalm lxxxi, 6; cf John x, 34-35)…Such, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, is the final goal at which every Christian must attain: to become like god, to obtain theosis
, 'deification' or 'divinization'. For Orthodoxy human salvation and redemption mean something close to, but not the same as, deification…deification is not something reserved for a select few initiates, but is something intended for all alike, but only in the sense of attainment of heavenly attributes. The Orthodox Church believes this is the normal goal of every Christian without exception. Certainly we shall only be deified on the Last Day; but for each of us the process of divinization must begin here and now in this present life" (Ware T. The Orthodox Church. Penguin Books, London, 1997, p. 21, 219,231,236). Western Christians often vigorously avoid the terminology of deification, divinization, or theosis, while not necessarily rejecting the intended doctrine expressed in different terms.
Modern Binitarians strongly agree with these Eastern Orthodox statements concerning deification, as they understand them. However, in Eastern Orthodoxy, theosis is profoundly linked to a Trinitarian understanding of God, laying special emphasis on the Holy Spirit as containing and communicating the fullness of God, not as an intermediary, but as God indeed. In Eastern Orthodoxy especially, to deny that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father alone but rather from both the Father and the Son, as the filioque
states, is seen as tending toward Binitarian monotheism, or worse, bitheism. The Roman Church accepted and urged adoption of the filioque, which formed the theological rationale for the schism with the Eastern Orthodox in 1054 A.D. The Orthodox urge that these filioque statements must be rejected, because the theological understanding of the Spirit is directly attached to consequent notions of what the unity of God is, the unity of the gift of God in giving his Son and His Spirit, and thus what "salvation" means and by what principle it is lived out. In addition, the Orthodox view of theosis only allows humans to be united with God in his energies, but never with God's essence, as God remains completely transcendent in His essence.
Binitarians look forward to their hope of being deified, and deny that the trinitarian or Chalcedonian doctrines uniquely assert anything necessary to a godly faith, along with Mormons
. Nevertheless, as they do not see the strict monotheism or the trinitarianism of Eastern Orthodoxy as contributing anything essential and necessary, these binitarians see themselves as closer to the Eastern Orthodox, than to theosis as found in Western (Augustinian) Christianity, or the Mormon views of deification, as they understand these doctrines.
The Oriental Orthodox position is the same as the Eastern Orthodox position however they do not accept the wording of the Chalcedonian Creed.
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
of two personae, two individuals, or two aspects in one Godhead (or God). Classically, binitarianism is understood as strict monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
— that is, that God is an absolutely single being; and yet with binitarianism there is a "twoness" in God. The other common forms of monotheism are "unitarianism
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
", a belief in a single God with one aspect, and "trinitarianism", a belief in a single God with three aspects.
While binitarianism is sometimes used self-descriptively, it is also used to denote Christian error or heresy as are the following related terms:
- "BitheismDualismDualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
", a belief in two separate beings in one "God family" who are in perfect harmony/agreement with each other/one another, composed of the Father and the Son as two distinct Gods, and the Holy Spirit as not a God, but rather as the living power of God that flows/emanates between both the Father and the Son. - "DitheismDualismDualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
", a belief in two Gods working against one another's purpose, e.g. God versus the Satan. This term has been used to describe the doctrines of the World Churches of God by the offshoot Christian Churches of God.
Scholarly views of early Christian theology
Larry W. HurtadoLarry W. Hurtado
Larry Hurtado is a scholar of early Christianity and Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology in The University of Edinburgh, Scotland...
of University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
uses the word binitarian to describe the position of early Christian devotion to God, which ascribes to the Son (Jesus) an exaltedness that in Judaism would be reserved for God alone, while still affirming as in Judaism that God is one, and is alone to be worshiped. He writes:
…there are a fairly consistent linkage and subordination of Jesus to God 'the Father' in these circles, evident even in the Christian texts from the latter decades of the first century that are commonly regarded as a very 'high' Christology, such as the Gospel of John and Revelation. This is why I referred to this Jesus-devotion as a "binitarian" form of monotheism: there are two distinguishable figures (God and Jesus), but they are posited in a relation to each other that seems intended to avoid the ditheism of two gods" (Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, 2003, pp. 52-53).
Hurtado does not cite "binitarianism" as antithetical to Nicene Christianity, but rather as an indication that early Christians, before Nicea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
, were monotheistic (as evidenced by their singular reference to the Father as God), and yet also devoted to Jesus as pre-existent, co- eternal, the creator, embodying the power of God, by whom the Father is revealed, and in whose name alone the Father is worshiped. He writes, "The central place given to Jesus…and…their concern to avoid ditheism by reverencing Jesus rather consistently with reference to "the Father", combine to shape the proto-orthodox "binitarian" pattern of devotion. Jesus truly is reverenced as divine" (Ibid, p. 618).
Hurtado's view might be interpreted as urging that, at this stage of the development of the Church's understanding, it could be said that God is a person (the Father), and a single being; and that Jesus is distinct from the Father, was pre- existent with God, and also originating from God without becoming a being separate from him, so that he is God (the Son). This view of a binitarian pattern of devotion would posit a unity of God's being, and a singleness of the object of worship, which is sympathetic to its predecessor view in Judaism; and it also displays a plurality of simultaneous identities which is sympathetic to its successor in trinitarianism. It is a development of understanding of Christ, in other words, from which arose several understandings in the course of development, that eventually came into conflict with one another.
Before Hurtado's influential work, one classic scholarly theory of binitarianism was that the Holy Spirit was seen as in some sense identical to the Son, or uniquely embodied in him. The Shepherd of Hermas, among other sources, is cited to support the theory. In one of the parables, for example, an angel declares:
The preexistent Holy Spirit, which created the whole creation, God caused to live in the flesh that he wished. This flesh, therefore, in which the Holy Spirit lived served the Spirit well, living in holiness and purity, without defiling the Spirit in any way. … it had lived honorably and chastely, and had worked with the Spirit and cooperated with it in everything.
The classic theory of Christian binitarian theology, assumed by most dictionary definitions of binitarianism, asserts that some early Christians conceived of the Spirit as going out from God the creator, and is the creator: an aspect of God's being, which also lived in Jesus (or from other sources, appears to be thought of as Jesus's pre-existent, divine nature). This view further asserts that the same Spirit is given to men, making them a new creation, and sharers in the same hope of resurrection and exaltation. This interpretation of early Christian belief is often cited in contrast to trinitarianism. However, trinitarians cite the same sources as examples of pre-Nicene Christian monotheism, not orthodoxy, but "proto-orthodox" - that is, one of several versions that existed among Christians, which explain monotheism as a plurality (Father, Spirit and Son) in a single being, prior to orthodoxy's settlement in Christianity.
By the time of the Arian controversy, some bishops defended a kind of dual conception of deity, which is sometimes called "Semi-Arianism
Semi-Arianism
Semi-Arianism is a name frequently given to the Trinitarian position of the conservative majority of the Eastern Christian Church in the 4th century, to distinguish it from strict Arianism....
". The Macedonianism
Macedonians (religious group)
The Macedonians were a Christian sect of the 4th century, named after Bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople. They professed a belief similar to that of Arianism, but apparently denying the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and regarding the substance of Jesus Christ as being the same in kind as that of...
or Pneumatomachi
Pneumatomachi
The Pneumatomachi, also known as Macedonians or Semi-Arians in Constantinople and the Tropici in Alexandria, were an anti-Nicene Creed sect which flourished in the countries adjacent to the Hellespont during the latter half of the fourth, and the beginning of the fifth century...
typifies this view, which some prefer to call binitarian. The Semi-Arian view at that time was the Father and Son were God, but not the Holy Spirit; but none of the Arian views were strictly monotheistic (one being). All asserted that the God who speaks and the Word who creates are two beings similar to one another, of similar substance (homoiousia), and denied that they are one and the same being, or two beings of the same substance (homoousia) in which two are distinguished, as Nicaea eventually held. Nevertheless, the term binitarian is considered to be a more descriptive term than Semi-Arian, by current scholars, because the latter term has no precise meaning.
History
Many "Church of God" Binitarians (see below) believe that their ChristologyChristology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
perspective most accurately reflects that of the "original Christians", the Messianic Jews. Certain scholars have noted that, "Earliest Christian worship specifies two figures, God and Jesus, as recipients" (Hurtado, Larry, "The Binitarian Shape of Early Christian Worship". International Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, 13–17 June 1998), and that early rabbis considered early Christianity to be binitarian (Summary of response by Alan F. Segal, International Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, 13–17 June 1998).
Near the end of the second century, Melito of Sardis
Melito of Sardis
Melito of Sardis was the bishop of Sardis near Smyrna in western Anatolia, and a great authority in Early Christianity: Jerome, speaking of the Old Testament canon established by Melito, quotes Tertullian to the effect that he was esteemed a prophet by many of the faithful...
(whom Catholics and others consider to be a saint) wrote, "No eye can see Him, nor thought apprehend Him, nor language describe Him; and those who love Him speak of Him thus: "Father, and God of Truth" (A Discourse Which Was in the Presence of Antoninus Caesar). Melito also wrote, "For the deeds done by Christ after His baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. For, being at once both God and perfect man likewise…He concealed the signs of His Deity, although He was the true God existing before all ages" (Melito. On the Nature of Christ. From Roberts and Donaldson. In Ante-Nicene Fathers). This clearly shows that Melito considered Christ to be God, as well as the Father. There is no indication in any of the surviving writings of Melito that he considered that the Holy Spirit was also God, furthermore, the following passage suggests that he seemed to hold a binitarian view as he wrote, "The finger of the Lord-the Holy Spirit, by whose operation the tables of the law in Exodus are said to have been written"
Some non-binitarians claim that Melito contradicted the belief of the modern [Church of God] binitarians by insisting the Jesus remained fully God while He walked on earth as a man when he wrote: "On these accounts He came to us; on these accounts, though He was incorporeal, He formed for Himself a body after our fashion, -appearing as a sheep, yet still remaining the Shepherd; being esteemed a servant, yet not renouncing the Sonship; being carried in the womb of Mary, yet arrayed in the nature of His Father; treading upon the earth, yet filling heaven; appearing as an infant, yet not discarding the eternity of His nature; being invested with a body, yet not circumscribing the unmixed simplicity of His Godhead; being esteemed poor, yet not divested of His riches; needing sustenance inasmuch as He was man, yet not ceasing to feed the entire world inasmuch as He is God; putting on the likeness of a servant, yet not impairing the likeness of His Father. He sustained every character belonging to Him in an immutable nature: He was standing before Pilate, and at the same time was sitting with His Father; He was nailed upon the tree, and yet was the Lord of all things." Some claim that like the Chalcedonian Creed
Chalcedonian Creed
The Confession of Chalcedon , also known as the Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union or the Two-Nature Doctrine, was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor. That Council of Chalcedon is one of the first seven Ecumenical Councils accepted by Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and many...
adopted by later trinitarians, he here makes no mention of the Holy Spirit because his attention is focused on demonstrating the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. Binitarians, point out, however that they believe that Melito's statements do not contradict their position and no speculation about why he left out the Holy Spirit in that passage is not support for a trinitarian viewpoint.
After the 325
325
Year 325 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Paulinus...
Council of Nicaea defeated Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
, the Council of Constantinople
First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople is recognized as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. It was the first Ecumenical Council held in...
was called in 381
381
Year 381 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Syagrius and Eucherius...
in order to attempt to deal with the binitarians, who were referred to as "Semi-Arians". However, as the Trinity was finalized at this time as official Christian doctrine, the offended Semi-Arians walked out. "They rejected the Arian view that Christ was created and had a different nature from God (anomoios dissimilar), but neither did they accept the Nicene Creed which stated that Christ was 'of one substance (homoousios) with the Father'. Semi-Arians taught that Christ was similar (homoios) to the Father, or of like substance (homoiousios), but still subordinate" (Pfandl, Gerhard. The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Adventists. Biblical Research Institute
Biblical Research Institute
The Biblical Research Institute is a service department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with the three stated functions of research, apologetics , and service to the church. It serves as a theological consultant to the General Conference...
, Silver Spring, MD June 1999).
In the mid-4th century, orthodox apologist Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
noted, "Semi-Arians…hold the truly orthodox view of the Son, that he was forever with the Father…but has been begotten without beginning and not in time…But all of these blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and do not count him in the Godhead with the Father and the Son" (The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide; Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp. 471–472).
Binitarians believe that other later groups throughout history such as some who were called Paulicians, Albigensians, and Bogomils were holders of a binitarian view. However, since these were names that the Roman Church coined in reference to what it considered to be heretical gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
sects, it is not always entirely clear what these groups may have affirmed.
Dualistic faiths, as many forms of gnosticism were, often conceived of the "Logos" as a demiurge
Demiurge
The demiurge is a concept from the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The term was subsequently adopted by the Gnostics...
; and these have consistently been considered to be heretics by many in the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
or Protestant faiths, "A heresy during the Middle Ages that developed in the town Albi in Southern France. This error taught that there were two gods…The Albigenses taught that Jesus was God but that He only appeared as a man while on earth" (Albigenes, Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry). But again, not all identified as Albigenses were binitarian, and those that were binitarian would have stated that Jesus was only a man on earth, not stated that He only appeared as a man. Binitarians strongly dispute that they are Gnostic and claim that history supports their claim—and state, for example, that if Melito was binitarian (which is a subject of debate), then binitarians did not derive from any form of Gnosticism.
After Ellen White gained influence in the American Adventist movement, in 1858 the binitarian Church of God (Seventh Day) was founded in the U.S. midwestern states of Michigan and Iowa, having split from the group of Adventists which in 1863 founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
. Later, in 1897, Ellen White published a pamphlet declaring the Holy Spirit "the third person of the Godhead". Andrews University, an Adventist institution for higher learning, suggests that the Seventh-day Adventists were inclined towards binitarianism before this, which Gerhard Pfandl describes by the term "Semi-Arian" (Pfandl, Gerhard. "The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Adventists", Biblical Research Institute, Silver Spring, MD June 1999).
Church of God
By the latter half of the 19th century, binitarianism was held by a relatively small group of church denominations. At present, it is a theology essentially held only by some 7th Day Church of God groups. The three largest church denominations that appear to hold a binitarian view today are the Church of God (Seventh Day), United Church of GodUnited Church of God
The United Church of God, an International Association is a Christian denomination based in the United States with members in various countries around the world...
, and the Living Church of God
Living Church of God
The Living Church of God is one of the church groups formed by followers of the teachings of the late Herbert W. Armstrong. It was formed as a series of major doctrinal changes were introduced in the Worldwide Church of God after Armstrong's death in 1986...
. Other groups, scattered spinoffs from the breakup of the previously sabbatarian Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God in the late 1930s, as well as Ambassador College in 1946, and was an early pioneer of radio and tele-evangelism, originally taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon...
, also hold to a binitarian view of God. The sabbatarian Churches of God persist in their worship of Jesus and the Father; insisting that in their worship of the "plural" God, "Elohim", as multiple separate and individual God-beings of which only the Father and Son are now very God, they are practicing monotheism, in the sense that "God" is a single family unit. Adherents of these churches believe they will eventually be born into that family as sons and daughters of God at a resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ. They also believer that others will follow as sons and daughters of God after Christ rules on Earth and teaches the correct way to live and follow him. These same groups insist certain human beings may eventually be gifted with all the attributes of the Father and Jesus. These humans who may enter the "God family" are currently only those found to be attending the congregations that openly support "pluralism", but then after Jesus's return, salvation shall be offered to all during the White Throne Judgment. God's plural identification in Genesis as "Elohim", as the Father, and the Word or Logos (John 1:1-18) who became Jesus, the firstborn of many brethren, leaves room for untold numbers to be added to God's family.
This binitarian view posits that humanity eventually will have access to become members of God's family in their own right each with the power of the Holy Spirit, however, not equal to Father, or Son. As part of the binitarian view it is also believed that, as the Bible states, the Father is greater than Jesus.
Contrast with Trinitarians
Trinitarians sometimes describe the modern binitarian view as "ditheist" or "dualist", instead of binitarian, because in their misunderstanding of binitarianism some claim binitarianism posits that God is multiple beings, analogous to a human family; as all humans are also called "Man", after their first father, so in the Father's family, all born into his family are called "God". This is considered a form of polytheism in the traditional trinitarian view as well as in the unitarian or monotheistic point of view.Binitarians do not believe that Jesus "was fully human and fully God", which is the position held by trinitarians
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
. They believe that Jesus was God (the Word) prior to His incarnation, that He became fully human (finite) yet he was not fully God during the pre-resurrection incarnation as He did not have the powers etc. of God then, and that all authority was restored to Him (as well as his infinite God-status) at or shortly after the resurrection. They make four major claims to support that position:
- Binitarians believe that Jesus emptied Himself of His Divinity while in the flesh, citing the same Scriptures which trinitarians cite to the opposite conclusion: that he denied himself the honor and glory he deserved, and hide the fact that he is equal to the Father, in order to serve those who were undeserving. 2 Corinthians 8:9 states that Jesus became poor, yet God is rich (Haggai 2:8), while Philippians 2:7 states, "…Christ Jesus, who subsisting in (the) form of God thought (it) not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself, taking (the) form of a slave, becoming in (the) likeness of men" (Literal translation. Green J.P. ed. Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, 3rd ed. Baker Books, Grand Rapids (MI), 1996, p. 607). The binitarian view of these texts is called kenosisKenosisIn Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis (from the Greek word for emptiness (kénōsis) is the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God's divine will....
, referring to the idea that what Jesus "emptied" himself of was his divinity (rather, than, say, his exalted position in Heaven). - Binitarians deny the trinitarian teaching that Jesus possessed two wills and two natures. For this reason they view the assertions of Jesus that He "could do nothing" without the Father, prior to His resurrection (John 5:19,30; 8:28), as a denial by him that he had all divine rights until after the resurrection, when he claimed that he had "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). They conclude that it is because he had overcome the temptations of Satan and upon living the perfect sinless life would be "all powerful".
- Similarly, they note that the Bible claims that Jesus was tempted in all points as humans are (Hebrews 4:15) and that in another place the Bible claims "God cannot be tempted by evil" (James 1:13). Denying the trinitarian view of two natures, binitarians see the assertions as contradictory if posited of the same person, and therefore, since "scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35) Jesus could not have been fully God while in the flesh.
- Binitarians and Trinitarians note that Jesus was not called God in the flesh until after His resurrection (John 20:28). Binitarians add to this an assumption that it was only after the resurrection that it was fully true of him, which Paul claimed, that "in Him dwells all the fullness of the GodheadGodhead (Christianity)Godhead is a Middle English variant of the word godhood, and denotes the Divine Nature or Substance of the Christian God, or the Trinity. Within some traditions such as Mormonism, the term is used as a nontrinitarian substitute for the term Trinity, denoting the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit not as...
bodily" (Colossians 2:9) and that Jesus had all power (Colossians 2:10). The binitarians teach the view that Jesus was God, and became God, and that believers will follow him to achieve the same goal.
In other words, binitarians tend to believe that in the flesh Jesus was not who He was prior to His incarnation (God the Word), not what He was (i.e. not fully God with all authority) prior to His resurrection. He was God, then he was not fully God, then he was God again.
Trinitarians teach that the Holy Spirit is another being like the Son, who comes from the Father without becoming separate from him (Matthew 28:19-20; John 16:5-7; Acts 1:8, 2:4). Most binitarians teach that the Holy Spirit is essentially the power of God, with no distinct identity within God, and not a separate Being as they conceive the Son to be. For example, in its Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs, the binitarian Living Church of God, "The Holy Spirit is the very essence, the mind, life and power of God. It is not a Being. The Spirit is inherent in the Father and the Son, and emanates from Them throughout the entire universe (1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 139:7; Jeremiah 23:24). It was through the Spirit that God created all things (Genesis 1:1-2; Revelation 4:11). It is the power by which Christ maintains the universe (Hebrews 1:2-3). It is given to all who repent of their sins and are baptized (Acts 2:38-39) and is the power (Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:6-7) by which all believers may be "overcomers" (Romans 8:37, KJV; Revelation 2:26-27) and will be led to eternal life."
Scripture mentions prayer mainly to the Father, and perhaps to the Son, but the Holy Spirit is never prayed to nor worshiped in the Bible; in the Revelation of John, there is praise to the "one who sits upon the throne" (God), "and to the lamb" (Jesus), but the Spirit is not mentioned; modern binitarians conclude that this is because the Holy Spirit is not a separate being of the God family, and therefore the Holy Spirit/the living power of God is seated where ever both the Father and the Father's Word/the Father's Firstborn Son is seated/enthroned.
Binitarians believe that statements from early Christian leaders such as Melito of Sardis and Polycarp
Polycarp
Saint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
of Smyrna were binitarian, though most mainstream scholars do not accept this assertion. Binitarians point out, for example, while both call the Father and Son "God", not only do neither refer to the Holy Spirit as God, Melito's Oration on Our Lord's Passion suggests that the Holy Spirit is simply the power of God in action. Binitarians have noted that Paul honors the Father and the Son towards the beginning of every book he wrote, but never does so for the Holy Spirit. Trinitarians see Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:", Ephesians 1:13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,", 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost(cor. gk. pneuma, air, breath, breeze, Spirit), and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost(cor. Spirit):" and 1 Timothy 1:14 "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." as exceptions.
By not considering that the Holy Spirit is a separate Being, some form of binitarians were also called the Pneumatomachi, as a subset of Semi-Arians. The Catholic historian Epiphanius described them as "A sort of monstrous, half-formed people of two natures" (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verse 1,1. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, p. 471).
Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity
Binitarians from groups originating in the old Worldwide Church of GodWorldwide Church of God
Grace Communion International , formerly the Worldwide Church of God , is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Glendora, California, United States. Since April 3, 2009, it has used the new name Grace Communion International in the US...
(the current Worldwide Church of God is now trinitarian), believe that the teaching from Romans 8:29 about Jesus being "the firstborn among many brethren" demonstrates that Christians will be in the Family called "God". The view that God is a family that Christians can expect to be born into is not widely held within groups that profess Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. However, there is a sense in which trinitarians believe that, by being united with Christ a Christian becomes a participant in the Son's communion with the Father, they become sons by adoption and brothers to Christ, and "sharers in the divine nature" (although Eastern Orthodox Christians would have reservations regarding how "nature" would be interpreted). This contrasting, majority view, has been thoroughly developed in the catholic, Trinitarian tradition inherited by most Protestants.
For example, the Trinitarian Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that Christians will by grace become so entirely conformed to the will, purpose, and character of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, that they will be like gods by the grace of God, but not on the same level of the Uncreated God. Timothy Ware, an Eastern Orthodox Bishop wrote, "St. Athanasius summed up the purpose of the Incarnation by saying, 'God became human that we might be made God'…we are God's 'offspring' (Acts xvii, 28), His kin…we will become 'like' God, we will acquire divine likeness; In the words of John Damascene…To acquire the likeness is to be deified, it is to become a 'second god', a god by grace'. 'I said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High' (Psalm lxxxi, 6; cf John x, 34-35)…Such, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, is the final goal at which every Christian must attain: to become like god, to obtain theosis
Theosis
In Christian theology, divinization, deification, making divine or theosis is the transforming effect of divine grace. This concept of salvation is historical and fundamental for Christian understanding that is prominent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and also in the Catholic Church, and is a...
, 'deification' or 'divinization'. For Orthodoxy human salvation and redemption mean something close to, but not the same as, deification…deification is not something reserved for a select few initiates, but is something intended for all alike, but only in the sense of attainment of heavenly attributes. The Orthodox Church believes this is the normal goal of every Christian without exception. Certainly we shall only be deified on the Last Day; but for each of us the process of divinization must begin here and now in this present life" (Ware T. The Orthodox Church. Penguin Books, London, 1997, p. 21, 219,231,236). Western Christians often vigorously avoid the terminology of deification, divinization, or theosis, while not necessarily rejecting the intended doctrine expressed in different terms.
Modern Binitarians strongly agree with these Eastern Orthodox statements concerning deification, as they understand them. However, in Eastern Orthodoxy, theosis is profoundly linked to a Trinitarian understanding of God, laying special emphasis on the Holy Spirit as containing and communicating the fullness of God, not as an intermediary, but as God indeed. In Eastern Orthodoxy especially, to deny that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father alone but rather from both the Father and the Son, as the filioque
Filioque clause
Filioque , Latin for "and the Son", is a phrase found in the form of Nicene Creed in use in the Latin Church. It is not present in the Greek text of the Nicene Creed as originally formulated at the First Council of Constantinople, which says only that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father":The...
states, is seen as tending toward Binitarian monotheism, or worse, bitheism. The Roman Church accepted and urged adoption of the filioque, which formed the theological rationale for the schism with the Eastern Orthodox in 1054 A.D. The Orthodox urge that these filioque statements must be rejected, because the theological understanding of the Spirit is directly attached to consequent notions of what the unity of God is, the unity of the gift of God in giving his Son and His Spirit, and thus what "salvation" means and by what principle it is lived out. In addition, the Orthodox view of theosis only allows humans to be united with God in his energies, but never with God's essence, as God remains completely transcendent in His essence.
Binitarians look forward to their hope of being deified, and deny that the trinitarian or Chalcedonian doctrines uniquely assert anything necessary to a godly faith, along with Mormons
Mormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
. Nevertheless, as they do not see the strict monotheism or the trinitarianism of Eastern Orthodoxy as contributing anything essential and necessary, these binitarians see themselves as closer to the Eastern Orthodox, than to theosis as found in Western (Augustinian) Christianity, or the Mormon views of deification, as they understand these doctrines.
The Oriental Orthodox position is the same as the Eastern Orthodox position however they do not accept the wording of the Chalcedonian Creed.
See also
- ArmstrongismArmstrongismArmstrongism refers to the teachings and doctrines of Herbert W. Armstrong while leader of the Worldwide Church of God , and is professed by him and his followers to be the restored true Gospel of the Bible. Armstrong said they were revealed to him by God during his study of the Bible....
- Conceptions of GodConceptions of GodThe God of monotheism, pantheism or panentheism, or the supreme deity of henotheistic religions, may be conceived of in various degrees of abstraction:...
- First Council of ConstantinopleFirst Council of ConstantinopleThe First Council of Constantinople is recognized as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. It was the first Ecumenical Council held in...
(381) - Macedonianism
- Names of GodNames of GodNames of God, or Holy Names, describe a form of addressing God present in liturgy or prayer of various world religions. Prayer involving the Holy Name or the Name of God has become established as common spiritual practice in both Western and Eastern spiritual practices...
- NontrinitarianismNontrinitarianismNontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity, namely, the teaching that God is three distinct hypostases and yet co-eternal, co-equal, and indivisibly united in one essence or ousia...
- TrinityTrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
External links
- Binitarianism heresy
- Pneumatomachi - Catholic Encyclopedia article