Modalistic Monarchianism
Since the inception of the church on the day of Pentecost, New Testament Christians have been faced with fierce external opposition. However, and quite surprisingly, some of the most pernicious assaults have come, not from without, but from within, as heretics have attempted to destroy the essential fundamentals of the faith. While the church fought for her very existence, she also combated internal heresy which would have tainted and tarnished the purity of doctrine (Cairns, 1996). Though heresy, if accepted and practiced, is never advantageous for the church, it does force Christians to be more precise, to accurately define doctrine, and to distinguish truth from falsehood (Sproul, 2011). In the first few centuries, this occurred quite frequently, as the nascent church endeavored to establish its position on certain key doctrines through the use of ecumenical councils. For example, varying opinions were purported as to the belief in the nature of God and whether God existed as a tri