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Heresies & Errors
Heresy
Charged in the 6th century; a recurring error · The Trinity

Tritheism

The heresy of treating the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate gods who share a divine nature only in the way three human beings share humanity. It overcorrects modalism by losing the oneness of God.

The central claim

The Father, Son, and Spirit are three gods united in purpose.

ClassificationHeresy
PeriodPatristic
DatesCharged in the 6th century; a recurring error
Doctrine affectedThe Trinity

A heresy denies the Gospel or the God it reveals (Galatians 1:8).

Historical origins

Where It Began

Few have openly taught three gods, and the label has often been a charge rather than a confession. The clearest ancient case arose in the sixth century, when the philosopher John Philoponus and others argued that the three persons share one nature only as individuals share a common kind, so that there are three particular divine substances. Their opponents called this tritheism.

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In a sentence

Why This Is Dangerous

It denies the one true God, for the LORD our God is one LORD (Deuteronomy 6:4). Three gods would make Christian worship the very polytheism the Bible condemns.