dered. Here
the name is used to indicate the relation in which the First Person
stands to the Second, in virtue of which alone those who are adopted
into fellowship with the Son become the children of God--the children
of Christ's Father and their Father. The Scriptures teach that the
Father is God, that the Son is God, and that the Holy Ghost is God. At
the same time the doctrine of the Divine Unity is affirmed.

The difficulty felt in connection with the doctrine of Trinity in Unity
has led to attempts in ancient and modern times to show that those
passages of Scripture in which it appears to be taught may be otherwise
interpreted. One explanation is, from the name of its first exponent,
termed Sabellianism, or, the doctrine of a Modal Trinity. The view which
it presents of the Divine Being is that the same Person manifests
Himself at one time and in one relation as Father, at another time and
in another relation as Son, and at a different time and in another
relation as Holy Ghost. It attributes divinity to this One Divine Person
in each of His manifestations, but denies that there are three Persons
in the Godhead. The facts of Scripture do not accord with such a view of
the Divine Personality. We find each Person addressing the Others and
speaking of Himself and of Them as distinct Persons. Each speaking of
Himself says "I." The Father says "Thou" to the Son, the Son says "Thou"
to the Father, and the Father and the Son use the pronouns "He" and
"Him" with reference to the Spirit. The Father loves the Son, the Son
loves the Father, the Spirit testifies of the Son.[024]

In the Athanasian Creed we find the following statement of this
doctrine:--

"This is the Catholic Faith, that we worship one God in Trinity,
and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons nor
dividing the Substance. For the Person of the Father is one, of
the Son another, of the Holy Ghost another. But the divinity of
the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost is one, the glory
equal, the majesty equal. Such as is the Father, such also is
the Son, and such the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the
Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is
infinite, the Son is infinite, the Holy Ghost is infinite. The
Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Ghost is
eternal. And yet these are not three eternal Beings but one
eternal Being. As also there are not three uncreated