(Modalism has been brought up a few times recently in various threads on this forum recently, and I thought to start a discussion about it. But then I found this thread and thought to just comment here . . .)
This was a good opening post by OBW back in 2017, and this thread had stretched into the spring of this year. So here's my buck-two-ninety-eight on the subject.
Trying to definitively describe the triune God, as my dad likes to say, "Is like trying to corner Jello!" People go forth and back and forth with each other, trying to nail this down. It's perhaps worse than an amoeba trying to describe a flying eagle to another amoeba (picture that!). But yet brothers rail against others and call them heretics (and maybe worse), because they perceive that the other is off somewhere in describing their perception of this mystery (i.e., Modalism vs Trinitarianism).
Dare I say it - SO WHAT!?
I read a book by Bill Freeman from 1994 titled, "The Triune God in Experience (The Testimony of Church History)." It is the best thing I've read on the subject (BTW - out of print) as its main thesis is that,
"The utterance selected by the Holy Spirit to convey the fact of God's triune existence as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is consistent within the text of experience. . . . the way He has chosen to make His triune being known is in the context of man's experience." (from pg. 1-2) Therefore all the back and forth humans have in trying to pin down exactly how this One exists, is akin to the proverbial "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" argument. In other words, it doesn't really make any difference in the end, and misses the point, namely - GOD WANTS TO BE EXPERIENCED BY US AND HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH US! (and not to be mentally dissected by us)
I believe if someone is in perceived error regarding the exact nature of God, it is
His job to point that out, not mine. And who am I really to say that I (amoeba) have an accurate view of God's (eagle) nature any way? The important thing conveyed in the New Covenant is that we are to go boldly to Him, and He will then let us know what we need to know. (this is, of course, unless the person thinks God is like the Purple Flying Spaghetti Monster or some such nonsense)
There, I feel better now . . . (and it's all about me
)