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What is Monarchical Trinitarianism?

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Monarchical Trinitarianism, also referred to as the “Monarchy of the Father,” is a theological perspective that asserts the Father as the sole source (or monarch) within the Trinity. This view maintains a clear distinction of roles among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit while upholding their unity in essence. It is essential to distinguish this from Monarchianism, a heretical belief condemned in the 4th century, which posited that God is a single person rather than three distinct persons.

The Eternal Begottenness of the Son

The term “created” used by the early pre-Nicene Fathers does not align with the Arian view, which posits that the Son was created ex nihilo (out of nothing), making Him a creature. As Arius infamously declared, “there was a time when the Son was not”. Rather, the Fathers articulated that the Son was begotten out of the Father, emphasising His divine origin and eternal existence within the Father’s bosom (cf. John 1:18 in Greek). As Justin Martyr explains, “For Christ is the first-begotten of God, and we have declared above that He is the Word of whom every race of men were partakers; and those who lived reasonably are Christians, even though they have been thought atheists” (Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 46). This highlights that the Son, the Word, existed eternally with the Father before being begotten and manifested.

Similarly, Hippolytus expounds on this concept, noting that “God, subsisting alone, and having nothing contemporaneous with Himself, determined to create the world … For He was neither without reason, nor wisdom, nor power, nor counsel And all things were in Him, and He was the All. When He willed, and as He willed, He manifested His word in the times determined by Him, and by Him He made all things. … And thus there appeared another beside Himself. But when I say another, I do not mean that there are two Gods, but that it is only as light of light, or as water from a fountain, or as a ray from the sun. For there is but one power, which is from the All; and the Father is the All, from whom cometh this Power, the Word. And this is the mind which came forth into the world, and was manifested as the Son of God.” (Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of One Noetus, Chapter 10–11). Here, Hippolytus underscores the eternal existence of the Word within God, proceeding from the Father and being of the same essence.

The Procession of the Holy Spirit

The procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father is another essential aspect of Monarchical Trinitarianism. The Spirit, like the Son, derives His essence from the Father, ensuring that He is co-equal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son. Tertullian speaks to this procession in his work, Against Praxeas, explaining how the Word and Spirit derive their essence from the Father.

But still the tree is not severed from the root, nor the river from the fountain, nor the ray from the sun; nor, indeed, is the Word separated from God. … Now the Spirit indeed is third from God and the Son; just as the fruit of the tree is third from the root, or as the stream out of the river is third from the fountain, or as the apex of the ray is third from the sun. Nothing, however, is alien from that original source whence it derives its own properties. In like manner the Trinity, flowing down from the Father through intertwined and connected steps, does not at all disturb the Monarchy, while it at the same time guards the state of the Economy. (Tertullian, Against Praxeas, Chapter 8).

Looking at how Tertullian describes this doctrine, we can see how he has gone to lengths to carefully explain how the relationship within the Trinity exists together and relate to one another, while keeping intact the source and essence of divinity united and uncompromised. When we talk about these things, we use terms like “ontological” and “economy” to help to describe the Godhead. Ontology is the study of being, and what makes something what it is by nature. The economy of the Trinity refers to the outworking and activity of the divine Persons.

This points us to the distinction between the Father’s primacy and “monarchy” as the divine source, and the “economy” between the Persons in their roles in salvation and redemptive history. Ontologically the Persons of the Trinity are the same as they share in the same essence of the Father, and thus co-equal and co-eternal, but in terms of how they relate to one another and to humanity, there is a type of subordination. As Jesus said in John 5:19–23, “the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”, similar also to how Jesus said that only the Father knows the hour of the End, and that the Son doesn’t know (Mark 13:32).

The One True God

Central to Monarchical Trinitarianism is the recognition of the Father as the One True God, or άυτόθεος (autotheos), meaning self-existent. He is the uncaused, unbegotten source of divinity, from whom the Son and the Spirit derive their being. The early Fathers were clear that this does not diminish the divinity of the Son and the Spirit but rather establishes the order within the Godhead. Origen articulates this succinctly in his De Principiis, “…it may be understood that the Son is not of a different goodness, but of that only which exists in the Father, of whom He is rightly termed the image, because He proceeds from no other source but from that primal goodness, lest there might appear to be in the Son a different goodness from that which is in the Father.” (Origen, De Principiis, Book 1, Chapter 2.13).

While Origen’s language reflects a certain subordination in terms of order or generation, not essence, it points to the Father’s role as the uncreated fountainhead of divinity. This view no doubt comes from the New Testament itself, from such verses as Hebrews 1:3, Philippians 2:6–8, and the following:

For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection’, it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:27–28).

The Distinction from Monarchianism

It is crucial to differentiate Monarchical Trinitarianism from Monarchianism, despite the similar sounding names. Monarchianism, which shares similar theology with Modalism/Sabellianism, was condemned as heresy in the 4th century. It denied the distinct personhood within the Godhead, positing that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are merely different modes or aspects of one God. This view was rejected by the early church for undermining the distinct personal relationships and the eternal generation and procession within the Trinity.

Monarchians were opposed by “Logos theologians”, such as Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen of Alexandria.

Catechism of the Orthodox Faith

The Orthodox Church holds more prominently to the Monarchy of the Father in their Trinitarian doctrines. According to the Catechism of the Orthodox Faith, the Monarchy of the Father is articulated as follows:

God the Father is neither begotten nor proceeds from any other Person, he is the cause, source and principle. This is called the Monarchy of the Father. (Catechism of the Orthodox Faith, 094)
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit share equal majesty as being the eternal, uncreated Savior and Lord. The Father is true God, the Son equally true God, and the Holy Spirit true God. This ontological or essential equality was expressed by the Church by the expression “homoousion” (of the same essence) to condemn Arianism and affirm that the Son is co-eternal and co-uncreated with the Father. This does not negate different roles or functions. (Catechism of the Orthodox Faith, 095)

In this view, when the Son says that “the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), he is referring to the fact that the Father is the cause and origin. Various Church Fathers have understood this verse in this regard:

“The Son does not say, ‘My Father is better than I,’ lest we should conceive him to be foreign to his nature, but ‘greater,’ not indeed in greatness nor in time, but because of his generation from the Father himself” (St Athanasius, Orations against the Arians, 1.58)
“Since the Son’s origin (arche) is from the Father, in this respect the Father is greater, as cause and origin. This is why the Lord says, ‘My Father is greater than I.’ Indeed, what else does the word Father signify unless being the cause and origin of that which is begotten of Him?” (St Basil, Against Eunomius, 1.25)
“Superior greatness belongs to the cause, equality to the nature… To say that [the Father] is greater than [the Son] in his humanity is certainly true, but it is not the point here, since it is no wonder that God is greater than man” (St Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration, 30.7)
“If anyone says that the Father is greater in so far as He is the cause of the Son, we will not dispute this. But this, however, does not make the Son to be of a different essence” (St John Chrysostom, Homily, 70)

In summary, the perspective of the Orthodox Church, and various theologians in the early church, explain the Monarchy of the Father through His supreme greatness as the “cause, source, and principle” while simultaneously affirming the co-equality of the Persons within the Trinity, since they share the same divine essence. Anything “lesser” in the Son or Spirit is due to their cause, function or role rather than their ontological reality.

Biblical Foundations and Theological Consistency

The biblical foundation for Monarchical Trinitarianism is evident in Scriptures such as Proverbs 8:22–30, which speaks of Wisdom (often interpreted as a prefiguration of Christ) being brought forth before the creation of the world. The Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:15–17 refers to Christ as “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created”, affirming the Son’s role in creation and preexistence. Additionally, John’s Gospel affirms the divinity of Christ, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

These passages, alongside the teachings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, confirm the historical orthodoxy of Monarchical Trinitarianism, which maintains the unity and co-equality of the Trinity while acknowledging the Father as the source. This theological framework provides a robust understanding of the relational dynamics within the Godhead, affirming the eternal generation of the Son and the procession of the Spirit from the Father, without compromising the divine essence shared among the three Persons.

In conclusion, Monarchical Trinitarianism, grounded in the early church’s teachings and biblical exegesis, offers a coherent and historically rooted articulation of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It emphasises the Father’s unique role as the source of divinity while affirming the full deity and consubstantiality of the Son and the Spirit, thus preserving the unity and diversity within the Godhead.

 

Sources & Further Reading

 

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