The two main 3rd-century positions that theologians in the early church had to struggle against regarding the doctrine of the Godhead were:
1. Modalism (Sabellianism): This view, named after Sabellius, held that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were not distinct persons but rather different *modes* or *aspects* of the one God. In other words, God manifests himself as the Father in creation, as the Son in redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in sanctification, but he is always ultimately one single person. The problem with this view was that it undermined the distinct and real relationships within the Trinity as presented in Scripture, potentially leading to the conclusion that the Father suffered on the cross.
2. Subordinationism: This view held that the Son and the Holy Spirit were divine, but subordinate to the Father in being and authority. They were seen as lesser deities created by the Father. A prominent figure associated with this tendency was Origen, though his views are complex and subject to debate. While subordinationism sought to maintain the unity of God, it did so at the expense of the full and equal divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. This position was problematic because it contradicted scriptural depictions of the Son as co-eternal and co-equal with the Father.
These two positions represent opposite dangers: Modalism collapsed the distinctiveness of the persons, while Subordinationism undermined the full divinity and equality of the Son and Spirit. The church's struggle to articulate a Trinitarian doctrine that preserved both unity and distinctiveness led to the Nicene Creed and subsequent developments in Trinitarian theology.