What in the world did Jesus mean when He uttered these last five or six words of John 14:28?[1] Are these words of Jesus somehow ambiguous? One difficulty that often comes into play when interpreting these words is that most Western Christians have been taught the theology of the so-called “Athanasian Creed” which basically says that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are coequal in every way.[2] But how can such an idea be reconciled with this plain statement from the mouth of Jesus? Most Western Christians would, of course, affirm that there is one God (not three). Yet, they would also say that the one God exists in a Trinity—that there are three distinct divine Persons who share the same essence, nature or ‘substance.’ But many Western Christians are unsure how to explain the many passages in Scripture that would indicate that the Son (and the Holy Spirit) are somehow subordinate to the Father, so the issue is usually just ignored or explained away with weak arguments.
The Eastern Orthodox at least try to incorporate the Biblical evidence for “subordinationism” (a word I am ok with) into their theology. In his book, The Nicene Faith: Formation of Christian Theology (part 2, p. 419), Eastern Orthodox theologian and priest, John Behr, speaks of an “ontological order” existing within the Trinity. While trying to understand exactly what he meant by this, I looked up the word “ontological” and the online dictionary said it was an adjective “relating to the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.” So, if I understand Behr correctly (his writing style is a bit stilted at times), he seems to mean that there is a type of subordination within the Trinity, but NOT in the sense that the Son is less divine in His being or nature than the Father. Rather, Behr seems to mean that Father is greater simply because the Son is derived from the essence or the being of the Father. And if that is what Behr is saying, then I agree with him even if many other Western Christians would not.
It is only reasonable to affirm that the Father is greater, because according to the New Testament, the Father is the source/origin/arche of the Son—the Father ‘begot’ the Son.[3] Instead of thinking of the “Godhead” (which is an Old English word for “Godhood”) as an impersonal divine nature or some generic “god-stuff,” it is more in line with ancient Christian theology to think of the Father Himself as the Godhead/Godhood, with the Son (and the Holy Spirit) sharing the Godhood/deity/divinity of the Father. Because the Son derives His divine nature from the Father (as does the Holy Spirit), the Father alone was considered to be autotheos or God of Himself.[4] But instead of using Behr’s confusing term of “ontological order,” there is another term I just recently heard that I believe encapsulates the idea of the primacy or headship of the Father even better: “Monarchical Trinitarianism.” This view of the Trinity tends to emphasize the “Monarchy of the Father.”[5]
However, when I affirm or agree that there is an “order” within the Trinity (with the Father operating as the “Monarch”), I am also affirming that there is a chain of authority/command, or to put it more crudely, a hierarchy or ranking within the Trinity—all of which involve a personal relationship among the three divine Persons. This may disturb some theologians and it may go against someone’s creedal statement of faith, but to the best of my understanding, the apostle Paul seems to clearly teach that the risen & glorified Christ is going to be subject to the Father for all eternity (1 Cor 15:28)—and there are many other Scripture passages that seem to illustrate this same sort of thing (many of which are provided near the end of this article).[6] My allegiance is to the Scriptures first rather than to some man-made creed or statement of faith. When Bible-believing Christians such as myself dare to believe the passages in Scripture that support at least a type of “subordinationism” (which, like “rank” is yet another “dirty word” for some Western Christians), this does not necessarily make them Arian heretics, despite what the trajectory may look like to some people.
Although some Western Christians may indeed say that it is heresy to deny that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal in every way, it is a hard fact that it was ancient Christian orthodoxy to recognize and openly confess that at least a type of order or “subordinationism” existed within the Trinity (just see the many confirming statements made by theologian and church historian R. P. C. Hanson further below). So, whereas some, like John Behr, would call this aspect of the order an “ontological order,” I prefer to speak more plainly and refer to it as subordination in the categories of order and personal attributes.[7] I personally believe it is potentially misleading and inaccurate to speak of an “ontological order” because someone may misunderstand the term and believe that it implies there are degrees of deity/divine nature or being between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—which I categorically deny (I confess that all three Persons are fully divine/theos). However, the term “Monarchical Trinitarianism” seems to be a decent and an acceptable expression to use when describing what I also might call “Trinitarian subordinationism.”
Some Christians I have discussed this issue with strongly disapprove of me using the term “subordinationism” when speaking of relations between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But it is simply a word that describes something we understand the Scriptures to be teaching regarding one aspect of the relationships within the “Trinity” (which is yet another term some Christians avoid using for whatever reason). Unfortunately, anytime we begin to use our own vocabularies to describe concepts we see in Scripture, it seems we end up using or inventing descriptive terms that are often not found in the Bible itself. Mark Edwards, for example, uses some terms I had never heard before when he describes the following four types of subordinationism in his essay, “Is Subordinationism a Heresy?”[8] Focusing on the relations between the Father and the Son, Edwards (on p. 69-70) lists the categories or types of subordination as:
- 1. Ontological subordination: ascribes to the Son a substance, nature or essence which is inferior to the Father’s. [NOTE: the church councils that eventually came to be accepted as authoritative by the majority denied this type of eternal subordination.]
- 2. Aetiological subordination: asserts the Son’s posteriority in the order of causation. [i.e., the Son is eternally subordinate to the Father because the Son is caused to exist by the Father. This was affirmed by both orthodox theologians and heretics alike.]
- 3. Axiological subordination: degrades the Son in rank or status without denying His equality in nature. [i.e., the Son is equal to the Father in essence, but the Son is eternally ‘inferior’ to the Father in rank or status. This was also affirmed by various thinkers in church history.]
- 4. Economic subordination: dates the subservience of the Son to the Father from some point after His origin [i.e., after His begetting], most commonly from His voluntary assumption of human nature. [This subordination is not an eternal one, but only began when the Son took on flesh; affirmed by various thinkers.]
Edwards is fully aware that some Western Christians believe that “subordinationism” is a heresy, but he says (on p. 69 of his essay):
“The confidence with which these accusations [of heresy] are levelled, however, seems to be in an inverse ratio to the accuser’s knowledge of history, for neither in New Testament scholarship nor at the cutting edge of the modern study of patristics will one find much evidence that subordinationism is even an anomaly, let alone an aberration from the biblical or conciliar norm.”
So, although some types of subordinationism eventually came to be denied by the majority, Edwards indicates that at least aetiological subordinationism continued to be widely embraced & confessed. He writes that “it became as much a note of catholicity to affirm the causal priority of the Father as to deny the Son’s inferiority to Him either in essence or in rank.” (p. 72)
And although I deny that the Son is inferior in essence to the Father, I personally have no real problem accepting the idea of the Son being inferior in ‘rank.’ The pre-Nicene Christians certainly seem to believe that the three divine Persons differed in rank! Also, the Nicene Creed itself does not say anywhere that the Father and the Son are equal in rank. Besides that, I am not bound to follow any man-made creed even though I have no strong theological objections to the contents of the Apostle’s Creed or to the Nicene Creed. That is not to say I feel free to believe whatever I want. Scripture provides the boundaries I need, and I also respect the thinking of other faithful believers down through church history. I am ready to listen to others and examine the thoughts and evidence they might put forth, but not uncritically so, regardless of what time period they may have lived in.
Therefore, regardless of what terminology a person may approve of or not, I believe the evidence shows that there is a subordination both in order (i.e., “chain of authority” or “rank”) and in personal attributes. Concerning the Father and the Son, there specifically exists the difference in personal attributes of being begotten vs. unbegotten. Notice that when many of the following early writers quote or allude to John 14:28, they do not understand Jesus to be saying the Father is greater merely because Jesus, at that point in time, had taken on weak human flesh (i.e., because of economic subordination). They give other reasons, and I am certainly not going to “de-Christianize” them for doing so! More often, the reason they ascribe for the Father being greater is because the Father is the begetter, or the “cause of,” or the origin/source of the Son (i.e., the Son comes from the being of the Father—which is probably what Behr’s term “ontological order” is supposed to indicate, but I still do not care for that term). It is a personal attribute of the Father that He is unbegotten and is the begetter of the Son. And as a matter of order (i.e., rank), the Father always sends the Son—not the other way around.
Examples of Early Writers Commenting On or Alluding to John 14:28:
Irenaeus (c. A.D. 180): “For if anyone asks about the reason why the Father, who has fellowship with the Son in all things, has been declared by the Lord [Jesus] alone to know the hour and the day, he will find at present no more suitable, becoming, or safe reason than this (since indeed, the Lord is the only true Master): that we may learn through Him that the Father is above all things. For He says, ‘The Father is greater than I.’ The Father, therefore, has been declared by our Lord to excel with respect to knowledge.” (ANF Vol. 1, p. 402; Against Heresies, Book 2, chap 28, para. 8)
Tertullian [using non-precise, pre-Nicene language; c. A.D. 213]: “…the Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: ‘My Father is greater than I.’” (ANF Vol. 3, p. 603-604; Against Praxeas, chap 9)
Origen (A.D. 225): “Grant that there may be some individuals among the multitude of believers who are not in entire agreement with us and who incautiously assert that the Savior is the Most High God. However, we do not hold with them but rather believe Him [Jesus] when He says, ‘The Father who sent me is greater than I.’ We would not make Him whom we call ‘Father’ inferior—as Celsus accuses us of doing—to the Son of God.” (ANF Vol. 4, p. 644; Against Celsus Book 8, chap 14)
Novatian (A.D. 250): “Wherein they [the Sabellians] are proved to be in error, not knowing Christ, but following the sound of a name; for they are not willing that He [Jesus] should be the second person after the Father, but the Father Himself….For who does not acknowledge that the person of the Son is second after the Father ….when he finds it written: ‘Because he who sent Me is greater than I’?” (ANF Vol. 5, p. 636-637; A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity, chap 26)
Methodius (A.D. 300): “And so the prophets and apostles…did not refer their praises of Him [Jesus] to the teaching of angels, but to Him [the Father] upon whom all authority and power depend. For it was fitting that He [Jesus] who was greater than all things after the Father should have the Father, who alone is greater than Himself [i.e., Jesus], as His witness. (ANF Vol. 6, p. 331; The Banquet of the Ten Virgins: Discourse VII: Procilla ch. 1; The Father Greater Than the Son, Not in Substance, but in Order)
Alexander of Alexandria (A.D. 321; the primary opponent of Arius leading up to the Council of Nicaea): “The apostolic church believes in one Father unbegotten … who is unchangeable and immutable, who is always the same … and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God… . That He is equally with the Father unchangeable and immutable, lacking in nothing, and the perfect Son, and like to the Father, we have learned. In this alone is He [the Son] inferior to the Father, that He is not unbegotten … For it is clear that He [the Son] is the image fully containing all things by which the greatest similitude is declared, as the Lord himself has taught us when He says, ‘My Father is greater than I.’ And according to this we believe that the Son is of the Father, always existing….But let no one take the word ‘always’ [existing] in a manner that raises suspicion that He [the Son] is unbegotten….For neither are the words, ‘He was,’ ‘always,’ or ‘before all worlds,’ equivalent to ‘unbegotten.’ For the human mind cannot use any synonyms to signify ‘unbegotten.’…For these words do not at all signify unbegotten. Rather, these words seem to denote simply a lengthening out of time. Still, they cannot properly signify the divinity and antiquity of the Only-Begotten. Nevertheless, they have been used by holy men, while each—according to his capacity—seeks from the hearers and pleading a reasonable excuse, in saying, ‘This is as far as we can come.’…In short, whatever word we use is not equivalent to ‘unbegotten.’ Therefore, to the Unbegotten Father, indeed, we should preserve His proper dignity, in confessing that no one is the cause of His being. However, to the Son must be also given His fitting honor, in assigning Him…a generation from the Father without beginning and assigning worship to Him…We by no means reject His Godhood, but ascribe to Him a likeness that exactly answers in every respect to the image and example of the Father. Still, we must say that to the Father alone belongs the property of being unbegotten. For the Savior Himself said, ‘My Father is greater than I.’” (ANF Vol. 6, p. 295-296; Epistles on the Arian Heresy, para. 12)
Athanasius (c. 297-373): “The Son does not say, ‘My Father is better than I,’ lest we should conceive him [Jesus] to be foreign to his [the Father’s] nature, but ‘greater,’ not indeed in greatness nor in time, but because of his generation from the Father himself.” (Orations against the Arians, 1.58)
Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310–c. 367):“Do you hear Him say, ‘The Father is greater than I’? Know Him also, of Whom it is said in reward of His obedience, ‘And gave unto Him the Name which is above every name’…When, then, is the Father greater than the Son? Surely, when He gives Him the Name above every name…If, then, the Father is greater through His authority to give, is the Son less through the confession of receiving? The Giver is greater: but the Receiver is not less, for to Him it is given to be one [i.e., in nature] with the Giver. If it is not given to Jesus to be confessed in the glory of God the Father, He is less than the Father. But if it is given Him to be in that glory, in which the Father is, we see in the prerogative of giving, that the Giver is greater, and in the confession of the gift, that the Two are One. The Father is, therefore greater than the Son: for manifestly He is greater, Who makes another to be all that He Himself is, Who imparts to the Son by the mystery of the birth [i.e., by being begotten of God] the image of His [i.e., the Father’s] own unbegotten nature, Who begets Him [the Son] from Himself…” (NPNF, 2nd Series, Vol. 9, p. 174; De Trinitate, book 9, para. 54)
Basil of Caesarea (c. 330-379): “Since the Son’s origin (arche) is from the Father, in this respect the Father is greater, as cause and origin. Wherefore also the Lord [Jesus, the Son of God] said thus, ‘My Father is greater than I,’ clearly inasmuch as He [God] is Father. Yea, what else does the word ‘Father’ signify unless being the cause and origin of that which is begotten of Him?” (Against Eunomius, 1.25)
Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-389): “…the Greater refers to origination, while the Equal belongs to the Nature;….For to say that He [the Father] is greater than the Son considered as man, is true indeed, but is no great thing. For what marvel is it if God is greater than man?” (NPNF, 2nd Series, Vol. 7, p. 312; Oration, 30.7)
John Chrysostom (c. 349-407): “If anyone say that the Father is greater, inasmuch as He is the cause of the Son, we will not contradict this. But this does not by any means make the Son to be of a different Essence. (Homily 75, On John; NPNF, 1st Series, Vol. 14, p. 277).
Photius (c. 810 – c. 893): “…for the Master’s words [in John 14:28] mystically instruct us to consider the Begetter greater than the Begotten, although not by nature — away with the thought! — the Trinity, which is beyond grasp, is consubstantial because the Begetter is cause.” (Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit, Part 3, para. 41; see footnote).[9]
Therefore, after hearing the language of these early Christian writers along with considering the implications of numerous Scripture passages, even though many Western Christians would strongly and vehemently deny that there is any sort of a ranking within the relationships between the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, I cannot agree with them. I am certainly no Greek scholar, but when I look up John 14:28 in A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, I am only more confirmed in my opinion when I read his comments:
“Greater than I (meizôn mou). Ablative case mou after the comparative meizôn (from positive megas). The filial relation makes this necessary. Not a distinction in nature or essence (cf. Joh 10:30), but in rank in the Trinity. No Arianism or Unitarianism here. The very explanation here is proof of the deity of the Son (Dods).”[10]
More Quotes from Early Christians that Illustrate Their “Trinitarian Subordinationism”
Justin Martyr (A.D. 150): “…and that we reasonably worship Him [Jesus], having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him [Jesus] in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove. For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all;” (ANF Vol. 1, p. 166-167; First Apology 13)
Justin Martyr (A.D. 160): “You must not imagine that the Unbegotten God Himself came down or went up from any place. For the ineffable Father and Lord of everything neither has come to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor rises up, but remains in His own place…He is not moved or confined to a spot in the whole world, for He existed before the world was made. How, then could He talk with anyone, or be seen by anyone, or appear on the smallest portion of the earth? … Therefore, neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man saw the Father, who is the inexpressible Lord of all, including Christ. Rather, they saw One who was the Father’s Son, according to the Father’s will. The Son is also God and the Angel, for He ministered to His [Father’s] will.” (ANF Vol. 1, p. 263; Dialogue with Trypho, chap 127)
Origen (c. A.D. 248): “Our Lord and Savior, hearing himself on one occasion addressed as ‘Good Master,’ referred the person who used it to His own Father, saying, ‘Why do you call me good? There is no one good but one, that is, God the Father.’ It was in accordance with sound reason that this was said by the Son of His Father’s love, for He was the image of the goodness of God.” (ANF Vol. 4, p. 548; Origen Against Celsus, Book 5, chap 11)
Novatian (c. A.D. 235): “He then, although He was in the form of God, thought it not robbery that He should be equal with God. For although He remembered that He was God from God the Father, He never either compared or associated Himself with God the Father, mindful that He was from His Father, and that He possessed that very thing that He is, because the Father had given it Him….Thence,…He yielded all obedience to the Father, and still yields it as ever. Whence it is proved that He thought that the claim of a certain divinity would be robbery, to wit [i.e., namely], that of equaling Himself with God the Father; but, on the other hand, obedient and subject to all His rule and will, He even was contented to take on Him the form of a servant—that is to become man…” (ANF Vol. 5, p. 633; Treatise Concerning the Trinity, chap 22)
For the early Christians, it was not heresy to affirm that the Father being greater than the Son was a status the Father has had for all eternity and not only while the Son was on earth.
The idea may be unfamiliar to us, but it is not that difficult to apprehend, even though we may never fully comprehend God.[11] The Father is the one God, and the Son is the Word of that one God, begotten by Him in eternity past. Jesus, The Word of God who became flesh, being in some sense “part” of God (to use non-technical terminology), is Himself recorded as saying (in John 14:28) that the Father is greater than He is. And yet, the Word of God is exactly like God, in that He is of the substance and essence of God the Father, being His Logos.
Although it is difficult to explain or articulate, as far as I can tell, this view of the Trinity—call it by whatever term you prefer—appears to be part of the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. I see it reflected in the pages of the Bible and in the teachings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (as well as other early writers). It is also a documented historical fact that the move away from these original teachings was a change in traditional Christian theology or doctrine. In his book, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381, Anglican scholar and church historian R. P. C. Hanson admits this very thing! See the quotes from his book given below:
Quotes from R.P.C. Hanson’s book The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God
p. xix: “Almost all the Eastern theologians believed that the Son was in some sense subordinated to the Father before the Incarnation. …With the exception of Athanasius[12] virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordinationism at least up to the year 355; subordinationism might indeed, until the denouement[13] of the controversy, have been described as accepted orthodoxy.”
p. 64: “There is no theologian in the Eastern or the Western Church before the outbreak of the Arian Controversy, who does not in some sense regard the Son as subordinate to the Father.”
p. 274: [in commenting about how some of the early Christians—even those who could not be described as Arian—were struggling with the use of the unscriptural word homoousios in the Nicene Creed, Hanson says that they…] “…could not suddenly at the bidding of an unbaptized Emperor, however benign he had shown himself to the Church, abandon completely a subordinationism which had been hallowed by long tradition.”
p. 287: “…almost everybody in the East at that period would have agreed that there was a subordination of some sort within the Trinity.”
p. 409(n): “In 350, with the exception of Athanasius, every single Eastern theologian accepted subordinationism in one form or another.”
p. 574: “…at least in the intellectual climate of the fourth century, it was quite logical to maintain that the Son was God or divine while not being fully equal to the Father…”
p. 582: “He [Akakius] is ready to go to any lengths…in extolling the Son, as long as the traditional subordination of the Son to the Father is preserved.”
p. 727: [in commenting that Gregory of Nyssa believed Christ’s only mediatorial role was in the incarnation, Hanson says that…] “Here he joins Athanasius and his fellow-Cappadocians in making the great step forward in theological thought which marked a departure from almost all those who had gone before them.”
p. 730: “The three [Cappadocian] theologians were responsible, building on the foundation which Athanasius had laid, for establishing finally that the Son (and ultimately the Holy Spirit too) must not be in any sense subordinated to the Father. They thereby extinguished a long tradition of theological thought.” [Note: However, in reading the Cappadocians, I believe it is clear that they too recognize an order (p. 785 in Hanson) within the Trinity, and that the Father is the Fount/Cause of the other Two (p. 790 in Hanson). But the Cappadocians did bring in some developments of thought that mitigated the earlier subordinationism or encouraged others to further downplay it.]
p. 870: “Alexander of Alexandria retained a concept of the subordination of the Son which would have been thought heretical by the Cappadocians.” [This points to subordinationism as being the original orthodox position!]
p. 872: “Further, we must observe that the doctrine of the Trinity as taught by Athanasius and the Cappadocians and as finally accepted by the Church actually put an abrupt stop to one train of development in doctrine and acted as a pruning rather than a developing force.”
p. 873: [after plainly admitting on p. 872 & 873 that the move away from subordinationism was “a change” (see footnote)[14] Hanson writes, on p. 873 that…] “It was only by making errors and correcting them that those whose views finally prevailed were able to see as far as they did and carry out what was a bold and creative new formulation of the truth. In order to perceive the full genius and drive of the Christian faith it was necessary for them to some extent to emancipate themselves from the tradition, even from the orthodoxy, of the past.”
Conclusion and Scriptural Support
This is certainly a very difficult and murky subject and there is still some disagreement on the issue between Eastern and Western Christians. For example, the “Athanasian Creed” (which is generally embraced by the West) does not reflect the Orthodox teaching of the Trinity. Clearly, the Orthodox (who use the Original Nicene Creed of 325) know that the Father is greater than the Son although not in nature but only in role and function. The Son and Spirit are equal to the Father in nature but subordinate in eternal relations. The Son is begotten, the Spirit proceeds and the Father, the singular source [monarchy] of the two. Such ideas are akin to the teachings described by the terms of “functional subordination” and “ontological equality.” Other related terms include that of “immanent Trinity” and “economic Trinity.” So many confusing technical terms! But what saith the Scriptures? Consider the passages provided below:
In the Scriptures, in the majority of cases (there are exceptions), it is the Father who is described as being God, the supreme God/the true God/the only God—in a special sense—especially when the divine Persons[15] are mentioned together. The Son is true God of true God, and the Holy Spirit is also equal in nature with the Father, but the Scriptures give ample evidence that the Father is the God of Jesus and is the fountain (or source) of deity. The Father is first in the order that is found to exist within the Trinity[16]. He alone is God of Himself and is also unique in personal attributes. The following examples of New Testament Scriptures serve to illustrate this primacy of the Father and the subordination or submission[17] to the Father that is consistently found within the Trinity or “Godhead”:
Matt 20:23—”He [Jesus] said to them, ‘My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” [NAS]
Matt 24:36—”But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Matt 28:18—[Jesus said] “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” [NKJV]
Mark 5:7—[spoken by a demon] “And he cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.’” [NKJV—When the Son of God and the Father are spoken of in the same passage, it is the Father who is referred to as the “Most High God”]
Mark 13:32—”But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” [NAS]
Mark 15:34—“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” [NKJV]
Luke 1:32—[an angel is speaking about Jesus] “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.” [NKJV]
Luke 2:26—“And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” [NKJV]
Luke 6:35— [spoken by Jesus] “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. [NKJV]
Luke 8:28—[spoken by a demon] “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!’” [NKJV]
Luke 18:19—”So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” [NKJV—Jesus is referring to the Father here, demonstrating true humility!]
Luke 22:42—”Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” [NKJV—submission to the Father]
Luke 24:49—“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
John 1:14—”And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” [NKJV—the Father is the source of the Son]
John 1:18—”No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God [Jesus] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” [NAS—the Son is begotten, and can be seen. The Father is unbegotten and cannot be seen—difference in personal attributes]
John 3:16—”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:18—”He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 4:34—“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
John 5:19-20—”Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, so that you will marvel.'” [NAS]
John 5:26-27—”For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” [NKJV]
John 5:30—”I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” [NKJV]
John 5:44—[spoken by Jesus] “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” [NKJV]
John 6:29—[Jesus said] “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” [NKJV]
John 6:37-39—“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” [NKJV]
John 6:44— “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. [NKJV]
John 6:57—”As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” [NKJV]
John 8:28-29—”So Jesus said, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.'” [NAS]
John 8:42—“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’” [NKJV]
John 10:18—”No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” [NKJV]
John 10:29—“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” [NKJV]
John 10:36-37—[Jesus is speaking] “do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me” [NKJV—Jesus is the Son of God; Jesus is sent by the Father and does the works of the Father—not the other way around]
John 12:49-50—”For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” [NAS]
John 14:10—“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” [NKJV]
John 14:24—“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” [NKJV]
John 14:26—“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
John 14:28b—”If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” [NAS—early Christian commentators said the Father was greater because He is the source of the Son.]
John 14:31—“But that the world may know that I [Jesus] love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.” [NKJV]
John 15:10—“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I [Jesus] have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” [NKJV]
John 15:15—“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” [NKJV]
John 15:26—“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
John 16:5—“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’”
John 16:13-15—“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He [the Spirit] will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:27, 28—”for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” (NKJV)
John 16:30—”Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.” (NKJV)
John 17:2-4—[spoken by Jesus] “as You [the Father] have given Him [Jesus] authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” [NKJV]
John 17:8—“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” [NKJV]
John 17:18—“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” [NKJV]
John 20:17—[Jesus said] “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'” [NAS]
John 17:22-25—“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.” [NKJV]
John 20:21—“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’” [NKJV]
Acts 2:22-24—“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”
Acts 2:33—“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.”
Acts 2:34-36—34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”‘ 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made [Gk: poieo] this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 3:13—”The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.” [NAS]
Acts 3:15—“and killed [Jesus] the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.”
Acts 3:22—“For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet [Jesus] like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.’”
Acts 3:26—”To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
Acts 4:10—“let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.”
Acts 4:27—[Peter prays to the Father] “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel”
Acts 5:30-31—“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
Acts 10:38, 40, 42—38“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him….40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,… 42 And He [Jesus] commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.”
Acts 13:23—“From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—”
Acts 13:30—“But God raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.”
Acts 13:33-34—“God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I [God] have begotten You [the Son of God].’ And that He [God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’”
Acts 13:35-37— “Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You [God] will not allow Your Holy One [Jesus] to see corruption.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He [Jesus] whom God raised up saw no corruption.”
Rom 4:24b—“It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him [the Father] who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,”
Rom 6:4—“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Rom 6:10—“For the death that He [Jesus] died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”
Rom 8:11—“But if the Spirit of Him [God the Father] who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Rom 8:32—“He [God the Father] who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
Rom 10:9—“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, you will be saved.”
Rom 15:6—“…you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Rom 16:27—”to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.” [NAS]
1 Cor 3:23—“And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” [NKJV]
1 Cor 6:14—“And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” [NKJV]
1 Cor 8:6—”yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” [NAS]
1 Cor 11:3—”But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” [NAS]
1 Cor 15:15—“Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up–if in fact the dead do not rise.” [NKJV]
1 Cor 15:24-28—”Then comes the end, when He [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He [probably the Father] puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He [Christ] must reign till He [the Father] has put all enemies under His [Christ’s] feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He [the Father] has put all things under His [Christ’s] feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him [Christ],’ it is evident that He [the Father] who put all things under Him [Christ] is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him [Christ], then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him [the Father] who put all things under Him [Christ], that God [the Father] may be all in all.” [NKJV]
2 Cor 1:3—”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” [NAS]
2 Cor 4:14—“knowing that He [God the Father] who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.” [NKJV]
2 Cor 5:20-21—“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He [God, the Father] made Him [Jesus Christ, the Son of God] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. [NKJV]
2 Cor 11:31—“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever…” [NKJV]
2 Cor 13:4—“For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He [Jesus] lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.” [NKJV]
Galatians—“Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him [Jesus] from the dead),” [NKJV]
Eph 1:3—“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” [NKJV]
Eph 1:17—“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,” [NKJV]
Eph 1:20, 22—“which He [the Father] worked in Christ when He [the Father] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,….And He [the Father] put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,” [NKJV—Jesus Christ is the head of the church, but the Father is the head of Christ.]
Eph 4:4-6—“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” [NKJV]
Phil 2:6—“who, although He [the Son] existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God [the Father] a thing to be grasped,” [NAS—the Son is always submissive to the Father.]
Phil 2:8-9, 11—8 “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God [the Father] also has highly exalted Him [Jesus] and given Him [Jesus] the name which is above every name….and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [NKJV]
Col 1:3—“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,” [NKJV]
Col 1:15—”And He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” [NAS]
Col 1:19—“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him [Christ],” [NAS]
Col 2:12—“buried with Him [Jesus] in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.” [NKJV]
1 Thes 1:9-10—“For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He [the Father; the living & true God] raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” [NKJV]
1 Tim 1:17—”Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” [NAS]
1 Tim 2:5—“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” [NKJV]
1 Tim 6:13-16—”I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He [the Father] will manifest in His own time, He [the Father] who is the blessed and only Potentate [Sovereign], the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” [NKJV]
Heb 1:1-6—“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He [God] has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He [God] made the worlds; 3 who [the Son] being the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His [God’s] person, and upholding all things by the word of His [the Son’s] power, when He [the Son] had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty [the Father] on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He [the Son] has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For to which of the angels did He [the Father] ever say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’? 6 But when He [the Father] again brings the firstborn [the Son] into the world, He [the Father] says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him [the Son].’” [NKJV]
Heb 1:9—[The Father speaking to the Son says] “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” [NKJV]
Heb 2:9-13—“But we see Jesus, who was made [by the Father] a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He [Jesus], by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him [the Father], for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation [Jesus is our captain] perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies [the Father] and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He [Jesus] is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name [the Father’s name] to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I [Jesus] will sing praise to You [the Father].’ And again: ‘I [Jesus] will put My trust in Him [the Father].’ And again: ‘Here am I [Jesus] and the children whom God [the Father] has given Me [Jesus].’ [NKJV]
Heb 3:1-2—“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him [God the Father] who appointed [Gk: poieo] Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.”
Heb 5:8—“though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”
Heb 7:1-3—“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated ‘king of righteousness,’ and then also king of Salem, meaning ‘king of peace,’ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” [Jesus is priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God]
Heb 9:14—“how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” [NKJV]
Heb 10:5-7—Therefore, when He [Jesus] came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You [God the Father] did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I [Jesus] said, ‘Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.'” [NKJV]
Heb 10:21—“and having a High Priest [Jesus] over the house of God,”
Heb 13:20—“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”
1 Pet 1:3—“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” [NKJV]
1 Pet 1:21—“who through Him [Jesus] believe in God, who raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” [NKJV]
1 Pet 2:23—“who, when He [Jesus] was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him [the Father] who judges righteously;” [NKJV]
1 Pet 5:10—“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” [NKJV]
1 John 4:9—“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” (NKJV)
1 John 5:18—“We know that no one [a Christian] who is born of God [the Father] sins; but He [the Son] who was born of God keeps him [the Christian], and the evil one does not touch him.” (NAS) [Note: other versions render this verse differently, making it sound like the Christian keeps himself, rather than the Son keeping the Christian—so this verse may not be the best example to use, but I threw it in anyway.]
1 John 5:20—”And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” [NAS—“the true God” here probably refers to the Father, but it may also refer to Jesus]
Jude 4—“certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jude 25—”to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” [NAS]
Rev 1:1—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God [the Father] gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,”
Rev 1:5-6—“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him [Jesus] who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Rev 2:26-27—“And he who overcomes, and keeps My [Jesus’] works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations….as I also have received from My Father;”
Rev 3:12—[Jesus speaking] “He [the person] who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.”
In summary, there are probably other passages in the New Testament that illustrate the subordination (and distinction) that is found within the Trinity, but the ones listed here suffice to show that this subordination (and distinction) clearly does exist. There is an order that exists between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and there are also differences that exist in their personal attributes.
NOTES:
[1] Six words in the English of the NKJV; five words in the Greek.
[2] The Athanasian Creed was most likely written by a follower of Augustine—it was not written by Athanasius! The so-called Athanasian Creed reflects the Trinitarian theology of Augustine who did much to eradicate the West of the subordinationism that had been held to for so many years. The Athanasian Creed does even reflect Nicene Trinitarianism! Nicene Trinitarianism did not describe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as if they were three brothers. Nicene Trinitarianism tended to reserve a special, most-high place of dignity/glory for the Father.
[3] Prior to the time that Origen’s doctrine of “Eternal Generation” gained traction and began being taught, the Son’s emergence from the Father was described more like a transition in the Son’s existence. As the Word, He existed in the bosom of the Father from all eternity past, but at some point in time, He was sent forth as the Son to participate in creating the world. Psalm 45:1 (LXX) was often alluded to or quoted to illustrate this transition/begetting: “My heart hath emitted My most excellent Word.” When a more exact, detailed explanation was demanded about how this begetting took place, the apologist would do the best they could to put it into words, but they would ultimately say that the process was an indescribable mystery.
[4] John Calvin departed from this when he boldly taught that the Son and the Holy Spirit were also autotheos.
[5] “Monarchical Trinitarianism” is not the same as “Monarchianism,” a term which has been used to refer to a modalistic heresy (a.k.a. Sabellianism, Oneness, Modalism, Patrapassianism, Modalistic Monarchianism, etc.). See article on website entitled Early Christians Speak Against Modalism: https://eurekachurchofchrist.com/early-christians-speak-against-modalism/. The position of “Monarchical Trinitarianism,” would affirm the full divinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit while also recognizing the Father’s unique role as the Source or Head.
[6] It is also illuminating to do a word study on the meaning of the Greek word hupotasso and consider how it is used in the New Testament, especially in 1 Cor 15:24-28.
[7] See this audio teaching by David Bercot on “What the Early Christians Believed About the Trinity” (especially from 23:34 to 39:35): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpPmXUEK3F8
[8] Found at: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a5c5157a-38e2-41f4-982c-b1f887ae6a4e/files/rkk91fk54h
[9] In various places in his Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit (cf. Part 1, para. 3, 6; Part 3, para. 51), Photius clearly reveals that he believes that if one divine person is the source/origin/cause of another divine person, then the person who is the source is greater in honor, dignity, glory, dominion or rank, etc. (but not nature) than the person who comes from the source simply due to possessing the “grace of causality” (part 2, para. 30) or “by being a cause” (part 3, para. 41), which is a personal attribute that Photius recognizes as belonging to the Father alone.
[10] A. T. Robinson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1932), 5:256. Bolding and underlining mine.
[11] “Apprehend” and “comprehend” refers to varying degrees of mental perception. “Apprehend” is often limited to mere perception—that is, to merely take notice of, to observe, to become aware of in one’s mind—and does not imply full and complete understanding. “Comprehend” stresses attainment of full understanding.
[12] As seen in the quote given below from Athanasius, even he accepted a type of subordinationism, to some degree.
[13] i.e. the resolution or climax; the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved; or the climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear.
[14] On p. 872, Hanson writes: “There is no doubt, however, that the pro-Nicene theologians throughout the controversy were engaged in a process of developing doctrine and consequently introducing what must be called a change in doctrine.” On p. 873, Hanson writes: “I do not say that this was a change for the worse nor a betrayal of either Christian tradition or the witness of the Bible. On the contrary, I believe that it was necessary and right and marked the emergence of a genuinely Christian doctrine of God. But that it was a change can hardly be denied.”
[15] When personal pronouns such as “I”, “me”, “he”, “him”, “we”, “us” are used by the Father and the Son in Scripture to speak of themselves or each other (and the Holy Spirit), why would anyone object to using the word “person” to speak of these three divine Persons? Do not these personal pronouns indicate personhood?
[16] This writer uses the term “Trinity” (being fully aware that the word is not found in the Scriptures) to speak of the three divine Persons that are spoken of in Scripture—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This writer affirms that all three of these Persons share equally within the Godhead (which is simply an Old English word meaning Godhood)—that they are all equal in nature or essence; that they are all equally theos/deity/divinity. This writer also affirms that all three divine Persons are eternal; that they intermingle each other and cannot be divided from one another; and that they exist simultaneously.
[17] As demonstrated by 1 Cor 15:24-28, this submission/subordination within the Trinity or “Godhead” is not a temporary arrangement, but an eternal one.