Christmas and New Year Special - Calvin and Newman : controversies against Arians

Calvin’s controversy with Servetus arose because Servetus defended Monarchianism of which there are two types.  Adoptionism is the belief that Christ was a mere man.  This is a form of psilanthropism put forward by Theodotus (one of the group of Greek philosophers who was with Galen).  A second type is modalism-  this blurs the distinctions between Father, Son and Holy Spirit and was first suggested by Noetus of Smyrna. In this form the names of the godhead become just names applicable at different times. Sabellus developed a more sophisticated form saying that the God head is like the sun with its warmth and light.  Calvin was unable to support such views because he maintained that the whole divinity came to us in the person of Christ, whilst the three persons of the Trinity remain distinct.