My flirtation with heresy

I studied theology at Durham and my main doctrine lecturer was Professor Stephen Sykes who later became Bishop of Ely. One afternoon in a seminar he invited my fellow undergraduates and I to suggest different analogies to explain the Trinity. As each of us trotted out our explanations he reeled off the list of heresies we had just articulated. We ran the gamut from A - Z including: arianism, sabellianism, modalism, adpotionism, partialism, docetism, tritheism, ebionitism, macedonianism and patripassianism. Looking back I think the only thing we didn't cover was Rastafarianism. One by one our neat explanations were ground into the dust under the heal of orthodoxy. Is it any wonder I usually try and get someone else to preach on Trinity Sunday?

To be honest I don't really care too much how inadequate our explanations of the Trinity are, after all it is Almighty God we are dealing with so it's no surprise our accounts are going to be lacking. I'm much more concerned that we experience and live out our life with God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Anyway, if you haven't a clue what I've been writing about, here's a useful little video to keep us on the straight and narrow.