Patripassianism (teaching that the Father suffered on the cross)

E26589

Christological doctrine early Christian heresy nontrinitarian doctrine theological doctrine view about the Trinity

Patripassianism is a nontrinitarian early Christian theological view that identifies the Father so closely with the Son that it holds the Father Himself suffered and died in Christ’s crucifixion.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Patripassianism	4
Patripassianism (teaching that the Father suffered on the cross) canonical	2
Patripassian Modalism	1
patripassianism	1
the Father is identical with Christ	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T207770 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Patripassianism (teaching that the Father suffered on the cross)
Context triple: [Modalism, accusedOf, Patripassianism (teaching that the Father suffered on the cross)]

A. Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine, historically deemed heretical by the mainstream church, that emphasizes a distinction between the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ to the point of effectively positing two persons in Christ.
B. Christus Victor theory of atonement
The Christus Victor theory of atonement is a Christian theological view that portrays Jesus’ death and resurrection primarily as a cosmic victory over the powers of sin, death, and the devil, liberating humanity from their bondage.
C. Tritheism
Tritheism is a theological doctrine that interprets the Christian Godhead as three distinct and separate gods rather than one God in three persons.
D. Christology
Christology is the branch of Christian theology that studies the person, nature, and work of Jesus Christ.
E. Consubstantiation
Consubstantiation is a Christian theological doctrine, often linked with some Protestant traditions, that holds Christ’s body and blood to be present alongside the unchanged bread and wine in the Eucharist.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Patripassianism (teaching that the Father suffered on the cross)
Target entity description: Patripassianism is a nontrinitarian early Christian theological view that identifies the Father so closely with the Son that it holds the Father Himself suffered and died in Christ’s crucifixion.

A. Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine, historically deemed heretical by the mainstream church, that emphasizes a distinction between the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ to the point of effectively positing two persons in Christ.
B. Christus Victor theory of atonement
The Christus Victor theory of atonement is a Christian theological view that portrays Jesus’ death and resurrection primarily as a cosmic victory over the powers of sin, death, and the devil, liberating humanity from their bondage.
C. Tritheism
Tritheism is a theological doctrine that interprets the Christian Godhead as three distinct and separate gods rather than one God in three persons.
D. Christology
Christology is the branch of Christian theology that studies the person, nature, and work of Jesus Christ.
E. Consubstantiation
Consubstantiation is a Christian theological doctrine, often linked with some Protestant traditions, that holds Christ’s body and blood to be present alongside the unchanged bread and wine in the Eucharist.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Christological doctrine ⓘ early Christian heresy ⓘ nontrinitarian doctrine ⓘ theological doctrine ⓘ view about the Trinity ⓘ
addressesQuestion	how divine unity relates to the persons of the Trinity ⓘ whether the Father can suffer ⓘ
affirmsDoctrine	strict unity of Father and Son ⓘ that the one God suffered in Christ ⓘ
classifiedAs	heresy by mainstream Christianity ⓘ
consideredErrorBy	Eastern Orthodox Church ⓘ linked to: Eastern Orthodox Christianity Roman Catholic Church ⓘ linked to: Roman Catholicism most Protestant traditions ⓘ
contradicts	Nicene Trinitarianism ⓘ linked to: Nicene Christianity doctrine of three distinct divine persons ⓘ
coreClaim	the Father Himself suffered and died on the cross in Christ’s crucifixion ⓘ the Father is so closely identified with the Son that their suffering is the same event ⓘ the Father suffered in the passion of Christ ⓘ
criticizedFor	confusing the persons of the Trinity ⓘ implying passibility of the divine nature of the Father ⓘ undermining the distinction between Father and Son ⓘ
deniesDoctrine	classical doctrine of the impassibility of God the Father ⓘ distinct personal subsistence of Father and Son in the Trinity ⓘ
focusesOn	divine suffering in the crucifixion ⓘ relationship between Father and Son ⓘ
geographicContext	Roman Empire ⓘ early Christian Church ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Patripassian heresy ⓘ Patripassian teaching ⓘ Patripassian view ⓘ
hasEtymology	from Latin 'patri' (father) and 'passio' (suffering) ⓘ
historicalCategory	early Christian doctrinal controversy ⓘ
historicalInfluenceOn	later Trinitarian controversies ⓘ later discussions of divine impassibility ⓘ
isFormOf	Modalistic Monarchianism ⓘ linked to: Modalism Monarchianism ⓘ linked to: Modalism
isRelatedTo	Modalism ⓘ Nontrinitarianism ⓘ linked to: Modalism Sabellianism ⓘ
opposedBy	Hippolytus of Rome ⓘ linked to: Saint Hippolytus Tertullian ⓘ proto-orthodox Christian theologians ⓘ
timePeriod	2nd century ⓘ 3rd century ⓘ
viewOfCrucifixion	the Father was crucified in the Son ⓘ
viewOfFather	Father is numerically identical with the Son in the incarnation ⓘ
viewOfSon	Son is not a distinct person from the Father ⓘ