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Neither Confounding the Persons Nor Dividing the Substance

Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.
By Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.

Ordained Minister, M.Div.

May 30, 2026

2 min read

Oil painting of the doctrine of the Trinity as three distinct persons in one divine substance depicted in Byzantine golden mosaic style

The Athanasian Creed reaches for precision that no other historic creed attempts. Among its most careful formulations: So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; and yet they are not three Gods, but one God. And the key rule: we must neither confound the persons nor divide the substance.

The Two Errors the Phrase Excludes

Confounding the persons is the error of Modalism: treating Father, Son, and Spirit as three names for one person playing different roles. In modalism, the Father is the same individual as the Son, which makes the Son's prayer to the Father an act of self-address. Dividing the substance is the error of Tritheism: treating Father, Son, and Spirit as three separate gods who happen to cooperate. Both errors were alive in the ancient church and both remain live temptations today.

One Substance, Three Persons

Orthodox Trinitarian theology insists on holding both realities together without collapsing one into the other. The three persons are genuinely distinct: the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit. And yet they share one divine substance, will, and nature. This is not a contradiction but a mystery that shapes all of Christian theology, worship, and prayer.

The Athanasian Creed's contribution is making this methodological rule explicit. It is not enough to say I believe in the Trinity. You must hold the Trinity in the right way, with distinct persons and shared substance simultaneously in view.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 'neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance' mean?

This phrase comes from the Athanasian Creed and defines the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. To 'confound the Persons' is to blur or merge the Father, Son, and Spirit into one undifferentiated God (modalism). To 'divide the substance' is to treat the three Persons as three separate Gods (tritheism). Orthodoxy rejects both.

What is modalism and why is it a heresy?

Modalism is the teaching that God is one Person who appears in three different modes or masks — as Father in creation, Son in incarnation, Holy Spirit in Pentecost. It denies real personal distinctions within the Godhead and makes it impossible to explain, for example, Jesus praying to the Father as a genuinely distinct Person.

What is tritheism and why is it a heresy?

Tritheism holds that Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct gods, sharing a similar divine nature but not one divine substance. This contradicts the monotheism of Scripture and the ancient creeds. The Athanasian Creed is at pains to assert: 'we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity — neither confusing the Persons nor dividing the substance.'

How does Trinitarian doctrine avoid both errors?

Orthodox Trinitarian theology affirms three genuinely distinct Persons (against modalism) who share one divine substance or being (against tritheism). The Persons are distinguished by their personal properties: the Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally generated from the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (and in Western theology, also from the Son).

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