Before Athanasius battled Arius, the Church faced a different threat to the doctrine of the Trinity. In this reading, we begin Hippolytus of Rome's Against Noetus, one of the earliest surviving refutations of what later became known as Modalism or Sabellianism. As Christianity grew beyond the age of the Apologists and Martyrs, the Church increasingly found itself defending the faith not only against pagan critics but also against theological error from within. Hippolytus confronts the teaching of Noetus, who blurred the distinction between the Father and the Son, forcing Christians to wrestle with one of the most important questions in all of theology: How can God be one and yet exist eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? This short but influential work provides a crucial bridge between the anti-heretical writings of the 2nd and 3rd ...