Noetus

Noetus (fl. c. 200 AD) was a Christian theologian from Smyrna in Asia Minor, known for his Patripassianist or modalist views regarding the nature of God. He is considered a significant figure in the development of early Christian Christology and the debates surrounding the Trinity.

Noetus taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were not distinct persons within the Godhead, but rather different modes or manifestations of the one God. He famously argued that because Jesus Christ suffered and died, and Jesus Christ is God, then God the Father must have suffered and died. This concept is encapsulated in the term "Patripassianism," derived from the Latin words pater (father) and passio (suffering), meaning "the Father suffered."

His teachings were condemned as heretical by Hippolytus of Rome, who wrote extensively against Noetus's modalist views in his work Contra Noetum. Hippolytus argued for a distinct, personal Logos (Word) alongside the Father, which contrasted with Noetus's belief in a single divine person manifesting in different ways.

The followers of Noetus were known as Noetians. Their influence spread, but their teachings were ultimately deemed inconsistent with developing orthodox Trinitarian doctrine. The theological arguments sparked by Noetus contributed to the ongoing discussions about the relationship between the Father and the Son, playing a role in the formation of the Nicene Creed in 325 AD, which affirmed the co-essentiality and co-eternality of the Father and the Son. While Noetus himself did not use the term "Trinity," his theological positions contributed to the discussions that ultimately defined and clarified the Trinitarian doctrine.