Definition of sabellian:

part of speech: adjective

Pert. to Sabellius and his doctrines.

part of speech: noun

A follower of Sabellius, a philosopher in the third century, who taught that there is only one person in the Godhead, and that the Son and Holy Spirit are only different attributes, emanations, or functions of God the Father.

Usage examples:

• The Tritheists advocated a system which seemed to establish three independent deities, while the Sabellian theory allowed only to the man Jesus the inspiration of the divine wisdom. Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton in "The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI.".

• We will venture to say, that there has never yet been a definition of the Trinity which has not been either Tritheistic or Modalistic; and Church Orthodoxy has always stood either on Tritheistic or on Sabellian ground. James Freeman Clarke in "Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors".

• Indeed, we are not really sure the researches were Sabellian William de Morgan in "Somehow Good".

• The analogies which are used to explain the Trinity are all either Sabellian or Tritheistic. James Freeman Clarke in "Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors".