"It was written in response to a number of views deemed heretical by Novatian, and particularly against Sabellius, who had maintained that the Trinity was divided into three "prosopa", or "characters by which God is revealed to man, the Trinity being one of revelation, not essence".Some, referring to chapter 31 of "On the Trinity", maintain that when Novatian referred to Christ as 'God' he was still excluding him from being 'the one true God'.