Luke also testifies. Why then is it said “in those days”? It is common in Scripture to use this rhetorical device: In speaking of something that seems to come immediately after, it also refers to something that comes to pass many years later. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 10.1. Twisted Truth—MODALISM (CA AD 222) In the early church there was a group of thinkers called the modalistic monarchians. Modalists did not hesitate to speak of God as Father, Son, and Spirit, but for them these were just names