With scholarly precision, Michael Burgos has provided an incisive evaluation of Oneness exegesis and theology while accurately representing the teachings of Oneness Pentecostals. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). Note that the emptying did not involve His deity, for Paul safeguards against such an assertion in verse 6: hos en morph theou huparchn (who [Christ] always and continually subsisting in the very nature and substance God; authors translation). John 10:30: I and the Father are one. Oneness Pentecostals honestly believe that their view of the Godhead is the true doctrine . Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2016. First, that seems to be an ad hoc measure to circumvent the meaning of the text. Biblical Response: The Oneness Pentecostal view of God is similar to the ancient heresy of Modalism. In speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells them, I will come to you. Is this not a clear identification of the Holy Spirit with himself? Today it is predominately African-American and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The context is obvious: by knowing and seeing Jesus (as the only way to the Father; cf. Important Question: If Jesus is the Father, why is there not a single passage that states this in the NT or the OT? The name of the Holy Spirit is Jesus. I. 3. If Jesus were the Father, as Oneness believers contend, one would expect to find a clear example of thisat least one passage (cf. Unable to add item to List. But Jesus said, that flesh and blood didnt reveal this, but My Father which is in heaven. Also, when Jesus prayed, it was His human nature praying to His divine nature-not to a separate Father in heaven. 5. In 1918, Oneness adherents, needing to develop their own organization after effectively being ousted from Pentecostalism, founded the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, headed by African . It is noticeably absent. the parallels in Mk. Apostolic Missionary Institute-Oshawa, Ont. 6:4) has the strict denotative meaning of absolute solitude. According to the Scriptures, apologetics is Download the Quick Takes with Kevin Podcast to hear NAMB president Kevin Ezell talk with pastors across the country about how to navigate diverse ministry challenges. Father) to glorify Him together with Him (para seaut, thus, a shared glorification, a glory that only God can have, Isa. He said that he and the Father are one. His insight is edifying. He comes from a United Pentecostal, or Oneness Pentecostal, background. John 3:13; 6:38, 46, 62; 8:23, 38, 42; 16:28). In response, Oneness Pentecostals will tell us that there are different kinds of tongues. John 9:39) the invisible Father (cf. 1. . that that calendar in your office and/or house and/or in the rooms of your children, are filled with symbols of pagan gods (all days and names of months were named after pagan gods). He also has a good section on . His knowledge of living water from the Old Testament (Jeremiah 2:13, Isaiah 12:3, 58:11, etc) should have informed him. If the Son did not eternally exist with the Father as a distinct person why is it that the Son can say, Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had [or shared, eichon] with You before the world was.? This seems to disconfirm the idea that all believers speak in tongues. . But typically, God became a man. Second, when did the Son have this glory (which only God has, Isa, 42:8)? It does not seem at all implausible that Jesus was referring to living water in John 3:5. Salvation is entirely based on grace through faith in Christ. 12-14). The largest oneness movements today are the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW). The triquetra symbol is also found in Norse Viking artifacts such as combs and saddles; found on a Norwegian coin from around the 11th cent. As with other Christian symbols and Christian holidays (e.g., Christmas, Easter, cross, etc. Nearly twenty years ago a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Greg Boyd wrote a book defending the doctrine of the Trinity against the objections of Oneness Pentecostals. I do not think so. Oneness Pentecostals take issue with the Trinity doctrine chiefly for its use of the term "person." But the Son, they say, was not really there with the Father before the world was. However, consider the following: First, note that the glory that the *Son* said that He possessed or shared (eichon) was when? By promoting the Son as a temporary mode or a role of the unitarian deity whose life started in Bethlehem, denies the Son, as well as the Father. Author: Michael R. Burgos Jr., Burgos Jr., Michael R. Format: Paperback. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. They maintain that the only real person in the Godhead is Jesus. 6 32 Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread ek tou ouranou, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread ek tou ouranou. Thus, any objection to the triquetra as use by Christians would be inconsistent and historically ignorant lacking any meaningful basic research on the triquetra and its origins in religious and non-religious usage. Research resources on religious movements, cults, sects, world religions and related issues . In this episode I interact with " A Solution to Dale Tuggy's Argument against Oneness Pentecostal Christology " - a blog post by Skylar McManus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all (2 Cor. Jesus was claiming absolute unity with the Father. The burden of proof is on the person making the claim. as well as found on early Germanic coins-with no religious significance at all. 6th ed. Many trinitarians, unfortunately, have never heard of these arguments before. Boyd's arguments are dependant mainly on Scripture but he does take some time to delve into the writings of the early Church Fathers (chapter 7) in order to show that the early church was far . First and third person personal pronouns: Throughout chapter 14, Jesus clearly differentiates Himself from the Father by using first person personal pronouns (I, Me, Mine) to refer to Himself and third person personal pronouns (He, Him, His) to refer to His Father (e.g., John 14:7, 10, 16). Read the entire account. United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) (UCJC-A)-100,000 Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. They are Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, and 19:6. How would anybody understand what he is saying? , Publisher Where in the Scripture does it say that God is unitarian? In verse 17, he refers to the Holy Spirit as he and him. Is it really coherent to think that in the next verse, he would refer to the Holy Spirit as himself? Primarily, KJV Onlyists and anti-Trinitarian groups (esp. Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. Pray and trust the Holy Spirit to lead you as you share. 3. "Against Oneness Pentecostalism -- An Exegetical-Theological Critique," by Michael Burgos, is a must-read for any serious-minded Christian who wants to be better informed and better equipped to sanctify Christ as Lord whenever the opportunity is presented to defend the biblical doctrine of Trinitarianism. Forty times in Johns Gospel, Jesus refers to himself as sent by the Father, but never does he refer to himself as the Father who sent the Son, Further, Isaiah 9:6, is no help for Oneness advocates trying to prove Jesus is the Father- See Isaiah 9:6: Oneness Refuted, 1. In 1906, the Pentecostal experience of speaking in tongues burst on the scene during a revival in an African-American Baptist church on Azuza Street in Los Angeles, Calif. Bishop Thomas Dexter "T.D." Jakes (born in 1957) is a popular black preacher and evangelist who is the main pastor of The Potter's House church in Dallas, Texas (founded in 1996), with a congregation of over thirty thousand members. These are great questions and wonderful references. This volume has practical implications beyond the debate that exists between trinitarians and Oneness Pentecostals because if popular piety is any indication, then many professing trinitarian Christians are Oneness in practice and Burgos' work will help to show how such thinking is wrong as well as offering an exegetical alternative that is ), we embrace the Christian significancenot its origin. Trinitarian who is struggling with the Oneness doctrine. Third, how could we recognize tongues for edification as opposed to the gift of tongues? Further, almost one hundred and eighty times, Jesus is presented as referring to the Father, My Father, or your Father in the Gospels as distinct from Himself, and at no time does Jesus refer to my Son. Forty times, in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to Himself as Sent by the Father, but never does Jesus refer to Himself as the Father who sent the Son (cf. 14 and Johns theology. Great book with in depth analysis about the Oneneness movement faults both historically and biblically. sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64). There are four exegetical features, which provide a cogent refutation to the Oneness handling of this passage. . In this theology, the Father embodies the divine attributes of the godhead and the Son embodies the human aspects. The Bible indeed teaches the existence of only one God (Deut. Indiana Bible College-Seymour, Ind. Further, how do you know that you do not merely possess the gift of tongues? Focus the discussion on the essential elements of the Christian faith. Better books written by an ex UPC theologian, Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2018. Note: In this beautiful passage (Jesus high priestly prayer) the Son (for Jesus says, Now, Father) says that He possessed or shared glory with the Father, before time. Any group or church that claims to be Christian yet deviates at any point from historical Christian faith is, by definition, a cult. So I want to provide a resource for understanding Oneness Pentecostalism, some of the arguments that they will use and how to respond to them. In point of fact, for hundreds of years Christians have been using the triquetra a symbol that proclaims the doctrine of the Trinity. One of the key verses to which they will appeal is Mark 16:17, which tells us that those who have believed will speak in tongues. : Thus, in spite of the arguments of Oneness advocates against the triune God and the the person of Christ, it is the gospel that must be proclaimed to them-, which the power and ordained means of God for setting them free from the darkness of Oneness theology and bringing them to the true Jesus Christ, as He wills. Charles R. Koester . Moreover, significant Christian church councils affirmed the Trinity and explicitly rejected Oneness doctrine: e.g., Council of Nicaea (325); Chalcedon Creed (A.D. 451); Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381); etc. However, like John 10:30, this verse also does not record Jesus as saying, I am the Father. It merely says, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. What is the best way to understand this verse? Lastly, There has never been a recognized biblical scholar, commentator, NT Greek grammar, nor Lexical source that has ever interpreted John 14:9 in a Oneness-unitarian way as you do.- because neither this text, nor Johns entire theology supports the Oneness idea that Jesus is the same person as the Father. While many studies have been written to provide a critique of other heterodox Christian groups (e.g., Jehovah's Witnesses, the LDS Church), there is a general lack of careful scholarship examining the theological claims of Oneness Pentecostals. However, this doesn't fit with this passage, because these still hadn't received the Spirit at all. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down ek tou ouranou, and gives life to the world. 34 Then they said to Him, Lord, always give us this bread., 35: Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. Scripture presents in plain and normal language that the preexistent person of the Son was sent from the Father (e.g., John 3:13; 16-17; 6:33, 38, 44, 46, 50-51; 62; 8:23, 38, 42, 57-58; 16:28; Gal. Just as they often say that God is one, Jesus also says that he and the Father are one. The Oneness Pentecostal may try to convince you that you need to speak in tongues, be baptized in Jesus name, and live according to their strict moral code. Publish Date: Jul 20, 2016. [4] This grammatical rule is also know as Granville Sharp rule #6: when multiple personal nouns in a clause are each preceded by the article ho (the) and linked by kai (and) each personal noun denotes a distinct person as in Matthew 28:19 (esp. , Language This movement first emerged in America around 1914 as the result of doctrinal disputes within the nascent Pentecostal movement and claims . Jesus then reiterates (as a corrective) that by seeing Him they can see, that is, know or recognize the invisible Father (v. 9). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1990. They believe that Jesus and the Father are one essential person, though operating as different modes. Against Oneness Pentecostalism: An Exegetical-Theological Critique Michael R. Burgos 16 Paperback 1 offer from $24.99 Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism Thomas A. Fudge 51 Paperback 16 offers from $22.99 (3rd Edition) is a thoroughly researched critique of Oneness Pentecostalism. The trinity is found even earlier especially the writings of Jesus being God as the son pof God.The trinity was udsed before Tertullian or Irenaeus debated with Oneness . Now I will switch gears from Oneness to their view of water baptism. . Oneness Pentecostals brand themselves apostolic. They will suggest that they are following the model of the earliest apostles. Please try again. . In conclusion, the Triquetra has been used historically by all kinds of groups to mean different things. But its actual origins are unknown. And over two hundred times, Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit and Jesus as distinct persons- and Never once does Scripture call Jesus the Father or the Holy Spirit.. I am beginning to suspect that, since Christianity is unique in . Modalism rips the heart out of Christianityit denies Christ by misrepresenting Him. Different prepositions: Throughout John chapter 14 (and chaps. First, there are no good reasons to think that obedience to this command necessarily entails that those words are recited. They are one in being but distinct in person. The only thing that keeps me from fully accepting Oneness at this point is Christology. Disagreement over the Trinity vs. Oneness of God and water baptism caused the original split of Oneness Pentecostals from the Assemblies of God in 1916. 10. Atlanta: Atlanta Christian Apologetics Project, 1994. In the book of Isaiah, he was targeting polytheists; pagan idolaters. 15-16), Jesus distinguishes Himself from His Father by using different prepositions. So Christians should strive to do the objective research, in order that they not provide bad untruthful arguments and appear unread. There is no grammatical way to disconnect tongues from the rest of the elements of that list. His will is one with the will of the Father. AGAINST ONENESS PENTECOSTALISM. 6. Speaking in tongues, like all other gifts, is distributed sovereignly by the Holy Spirit to those He wills for the equipping and edification of the whole body of Christ (see 1 Cor. Oneness View Seriously Flawed There are many more biblical objections that could be mentioned. By 1916, oneness views were being expounded by some ministers in the Assemblies of God (AOG) denomination. Noted Greek grammarian, A. T. Robertson says of the passage that This is not just ideal pre-existence, but actual and conscious existence at the Fathers side (para soi, with thee) which I had (h eichon, imperfect active of ech. If God is unitarian, why is it that there are so many places in the Bible where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are clearly distinguished from each other in the same verse? The Pattern In The Book of Acts Establishes Our Doctrine In doing so, they will think that they have mounted a proper argument against trinitarian theology because they believe that the doctrine of the trinity states that there are three gods. 36: But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe., 38: For I have come down apo tou ouranou, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me, 41: Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, I am the bread that came down ek tou ouranou, 42: They were saying, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? But these do suffice in showing that the Bible affirms that God is triune, and militates against Oneness unitarianism. This is far, far more plausible than thinking that Jesus switched between him and I.. John 17:5: Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself [para seaut] with the glory which I had/possessed [eichon] with You before the world was., John 19:25: Therefore the soldiers did these things. Its pagan, with pagan origins. 7. Please try your request again later. Witnessing to Oneness Pentecostals: 1. , Item Weight The Trinitarians won the majority and a "Statement of Fundamental Truths" was adopted that affirmed the Trinity. The classic statement of Trinitarian doctrine is that there is One God who exists eternally in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. the God)], and [kai] the fellowship of the [tou] Holy Spirit be with you all. . Pentecostalism is a Spirit-emphasizing movement that is characterized by several unique doctrines and practices, including baptism in the Spirit for Christians after conversion, speaking in tongues as evidence of that Spirit-baptism, and the exercise of all the spiritual gifts. 1:6-7; etc.). Biblically, only Jesus, God the Son, can rightfully represent the Father (because He is God a distinct person from the the Father), and represent man because He is fully man. Exegetically, it cannot refer to the Father thinking of the Son or having the Son in view or in His mind, for Jesus uses the imperfect tense [eichon, *had*), which shows that the Son had or possessed it, not in the Fathers mind. Hence, Jesus could not have meant that by seeing Him they were literally seeing the Father. Why is snake-handling not a criteria for salvation? How can you use Mark 16:17 to establish tongues as a criteria for salvation without using an absolute double-standard? When somebody is born again, they will show the evidence of speaking with new tongues. When Peter obeyed the command of Matthew 28:19, he recited the words, In the name of Jesus. From this cross-reference, it will follow that the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is Jesus. Please try again. Tate Reeves did in late August. 42:8). We work hard to protect your security and privacy. 2 Cor. The UPCI was organized in 1945 with the union of two predominately white groups started earlier in the century. Today scholars estimate there are between 1.5 and 5 million Oneness Pentecostals worldwide, and they make up . Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2018. No single translation or human interpretation can be regarded as infallible. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Col. 1:15) who brings out, that is, exegetes the Father: He [Jesus] has made known or brought news of (the invisible God) (Bauer, 2000: 349). An Antichrist who denies the power thereof, that The Apostle Paul warned us to turn away from! The nature of the Trinity can be better understood Jesus is said to have two natures: human and divine. However, some advocates of Oneness Pentecostalism have responded to this point. However, to early Christians (and many today), the triquetra symbolized the Trinity (one God, three persons). Virtually all Oneness churches reject that water baptism should be done in the *triune* formal as instructed by Jesus in Matthew 28:19, rather, as they insist, it should be dome in the name of Jesus only. The following chapters are spent systematically refuting the Oneness doctrine of God as well as their arguments against the doctrine of the Trinity. Is there an argument that you would like to see addressed? The answers do not represent a *full exegetical presentationrather it simply and basically demonstrates (a) the fundamental Oneness unitarian assumptions (viz. The reason that I am doing that is because Oneness Pentecostalism is often not understood by trinitarian Christians. Dan. In Revelation 5:13, the Lamb and the Father are presented as two distinct objects of divine worship, as they are clearly differentiated by the repetition of the article t: To Him who sits (t kathmen [lit. so thre argument of development for the trinity is weak if it is already being defemnded in the church in different locations. JWs, and unstudied Oneness advocates) chiefly utilize the pagan-triquetra arguments against it. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Oneness Pentecostals declare that the Godhead consists of only one Person and deny the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. Further, the triquetra has been found on Indian heritage sites that are over 5,000 years old; found on carved stones in Northern Europe dating from A.D. 8th cent. "Michael Burgos has produced a brilliant blend of systematic theology and biblical exegesis with a detailed and thorough discussion of the main passages at the center of the dispute between. . The doctrine of the trinity states that there is one God who is eternally present in three persons. The Oneness Pentecostal movements generally teach that to receive and maintain salvation, a person must adhere to four essential requirements. Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic or Jesus' Name Pentecostalism [citation needed]) refers to a grouping of denominations and believers within Pentecostal Christianity, all of whom subscribe to the nontrinitarian theological doctrine of Oneness. Assemblies of the Lord Jesus, Inc. (ALJI)-50,000 2:10). He claims the symbol used by trinitarians is demonic. The argument isn't against modesty, but that the descriptions the New Testament gives are examples from the first century and aren't universal prohibitions for every time and culture . If God is unitarian, how do you explain passages such as Genesis 19:24 where Yahweh (LORD), rained brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven? Does The Old Testament Favor Oneness Pentecostalism? [2] Cf. They are just continuing that long tradition. 3. If you are going to claim that there is a pattern in the book of Acts wherein everybody who is filled with the Spirit also speaks in tongues, you have a problem, because that pattern is broken on two occasions.