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Oneness vs. Trinitarian Pentecostals: Healing The Great Divide
April 23, 2007
By Andrew Degraffenreed
Most people know that Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostals have a common ancestry. I refer to their mutual beginning only to remind the reader that the, “Men who had preached, prayed, and served together from the beginning of the Azusa Street outpouring were now unalterably divided.”a If they have done all these things together in the past, is there any chance that they can once again stand side-by-side in worship and preaching?
In the Beginning
Not all of the men in the Oneness camp wanted to see this division occur; A.D. Urshan wrote, “In fact, some of them urged us to send a letter to both sides, [Oneness and Trinitarian camps] which we did, and in which we declared our natural stand regarding doctrines of baptism, and the Diety [sic] of Jesus Christ.” This was 16 years after A.D. Urshan began baptizing new converts exclusively in the name of Jesus.bc Even as late as the mid 1960’s my father recalls hearing A.D. Urshan preach at a Trinitarian assembly in Farmersville, California. Talmadge French asserts that “Urshan attempted a total posture of neutrality throughout the debate within the Assemblies of God, including the expulsion of the Oneness proponents in October 1916. His outstanding and successful ministry was in increasing demand throughout the Assemblies of God, as well as churches throughout the Oneness movement”
Just as the doctrine of the Trinity took several hundred years before it was developed into the doctrine that we have today, Oneness theology was still developing and going through changes. In speaking about the “Mystery,” G.T. Haywood writes, “Almost anyone that is able to read at all can take up the Bible and see, what is apparently, ‘three persons’.”d A.D. Urshan wrote “Our God’s Divine – The Triune God was manifested or brought forth in One Person – Jesus (1), Christ (2), The Lord (3). To me, this was indeed a wonderful revelation of the Triunity of Christ”e He continues, “This blessed revelation of Christ’s absolute Deity has been THE [emphasis his] crowning truth of all other portions of truth that the Lord has so graciously granted me, unworthy as I am.f These would not be a normal explanation of Oneness understanding today.
A Wedge Between Us
While G.T. Haywood clearly taught that salvation came through repentance, baptism, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues,g he also had this to say, “The one question that is so often asked is, ‘are all those people who thought they were born of the Spirit, and were not, lost?’ No, not by any means.”h Dr. Raymond Crownover had this to say about the merger of the PAJC and the PCI to form the UPCI, “A small minority of PCI [Pentecostal Churches Inc.] and a vocal portion (possibly a majority) of PAJC [Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ] ministers preached “Holy Ghost or Hell” (the old timer’s term for a doctrine that anyone not baptized in the name of Jesus and not evidencing Spirit baptism by speaking in tongues was damned, perhaps better referred to as the “No Mercy” position).”i
Responses from both David K. Bernard and Crownover lament the labeling of Oneness groups as cults.j However, Crownover, does not lay all the blame on others, pointing out that we have added to the perception with “the cultic practices of some [emphasis mine] Apostolic pastors combined with the knee-jerk tendency to label any questioning of Apostolic practices and doctrines as heretical. We are, indeed, our own worst enemies and much of the negative things Trinitarians say about us, when we examine them honestly, prove to be true of at least a minority [emphasis mine] of those we call brother.”k
One of the themes that seems to run through all of the responses is that no one likes labels, or being called names, yet we continue to do it. The practice of erroneously describing the Oneness view of the Godhead as “Jesus Only”, and referring to Trinitarians as tritheists, has the effect of driving a wedge of separation between the two groups.
Obstacles to Overcome
The first issue is two parts: lack of understanding and deliberate misrepresentation. Lack of understanding can be dealt with by opening doors of communication. “Oneness believers often accuse Trinitarians of believing in three gods, while Trinitarians often counter with claims that Oneness believers deny the Father. While it may be true that some who call themselves Trinitarians are actually Tritheists, the vast majority are not,l” Crownover said. In all fairness we should also say that, while some who call themselves Oneness do deny the Father, most do not.
“Instead of focusing on philosophical arguments, historical opinions, creedal formulations, non-biblical terminology, and derogatory labels, perhaps Oneness and trinitarian [sic] theologians could profit from dialogue that could erase some misconceptions, correct some mutual imbalances, and encourage greater attention to a more strictly biblical theology,”m Bernard stated. It is unfortunate that even in a call for more dialogue there is, what appears to be, blatant attacks on the Trinitarian position, with the lack of capitalization and the inference that the term “Trinity” is non-biblical terminology and should therefore be excluded from doctrine. I wonder if we would be as willing to discontinue the use of the word “Oneness” on the same grounds?
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