Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Other Resources

On the subject of the doctrine of the Trinity and Oneness there are several books (many on the doctrine of the Trinity but I’ll mention only a couple) that you can read.  Oneness individuals are familiar with David Bernard’s books.  Bernard is now the head of the United Pentecostal Church International headquartered in Missouri.  I spent a great deal of time reviewing his materials again looking at specific arguments around particular scriptural passages and comparing those interpretations to the Trinitarian perspective.  I would encourage those in the UPCI or those still confused to do the same.

For your reference a few of Bernard’s books are as follows:

The Oneness of God (Word Aflame Press, 1986).

Oneness and Trinity: A.D. 100-300: the doctrine of God in ancient Christian writings (Word Aflame Press, 1991).

The Oneness View of Jesus Christ (Word Aflame Press, 1994).

Two books that I would strongly encourage my Oneness friends to consider are written by two men that are on very different ends of the spectrum within Christianity.

Dr. James White is a Reformed Baptist and runs Alpha & Omega Ministries (aomin.org) which is an apologetics organization.  White has written a number of books but has also been involved in moderated debates on numerous subjects, including debating on the Oneness/Trinitarian subject.  His book, The Forgotten Trinity, is a nice, easy to understand perspective on the doctrine of the Trinity.  He looks at a large number of scriptural passages and breaks them down in an easy to understand manner.  While there is certainly discussion of original Greek language, the book does not come across as overly technical or so scholarly that it is not intended for the lay person.  It is clearly a book designed to provide the lay person with an understanding  of and appreciation for the doctrine of the Trinity.  It provides an explanation of the Trinity in not an overly academic manner but in a manner in which the everyday Christian can read and appreciate.  I strongly recommend this book:

The Forgotten Trinity (Bethany House Publishers, 1998).

Gregory A. Boyd describes himself as a former Calvinist – as far as the view of God’s foreknowledge, Boyd is an open theist and holds a number of views that he and White would disagree on quite strongly.  Nevertheless, they have both written nice books on the subject of the doctrine of the Trinity.  What makes Boyd interesting is that as a young person, he was a member of a United Pentecostal Church.  He left the UPCI and held to Calvinistic teaching before holding the views that he holds today.  Nevertheless, there are not many books written by people of the caliber of someone like a Greg Boyd (whether you agree with his thinking on all doctrinal subjects today or not) – someone who was in and very familiar with the UPCI and its teaching and had since left.  He provides what I think is a very fair representation of Oneness teaching and then addresses that teaching in presenting the view of the doctrine of the Trinity.  In the appendix, Boyd addresses some other subjects unrelated directly to the doctrine of the Trinity but some teaching of the United Pentecostal Church as it relates to salvation, holiness standards, and the UPCI’s teaching on hair.

Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity (Baker Books, 1992).

In addition to reading these books, something else to consider would be viewing some of the publicly moderated debates that Dr. White has performed with Oneness Pentecostals.  There are certainly a number of debates out there available for viewing.  When viewing or listening to debates my only caveat would be that it is important to not be distracted by “show” or the energetic presentation of some that would call themselves Christian apologists but to consider only the substance of the information being presented.  Sometimes energetic presentations are simply a nice way to cover up for a lack of substance, a lack of any proper response to challenges and a means for repeating in an excited fashion the same content over and over again.  It is also important to know and consider the fact that some debaters may simply be better debaters and better able to convey an argument than others.  But in the end, the purpose of the debate is not to win, per se, but to convey the truth of God’s word to those that are listening.  To reveal error through the effective presentation of God’s truth.

In 2011, James White debated Oneness apologist Roger Perkins.  I don’t recall how I came across the debate but it was here that for the first time I heard two individuals lay out their respective views on the subject of the nature of God.  It was hear that the proverbial strings began to be pulled and the Oneness position began to unwind in my mind.  There was nothing about Mr. Perkins presentation that was necessarily inadequate so much as there was an inadequacy in scriptural support for the Oneness position.  There was a lacking of any adequate response to the issues posed by Dr. White, in particular when he raised the scriptural teaching of the pre-existence of the Son before the incarnation in such a way that scripture does not teach the logos could simply be understood to be a plan in the mind of God.

It was in this debate that I believe I first heard anyone teach in any substantive way on the subject of the doctrine of the Trinity.  This didn’t necessarily “seal the deal” with me but it began to set me on a course of reading and study as well as a closer examination of the foundations for my prior beliefs and understanding on the nature of God.  I would encourage Oneness individuals to view this debate with an open mind and heart:

The Trinity Debate – James White vs Roger Perkins 2011

While most of my references on the Oneness position are tied to David Bernard, to my knowledge Bernard and White have only debated on radio programs – once on the subject of Oneness versus the Trinity and another time on the subject of whether tongues are necessary for salvation.  I think both interesting for what they reveal but I do wish that at sometime there had been a full-length publicly moderated debate between Bernard and White on the subject of Oneness and the Trinity.  Bernard and White’s radio program debates can be found on YouTube:

Oneness vs. Trinity

Are Tongues Necessary for Salvation?

White did have public debates with Oneness advocates that are available for viewing as well.  The first dates back a number of years and was with a gentleman by the name of Robert Sabin.  Sabin has been a minister with the UPCI and written on the subject of the Oneness perspective.  This debate dates back to 1999 and can be viewed in several parts:

Trinity vs. Oneness Debate Part 1, White vs. Sabin

Trinity vs. Oneness Debate Part 2, White vs. Sabin

Trinity (White) vs. Oneness (Sabin): Lost parts of their debate (cross examination and closing statements)

I would encourage individuals to consider all of these resources and to weigh the biblical evidence.  While something may sound foreign and certainly contrary to our traditions our traditions and comfort is not what we should be seeking.  A knowledge of God and an acknowledgement of who we are as fallen humanity should certainly create a sense of uncomfortableness as we consider our condition and the holiness of God.  Yet in that we know that our uncomfortableness can be resolved when we seek him and find our sufficiency in him.  Our traditions should never trump truth and we need to be willing to have our beliefs challenged to determine whether they are merely human traditions or whether they stand fast on the foundation of God’s word.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Some Concluding(?) Thoughts

It seems somewhat appropriate as we approach the Christmas season to attempt to draw these series of posts on Trinitarianism and Oneness to a close as we consider just who it was that was born in Bethlehem. Again, I was someone who had no understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity as a younger person and as a teenager was introduced to the Oneness teaching. Oneness seemed simple and straightforward. Over the course of 25 years in the UPCI I was never exposed to anything other than Oneness proof texts and certainly was never provided a meaningful understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. Today, I see Oneness for what it is – a simplistic and surface level understanding that distorts the teaching of scripture.

Within the UPCI, the Oneness doctrine is central to their teaching as it carries through to salvation for they believe that one must be baptized in Jesus’ name to bring about the forgiveness of sins and complete the new birth process. If they believe so strongly in their position that one’s salvation may very well depend upon the Oneness teaching, you would think that their followers would be equipped to go out and proclaim this teaching. To effectively proclaim this teaching (Oneness) you need to know and understand the other (Trinitarian) position so as to properly interact with those who believe differently. Over the course of 25 years in the UPCI, I never once even heard someone attempt to meaningfully contrast and interact with the doctrine of the Trinity versus Oneness teaching. As I have mentioned in the past, in my 25 years I also never once heard anyone teach on the subject of justification by faith and what that meant either.

I believe that one central reason for this is that there are very, very few people within the UPCI who can accurately discuss the doctrine of the Trinity from a biblical perspective and fewer still who would dare to attempt to equip their followers by exposing them to this doctrine.

As I have mentioned several times throughout my posts, one of the central errors of the UPCI is their taking the scriptural teaching that there is one God and presupposing that this means that God is unipersonal. From this presupposition, every time they interact with a scripture that affirms the deity of Christ, they conclude that this means that Jesus is the Father in flesh. While simple in its basic assertion that there is one God and that one God is in Jesus – if we give any serious consideration to a number of passages we find that the Oneness position is a confused and muddled view of the nature of God.

Oneness advocates state that it is all very clear if we simply understand that dual nature of Christ – he is fully man (Son) and he is fully God (Father). When Jesus speaks, Oneness supporters state, we simply need to understand whether he is speaking as a man or whether he is speaking as God. Is he speaking or acting from his humanity or from his divinity? If this is the simple key to understanding the nature of Christ then it must follow that John and Paul, in particular, were themselves very confused as to the nature of Christ. For their statements specifically ascribe to the Son such attributes and actions as eternality, glory and creative power and authority.

I will confess that while I saw clearly that we are saved by grace through faith and the implications of this when considering the gospel according to UPCI, I continued to struggle with the idea of oneness theology. It was something that I felt I understood and something that I was concerned about letting go of because of what that might possibly mean. But as I began to read the perspectives of others and to reread the perspectives of people like David Bernard (now superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International), I began to compare the views and their interpretations on various passages. When you find a string seemingly dangling there in an argument and you give it a little pull and find that the entire argument begins to simply unwind – that may not be a faith upon which to stand.

When I set aside my presupposition that God is simply unipersonal and to read scriptures allowing that God may be tripersonal, it became apparent repeatedly that there are distinctions made between the Father, Son and Spirit and that these are personal distinctions. But it was when I began to see those passages that assert the pre-existence of the Son to the incarnation and to understand the implications of what was being stated that things began to crystalize for me. It wasn’t simply an understanding of those passages but looking to how the UPCI has historically understood those passages and that the UPCI position simply does not work.

John’s gospel is simply so full of teaching asserting the distinctions between the Father, Son and Spirit and the pre-existence of the Son and the deity of the Son. The UPCI loves the gospel of John as well because, again, with every assertion of the deity of Christ they read into each and every passage that John intended to convey that Jesus was the Father in flesh. But this does not stand a simple, logical reading of John 1. It does not stand when reading what is considered the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 or the many other statements of the Son’s heavenly origin and his pre-existence.

While I am not a Greek scholar, I mentioned the Greek when looking at several passages in John’s gospel. The Greek is not necessary to understand the plain teaching of these passages, but it does aid in reinforcing some of the plain teaching and, in particular, by countering the assertions that Oneness advocates make concerning these passages. The Logos of John 1 cannot be understood to simply be the mind, plan or thought of God. The Logos of John 1 is not merely a thought or plan but is personal – he exists, he is in relationship, he has a divine nature, he is a creator, he was made flesh. Oneness advocates must assert the logos is simply a plan or thought because otherwise the rest of the teaching would collapse – it is the string that would unwind their theology. If the logos is a person in the substance of God who is in relationship with the Father, then he pre-exists the incarnation and he was creator.

The Oneness view of the Son as being begotten is also problematic when considering the Greek monogenes. It is helpful to appreciate the Greek when looking at and attempting to understand differences in particular Bible translations. But again, having an understanding of the Greek is not necessary as any student of the scripture, even if dedicated to the KJV, should consider and look to other translations of particular passages, particularly if important in your formulation of your theology. But if you create an environment where you are borderline KJV-only in your view of scripture, then you truly are seeking to protect your traditions over truth.

UPCI Echo-Chamber

The question I would ask is do you genuinely want to seek to know God. If so, you will look to what God has revealed to us about himself in the scripture. You will not allow traditions to trump the teaching of scripture. You should be willing to test your beliefs against those that disagree with you and you should be willing to listen. If you find that the footing upon which you have rested your beliefs in the past is not as securely rooted in scripture as you thought, you should be willing to examine those beliefs more closely against what the whole of scripture teaches. We should always be seeking and willing to bring our hearts and minds in line with the teaching of scripture on all points.

We should not be fearful of teaching that seems to contradict what we have been exposed to in the past. Exposing ourselves to the teaching of those that seem to disagree with us should do several things. First, if our faith is properly rooted in the scriptures we should find greater confidence in God. Second, being exposed to those that hold to a different view may help us better understand our position and the positions of others so that we are in a better spot to interact with those that think differently. Third, we may find that our thinking or teaching on a given subject is not truly consistent with all of what scripture has to teach. We should be extremely careful to not simply reject teaching or scripture that does not comport with our beliefs for it is possible we are rejecting God in favor of our traditions. My comments here should be taken as general statements – obviously there are differences between those areas that are definitional to the Christian faith and those that less definitional. Our view of the nature of God and the Trinity are more definitional while eschatological teaching is less so.

I do believe that there is a strain of anti-intellectualism within the UPCI in that there is no exposure to different beliefs. Not all matters that Christians disagree on are matters of heaven or hell. Not all points of disagreement are matters that we need be dogmatic about but even these non-dogmatic differences are not acknowledged within the UPCI.

In my final days in the UPCI, I heard a pastor simply dismiss offhand the idea of predestination within the plan of God. The idea of election was simply dismissed with a “we don’t believe in that” with no further explanation of what the scripture teaches or the differences in the camps of Calvinism and Arminianism. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, I don’t think a proper explanation of those differences could have been offered. I also heard a lady from church, a licensed minister within the UPCI, teach on ‘God’s unfolding plan’ and essentially advocated for open theism. We can debate open theism but in this situation, I don’t think it was even understood what position was being taken and the implications. Even open theist, Greg Boyd, has stated that there are certain things that God has decreed, such as the fact that Abraham’s seed would be enslaved in Egypt. Yet it was taught by this licensed UPCI minister that even the enslavement of Abraham’s descendants in Egypt was contingent upon their obedience or disobedience to God. Thus, God’s words to Abraham were merely a warning and not something that was a part of God’s decree that would come to pass.

I seem to have digressed.

I believe my point here is that while there are matters upon which Christians can disagree, we should be open to addressing those disagreements to help ensure that our beliefs comport with scripture. There are other matters that are more definitional and this would include the scriptural teaching of the nature of God. Nevertheless, without a willingness to be open to the views of others offering different positions, you will remain in an echo chamber. The only thinking that you will ever be exposed to is that of those who agree with you and what they tell you about other positions. These will be the only voices you hear and if they are not proclaiming properly what is taught in the scripture, it makes it a bit challenging for you to ultimate hear the voice of God leading you to where he wants to take you.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Oneness Proof Texts Addressed (cont.)

In addition to the many texts that we have discussed previously, there are other standard texts to which Oneness advocates will appeal in support of their position that God is unipersonal and that the Son merely refers to the humanity of Jesus –he was God the Father manifested in the flesh.  I am attempting to touch on a number of those passages here.

Revelation 4:2 – At once I was in the Spirit and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

Here John has a vision in heaven and he sees a throne set up in heaven with one sitting on the throne.  David Bernard and other Oneness advocates will look at this passage and then compare the description of the one sitting on the throne with the description of the one given in Revelation 1:12-16.  Given the similarity in titles and descriptions given for Jesus in Revelation 1 and the one who sits on the one throne in Revelation 4, according to Bernard, “it is apparent that the One on the throne is none other than Jesus Christ.”[i]

The fact that similarities exists in a vision of one on a throne and a glorified Christ does not a doctrine make.  Revelation is full of visions and symbols and of some things that John was unable to record.  Clearly there are similarities between the one on the throne and the one said to be a glorified Christ.   This certainly supports the Trinitiarian and Oneness claims that Jesus Christ is the Lord God Almighty.  Yet as we continue to read the text into chapter 5 we see that in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne was a sealed scroll that no one was worthy to open.  “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.  And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song….To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”  (Revelation 5:6-91, 13).

According to Oneness advocates, this vision of the one on the throne and the Lamb affirms that the Lamb and God are one and the same person.[ii]  Again, the presumption is that God is unipersonal and, therefore, every statement affirming the deity of Christ is a statement, according to Oneness advocates, that God the Father is in Christ.  Oneness supporters say the Lamb in these visions would pertain to the Jesus the man the one on the throne would be God the Father or Jesus’s divine nature.  Yet how does such an interpretation not fall into the trap that Oneness advocates assert against Trinitarians – that their position stands for more than one God.

There appears to be a clear distinction made between the one who sits on the throne and the Lamb in Revelation 4 and 5.  Yet both are in heaven and both are the objects of worship.  In the Oneness position, God is one person and he would be the one sitting on the throne and yet the Lamb is also an object of worship.  Isn’t this teaching bi-theism or a belief in two gods?  How does the Oneness position reconcile this seeming contradiction?  They simply assert that the One who sits on the throne and the Lamb are the same.  But how are they the same?  Bernard states, “The only person who is both God and the Lamb is Jesus Christ.”[iii] (emphasis added).

The fact of the matter is that Revelation continues to emphasize the Trinitarian teaching that recognizes that there is but one God/one divine being shared by three persons or subsistences – Father, Son/Lamb, Spirit.  The Father, Son and Spirit are all recognized to be the one God and yet are distinguished from one another time and time again.  It is why Jesus and the One sitting on the throne can share in the same divine glorious appearance in one moment and then be distinguished from one another in the next moment.  Oneness theology continues to struggle with providing an explanation for these passages that remains both consistent to their position as well as consistent to the overall teaching of scripture as a whole.

[i] David Bernard, The Oneness of God (Word Aflame) page 77.

[ii] Id. at 78.

[iii] Id. at 78.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Oneness Proof Texts Addressed (cont.)

In addition to the many texts that we have discussed previously, there are other standard texts to which Oneness advocates will appeal in support of their position that God is unipersonal and that the Son merely refers to the humanity of Jesus –he was God the Father manifested in the flesh.  I am attempting to touch on a number of those passages here.

Colossians 2:9 – For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

One of the issues that you will frequently encounter with many is they will simply ignore the purpose for which the epistles were written.  These are occasional writings – there was some issue, teaching, concern in the church that prompted the Apostle Paul to write to the church and those issues can be identified through a close examination of each epistle.  In the letter to the Galatians, for example, it is pretty clear that Paul had great concern for false teachers coming into the church who sought to add to the gospel of faith certain works introducing a legalism that undermined grace.

By ignoring the purposes surrounding which the epistle was written it is easy to then misunderstand the meaning of passages written in the letter.  They are taken out of the context in which they are written.  To fully appreciate Paul’s purposes in explaining to the Colossians that in Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, one need take into consideration the intent behind the letter and what was prompting the letter in the first place.

Colossians was written by Paul to address early Gnosticism that was coming into the church.  Without delving too deeply into Gnosticism, it is sufficient to say that the Gnostics held to a strong dualistic theology that viewed that which is spiritual as good and that which is matter as evil.  This dualistic view of spirit and matter led to the idea that the God could essentially have nothing to do with matter for to do so would be to lead to this God’s being responsible for evil.  Thus, this highest form of God or the Monad who dwells in the Pleroma would have descended through various emanations or Aeons, which are deemed as being lesser gods until you find the demiurge or the lesser God that was responsible for the creation of evil matter.  According to the gnostic view, only the demiurge or a lesser god could have been responsible for the creation of matter in light of the evil nature of matter itself.  The one true God could not have been responsible for the creation of matter but creation only came about through these lesser manifestations of God.  These views historically have been traced through to various Jewish influences that appear to have then infiltrated the Christian church.

One of the early heresies of the church flowed out of Gnosticism and that was Docetism or the belief that Jesus did not have a real physical body – Jesus only seemed to have a physical body but couldn’t have if he was believed to be God.  This heresy actually crept into the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) during the 2000’s.  More on that in another post.

David Bernard and other Oneness advocates cite to Colossians 2:9 as a go-to proof-text.  As they tend to read the KJV, Oneness advocates will frequently refer to the term “godhead” as the KJV states, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”  The term “godhead” simply refers to the all that makes up the nature and attributes of God.  It is an old English variant of the word godhood.  We can compare this word to some degree to the word childhood.  We would define childhood as the state of being a child and encompassing all that goes into being a child – the nature and attributes of a child.  Godhead or godhood, therefore, pertains to the divine nature, the essence or substance of God.  Utilizing Trinitarian definitions, we would say that “godhead” refers to the ontological Trinity or the essence or substance of God and not to any individual person in the being of God.  It is what makes God God – it is the divine nature.

In looking back at Colossians 2:9, what we find is a clear, unambiguous, and strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.  In Christ, bodily, dwelt all the fullness of deity.  All that makes God, God was in Christ bodily.  Christ was not a lesser god.  Christ was not a demiurge. Christ had both a physical body and in that body was veiled the fullness of all that is of God.  Again, just as in the confession of Thomas, the passage is not Paul stating that Jesus was the Father but in Christ was the fullness of deity – the fullness of the divine nature.  This is not a statement, per se, affirming Oneness theology but is a statement affirming the deity of Christ in the face of heretical teaching that had infiltrated the church in the form of Gnosticism.  This passage is a simple statement as to the deity of Christ in face of false teaching that would lead some to believe that Jesus was some demigod or only seemed to come in bodily form but was truly only a spirit.

Consider for a moment the implications of either of these false teachings.  To believe that Christ was merely some demigod introduces polytheism and is contrary to the strict monotheism of the Christian faith.  But if Christ was not truly come in the flesh, how is it he was tempted in every point as we are and yet without sin, how is it he fulfilled the law, how is it that he made atonement for sins?

This passage does not teach that Jesus and the Father are one and the same person in the being of God.  This is Oneness advocates, once again, presupposing the unipersonal nature of God and reading that into the text such that every time there is an affirmative statement concerning the deity of Christ in the text, Oneness advocates read that to mean that Jesus is the Father.

The context of the Colossians makes clear that the purpose of Paul’s writing was to affirm not only the deity of Jesus but his role in creation as well.  “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and form him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  (Colossians 1:16-17).  The Oneness explanation of the role of Jesus in creation is that as the Father, he was the creator, and that the Father also created all things with the plan of Jesus the man in mind.  Yet here we have Paul speaking of the Son of God as the image of the invisible God and that by him all things were created and that he is before all things and by him all things hold together.

Therefore, we should understand Colossians 2:9 in its proper context and be consistent in our approach to understanding the passage.  In addressing the Gnostic ideas coming into the church, Paul strongly affirms both the deity of Jesus Christ as well as the role Jesus Christ played in the creation of all things.  He was not only the creator all things but he was before all things and by him all things hold together.  In him all the fullness of divine nature dwells – not some portion of God or some lesser god – but all the fullness of the essence of God was in Christ bodily.  Nothing more and nothing less.  Oneness advocates continue to read into this passage the notion that God is unipersonal, therefore, the Father was in Jesus.  Yet, they don’t apply the same consistent reading to the role of Jesus, as distinguished from the Father, in creation.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Oneness Proof Texts Addressed (cont.)

In addition to the many texts that we have discussed previously, there are other standard texts to which Oneness advocates will appeal in support of their position that God is unipersonal and that the Son merely refers to the humanity of Jesus –he was God the Father manifested in the flesh.  I am attempting to touch on a number of those passages here.

John 20:28 – Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

The statement of Thomas to Jesus is clear and unambiguous – he called Jesus his Lord and his God.  The response of Jesus is not to correct Thomas in any way but to affirm that the confession of Thomas is a demonstration of his faith.

The fact of the matter is this is a verse that strongly confirms the deity of Christ but nothing concerning him being the same as the Father in terms of identity unless you being with the presupposition that the God is unipersonal and read into the text that Thomas was declaring the Jesus to be the Father.  In his book, The Oneness of God, Bernard properly cites to this verse as evidence of Jesus being God but he does not go so far as to state that this is a statement of Jesus being the Father because it is not such a statement.  Nevertheless, oneness advocates look to this verse making the assumption that God is unipersonal and read into the text that notion that Jesus was God the Father.

Again, one would need to bring the presupposition that God is unipersonal to the text to interpret the text in isolation from the rest of scripture to understand the passage as a declaration that Jesus is declared to be the Father by Thomas.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Oneness Proof Texts Addressed (cont.)

In addition to the many texts that we have discussed previously, there are other standard texts to which Oneness advocates will appeal in support of their position that God is unipersonal and that the Son merely refers to the humanity of Jesus –he was God the Father manifested in the flesh.  I am attempting to touch on a number of those passages here.

John 10:30 – “I and the Father are one.”

John 14:8-10 – Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?  Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

The Oneness advocate appeals to these passages regularly to assert their view that Jesus is simply God the Father manifest in the flesh.  David Bernard asserts, “This statement goes far beyond a relationship of agreement; it can be viewed as nothing less than the claim of Christ to be the Father manifested in flesh.  Like many people today, Philip had not comprehended that the Father is an invisible Spirit and that the only way a person could ever see Him would be through the person of Jesus Christ.”[i]

The fact of the matter is that Bernard wants us to read these passages as Jesus stating that he is the Father but that is never asserted by Christ.  Jesus never states, “I am the Father.”  Instead, Jesus states that he abides in the Father and the Father abides in him.  Certainly, it is an assertion of his deity but Jesus is not saying that he is the Father.  Bernard states, “However, other passages describe the onesness of Jesus with the Father in a way that transcends mere unity of purpose, and in a way that indicates that Jesus is the Father.”[ii]  Bernard is probably accurate in that the meaning conveyed by Jesus and the Father abiding in one another “transcends mere unity of purpose” but he errs in stating that Jesus is the Father.  As James White states, “the unity that exists between Father and Son is far more than a mere unity of purpose or intention.  The Son reveals the Father, or to use the words of John himself, ‘He has explained Him’ (John 1:18).”[iii]  To read into this passage that Jesus is stating that he is the Father completely ignores the distinctions made throughout the NT, much less the distinctions made in the very context of the verse, between the Father and the Son as persons.

Later in John 14:20, Jesus states, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”  Jesus continues in John 15 to discuss the subject of abiding in Christ in describing himself as the vine and his Father as the vinedresser and that his disciples are the branches.  This abiding together of the Father and the Son and us with the Christ is far deeper than a unity of purpose but what it is not is a statement on the part of Jesus that he is the Father.  To the contrary, the passage continues to make distinctions between the Father and Son even into chapter 15 where the Father is the vinedresser and the Son the vine.  There is a life, love, and fruit bearing that results from the unity that comes from abiding in one another.

Similarly, Oneness advocates cite to John 10:30 to support their argument that the Father and the Son are the same person.  Again, Bernard and others run into the same problem.  Jesus is not saying that he is the Father but that he and the Father are one.  The passage is literally translated as, “I and the Father, we are one.”  The verb “are” is plural in the Greek meaning that the plurality of persons – Jesus and the Father – is preserved in the verbal form.  Jesus is not claiming to be his own Father but he is again identifying with the Father within the context of the redemption of his people.

Tertullian (certainly not a friend of the modalists of his day) in Against Praxeas (circa A.D. 210) identified the grammatical issue with the plural verb as denoting a plurality of persons being one when he states, “Here, then, they take their stand [the modalists/oneness advocates], too infatuated, nay, too blind, to see in the first place that there is in this passage an intimation of Two Beings – “I and my Father;” then there is a plural predicate, “are,” inapplicable to one person only….”[iv]

If we continue looking at the context, Jesus states, “I give them [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  (John 10:28-20).  They are one in the work of giving eternal life and they are one in the preservation of the sheep.  They are one in the redemption of God’s people but this does not translate to Jesus and the Father being the same person, as Oneness advocates assert.  Again, Oneness advocates must ignore the context in which the sayings of Jesus are spoken and then read into those passages meanings that are foreign to the text.

[i] David Bernard, The Oneness of God (Word Aflame) page 68.

[ii] Id. at 197.

[iii] Dr. James White, The Forgotten Trinity (Bethany House) page 158.

[iv] Tertullian, Against Praxeas, Chapter 22.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Philippians 2

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

Paul’s purpose with this passage in Philippians 2 is not to necessarily focus us on some of the theological points around the doctrine of the Trinity but encourage the Philippians to take on the spirit of Christ in humility and service to others.  But in so doing, Paul conveys tremendous truth concerning Christ himself in this passage.

“…though he was in the form of God.”  Just as in John 1:1, the Greek term here carries with it the meaning that Christ existed in the form of God and with no origin or beginning.  The word denotes his continuous existence in the form of God – he did not enter into a state of being in which he was found to be in the form of God, he always was in the form of God.  The Phillips Modern English translation captures this when it translates this phrase as “who had always been God by nature.”  Once again, this would seem contrary to any Oneness understanding of the Son as a creature who came into existence in Bethlehem and was then found to be in the form of God.

To be found in the form of God is speaking of the nature of God, as many translations render the verse.  Thus, Christ in his pre-existent state was God by nature and in his incarnation, was a manifestation of that divine nature.  Christ was always by nature divine.

“…did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself….”

Christ continuously existed in the divine nature but Christ did not count equality with God something to be grasped or held onto but instead Christ emptied himself.  How did Christ empty himself?  He emptied himself by taking on human flesh, being born in the likeness of men and taking the form of a servant.  John 1:14 describes this emptying when it states that “the Word become flesh and dwelt among us….”

The emptying is used in a metaphorical sense in that Christ set aside certain privileges that he previously possessed and took on the humble nature of a servant.  In fact the King James Version provides a nice understanding when it states that Christ “made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form a servant….”  Thus, Christ emptied himself in the sense of setting aside those privileges that were his in light of his divine nature and instead veiled that glory by taking on the likeness of men by taking on flesh, dwelling among men and serving others.

Thus, the message of Paul to the Philippians is one truly of humility and service.  Paul is encouraging the Philippians to have the same humble manner of life and mind of service that was in Christ.  Christ, though he was eternally divine as to his nature and served by angels, did not seek to retain that equality with God but instead he laid those privileges aside, took on flesh concealing his divine glory, and served others to the point of taking up the cross and being obedient to death for the sake of others.  Out of love for others Christ himself set aside those divine prerogatives and took on human flesh.

David Bernard argues, from the Oneness perspective, that Jesus was God the Father manifested in the flesh and Jesus was equal with God in that in Jesus was God the Father but Jesus voluntarily set aside those divine prerogatives and took on the form of a servant and humbled himself, even to the death of the cross.  As Bernard notes, this verse “only refers to the limitations Jesus imposed upon Himself relative to His life as a human.”[i]  In other words, this passage is strictly pertaining to the life of Jesus on earth.

Bernard views this passage as teaching “that Jesus had the nature of God, that He was God Himself.  God has no equal (Isaiah 40:25; 46:5, 9).  The only way Jesus can be equal with God is for Him to be God.  So, Jesus was equal with (the same as) God in the sense that He was God.”[ii]

“From the Oneness point of view, Jesus is not God the Son, but He is all of God, including Father and Son.  Thus, in his divinity, He is truly equal to, or identical to God.  The word equal here means that the divine nature of Jesus was the very nature of God the Father.”[iii]  “This verse only refers to the limitations Jesus imposed upon Himself relative to His life as a human.”[iv]

While Bernard begins to explain the Trinitarian perspective that the Son and Father are of the same nature and that the Son became incarnate, Bernard seems to begin to overly focus on the kenosis or emptying of Christ and the extent to which that means that Jesus stripped himself of certain attributes of God or stripped himself of his dignity and rightful prerogatives as God while dwelling in flesh as a human.[v]

This interpretation poses a number of problems.

First, Bernard does not do a fair job in presenting the opposing (Trinitarian) position to his Oneness view.  Trinitarian theology distinguished between the ontological and economic trinity in that while the Father is fully God as to his nature and the Son is fully God as to his nature; the Father and Son are distinct persons within essence of God.  Jesus being divine and yet distinct from the Father is emphasized throughout the New Testament as well as in this very passage.  Paul states that God has exalted Jesus so that every tongue would confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:9-11).   Bernard cannot simply dismiss the distinctions as they are presented (even in the same passage) by not accurately presenting the Trinitarian position and then making statements such as Jesus was equal to God “in the sense that he was God” from a unipersonal perspective.

Along these lines, Bernard errs by taking the statement “equal with God” to identify Jesus as being God the Father.  The context makes clear that we are speaking of the nature of God and Jesus as sharing in or possessing the divine nature of God.  (see also John 1:1c).  To say that Jesus was equal (isa) with God is speaking of equality in terms of quality or substance.  Paul is not conveying that Jesus is equivalent with God the Father but shares in the same divine nature or substance as God the Father.  Thus, once again, Paul is affirming the deity of Christ while distinguishing him from God the Father.  Therefore, Bernard’s assertion that Jesus’ being equal with God is the same as his being identical to God the Father is a misreading of the passage entirely.

Bernard’s assertion that this passage is strictly limited to the time of Jesus’ life as a human is muddled and not accurate.  Oneness advocates must argue this because in their mind the Son only existed when he was born in Bethlehem – he is, after all, the “only begotten Son”.  Therefore, they argue that Jesus the Son was equal to God in terms of identity in that he was God the Father in flesh.  Because the Son only existed in human flesh during the incarnation, this passage can only apply strictly to Jesus’ physical lifetime on the earth.  We have already seen that this is problematic in that Jesus “was in the form of God” or as to his nature, God, from eternity past.  The Greek indicates his continuous existence in bearing the nature of God with no point of origin or beginning.

Paul also tells us that it was Jesus himself who “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant….”  So if Jesus himself was the one who “emptied himself”, when was it that this emptying took place?  The Oneness advocate must argue that it was over his entire life that he simply laid aside his divine privileges. In reality, the point is that Christ emptied himself by considering what he was and then setting that aside and instead was focused on the needs of others and therefore took on something that he was not previously – he took on human form.  Jesus, essentially, added to himself humanity.  But the context makes clear that it was the Son who did this and not God the Father.

Bernard and other Oneness advocates must argue that Jesus the Father took on flesh and also became Jesus the Son.  This is a muddled reading that does not comport with the plain teaching of the passage.  But the Oneness view of the nature of God and the nature of the Son require these muddled readings in order to avoid what is otherwise the plain teaching that distinguishes the Father and the Son and yet affirms the divine nature of both.  Again, when read with a clear understanding of the doctrine and the distinctions of the one being of God being shared by three distinct persons – distinguishing the ontological and economic trinity – these passages are quite clear.

Finally, the conclusion of the passage reinforces the distinctions between the Father and the Son and their functions in the plan of redemption.  Paul here quotes from Isaiah 45:23:

By myself I have sworn;

From my mouth has gone out in righteousness

A word that shall not return:

“To me every knee shall bow,

Every tongue shall swear allegiance.”

In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul writes:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The OT passage in Isaiah is clearly about Yahweh and yet Paul is saying that it is to Jesus that every knee will bow.  First of all, if we look to these verses we see that it is the Son who is being exalted and the Son who is to be worshipped as distinguished from the God the Father.  Bernard must argue that as a result of the humbling of Christ (the man), “God (the Spirit of Jesus) has highly exalted Jesus Christ (God manifested in flesh).  Jesus has a name that is above every name – a name that represents all that God is.  The Spirit of God gave this name to the Christ (Messiah), because Christ was God manifested in flesh.”[vi]  It is also this view of the name of Jesus – “the exalted position of this name” – that Oneness advocates use as an argument in the requirement that baptism be administered in the name of Jesus rather than in the Trinitarian formula.[vii]

Yet, we will see that this continues to be a Oneness adventure in missing the point.  The passage makes clear that it is the Father who exalts the Son and this brings about glory to the Father.  The exalted name given to the Son is the name of Lord or Yahweh.  Paul is making clear that bowing the knee to the Son is bowing the knee to the “Lord”, Yahweh.  To the Son is the OT name of God ascribed in this passage – the name of Yahweh is the exalted name that is given to the Son, to the glory of the Father.  This brings the passage full circle when we see that the Son eternally existed sharing in the divine nature but he laid aside those divine privileges and took on human flesh and humbled himself becoming obedient even to the death of the cross for us.  This results in the glorification of the Son in his being confessed to be Yahweh as well as the glory of the Father.

This is consistent with the salutations regularly used by Paul in his epistles where he speaks of God (Theos – Elohim) the Father and the Lord (kurios – Yahweh) Jesus Christ.  Both the Father and the Son are continuously asserted as being simultaneously distinct persons and yet divine.  This is not bi-theism as Trinitarian theology asserts at its most fundamental level that there is one divine being shared by three distinct persons or subsistences.

This passage is a beautiful message that when understood in its simple meaning confesses the deity of the Son from eternity, his humbling himself to meet the needs of mankind resulting in his great glorification to the glory of God the Father.  As we have seen elsewhere, the attempts by Oneness advocates to impose their view of the nature of God as unipersonal renders the reading of this verse as muddled, confused and in denial of the true nature of the Son of God and what he did for us.

[i] David Bernard, The Oneness of God (Word Aflame) page 222.

[ii] Id. at 221.

[iii] Id. at 222.

[iv] Id. at 222.

[v] Id. at 221-3.

[vi] Id. at 223.

[vii] Id. at 52.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – The Prayers of Jesus

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.  And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.  I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” John 17:1-5

From the Oneness perspective, the prayers of Jesus are simply the humanity of Jesus conversing with the divine – the human Son speaking to his heavenly Father – who also happens to be in him and the same person as him, which is problematic in and of itself.  Contrarily, the Trinitarian position sees the prayers of Jesus as genuine communication between the Son and the Father and the prayer of John 17 seems to indicate it as such.

Again, clearly we have distinctions made between the Father and the Son as far as personhood is concerned.  But some other points must be made from this passage.

First, scholars will note that the form of the verb “glorify” is in the aorist imperative form which is commonly used in the form of a command, rather than a simple request.  Thus, the Son is commanding the Father to glorify the Son in order that the Son might glorify the Father.  This would lead us to conclude the Son’s equality with the Father according to their nature.  If the Son were merely flesh, this would be problematic – what creature would presume to make commands of their Father.  But here the doctrine of the Trinity affirms equality of persons within Trinity – they are equal as to their nature while differing with respect to their function.

Second, How is it the Son (the humanity, according to Oneness theology) able to command his Father to glorify the Son?  Hebrews 1:3 states that, “He [the Son] is the radiance of the glory of God [the Father] and the exact imprint of his [the Father’s] nature, and he [the Son] upholds the universe by the word of his [the Son’s] power.”

We will look at Philippians 2 but for now we can say that the passage in Philippians demonstrates that the Son pre-existed the incarnation and that although he was equal with God did not consider that something to be grasped or retained but emptied himself and humbly took on the form of a servant.  The Son laid aside the glory that was his and it was hidden through the incarnation.  It was momentarily revealed at the transfiguration but Jesus now commands its full restoration with his fulfilling the work that he was sent to do.

In further explanation as to how the Son can make such a command of the Father is noted in verse 5, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”  Jesus requests or commands the Father to restore to him the glory that he had with the Father before the creation of the world.  Implicit in this prayer is the fact that the Son existed with the Father prior to creation and that the Son is equal with the Father in that they shared in the glory of God but that through the incarnation (see Philippians 2) that glory was set aside in order for the Son to perform the work that he was called to do but with its completion, the Son seeks a restoration of his glory, the same glory that he had with the Father for all of eternity.

This passage seems to not only contradict the fundamental teaching of Oneness (that there was a time when the Son did not exist) but Bernard’s assertions that there are some Trinitarians who also deny the idea of the eternal Son.  This very prayer of Jesus is the Son’s asserting his existence in eternity prior to the creation and his sharing of the Father’s glory.

How do Bernard and the Oneness advocates respond to this statement made by Jesus?  There is a simple denial on their part, as there must be, of the idea of an eternal Son that existed prior to the incarnation.  In their minds, this all simply existed in the mind of God as a part of his predestined future plan.[i]  With respect to John 17:5, Bernard states in a parenthetical that “Jesus spoke as a man in John 17:5, for by definition God does not pray and does not need to pray.”[ii]  This is simply a non-response that is in denial of the very words of Jesus asserting his existence prior to creation with the Father.

Bernard also explained that “Jesus spoke of the glory He had as God in the beginning and the glory the Son had in the plan and mind of God.  I could not mean that Jesus pre-existed with glory as the Son.  Jesus was praying, so He must have been speaking as a man and not as God.  We know the humanity did not pre-exist the Incarnation, so Jesus was talking about the glory the Son had in the plan of God from the beginning.”[iii] (emphasis added).

Unfortunately, this contortion of Jesus’ words based on the understanding of prayer and the presuppositions brought to the reading of the text from the Oneness perspective leads to this being the only possible view of what is otherwise a very plain meaning of the text.  God cannot pray.[iv]  According to Bernard, this is simply the humanity speaking to the Father/divine about the glory that he (the Father) had as the Father in eternity past and the plan that the Father had in mind for the Son from before creation.

Nevertheless, here Bernard contradicts himself in his own reasoning.  Is Jesus speaking as a man or as divine when he says “glorify me with the glory that I had with you…”?  On the one hand, Bernard asserts that Jesus was speaking “of the glory He had as God in the beginning….”  So Jesus is speaking as God.  But I thought God cannot pray because he is God.  On the other hand, Jesus is speaking of the glory he had as “the plan in the mind of God.”  So Jesus was speaking as humanity.

The fact is that Bernard offers no cogent exegesis of the passage where Jesus states, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”  There is simply no basis for asserting that the glory the Son had with the Father before the world existed was simply in the mind/thought/foreknowledge of God.  His words cannot be clearer – glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.  Reading this passage in light of John 1 and Philippians 2, it can only be understood that the Son existed in eternity and emptied himself of certain divine prerogatives when taking on flesh – that in the incarnation his glory was shrouded but with the completion of his work, his glory was to be fully restored and visible to all.

What about Prayer between the Father and Son in general?

Bernard’s explanation as to the prayers of Jesus is simply that “the human nature of Jesus prayed to the eternal Spirit of God.  The divine nature did not need help; only the human nature did.”[v]  “By definition, God in His omnipotence has no need to pray, and in His oneness has no other to whom He can pray.”[vi]

First, let us note that Bernard provides no definition for what he means by prayer when he asserts that God cannot pray based on his omnipotence.  What is prayer but at its most fundamental essence simply communication between two persons?  Ordinarily we speak of man communicating with God in prayer.  The scripture provides various forms and types of prayer from intercession to supplication.  Why the preclusion of prayer or communication between the Father and the Son because of their divine personhood and omniscience?  If the doctrine of the Trinity is correct, the Father and the Son would communicate with each other.

Second, I think we would agree that the Jesus as both fully man and fully God would pray in light of his two natures – fully man and fully divine.  In his humanity, Jesus needed to pray and he prayed, not to Himself but to God the Father.  Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Trinity does not preclude Jesus as the Son of God, a person in the Trinity, praying to God the Father based on their omniscience. In fact, the doctrine of the Trinity presents the prayers of Jesus in a much more understanding fashion.

Do Natures Pray and Love?

Bernard would need to explain why, if Jesus is simply the Father in flesh, would there really be any need to pray?  Does having a dual nature simply require prayer?  If God is one person and that one person of God (God the Father) is in Jesus, who is Jesus praying to?  If God is unipersonal, it necessarily follows that Jesus is talking to himself.  Jesus’ prayers to the Father would be virtually nothing more than a monologue between Jesus and himself.  Why?  For the benefit of those that were listening?  It necessarily follows that the argument of Oneness is that natures are able to communicate and love because Jesus is essentially one person with two natures.  If Jesus was fully the unipersonal God and man, how can it not but follow that Jesus was in love with and communicated with himself – his divine and his human natures.  But this is not the case at all.  Natures do not communicate.  Natures do not love.  Persons love and communicate.  Thus, Jesus, the Son of God, as a distinct person from the Father communicated with and loved the Father.  The Father loved and communicated with the Son.  Again, the doctrine of the Trinity simply presents a clearer picture of the relationship between the Father and the Son than does Oneness.

Bernard’s claim that the Son of God praying to God the Father would lead to either subordinationism or Arianism[vii] actually could be turned around on Oneness advocates.  It would seem to me that the Oneness position is the one that interprets the nature of God in such a way as to potentially leading to a watered-down version of Arianism where the person of Jesus is merely human.

“If the prayers of Jesus prove there are two persons in the Godhead, then one of those persons is subordinate to the other and therefore not fully or truly God.”[viii]  Because natures do not pray to one another, if Jesus is praying to the Father in his humanity, is there not such an emphasis on the humanity of the Son such that he is a separate person from the Father.  Given the unipersonal nature of God the Father in the Oneness view, it would seem to follow that Jesus, as the Son is really more human than divine.  This is the path that leads to Arianism – one of the early century heresies that viewed God as unipersonal and Jesus as simply a man – a creation on the part of God.  In fact, it was Arianism that gave rise to the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and the formal statement of the doctrine of the Trinity and against the unipersonal nature of God that would deny the deity of the Son.

[i] David Bernard, The Oneness of God (Word Aflame) pg 117.

[ii] Id. at 117.

[iii] Id at 183-4.

[iv] Id. at 177.

[v] Id. at 177.

[vi] Id. at 177.

[vii] Id. at 178.

[viii] Id. at 177.

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – Sent from the Father

 

Sent from the Father

In addressing the question of the Son being sent from the Father, Bernard questions whether this means that Jesus, as the Son of God, is a distinct person from the Father?  He answers, “We know this is not so because many verses of Scripture teach that God manifested Himself in flesh….  He gave of Himself; He did not send someone else…. The word sent does not imply pre-existence of the Son or pre-existence of the man.”[i]

The Oneness explanation is simply that, “God formed a plan, put flesh on that plan, and then put that plan in operation.  God gave the Son a special task.  God manifested Himself in flesh in order to achieve a special goal.”[ii]  “Briefly stated, the sending of the Son emphasizes the humanity of the Son and the specific purpose for which the Son was born.”[iii]

Again, this is a rather simple reading that tends to ignore the substance of the comments that are made in their particular context.  Further, it presupposes a unipersonal God.

In John 3 we find Jesus speaking of being born from above.  When Nicodemus questions Jesus on these things, Jesus replies, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”  (John 3:12-13).

Christ’s knowledge of the heavenly is derived from the fact that his origination is the heavenly.  This passage corresponds nicely to the previous passage in John 1:18.  Here Jesus invokes the name the Son of Man for himself.  Bernard agrees that the passage in John 3:13 demonstrates the deity of Jesus and acknowledges that Jesus uses the term Son of Man (which Oneness advocates would traditional argue pertains to his humanity and not his deity).  So how could it be said that the Son of Man is in heaven?  Well, Bernard argues this simply is a reference to the omnipresence of God.[iv]  Jesus, as to his divine nature, could be on earth and in heaven at the same time.  This is the explanation provided for the triune nature of God being revealed at the baptism of Jesus by Oneness advocates as well.[v]

“But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John.  For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.  His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.”  (John 5:36-38).

It is interesting to note that we never see Jesus sending the Son for Jesus was the Father, according to Oneness theology.  To the contrary, the plain reading of these passages state that the Father sent the Son and, further, we see later in John 3 that the Son preexisted the incarnation for the Jesus refers to himself as descending from heaven.  The Son had a heavenly origin.

“He who comes from above is above all.  He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.”  (John 3:31-32)  The message of Jesus is not simply that he was sent from the Father but that his origin is heavenly.  The Son was sent from heaven by the Father.  The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Previously, in John 1:51, we find Jesus speaking to Philip these words, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”  In Genesis, Jacob had a vision of the angels of heaven ascending and descending upon a ladder that was set upon on the earth that reached to heaven.  (Genesis 28:12).  Here we find Jesus in amazing fashion stating that Jacob’s dream is being realized in Christ in that he is the connection between heaven and earth, between God and humanity.

The standard argument from the Oneness perspective is that the scriptures clearly teach that God the Father manifested himself in flesh – he came himself to do what needed to be done and did not send another.  The issue is these standard statements are based on the assumption that God is unipersonal and not tripersonal.  These statements do not demonstrate that God is unipersonal – these statements demonstrate the divine nature of Christ.

Further, Oneness advocates will argue that the Son being sent from the Father is no different that John the Baptist being sent from God (John 1:6) and God sending forth his Son in Galatians 4:4.  Along the same lines of God not sending someone else but coming himself, Bernard cites to Galatians 4:4 arguing, “The Son was sent from God as a man, not as God: ‘God sent forth his Son, made of a woman’….The word sent does not imply pre-existence of the Son or pre-existence of the man.  John 1:6 states that John the Baptist was a man sent from God, and we know he did not pre-exist his conception.  Instead, the word sent indicates that God appointed the Son for a special purpose.   God formed a plan, put flesh on that plan, and then put that plan in operation.”[vi]  Bernard further notes that in Hebrews 3:1, Jesus is called the Apostle of our profession with apostle meaning “one sent” in Greek.[vii]

Unfortunately, Bernard once again makes an argument based on the English meaning of words in the translations and reading that meaning back into the text rather than allowing the text to speak for itself.  In John 1:6, the text states that John the Baptist was a man sent from God – anthropos apestalmenos para Theou.  The Greek term apestalmenos literally means ‘having been sent’ from the word apostello meaning sent.  It is the word from which we derive the word Apostle or sent one.

Despite drawing the comparison between John 1:6, Galatians 4:4 and Jesus the Apostle or sent one, there is a sharp distinction between ‘sent’ in John 1:6 and ‘sent forth’ as we find it in Galatians 4:4.  In Galatians, Paul uses the word exapesteilen to state that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son having been born of a woman….  The Greek word here is markedly distinct from apestalmenos.  Exapesteilen means to be sent forth from a place.  It is made up from the Greek term ek meaning “out from” and apostello meaning “send out from”.   Thus, while apostello has the generally meaning of being sent out from, exapesteilen means more specifically being sent from a particular place.  It means not simply sent but to be sent from one place to another to fulfill a mission.

This Greek term is used in a number of places, including Acts 11:22 where it states, “Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.”  (emphasis added).  Barnabas was in one place and then was sent to another place in order to fulfill a particular mission.  This meaning would require us to acknowledge the preexistence in the first place prior to the sending to fulfill the mission.

The normal reading of Galatians 4:4, based on the original language, would necessitate the preexistence of the Son prior to his being sent and born of a woman.  This would lead us to the conclusion that it was the Son of God who was born of a woman and not the Father.  The Son existed with the Father; when the time was come, the Son was sent forth from one place (heaven) and to another place (earth) took on flesh to fulfill a mission – the mission of redemption.  (Galatians 4:4-5).

It is interesting to note that Bernard cites to the Greek term apostello in reference to Hebrews 3:1 and John 1:6 and yet makes no reference to the distinct Greek term used in Galatians 4:4, which presupposes the preexistence of the one being sent.  Instead, the absence of any such comment on the distinct Greek word used in Galatians leads the reader of his book to assume that the same simple Greek word apestalmenos is used in Galatians for “sent forth” and has the same, simple meaning as it does in John 1:6.  It is unfortunate that such disregard would be given to some of these fundamental points as it leads to a misunderstanding of the true meaning of the text – and a misunderstanding of the fundamental nature of God.

 

[i] David Bernard, The Oneness of God, at 184.

[ii] Id.

[iii] Id. at 185.

[iv] Id. at 81.

[v] Id. at 172.

[vi] Id. at 184.

[vii] Id. at 185.

 

 

 

Trinitarian vs. Oneness Theology – A Distinction of Persons

Distinctions of Persons

As previously discussed, Trinitarian theology holds to a strict monotheistic view of God.  There is only one God.  Trinitarianism holds that there are three persons sharing in the one being of God.  Oneness Pentecostal advocates seem to overlook this most fundamental concept of the doctrine of the Trinity and create straw man arguments against the Trinity by asserting that it teaches tritheism.  While David Bernard does not come right out and claim that orthodox Trinitarian theology asserts a belief in three gods, he certainly makes statements in his book, The Oneness of God, alluding to the teaching holding to tritheistic ideas.

“It is clear that the terms Father, Son, and Holy Ghost cannot imply three separate persons, personalities wills or beings.”[i] (emphasis added).

“The Bible speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as different manifestations, roles, modes, titles, attributes, relationships to man, or functions of the one God, but it does not refer to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as three persons, personalities, wills, minds or Gods.”[ii]  (emphasis added).

Oneness Pentecostals view the one being of God as simply being unipersonal (rather than tripersonal).  A question for us to consider today is does the Bible differentiate between Father, Son and Holy Spirit in such a way that they are each understood to be God and sharing in the nature of God and yet distinguished from one another.  OP asserts that the Son was simply God the Father manifested in the flesh.[iii]  Thus, Son generally refers to the humanity of Christ – his flesh – while the Father is in reference to God and the divine nature of Christ.  The Holy Spirit is simply a mode in which God the Father is manifested in terms of his interaction with humanity.

Is this OP line of reasoning sustained by the scriptural evidence regarding the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?  Does the scripture teach that the only distinction is really between Father and Son and that is tied strictly to the dual nature of Christ?  Or does the scripture teach that the Father is so distinguished from the Son and from the Holy Spirit that the only consistent way in which to understand these passages is to understand the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to all be God and yet the Father not be the Son, the Son not be the Spirit and the Spirit not be the Father – that is, there are distinctions of persons within the being of God?

Father and Son

“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand….For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, so that you will marvel.”  (John 3:35, 5:20).  Clearly, the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and these are the actions of distinct persons.  To the OP, these verses are simply describing the divine loving the humanity and the humanity loving the divine Father.

Yet there is something amiss if the Son is merely the Father manifested in the flesh, how can there truly be this loving relationship between the two if they are one and the same person.  Jesus said, “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love.”  (John 15:9).  So as the Father loves the Son, the Son loves his disciples.  Clearly the Son and the disciples were separate persons and were therefore capable of loving each other as the act of love is the giving of oneself to another – thus, by definition, love requires two or more persons.

In a number of other passages, Jesus clearly distinguishes himself from the Father.  “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”  (John 6:38).  “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”  (John 16:28).  In these and other passages, the Son is referred to as being sent by the Father.  And not simply that the Father is sending the flesh but that the Son had “come down from heaven” and “came forth from the Father” having “come into the world….”

At the baptism of Jesus we read the following:
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  (Matthew 3:16-17).

We find here the Father speaking from heaven as the Son is being baptized.  The Father again is affirming his love for his Son.  We also see the Spirit is descending and resting upon the Son.  Here we see three distinct persons represented – the Father speaking from heaven, the Son being baptized, and the Spirit represented by the dove, resting upon the Son.  This passage certainly is not the end all of passages in support of the doctrine of the Trinity but it does seem to reflect the triune nature of God.  According to OP, the Father was in Jesus and yet the Father was speaking from heaven concerning who, Jesus the man?

Bernard argues that the key to understanding this passage is to appreciate the omnipresence of God.  “It was not at all difficult for the Spirit of Jesus to speak from heaven and to send a manifestation of His Spirit in the form of a dove even while His human body was in the Jordan River. The voice and the dove do not represent separate persons any more than the voice of God at Sinai indicates that the mountain was a separate intelligent person in the Godhead.”[iv]

No one disputes that God is omnipresent.  Bernard is presupposing that God is unipersonal rather than tripersonal and is confusing is the idea of the ontological Trinity with the economic Trinity and the idea that within the one being of God are three distinct persons.  His argument in alluding to the voice of God at Sinai makes no sense as no one would argue that the mountain is a separate intelligent person.  Yet the scripture seems to differentiate, as we have been looking at, between the Son and Father as distinct persons who love one another.  The Father states that he is well-pleased with his Son.  If the Son is merely the Father in flesh is the Father talking about himself or is he talking about the flesh?  Or are we looking at separate persons within the essence of God.

We can look at the transfiguration and see again separate persons in the Father and the Son and not simply the Father in the Son: While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to him!”  (Matthew 17:5).

Again, we see the Son being distinguished from the Father and not simply the divine from the flesh.  In this passage we see the glory of the Son being revealed to Peter, James and John as the Father speaks from heaven.

Bernard, again, simply argues that “a voice does not indicate a separate person in the Godhead but only another manifestation of the omnipresent Spirit of God.”[v]  Anytime a voice was heard from heaven, “the voice was not for the benefit of Jesus but for the benefit of others, and it came for a specific purpose.”[vi]

Certainly, there was a purpose and a benefit to those who witnessed the Son’s glory and the heard the voice of the Father from heaven.  But again, the passage seems to reflect a clear distinction between the Father and the Son from the perspective of personhood.

In the third instance in which there was a voice from heaven, we find the Son praying and the Father speaking to the Son in a voice heard by the disciples:
Father, glorify your name.”  There came then a voice from heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  (John 12:28).

Here we find the Son speaking to the Father and the Father responding to the Son.  According to OP, this is really a monologue between the Son and himself – it is the human nature speaking to the divine nature and the divine nature responding out of heaven because the Father is omnipresent.  Remember, a key to OP, from their perspective, is asking the question who is speaking – is this the human Jesus or the divine nature.  In this passage of John, OP would argue that it is the human Jesus praying to the divine and the divine responding from heaven, despite the fact that the Father is really in Jesus.  But that is not really an accurate picture as to what is being presented.  What we have being presented is one person speaking to another and vice-versa.

The prayers of Jesus and other passages show us over and over that there is a distinction between the Father and Son reflecting two persons.  These statements cannot be dismissed on the basis of the human nature of Christ speaking to his own divine nature.  Jesus’ statements of have been sent by the Father and having come down from heaven and his pre-existent glory make clear that there is something more here than the human speaking with the divine.  The content of these passages make clear that the Son is more than simply a reference to the flesh of Jesus.

Jesus prayed in John 17: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life.  This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent….”

First, we find the use of personal pronouns as stressing the fact that the Father and Son are distinct persons.  Jesus is stressing the distinctions in personhood between himself and the Father.  Is this simply distinguishing between the humanity praying to the divine?

Jesus continues his prayer: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”  (emphasis added).

If the Son had glory in the presence of the Father before the world existed how can the Son simply refer to the flesh of Jesus.  Jesus, the Son of God, is stating that he had glory in the presence of the Father before the very worlds existed.  We will look at the prayers of Jesus and the pre-existence of the Son in other posts but for now, suffice it to say that there is a clear distinction being made between the Father and the Son and this cannot be limited to a simple explanation of pointing to the human and divine natures of Christ.  To do so, ultimately would seem to lead us down the troubling path of denying the deity of Christ himself.

How did Paul seem to understand this? One interesting point to note is that, like the rest of the NT writers, Paul made significant effort to both affirm the deity of Christ while distinguishing him from the Father.  We can look to many of his opening passages:  Romans 1:7, I Corinthians 1:3, II Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, and Philippians 1:2 where Paul states “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Any basic reading of these various passages demonstrates that God the Father is being distinguished from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Bernard attempts to force a reading onto this passage by arguing that the Greek word kai translated in all these passages as and could also be rendered even resulting a reading of “God the Father even the Lord Jesus Christ” thus identifying Jesus as the Father.[vii]  Thus, Oneness advocates argue that these passages teach us that Jesus Christ is the Father rather than a person distinguished from the Father.

Others have noted that re-interpretation of these passages is simply not based on any grammatical or exegetical foundation – it is simply asserted by people like Bernard to deny the scriptural teaching of a distinction between personhood in the being of God.  Kai is overwhelming used and properly translated as the connective “and” and not as “even”.

Further, Bernard argues that the definite article (the or o) is missing from before Lord Jesus Christ causing the translation to literally be “from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.”[viii]  In support of his assertions regarding the Greek, Bernard cites to The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament to show the absence of the definitive article as well as “Greek scholar” Robert Brent Graves, who is also an advocate of Oneness theology and not necessarily an individual with no presuppositions on this issue.  Bernard is correct regarding the lack of a definite article before Lord Jesus Christ but is completely wrong with respect to its implications.  The passage would read as follows in the Greek:

…apo Theou Patros hemon kai Kyriou Iesou Christou

Bernard’s simple assertions that we should re-read the passage as using “even” rather than “and” and the lack of a definitive article serves to eliminate any distinction between the Father and Jesus Christ is simply not supported by anyone other than a Oneness “Greek scholar”.  The use of the definitive article tends to say more about the nature and quality of nouns, in particular, in relation to other nouns.  When you have two nouns present and both have the definite article this may well mean that they are essentially equivalent to one another.  When you have two nouns and only one has the definite article and it is absent from the other noun (this noun is anarthrous), the anarthrous noun is not necessarily equivalent to the articular noun but describing the nature or quality of the articular noun (see John 1:1c).

Greek grammarians agree that these salutary passages demonstrate that Paul was intending to make a distinction between the Father and Jesus Christ and in no way was he looking to identify them as the same person.  Granville Sharp’s Rule 5 states that “when there is no article before the first noun, the insertion of the copulative kai before the next noun, or name, same case, denotes a different person or thing from the first….”  (emphasis added).

In the present passages, we have a lack of the article before the first noun and both God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ are in the same case.  Therefore, according to standard Greek grammarian rules, God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ “denotes a different person or thing from the first.”  Bernard’s citing to the absence of the article before Lord Jesus Christ does nothing to support his Oneness position – the contrary, the lack of the article in this phrase points to the fact that Paul was seeking to differentiate between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Granville Sharp himself cited to passages such as II Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:2 and Galatians 1:3 as examples of where this rule should be applied.

The fact of the matter is, Paul is very consistent in his distinguishing between the Father and the Son and yet affirming the deity of both the Father and the Son.  He continuously refers to the Father as God/theos and the Son as Lord/kurios.  The Father is regularly referred to by the God or the OT name of Elohim while the Son is regularly referred to by the OT name of Yahweh.  They are never identified as the same person but are both identified as the God of the OT.  Both the Father and Son are deity and yet both are distinguished as persons from one another.  In this respect Paul can both affirm that Jesus is God and is yet distinguished from the Father. Paul can state that all of God dwelt in Christ and yet he does not state that the Father was in Christ.  All of God’s nature and attributes were in Christ as the Son is fully God, and yet he is not the Father.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

If we have seen distinctions in personhood between Father and Son, it would seem that it should follow we would also see distinctions between the Spirit, the Father and the Son as well.

First, we know that the Spirit takes up unique functions with respect to God and his dealings with humanity and, in particular, with respect to man’s regeneration.  We have already made mention of the Holy Spirit appearing as a dove and lighting upon Jesus at his baptism as distinguishing himself from the Father and the Son in that picture.

In John 16, Jesus speaks concerning the coming of the Spirit and his role and purpose and does so while distinguishing the Spirit from himself as well as from the Father:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer….  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

From these passages we can see that with the departure of the Son, the Helper will come.  He will be sent by the Son and will have a number of roles to play.  The Spirit will act as an advocate to the believer.  He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  The Spirit will guide believers into truth.  But note that the Spirit does not speak based on his own authority but whatever he hears is what he speaks.  His role is to bring glory to the Son.  Thus, the Spirit is spoken of here by Jesus as not only distinguished from the Father and the Son in terms of his functions and role but in terms of his personhood as well.  Recall that differences in function does not mean subordination within God.  The Holy Spirit is fully God despite it being his function to speak what he hears and to bring glory to the Son.  Again, we are distinguishing between the ontological Trinity and the economic Trinity.

A number of other passages speak of this distinguishing both of personhood as well as work of the Spirit:

Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us in God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.  (II Corinthians 1:21-22).

For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  (Ephesians 2:18).

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:4-6).

In a number of other passages, the Holy Spirit is described as acting with personal attributes.  In Hebrews 3:7 the Spirit speaks; in Acts 15:28 the Spirit reasons; in I Corinthians 2:10-11 the Spirit searches, thinks and understands the depths of the mind of God; in I Corinthians 12:11 the Spirit has a will; in Ephesians 4:30 the Spirit can feel and experience grievance; and in II Corinthians 13:14 the Spirit fellowships with believers.

As we read these passages and other it becomes evident that the believers in the early church were Trinitarian in their thinking and understanding of the nature of God.  This thinking continues to be carried through and contained in the writing of the early post-apostolic church.  Clearly, there were those who struggled in attempting to understanding the nature of Christ and the nature of God and this did lead some into error.  There were those who sought to deny the deity of Christ and saw Jesus as simply a man – they distinguished between the Father and Son but did so at the expense of denying the divine nature of Christ (these were the Arians).  There were those who sought to maintain the deity of Christ but did so at the expense of denying the distinctions between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the scripture (these were the Sabellians).  Both camps were roundly condemned by the early church fathers as asserting doctrines concerning Christ and the nature of God that were contrary to the historical teaching of the church.

The historic teaching on the nature of God is that there is one divine being with one indivisible essence – this essence reflects all the attributes and fundamental nature of who God is and what makes God, God.  Oneness advocates (and KJV readers) will identify this as the godhead (from the old English word godhood as describing the essence of all that makes God, God).  Within this one being of God there are three distinct persons or subsistences (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that are co-equal and co-eternal.  The whole essence of God is shared equally by each of the subsistences.  Thus, we can say that the Father is fully God, the Son is fully God and the Holy Spirit is fully God.  Nevertheless, the three distinct persons are distinguished by personal attributes, roles and functions.  Differences in attributes, roles or functions do not mean that one is necessarily subordinate to the other for all share equally in the essence of God.  Thus, there are no demigods within the nature of God.

[i] Bernard at 134.

[ii] Id. at 144.

[iii] Id. at 67.

[iv] Id. at 172-3.

[v] Id. at 175-6.

[vi] Id. at 176.

[vii] Id. at 208.

[viii] Id. at 209.