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{{short description|Nontrinitarian religious movement}}{{good article}}{{Christianity|expand-nontrinitarian=yes}}Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Jesus Only movement) is a nontrinitarian religious movement within the Protestant Christian family of churches known as Pentecostalism.BOOK, Chryssides, George D., George Chryssides, 2012, Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, "Jesus Only" Pentecostalism,weblink Lanham, Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield, 2nd, Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series, 189–190, 978-0-8108-6194-7, 2011028298, BOOK, Reed, David A., 2018, 2008, "In Jesus' Name": The History and Beliefs of Oneness Pentecostals, From Issue to Doctrine: The Revelation of God and the Name, One Lord and One Baptism,weblink Leiden and Boston, Brill Publishers, Journal of Pentecostal Theology: Supplement Series, 31, 175–205, 978-90-04-39708-8, 0966-7393, ENCYCLOPEDIA, Reed, David A., Barba, Lloyd, 2019, Oneness Pentecostalism, Wilkinson, Michael, Au, Connie, Haustein, Jörg, Johnson, Todd M., Brill's Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism Online, Leiden and Boston, Brill Publishers, 10.1163/2589-3807_EGPO_COM_041662, 2589-3807, It derives its name from its teaching on the Godhead, a form of Modalistic Monarchianism commonly referred to as the Oneness doctrine.BOOK, Patterson, Eric, Rybarczyk, Edmund, The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States, Lexington Books, 2007, New York, 123–4, 978-0-7391-2102-3, WEB, Modalism {{!, Definition of Modalism by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Modalism|url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/modalism|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413025359weblink|archive-date=April 13, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=13 April 2021|website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English|language=en}}BOOK, Bernard, David,weblink The Oneness of God, Oneness Believers in Church History, Word Aflame Press, 1993, 978-0-912315-12-6,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071130145231weblink">weblink 30 November 2007, The doctrine states that there is one God―a singular divine spirit with no distinction of persons―who manifests himself in many ways, including as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This stands in sharp contrast to the doctrine of three distinct, eternal persons posited by Trinitarian theology.WEB, What the Early Church Believed: God in Three Persons,weblink live,weblink 29 September 2021, 13 April 2021, Catholic Answers, WEB, The Blessed Trinity,weblink live,weblink 29 September 2021, 29 September 2021, Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent, WEB, BBC - Religions - Christianity: The Trinity,weblink live,weblink 29 September 2021, 29 September 2021, British Broadcasting Corporation, en-GB, WEB, Trinity - ReligionFacts,weblink dead,weblink 9 January 2022, 9 January 2022, religionfacts.com, Oneness Pentecostals differ from most other Pentecostals and Evangelicals in their views on soteriology, believing that true saving faith is demonstrated by repentance, full-submersion water baptism, and baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.BOOK, Bernard, David,weblink The New Birth, Word Aflame Press, Speaking in Tongues,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090316084346weblink">weblink 16 March 2009, Oneness believers also solely baptize in the name of Jesus Christ,WEB, Slick, Matt, 8 December 2008, What is Oneness Pentecostal theology?,weblink dead,weblink 19 November 2020, 19 November 2020, Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, en, rejecting the mainstream Trinitarian formulas.WEB, What the Early Church Believed: Trinitarian Baptism,weblink live,weblink 29 September 2021, 13 April 2021, Catholic Answers, Many Oneness Pentecostal groups―especially the United Pentecostal Church International―tend to emphasize strict holiness standards in dress, grooming, and other areas of personal conduct.WEB, 1977, Holiness,weblink United Pentecostal Church International, General Board of the United Pentecostal Church International, This teaching is shared with traditional Holiness Pentecostals, but not with other Finished Work Pentecostal groups―or at least not to the degree that is generally found in some Oneness Pentecostal (and Holiness Pentecostal) churches that say holiness is to be set apart to God.BOOK, Synan, Vinson, Aspects of Pentecostal-charismatic Origins, 1975, Logos International, 978-0-88270-110-3, 221, en, The Oneness Pentecostal movement first emerged in North America around 1914 as the result of a schism following the doctrinal disputes within the nascent Finished Work Pentecostal movement (which itself had broken from Holiness Pentecostalism)—specifically within the Assemblies of God. The movement claims an estimated 30 million adherents worldwide.BOOK, French, Talmadge L., Early Inter-racial Oneness Pentecostalism: G.T. Haywood and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (1901-1931), 2014, The Lutterworth Press, Eugene, Or, 978-0-227-17477-7, 6, 1,weblink 8 February 2024, The number of Oneness Pentecostals, above and beyond the hard data of 27.4 million reported for specific groups by the Oneness Studies Institute in 2009, now exceeds an estimated thirty million., It was often referred to as the Jesus Only movement in its early days—referring to its baptismal formula—which may be misleading as it does not deny the existence of the Father or Holy Spirit.BOOK, Vinson, Synan, The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901–2001, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2001, 141, 9780785245506,

History

The first Pentecostals were Holiness Pentecostals, who teach three works of grace (the new birth, entire sanctification, and Spirit baptism accompanied by glossolalia); Finished Work Pentecostals broke off and became partitioned into Trinitarian and nontrinitarian branches, the latter being known as Oneness Pentecostalism.BOOK, Anderson, Allan, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, 13 May 2004, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 978-0-521-53280-8, 47, English, Those who resisted Durham's teaching and remained in the 'three-stage' camp were Seymour, Crawford and Parham, and Bishops Charles H. Mason, A.J. Tomlinson and J.H. King, respectively leaders of the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God (Cleveland) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Tomlinson and King each issued tirades against the 'finished work' doctrine in their periodicals, but by 1914 some 60 percent of all North American Pentecostals had embraced Durham's position. ... The 'Finished Work' controversy was only the first of many subsequent divisions in North American Pentecostalism. Not only did Pentecostal churches split over the question of sanctification as a distinct experience, but a more fundamental and acrimonious split erupted in 1916 over the doctrine of the Trinity. ... The 'New Issue' was a schism in the ranks of the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals that began as a teaching that the correct formula for baptism is 'in the name of Jesus' and developed into a dispute about the Trinity. It confirmed for Holiness Pentecostals that they should have no further fellowship with the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals, who were in 'heresy'., BOOK, Levinson, David, 1996, Religion: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, California, ABC-Clio, 978-0-87436-865-9, 151, English, The Finished Work Pentecostals believed that conversion and sanctification were a single act of grace. The Assemblies of God, created in 1914, became the first Finished Work denomination., The Oneness Pentecostal movement began in 1913 as the result of doctrinal disputes within the nascent Pentecostal movement,WEB, Gill, Kenneth, Dividing Over Oneness,weblink live,weblink 19 November 2020, 19 November 2020, Christianity Today, en, WEB,weblink Oneness Pentecostalism, Tal, Davis, North American Mission Board, live,weblink 19 November 2020, 19 November 2020, en-US, specifically within the Assemblies of God, the first Finished Work Pentecostal denomination.

Beginnings of the Oneness movement

File:Urshan-andrew-fig1.jpg|thumb|right|Andrew D. Urshan, an early leader in the Oneness Pentecostal movement.]]In April 1913, at the Apostolic Faith Worldwide Camp Meeting held in Arroyo Seco, CA, conducted by Maria Woodworth-Etter, organizers promised that God would "deal with them, giving them a unity and power that we have not yet known."WEB, Warner, Wayne, Spring 1983, World-Wide Apostolic Faith Camp Meeting,weblink The Assemblies of God Archives, Asseblies of God Heritage, BOOK, Edith Waldvogel, Blumhofer, 1993, Baptism and the Trinity, {{Google books, tKuTIfCPeJwC, 127, yes, |page=127 |title=Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture |isbn=978-0-252-06281-0 }} Canadian R. E. McAlister preached a "new revelation" that a baptismal formula in the name of Jesus only was to be preferred over the three-part formula "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" found in Matthew (Matthew 28:19|28:19), pointing to Acts (Acts 2:38|2:38).BOOK, Weaver, C. Douglas, Doug Weaver, The healer-prophet, William Marrion Branham: a study of the prophetic in American Pentecostalism, 2000, Mercer University Press, Macon, GA, 9780865547100, 16, 2,weblink 3 November 2023, In 1913, at a World Wide Pentecostal Camp Meeting in Los Angeles, a well-known Canadian Pentecostal, Robert T. McAlister, preached a sermon in which he declared that the baptismal formula of Acts 2:38 (in the name of Jesus Christ) was to be preferred over the trinitarian formula of Matthew 28:19 (in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost), because the former was the one used by the early Church., WEB, Oneness Pentecostalism,weblink dead,weblink 9 January 2022, 9 January 2022, ReligionFacts, This revelation immediately caused controversy when Frank Denny—a Pentecostal missionary to China—jumped on the platform and tried to censor McAlister.JOURNAL, Barba, Lloyd, Johnson, Andrea Shan, 2018, The new issue: A pproaches to oneness P entecostalism in the U nited S tates,weblink Religion Compass, en, 12, 11, 10.1111/rec3.12288, 1749-8171, A young minister named John G. Schaepe was so moved by McAlister's new revelation that, after praying and reading the Bible all night, he ran through the camp the following morning shouting that he'd received a revelation against Trinitarian baptism.NEWS, Reckart, Sr. Gary P., Great Cloud Of Witnesses, Apostolic Theological Bible College, 124, BOOK, Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, C. M. Jr., Rabic, John G. Schaepe, Burgess, McGee, 768–769, JOURNAL, J., Schaepe, A Remarkable Testimony, Meat in Due Season, 21 August 1917, 4, BOOK, French, Talmadge L.,weblink Early Inter-racial Oneness Pentecostalism: G.T. Haywood and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (1901-1931), 2014, The Lutterworth Press, 978-0-227-17477-7, 1, 63, John Schaepe, who received Spirit baptism at Azusa, February 23, 1907, received a "revelation" six years later of Jesus' Name baptism at Arroyo Seco. Many, including Harry Morse, heard him shouting the news throughout the camp in the early morning hours, persuading many of the new doctrine, and impacting Ewart himself, with whom Schaepe's Los Angeles ministry was associated., This conclusion was accepted by several others in the camp and given further theological development by a minister named Frank Ewart.BOOK, Bernard, David, A History of Christian Doctrine, Volume Three: The Twentieth Century A.D. 1900–2000, 1999, Word Aflame Press, Hazelwood, MO, 87, 978-1567222210, On April 15, 1914, Frank Ewart and Glenn Cook publicly baptized each other specifically in "the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" in a tank set up in Ewart's Crusade tent.BOOK, Tyson, James L., The Early Pentecostal Revival, 1992, Word Aflame Press, Hazelwood, Missouri, 0-932581-92-7, 171, BOOK, Bernard, David, A History of Christian Doctrine 1900-2000 Volume 3, 1999, Word Aflame Press, Hazelwood, Missouri, 0-932581-91-9, This is considered to be the historical point when Oneness Pentecostalism emerged as a distinct movement.A number of ministers claimed they were baptized in Jesus' name before 1914, including Frank Small and Andrew D. Urshan. Urshan claimed to have baptized others in Jesus Christ's name as early as 1910.Andrew D. Urshan, Pentecost As It Was in the Early 1900s (by the author, 1923; revised edition Portland, OR: ApostolicBook Publishers, 1981, 77)The Life Story of Andrew Bar David Urshan: An Autobiography of the Author's First Forty Years (Apostolic Book Publishers, 1967), 102JOURNAL, E. N., Bell, The Sad New Issue, Weekly Evangel, 1915, 93, 3, BOOK, Anderson, Robert, Vision of the Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism, July 1, 1980, Oxford University Press, 978-1565630000, In addition, Charles Parham, the founder of the modern Pentecostal movement, was recorded baptizing using a Christological formula during the Azusa Street revival;BOOK, Johnston, Robin, Howard A. Goss: A Pentecostal Life, 24 September 2010, Word Aflame Press, English, 978-0757740299, and until 1914, both Parham and William J. Seymour baptized in this Christological formula but repudiated the new movement's nontrinitarian teachings amidst the controversy as they baptized as Christocentric Trinitarians.BOOK, French, Talmadge L.,weblink Early Inter-racial Oneness Pentecostalism: G.T. Haywood and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (1901-1931), 2014, The Lutterworth Press, 978-0-227-17477-7, 1, 57–58, In the Assemblies of God, the re-baptisms in Jesus' name caused a backlash from many Trinitarians. The issue finally came to a head in October 1916 at the Fourth General Council: the mostly Trinitarian leadership—fearing that the new issue of Oneness might overtake their organization—drew up a doctrinal statement affirming the truth of Trinitarian dogma, among other issues. When the resulting Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths was adopted, a third of the fellowship's ministers left to form Oneness fellowships.JOURNAL, 10.1163/157007403776113224, An Emerging Magisterium? The Case of the Assemblies of God, (Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies), 25, 2, 164–215, 2003, Robeck, Cecil, After this separation, most Oneness believers became relatively isolated from other Pentecostals and mainstream Christendom.

Forming Oneness organizations

Several small Oneness ministerial groups formed after 1914. Many of these ultimately merged into the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, while others remained independent, like AFM Church of God. Divisions occurred within the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World over the role of women in ministry, usage of wine or grape juice for communion, divorce and remarriage, and the proper mode of water baptism. There were also reports of racial tension in the organization. African Americans were joining the church in great numbers, and many held significant leadership positions.Clayton, Arthur L. "United We Stand," Pentecostal Publishing House, 1970, p. 28-29 In particular, the African American pastor G. T. Haywood served as the church's general secretary, and signed all ministerial credentials. Three new organizations were formed in 1925: the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel's Church in Jesus Christ and the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance.WEB, Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance (1924 - 1932),weblink 2023-10-19, Association of Religion Data Archives, The first two later merged to become the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ,WEB, History of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ,weblink live,weblink 19 November 2020, 19 November 2020, ACJC International, en, and the second became the Pentecostal Church, Inc.In 1945, a merger of two predominantly-white Oneness groups, the Pentecostal Church, Inc. and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ, resulted in the formation of the United Pentecostal Church International, or UPCI.WEB, About the UPCI,weblink 2023-10-19, United Pentecostal Church International, en-US, Beginning with 521 churches, it has become the largest and most influential Oneness Pentecostal organization through its evangelism and publishing efforts, reporting a membership of over 5.75 million.

• David K. Bernard – minister, theologian, general superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International, and founding president of Urshan College and Urshan Graduate School of Theology
• Irvin Baxter Jr. – minister, founder and president of Endtime Ministries, seen on various Christian television channels