An examination
of the history and doctrines of the Oneness & Trinitarian groupings within
the Evangelical-Pentecostal World. Is there an answer to this great doctrinal
divide?
1) History of the Doctrinal Divide
Having witnessed the massive feeling that exists
between both sides, it is important to go back and identify the history of the
schism.
To deal with the Pentecostal divide first. Both sides
were together at the Azusa Street Pentecostal Revival in
Los Angeles. At this time both sides of the
divide stood together worshipping and praising God hearing each other
preaching.
A.D. Urshan was opposed to the divide adopting a
neutral stance within the Assemblies of God before the divide occurred. After
the Oneness group were expelled from A.O.G. in 1916 Urshan was able to minister
amongst both the Trinitarian and Oneness groupings breaking through the great
doctrinal divide. We ask if this is possible today.
Looking back at the schism we can view a lack of
understanding of each other's position with accusations from the Trinitarian
side of the Oneness side denying the Father, and the Oneness group accusing
Trinitarians in believing in three Gods! Blatant attacks on the unbiblical term
"trinity" occurred but then the term "oneness" is unbiblical too! We ask that
even though these terms are unbiblical, can there be signs in the Word of God
that the meanings of these words are fully Biblical!
We also ask if legalism was building up on both sides
with the doctrine becoming more important than Jesus Christ. My heart is to
explore this and see if God is bringing about reconciliation.
The main "oneness" grouping to develop out of the
schism was the
United
Pentecostal
Church
where it seemed to have been taught that one had to be baptised in Jesus name
and speak in tongues to be included in the New Testament plan of salvation.
http://www.ninetyandnine.com/Archives/20070423/cover.htm
The history of the schism can become complex as
differing views began to develop on both sides, a former active member of the
U.P.C. Lois Gibson declaring that some U.P.C. members regarded Trinitarians as
fellow Christians whilst others did not.
http://www.spiritualabuse.org/issues/onenessvtrinity.html
A different expression of oneness occurred in the
Evangelical World with the teaching of Norman Grubb. From his article, "No
Independent Self" Grubb declared, " There is no independent, self-operating
self in the universe, except the One who calls himself the I AM, and says, "I
am God and there is none else .. There is no other God beside Me."
Ex. 3:14 And God said unto Moses,
I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel,
I AM hath sent me unto you.
Isaiah 45:21,22 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take
counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it
from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just
God and a Saviour;
there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
http://www.unionlife.org/Independent.htm
My father, a former Worldwide Evangelization Crusade
missionary trained under Rees Howells at
Swansea
regularly corresponded with Norman Grubb. This is part of one letter.
Here Norman Grubb makes the following key
points;
i) Once being joined
to Satan - formerly walking "Satans"
ii) Thru
Calvary joined to Christ - now by grace walking Christs
iii) BEING He as us
iv) Never was just an
"independent me"
There is strong scriptural support for what
was a controversial BELIEF STRUCTURE.
Matthew
16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man
that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem,
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this
shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan:
thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God,
but those that be of men.
The proof points coming from this passage
are:
i) "Flesh and blood"
had not revealed the truth to Peter.
ii) Peter (yet not
Peter but Christ on earth - Peter as Christ; Gal.
2:20) was to be the rock on which the Church was to be
built.
iii) Peter (and all
following "walking Christs" given the keys meaning all authority.
iv) When Peter
started to express from "his" (yet not his) thinking "his" (yet not his)
thoughts about what was to happen - he moved from being "the rock" to being a
"walking Satan"!
James A. Fowler develops the doctrine into
the understanding of "Three divine onenesses". Three divine onenesses serve
to form the structure of all Christian theology. Trinitarian oneness explains
the oneness of the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same
Being of the one God. Christological oneness is the explanation of deity and
humanity being hypostatically united in the one God-man, Jesus Christ.
Christian oneness is the union of Christ and the Christian in "one
spirit." The unity of the three divine onenesses comprises the one gospel
message of the Trinitarian God interacting with and in humanity.
Here we develop the belief of Trinitarian
oneness which we will develop in Part 4 - The Grace Step. (The term
"Trinitarian" is being used only to bring undersJuly 3, 2007term). http://www.christinyou.net/pdfs/3divineonenesses.pdf
2) Oneness Doctrine
Pentecostal Belief: A summary of the oneness belief is that the doctrine relates God as
being absolutely one numerically, Jesus being the only God, the term person
relating only to human beings. It is not quite as simple as this and so I
endeavour here to get to the heart of the doctrine for there does not seem to
be a denial of the term "Father", "Son", or "Spirit", but these seem to be
accepted as titles of the one God rather than being three persons.
As the term "persons" is rejected, then the above
titles are "manifestations" instead. Nearly all groupings seem to hold to the
belief that receiving the Holy Spirit is evidenced initially by speaking in tongues
rejecting the term "Jesus Only" as this implies a rejection of belief in the
Father.
The nickname "Jesus Only" may relate, however to the
way Oneness Pentecostals baptize which is in the name of Jesus only. This
activity is supported by the following scriptures:
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
(Note "Name" is
singular and "Father" "Son" "Holy Ghost" are titles and not names)
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts
10:48 And he commanded them to be
baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain
days.
Acts
19:5 When they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Elvis Presley reports David Bernard was originally
baptized in an Assemblies of God Church and then re-baptized by a
oneness
Church in
Tennessee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneness_Pentecostal
An explanation of "The Father" in Oneness belief seems
to relate to Christ Jesus deity in heaven and the title "Son" as his deity manifested
in the flesh.
I Tim. 3: 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up into glory.
I Tim. 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Isa. 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and
the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
John
10:30 I and my Father are one.
John 5:43 I
am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in
his own name, him ye will receive.
Col. 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
http://www.gospeloutreach.net/optrin.htm
Further Pentecostal
Oneness Beliefs
i) One God is one
person
ii) The Father became
incarnated as the Son of God (begotten)
iii) The Son did not
exist until the Incarnation when God appeared as the Son. The Son still
existed, however, but as the Father, the title relating to God as a man - not
as deity.
iv) All distinctions
are a result of the relationship between the Holy Ghost and the incarnate
God-man.
v) The Word (John 1)
expressed as the Son of God.
vi) We will see Jesus
Christ in heaven - having been God manifest in the flesh.
vii) Trinitarian
belief is tri-theism (not always), the very term "Trinity" being pagan in
origin.
viii) Holiness Lifestyle
ix) Jesus is the Holy
Ghost
II Cor. 3: 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit:
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Rom. 8: 9 But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
ix) Atoning death, resurrection, soon coming
Christ
http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/onetrindisagree.htm
Evangelical Belief.
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.
In looking to bring together Oneness and Trinitarian
groups we need to develop an understanding that there is more than one kind of
oneness. James A. Fowler declares that there are seven kinds of onenesses
developed by Paul. To bring understanding of what became Evangelical oneness I
use James Fowler's excellent material that relates to this Ephesians 4 description.
Fowler refers to these as "three divine onenesses":
i) The Trinitarian
oneness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the one Godhead
ii) The Christological
oneness of deity and humanity in the one Lord and mediator Jesus Christ
iii) The Christian
oneness of the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of an individual or the
collective church in the "one spirit" union with Christ.
Norman Grubb writing for "Union Life" in 1979
declared; "The central secret of all history is the union of the creature and the
Creator. Not just the Creator. Certainly not just the
creature. But the union. We've found the whole meaning of
life in time and eternity when we've found that."
Evangelical
oneness, therefore was not only referring to the oneness of the Godhead but
also of the oneness or unity of the creature with the Creator.
Col. 2:9: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power:
I Cor.
6:15 Know
ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
shall I then take the members of Christ,
and make them the members of an harlot?
God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
http://www.normangrubb.com/Articles/TheCentralSecretOfUnion.htm
3) Trinitarian Doctrine
The Westminster Confession of Faith 1647
stated; "In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons (personae), of
one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost."
http://www.gospeloutreach.net/optrin.htm
Trinitarian belief is thus
summarised:
i) &July 3, 2007 Three persons on
one God, there being three essential distinctions in God's nature.
ii) Father, Son and
Holy Ghost are three persons, co-equal, co-eternal and of co-essence.
iii) Jesus is the
incarnation of God the Son, Jesus not being the Father or the Holy Ghost.
iv) The Son is
eternal, eternally begotten of the Father.
v) The "Word" of John
1 is the second person in the Godhead.
vi) Jesus is the
human name given to God the Son.
vii) Baptism is " in
the name of the Father .."
viii) We will see the
Trinity in heaven but how this happens is presented in varying ways. The
Godhead is a mystery which we must accept. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Ch12.htm#t11
Trinitarians in defending their belief system will
point out the distinction between what is seen as the Biblical Trinity and
trinities from other religions. Oneness believers often press the charge that
the concept and very use of the word "Trinity" is pagan in origin. Jehovah's
Witnesses press this charge in their "Trinity" publication stating that Hindu
gods Brahma, Siva and Vishnu are a trinity. The problem with this argument,
however is that in Hinduism they are still seen as separate gods whereas
Father, Son and Holy Ghost in Trinitarian belief are not.
http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/trinityandpaganism.htm
Grudem defines the Trinity this way; "God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God." (Wayne
Grudem, Systematic Theology, p 226).
F. J. Sheed; "In the one Divine
Nature, there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The
Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is not the
Father: no one of the Persons is either of the others. The Father is God, the
Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God. There are not three Gods but one God."
(F.J. Sheed, God: Unity and Trinity (1955), p. 56)
Athanasian Creed: "We worship one God
in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity; we distinguish among the persons, but
we do not divide the substance. The entire three persons are co-eternal and
co-equal with one another, so that ... we worship complete unity in Trinity and
Trinity in unity."
Louis Berkhof: "There is in the
Divine Being but one indivisible essence (ousia, essentia)...In this one
Divine Being there are three Persons or individual subsistences, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit...The whole undivided essence of God belongs equally to each of
the three persons...The subsistence and operation of the three persons in the
Divine Being is marked by a certain definite order...There are certain personal
attributes by which the three persons are distinguised...The Church confesses
the Trinity to be a mystery beyond the comprehension of man." (Louis
Berkhof, Systematic Theology (1984 ed.), pp. 87-89).
R. T. Kendall: "Trinity: One God in
three Persons: Father, Son, Spirit.
1. God is one in his essential being but in this being there are three
persons.
(a) Though there are three persons they do not compete with each
other.
(b) They are three modes or forms in which the divine being
manifests himself to us.
2. The three persons are self-distinctive
in the one true God.
(a) The divine essence is wholly in each person.
(b) This means the Father is wholly God, the Son is wholly God
and the Spirit is wholly God.
(1) Jesus is distinct from the Father but is truly God
even as the Father is God.
(2) The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Son and the Father
but is truly God as is either the Son or the Father." (R.T. Kendall,
Understanding Theology, p. 29) http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/trinitydefinitions.htm
4) The Grace Step
Some say that this great
theological divide is simply a case of semantics, and in certain cases it is.
For example it would appear that both Oneness and Trinitarian believers accept:
i) God is one
ii) Father, Son and
Holy Ghost are God
iii) Deity of Christ
Jesus
iv) A Distinction
between the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
v) That Jesus was
praying to the Father, not to himself
So - is there an answer to
this great theological divide?
http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/onetrindisagree.htm
This great theological divide
has probably brought about more hurts and ill feeling than any other issue the
Church witnessed in the twentieth century. New Oneness believers coming from
Trinitarian backgrounds have been re-baptised in the name of Jesus thus
apparently making null and void their original baptism in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
So - who is right and who is wrong? Are both right or
are both wrong? The objective of the Grace Step is to find a solution that does
not involve compromise to the two belief systems.
I believe God is calling a reconciliation for after
all the Pentecostal world was together at
Azusa Street so why not today? The
Evangelical World was together in the exciting days of Rees Howells
intercessions but today many back off when they hear of Grubb's "no independent
self"!
James A Fowler's work, I believe provides a solution.
To unravel what can be a complex issue, we begin with the issues raised in this
paper to date before going further into the understanding that there is more
than one kind of oneness in the Bible.
ISSUE 1: THE BAPTISM
QUESTION
It is true to say in quoting
Matthew 28:19 that the terms "Father", Son, and "Holy Ghost" are not names but
titles and the scripture does say to baptize "IN THE NAME!" This can
only relate to one name and this name is JESUS!
Col.
2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
The examples of the way the
Early
Church
baptize give further support to baptising this way and it is not good enough as
some Trinitarians state that the instruction is to baptize using the
Trinitarian formula with the name referring to "in the authority of". This
simply does not make sense but using the right formula is surely not the
essential point. This has to be the individual's life before God for it is with
the heart we believe unto righteousness for the letter killeth and the Spirit
gives life!
Rom. 10: 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
II Cor. 3: 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament;
not of the letter, but of the spirit:
for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Romans 6:3 declares that those who were baptized were
baptized into the death of the Lord Jesus. This surely places the onus on the
individual's heart rather than on the person doing the baptizing! Has there
been a realisation that this baptism was a baptism into death? This is the most
important point for it is with the heart that we believe unto righteousness.
This is where one of the Evangelical doctrines
supported by James A. Fowler comes in because there has to be the
Christological oneness of Christ Jesus and humanity taking part in this
process, a process that goes further with the one being baptized being joined
as one spirit with Jesus.
Romans 6: 5 For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection:
Jer. 3:14 Turn, O backsliding
children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of
a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
I Cor. 6: 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
shall I then take the members of Christ,
and make them the members of an harlot?
God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication.
Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God's.
The conclusion coming out of this study, therefore, is
that surely it is a matter between the individual and God, God seeing the
heart, the individual being baptized by the heart into the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the individual confessing the name JESUS.
Whether Father, Son and Holy Ghost are expressions or
persons of the Godhead is not the essential question here for JESUS is the
fullness of the Godhead. JESUS is in the central position here and it is his
NAME being referred to in Matthew 28. His name, however, is not to be used as a
statement of legal formula but rather a heart felt cry from the heart. Within
this context, therefore, I am suggesting to both sides of the divide to baptize IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST - that is
INTO THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST - HIS DEATH - AND HIS RESURRECTION.
ISSUE 2 - RE-BAPTISM
This would only be done on the individual being convicted
by God in relation to the first baptism being a legalistic exercise rather than
one of the heart.
ISSUE 3 - SEMANTICS
Other Oneness to Trinitarian issues seems to be a
question of the use of words and interpretations which vary on both sides of the
argument and so is there a grace road in bringing all parties together?
On either side we have to ask the question as to
whether the doctrine is of the supreme importance or the devotion to Jesus
Christ.
In exploring this issue before God, the Holy Ghost led
my wife Lindsay and I to the evil spirit responsible for this massive divide.
Within this spirit has been a whole army of spirits causing divide and hurts
amongst those who have placed the doctrine in a higher position than Christ
Jesus himself.
ISSUE 4 - MORE THAN ONE KIND OF ONENESS
The desire to study the deep things of God is essential for Christian growth. From study comes
revelation rather than discourse over areas of theology which can be
unfruitful. With such a question as the Oneness -Trinitarian debate there
surely has to be an understanding love from one side to the other, with a love
of the Lord in the pre-eminent position.
Surely there is scope to have a reconciliation of the
groups involved with the
Azusa
Street revival which began with a call to holiness
and separation from the World. This reconciliation, however, has to be of the
Lord because of the academic "higher criticism" techniques which are destroying
the faith level in organisations like Elim and Assemblies of God. The real
divide is not between "Oneness" and "Trinitarian" but between those who have
infiltrated the groupings with intellect rather than the power of the Holy
Ghost, this power manifesting on both sides of the historic divide with those
who believe from the heart.
The issue can be a complex one for in the following
John 17 scripture is the prayer of the Son to the Father that we be one as He
and the Father are one!
II Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.
John 17:21 That they all may be one; as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
ISSUE 5 - ACCUSING EACH OTHER OF "UNSOUND DOCTRINE"
Time has come to move on!
Phil. 3: 6 Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of
the dead.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already
perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before,
The Continuation and Development of
Understanding
James A Fowler states that such is the mystery of God's
onenesses that understanding can only come through revelation. Both sides of
the oneness debate have always claimed to believe in monotheism and this is
clearly supported in the WORD OF GOD.
Deut. 6: 4 Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God is one LORD:
Mark 12: 29 And Jesus answered him, The first
of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel;
The Lord our God is one Lord:
I Cor. 8:6 But to us there is but
one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by him.
Eph. 4: 6 One God and Father of all,
who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
I Tim. 2:5 For there is one God, and
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
In his statement that He and His Father are one, Jesus
is clearly intimating that this oneness is a oneness of essence rather than
intent; John
10:30. This
follows on into Paul's teachings which develop John 17:21 which has the prayer
of Jesus "that they be one as we are one". There is no dispute in classical
Christian circles of the divinity of the Godhead but for "they" (meaning us in
John 17) to be the same, it surely has to be "true" that even though "they"
(meaning us - not Father, Son, Spirit) have been created "they" have be divine
too because "they" are to be one as the Godhead is one!
This perspective is supported by many scriptures and
so must be the uniting factor healing the Trinitarian - Oneness splits both in
the Pentecostal and Evangelical arenas. The scriptures show our oneness and
fellowship with the Godhead showing clearly that many perspectives on both
sides of the divide have been right.
II Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto
us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust.
Hebrews 3:14 For we are made
partakers of Christ,
if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
I John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
I Cor. 1: 9 God is faithful,
by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Phil. 2:1 If there be therefore any
consolation in Christ,
if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any bowels and mercies,
Phil. 1:21 For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain.
Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ:
neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Eph. 5: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh,
and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery:
but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
There is a balance, therefore to be maintained between
distinction and oneness because both are featured in the Bible both in the
Godhead and in our relationship with the Godhead. What happens is that groups
tend to specialise on one aspect of the theology and become unbalanced. In this
particular dispute between "Oneness" and "Trinitarian" we ask the question as
to whether this has happened here, or are we as a ministry going to lose our
many friends on both sides of the divide. http://www.christinyou.net/pages/3divineonenesses.html
