Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity


Book Description

What's special about Oneness Pentecostals? In this penetrating analysis of Oneness theology and practice, Gregory Boyd reveals the experience of four years of personal involvement in a Oneness church. Although Oneness Pentecostals' belief in Christ's deity establishes some common ground with other Christians, their aggressive denial of the Trinity has nonetheless fostered their indisputably sub-Christian ideas about God's character, about salvation, and about Christian living.




The Oneness of God


Book Description




Pentecostals and the Doctrine of the Trinity


Book Description

This book explores the complex ideas of the Trinity and God, placing particular emphasis on the Pentecostal Church. If Jesus and the Spirit are divine to the same extent as the God of Israel, what is their relationship with the Father? Traditionally, the Western Church responds that there are three persons in the one God. How did the early Church think about the Trinity? The Church assumed that Jesus died a gruesome death on the cross to atone for our sins. This implies that God required one part of the divine to die to appease another part of the divine. A further complication arises when we consider that Jesus taught believers to forgive – why, then, did God not forgive humans? This book challenges the reader to rethink and reconsider their conception of God and the Trinity, given that God falls outside our frame of reference and outside of our universe (which we can consider our final frame of reference).




The Forgotten Trinity


Book Description

While many of us struggle to understand it, the Trinity is one of the most important teachings of the Christian faith. It defines God's very essence and describes how he relates to us. And while it can be a difficult concept to get our heads around, it is crucial for believers to understand how God explains his triune nature in his Word. In this book, James R. White offers a concise, understandable explanation of what the Trinity is and why it matters. While refuting the distortions of God presented by various cults, Dr. White shows how understanding this teaching leads to renewed worship and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian. And amid today's emphasis on the renewing work of the Holy Spirit, The Forgotten Trinity is a balanced look at all three persons of the Trinity. May this book deepen your understanding of this important doctrine while also drawing you closer to the triune God himself.




Jesus Only Churches


Book Description

Unlike Jehovah's Witnesses, who deny the Trinity by demoting Jesus to a mere man, the "Jesus Only" churches deny the Trinity by claiming that there is only one God, and that Jesus is the Father and the Holy Spirit. "Jesus Only" churches not only require baptism for salvation, but also stipulate that it must be baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ only, and not in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, these churches distort the gospel and the historic, orthodox understanding of Jesus. Why this series? This is an age when countless groups and movements, old and new, mark the religious landscape in our culture, leaving many people confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because you may not have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, these books provide essential and reliable information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: -A concise introduction to the group being surveyed -An overview of the group’s theology — in its own words -Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group -A bibliography with sources for further study -A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: -Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. -Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with “menu bar” running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. -Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood.




Trinity and Process


Book Description

The dominant metaphysical system in America this century has been process philosophy, of which the most prolific and persuasive advocate has been Charles Hartshorne. Traditional Christian thinkers, however, have consistently viewed this philosophy, and Hartshorne's thought in particular, as fundamentally incompatible with trinitarian theism.In this compelling work, Dr. Boyd moves beyond this impasse. Utilizing exhaustive research and critical acumen, he maintains that a reworked version of Hartshorne's process system actually provides the metaphysical grounding of trinitarian thought, at the same time preserving the advantages that have made process philosophy an attractive alternative to traditional Western substance ontology. The result is a remarkably creative trinitarian process metaphysics that provides a new perspective on both process thought and the traditional doctrine of the Trinity.




Pentecostal Ecclesiology


Book Description

This book argues that if the Pentecostal movement is to overcome its excessive individualism and structural instability the way forward is not more institutionalization but a coherent and robust ecclesiology based on the Pentecost event, which is the coming of the Holy Spirit in his own person into the church. A Pentecostal ecclesiology is essentially the working-out of the ramifications of that key event. The book takes a more ontological understanding of the relationship between the Spirit and the church than would Protestant and evangelical ecclesiologies. In this respect, it has more in common with Orthodoxy. It is further argued that this realignment away from Protestantism and evangelicalism towards Orthodoxy, far from removing Pentecostals from their roots, actually brings them much closer to the heart of Pentecostal spirituality.




Initial Evidence


Book Description

"This is a superb collection of articles on the central issue of Pentecostalism--speaking in tongues as the initial evidence for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The articles, written by both Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals, are historically informative, scholarly, irenic in spirit, ecumenical in treatment, and wide-ranging in interest. Here is an opportunity for both Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals to become better informed about Pentecostalism. While offering a solid defense of traditional Pentecostalism, the book also offers candid assessments that take a different view. This book should become a must for those who want to understand both historic and present-day Pentecostalism."--Gordon D. Fee, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Regent College"The most complete and scholarly analytical treatment of glossolalia as 'initial evidence' of the baptism in the Holy Spirit that has yet appeared. Both the historical and theological sections support and challenge the distinctive Pentecostal teaching on the subject of tongues."--Vinson Synan, Former Chairman, North American Renewal Service Committee". . . a remarkably diverse collection of essays that thoughtfully probe the distinctive which has come to characterize the Pentecostal Movement, namely: speaking in an unknown tongue. . . . Irenic in tone, the volume is a must for scholars, pastors, and lay persons of all theological perspectives who desire to enter into dialogue in this area of debate."--D. William Faupel, Professor of the History of Christianity, Wesley Theological Seminary"Initial Evidence, edited by Gary McGee, is a substantive contribution to the study of American Pentecostalism. The historical overviews in it are of tremendous value, particularly for newcomers to Pentecostalism, who may lack a historical grounding in the movement. Exegetical essays, such as that by Donald Johns, will challenge readers who are comfortable with current hermeneutical models to rethink the biblical text, and it offers great promise for more contributions to Pentecostal exegesis."--Howard M. Ervin, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Graduate School of Theology, Oral Roberts University




"In Jesus' Name"


Book Description

“In Jesus’ Name” tells the story of the third stream of Pentecostalism, which emerged during the formative years of the Pentecostal Revival. This is the first comprehensive study of the origins, history and theology of Oneness Pentecostalism, the heterodox movement expelled from the Assemblies of God in 1916 for its rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity and insistence on water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Reed traces the movement, now estimated at 14 million world wide, to its Pietist and Evangelical roots. Its distinctive doctrine is a radical trajectory of a christocentric reaction that had already begun in early Pentecostalism. Reed’s study shows the inadequacy of the label of heresy in light of its thoroughgoing Pentecostal identity and theology of the Name of God. This title was granted the PNEUMA award for 2009.




The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America


Book Description

Early Americans have long been considered "A People of the Book" Because the nickname was coined primarily to invoke close associations between Americans and the Bible, it is easy to overlook the central fact that it was a book-not a geographic location, a monarch, or even a shared language-that has served as a cornerstone in countless investigations into the formation and fragmentation of early American culture. Few books can lay claim to such powers of civilization-altering influence. Among those which can are sacred books, and for Americans principal among such books stands the Bible. This Handbook is designed to address a noticeable void in resources focused on analyzing the Bible in America in various historical moments and in relationship to specific institutions and cultural expressions. It takes seriously the fact that the Bible is both a physical object that has exercised considerable totemic power, as well as a text with a powerful intellectual design that has inspired everything from national religious and educational practices to a wide spectrum of artistic endeavors to our nation's politics and foreign policy. This Handbook brings together a number of established scholars, as well as younger scholars on the rise, to provide a scholarly overview--rich with bibliographic resources--to those interested in the Bible's role in American cultural formation.