Thursday, January 3, 2008

Comparing Trinitarianism and Oneness

Hm...I've thought about putting this topic on the blog for quite sometime, because I am afraid it will just spawn bitter debates, but well...If I don't put it here I will probably never have the satisfaction of having what I belief scrutinized and tempered. So there..I will discuss about the Oneness movement, and why I am sold to Oneness, in several entries, outlining the historical and biblical aspects. Before that, though, I think I better define what I understand by Oneness and Trinitarianism, so here it is. Feel free to comment on the aspects you think are inaccurate, it's the purpose of this post. I hope not to start a "I'm right, you're wrong" debate, but may we grow together in a search for Truth.

Trinitarianism

Oneness

There are 3 persons in 1 God, i.e. 3 essential distinctions in God’s nature.God is the Holy Trinity.

One God with no essential divisions of nature. Not a plurality of persons but of manifestations, relationships, roles w.r.t man. Furthermore these are not limited to three.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the three persons in the Godhead. They are distinct persons, co-equal, co-eternal and of co-essence. God the Father is the head of the Trinity in some sense, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit proceed from Him in some sense.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different roles of one God. God is the Father. God is the Holy Spirit. The Son is God manifest in flesh. The term “Son” always refers to the Incarnation, never to deity apart from humanity.

Jesus Christ is the incarnation of God the Son. Jesus is not the Father or the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the incarnation of the fullness of God. In His deity, Jesus is the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Son is eternal. God the Son has existed for all eternity, eternally begotten from the Father.

The Son is begotten, not eternal. The Son of God existed from all eternity only as a plan in the mind of God, and came into actual substantial existence when conceived by the Spirit of God.

The Word of John 2 (the Logos) is the second person in the Godhead, namely God the Son.

The Word of John 1 is not a separate person, but is the thought, plan, activity or expression of God. The Word (plan) was expressed in flesh as the Son of God.

Jesus is the human name given to God the Son as manifested in flesh.

Jesus (Jehovah-Savior) is the revealed name of God in the New Testament. Jesus is the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Water baptism is administered by saying “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Water baptism administered by saying “in the name of Jesus”. (the name Jesus is usually accompanied with the titles of Lord or Christ or both.)

Will see the Trinity or the Triune God in heaven. (There are different opinions on what the form of this “Triune God” is, but I think the line of thought that says there will be three bodies is outright tritheism.)

Will see Jesus Christ in Heaven. He is the One on the throne and the only God we will ever see.

The Godhead is a mystery that must be accepted despite its apparent contradictions.

The Godhead is no mystery esp. to the church. We cannot understand everything about God, for sure, but believe the Bible teaches that God is one in number and Jesus Christ is the one God manifest in flesh.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

for water baptism, you can refer to Matt 28: 19-20 where it's stated in what Name we baptize ppl