Pentecostals And The Doctrine Of The Trinity

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.

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).

There are approximately 111 separate sects and denominations that are classified as Oneness Pentecostal Churches. These congregations are found in nearly every city and town in the United States, as well as around the world. They get their distinctive name from the fact that they do not believe in the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. They believe that all who do believe in the Trinity are spiritually lost because they have adopted a pagan doctrine. They differ from other Pentecostals and the rest of the historical church on several important issues, earning them the title of a Pseudo-Christian Cult by established cult watching organizations and cult experts. The book, Oneness Pentecostal Churches, examines the claims, doctrines and practices of these fellowships. It addresses the issues in a manner comprehensive enough to satisfy the professional minister, yet clear enough to meet the needs of laypeople who are seeking answers about this significant movement. The questions discussed in the book include: 1.) Who are Oneness Pentecostals? 2.)Why are Oneness Pentecostals called "the people of the name"? 3.)Is the doctrine of the Trinity really pagan? 4.)Is there a three step pathway to salvation? 5.)Does water baptism save? 6.)Is speaking in tongues required for salvation? For those interested in understanding the Oneness Pentecostal movement, this book is required reading.

This volume sensibly examines whether an inconsistency exists between a Canadian Pentecostal denomination’s trinitarian statement of faith and the songs they most commonly sing. Colin Gunton’s trinitarian theology is utilized as a framework for this landmark analysis.

In From Pentecost to the Triune God Steven Studebaker puts forth a provocative Pentecostal Trinitarian theology, arguing that the Holy Spirit completes the fellowship of the triune God and therefore shapes the identities of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit, Studebaker maintains, is not simply a passive end-product of a procession from the Father and Son but, rather, a dynamic person who plays an active role in the Trinity and a constitutional, consummational role in the history of redemption. In the course of his study, Studebaker shows the theological yield of the Pentecostal experience of the Holy Spirit and uncovers the biblical narratives of the Spirit from creation to Pentecost. A constructive and ecumenical contribution to Trinitarian theology, From Pentecost to the Triune God also engages major historical and contemporary figures such as Augustine, the Cappadocians, Weinandy, and Zizioulas, as well as representatives from the evangelical and charismatic traditions. Finally, Studebaker applies his Pentecostal Trinitarian theology to the theology of religions and creation care, proposing that Christians embrace an inclusive posture toward people of other religious traditions and have an earth orientation that sees creation care as Christian formation.

Trinity After Pentecost considers the triune God from a Pentecostal viewpoint. In so doing, it offers a fresh articulation of the theology of the Trinity, taking the Holy Spirit as its starting point. It concludes that the Trinity cannot be adequately appreciated using any single model - whether social, modal, or psychological. Instead, it presents three models - relational, instrumental, and substantial - that must be held in paradoxical tension with one another to gain insight into the Trinity. Of these, the relational model is the foremost. Pentecost offers rich potential for seeing the relations between the Father, the Son and the Spirit as a dynamic reciprocal 'dance', in which each Person empties their 'self ' in order to exalt the others.

Only a few decades past, academia tended to scoff at the very idea of serious Pentecostal theology. Today profound and variegated theological implications of this dynamic movement are the object of exploration and development across the entire spectrum of the Christian theological corpus. Arguably, an acute need has arisen for identification and evaluation of the Pentecostal movement's original and ongoing theological "essentials." What is Pentecostal theology really all about anyway? This volume realizes that Pentecostal theology is at its heart a working theology undergirding and energizing believers' worship of God in prayer and praise, in holy living, and in witness to a personal experience of the risen Lord and Savior manifested in the continuing power of the Holy Spirit. Authentic implementation, if not explicit articulation, of fervent Pentecostal theology often occurs in the vitality of local churches, house fellowships, and various mission settings in America and around the world. Birthed in the fires of revival movements, essential Pentecostalism, including Pentecostal theology, continues to burn brightest wherever it is fueled most directly.