Trinity and the Oneness Doctrine
By: Daniel Candelaria Jr.
September 20, 2007

There has been so much conflict and division of the church over these two doctrines of the Trinity and the Oneness of God. I believe that anything that divides the church of our Lord Jesus is not of God but of satan. Let us look at what the bible teaches us on these two issues and see if we could resolve this: (All scripture is taken from the KJV of the bible unless otherwise stated.)
First, let me explain briefly on what the two doctrines are, we’ll look at the Oneness doctrine first.

 

Oneness theology “affirms that there exists only one God in the entire universe. It affirms the deity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. However, Oneness theology denies the Trinity and teaches that God is a single person who was "manifested as Father in creation and as the Father of the Son, in the Son for our redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in our regeneration." Another way of looking at it is that God revealed himself as Father in the Old Testament, as the Son in Jesus during Christ’s ministry on earth, and now as the Holy Spirit after Christ’s ascension.” 
 

Trinitarian Theology sees “God as a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the same person as the Son; the Son is not the same person as the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the same person as Father. They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God. Each has a will, can speak, can love, etc., and these are demonstrations of personhood. They are in absolute perfect harmony consisting of one substance. They are coeternal, coequal, and co powerful. Therefore as we look into the scriptures, the doctrine of the Trinity is arrived at by looking at the whole of scripture, not in a single verse. It is the doctrine that there is only one God, not three, and that the one God exists in three persons: Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. An analogy would be time. Time is past, present, and future. But, there are not three times, only one.”

 

Ok, now let us look at what the bible says about the two.

Trinity: 1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost:”

 

Oneness: 1 John 5:7b “and these three are one”

Trinity: John 17:20-26 where Jesus is praying for the church to the Father which is in heaven as a whole. Jesus wasn’t praying to Himself “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us (notice He said us, this is plural): that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
 

Oneness: John 10:30 “I and my Father are one”

Trinity: Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (emphasis added) (us, our, our are all plural not singular)

 

Oneness: John 7:11 “…that they may be one, as we are.” Verse 22 “that they may be one, even as we are one.”

Trinity: Luke 3:22 The baptism of Jesus. “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” Also Matthew 3:16-17 (Here we see that all three are present, you see that God is speaking, Jesus is in the water, and the Holy Spirit is descended on Jesus)

Oneness: John 14:20 “At that day ye shall know that I (Jesus) am in my Father (God), and ye in me, and I in you.”

 

Trinity: Acts 7:55 “But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,”
 

Oneness: John 10:38 “that ye may know, and believe, that the Father (God) is in me (Jesus), and I (Jesus) in him (God).”
 

Trinity: Psalms 110:1 “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Here God was definitely speaking to Jesus and not Himself.

Oneness: John 14:10-11 “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.” This one could also go with the “Trinity” because Jesus is speaking of Himself and the Father which is God.
 

Trinity: Matthew 26:64 “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power (God), and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Also Mark 14:62

Oneness: John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Word = Jesus
 

Trinity: John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,”

 

Oneness: John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus said boldly that He is the I AM. Look also in where God called Himself the I AM. Exodus 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.”
 

I probably could go on and on, but I’ll stop there. My focus here is on showing how the Bible speaks on both issues of the Trinity and Oneness, which neither word is in the bible per say but we use these words to explain what we are teaching or believe. We do see examples of both that are plainly described in the bible. So why do we let this separate the church? During the summer I took a class that is part of my major in Christian studies, it was on World Religions, this subject came up about the Trinity doctrine, saying that whom ever doesn’t follow the doctrine of the Trinity is considered a cult. The Oneness sect says that the Trinity doctrine is a false doctrine. Do you see the division here? Now I do have to say that I do believe in the Trinity because there is a great number of scripture that talks about it, with that I do believe that the Trinity is one God and not three gods as the Oneness sect claims it as what the Trinity is. Well like I mentioned before, anything that divides the church of our Lord Jesus is not of God, but of satan. Then we ask why is it then that God allowed this to happen? Psalms 81:11-12 “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.”

 

So what then should we do? I believe that we have seen evidence of both in the Bible, the Word of God, what we need to do is get rid of what divides the church and go with what the bible teaches, which is the Trinity. I am trying to get us to the one true doctrine, which is the Word of God, the Bible. You might call me a heretic, a lunatic, psychotic, a liar, false teacher, or even a false Prophet, but how can I be called any of these if I am giving you the Word of God. I see and read what the bible teaches us and I pray that you do also. We need to get rid of everything that is dividing the church of our Lord Jesus and become one church as He intended it to be and to believe in the one true doctrine, the Bible.