The Oneness Pentecostals

The United Pentecostal Church International, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and the True Jesus Church: churches that hold Jesus Christ to be the one God, baptize in his name, and teach the new birth as repentance, immersion and the gift of the Spirit with tongues.

United Pentecostal Church International, Our Beliefs

United Pentecostal Church International, Oneness Pentecostalism

United Pentecostal Church International, About the UPCI

United Pentecostal Church International, 2023 Articles of Faith (PDF)

United Pentecostal Church International, Position Paper: Church Government (General Board, 2019) (PDF)

United Pentecostal Church International, Position Paper: The Coming of the Lord (General Board, 2005) (PDF)

United Pentecostal Church International, Position Paper: Holiness (General Board, 1977; condensed 1995) (PDF)

United Pentecostal Church International, General Superintendent

United Pentecostal Church International, General Conference 2026 Election Results (30 September 2026)

United Pentecostal Church International, UPCI Statistics and the State of the Church (2025 pastor survey)

David K. Bernard, Strategies for Growth (UPCI booklet) (PDF)

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, About Us

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, History (bishopric timeline)

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Board of Bishops

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Draft Constitution and Bylaws, 17 February 2026 (marked "Not Ratified") (PDF)

True Jesus Church, International Assembly, About True Jesus Church

True Jesus Church, International Assembly, home page

True Jesus Church, Our Basic Beliefs: An Introductory Brochure (2013) (PDF)

True Jesus Church Singapore, Should Infants be Baptised?

True Jesus Church e-library, The History of the True Jesus Church, Lesson 11 (2011) (PDF)

Apostolic Archives, The Arroyo Seco Campmeeting (1913)

Lloyd D. Barba, Andrea Shan Johnson and Daniel Ramírez, Introduction, Oneness Pentecostalism: Race, Gender, and Culture (Penn State University Press), sample chapter (PDF)

Talmadge L. French, Early Interracial Oneness Pentecostalism: G. T. Haywood and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (1901–1931) (Lutterworth, 2014), chapter 1 (PDF)

Jeremy Bonner, Assemblies of God, Dictionary of American History (via Encyclopedia.com)

Oneness Pentecostalism (Wikipedia)

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (Wikipedia)

True Jesus Church (Wikipedia)

David K. Bernard, The Oneness of God (Word Aflame Press, 1983; revised 2001)

The Oneness movement came out of the first generation of American Pentecostalism. In April 1913 a sermon on baptism at a camp meeting near Los Angeles set off a search of the Book of Acts for the words used in baptism, and the search led, within a few years, to a different doctrine of God. When the Assemblies of God adopted a Trinitarian statement in 1916, the Oneness ministers left it, and over the next generation they formed their own bodies. In China, a church that began in 1917 arrived at baptism in the name of Jesus, tongues and a Oneness teaching on God.

A sermon at Arroyo Seco

At the World-Wide Apostolic Camp Meeting at Arroyo Seco, California, led by Maria Woodworth-Etter, the Canadian minister R. E. McAlister preached on baptism just before a baptismal service. He argued that "apostolic baptism was administered as a single immersion in a single name, Jesus Christ." A young minister, John G. Schaepe, prayed and read the Bible through the night and ran through the camp the next morning shouting that he had a revelation: the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit was "Lord Jesus Christ." Oneness Pentecostals mark this as the spark of their movement. (His name is often spelled "Scheppe.")

Ewart and Cook baptize each other

Frank Ewart and Glenn Cook baptized each other in "the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," as the one name of Jesus and not as a Trinitarian formula. Historians of the movement treat this as the point when Oneness Pentecostalism became a distinct movement. Ewart, an Australian-born pastor in Los Angeles, spread the message through his paper Meat in Due Season and gave it its doctrinal form. Some ministers, such as Andrew Urshan, said they had baptized in Jesus' name earlier. The Hispanic bodies, the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus and its Mexican sister church, date their practice of Jesus' name baptism to 1909, before Arroyo Seco.

The oldest Oneness body

The oldest of the Oneness bodies that became the PAW was founded in 1914 by J. J. Frazier and centered on the West Coast. It was the first to use the name Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. The PAW's own history page starts its bishopric timeline at 1906, with the Azusa Street meetings.

The Assemblies of God take a side

The Assemblies of God, formed in 1914, spent its first years trying to hold both sides together. At its Fourth General Council in October 1916 it adopted a sixteen-point Statement of Fundamental Truths that, in the words of Barba and his co-authors, "flatly rejected Oneness theology as heresy." The Oneness ministers left. The sources count them differently: the Dictionary of American History says "156 ministers left," and the Apostolic Archives, a Oneness history site, says "a third of the fellowship's ministers left to form Oneness fellowships." They also describe it differently. Oneness writers say the ministers withdrew, and Talmadge French, a historian of the movement, calls it "the resulting traumatic expulsion of the Oneness ministers."

Wei Enbo in Beijing

The True Jesus Church says it "originated in Beijing, China in 1917," that the Holy Spirit "revealed the truth to the early workers," and that it "was not founded by certain individuals." Wei Enbo (Paul Wei) was a merchant and a member of the London Mission who joined a Pentecostal church after he was healed. The church's own history lesson says the Holy Spirit inspired him to be baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus, face down, in a river," and that the Holy Spirit then revealed the truth to him. The same lesson says another early worker, Ling-Shen Chang, an elder from the Presbyterian church, received a revelation to keep Saturday as the Sabbath. Wei and Chang met in 1918.

The two early bodies join

Other ministers met in Arkansas in 1917 and formed the General Assembly of Apostolic Assemblies. Soon after, it merged with the PAW, "driven in part by the need to use the established PAW name to guarantee exemption from World War I military service for their largely pacifist membership." The merged body was interracial, which stood out in its time.

The PAW is incorporated

The PAW's own constitution records that "The date of the original Incorporation of the religious corporation was January 25, 1919." Its headquarters is Indianapolis. G. T. Haywood was its Presiding Bishop from 1925 to 1931.

The color line divides the PAW

In 1924, as racial tension grew in the organization, white Southern ministers left the PAW. By 1925 they had formed three bodies, and one of them, the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance, later became the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated. The PAW stayed interracial in its leadership and became largely Black. Barba and his co-authors write that the interracial experiment soon fell under "the encroaching shadow of Jim Crow."

The United Pentecostal Church

The Pentecostal Church, Incorporated, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ merged to form the United Pentecostal Church International. The UPCI says it grew "From 521 churches in 1945" to more than 49,000 today, counting preaching points.

The holiness paper

The UPCI General Board adopted its position paper on holiness in 1977 and condensed it on 10 October 1995. It sets out standards of dress, hair, jewelry, make-up and entertainment as the fruit of the new birth. The Articles of Faith carry the same teaching in brief.

Leaders today

David K. Bernard is the UPCI's General Superintendent. The 2026 General Conference in Salt Lake City re-elected other officers, including the general secretary-treasurer, and did not name a new General Superintendent. In 2026 Richard D. Howell Jr. of Minneapolis became the PAW's Presiding Bishop.

Frank J. Ewart

An Australian-born pastor in Los Angeles who was at Arroyo Seco. He and Glenn Cook baptized each other in Jesus' name in 1914. He spread the message through Meat in Due Season and built it into a doctrine.

Garfield T. Haywood

An African American pastor of a large Indianapolis church. He was the PAW's general secretary in its early years, and he is the first Presiding Bishop on its own bishopric timeline (1925–1931). He wrote many hymns and tracts, and French's study of the interracial PAW is built around him.

Wei Enbo (Paul Wei)

A Beijing merchant and one of the early workers of the True Jesus Church. He died in September 1919, two years after the revelation the church dates from. His son Isaac Wei and others carried on the preaching.

David K. Bernard

General Superintendent of the UPCI. He founded New Life Church in Austin, Texas, is chancellor of Urshan University, and has written many books on Oneness doctrine. His booklet Strategies for Growth is a source for this chart.

Richard D. Howell Jr.

Presiding Bishop of the PAW from 2026, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He follows Theodore L. Brooks Sr. (2018–2026).

Where the dates differ. The movement's historians date it from different days: April 1913 (Arroyo Seco, the first public message), 15 April 1914 (the first Jesus' name baptism of its leaders), and 1916 (the break with the Assemblies of God). The lineage chart draws the Oneness lane from 1916 because that is when it became a separate body. The Hispanic Oneness churches date Jesus' name baptism from 1909. The PAW starts its own timeline in 1906, but no document the research read shows an organization that year; the documented dates are 1914, the merger of 1917 and the incorporation of 1919.

Three bodies, three governments. The UPCI calls itself "basically congregational." The PAW has diocesan bishops under a Presiding Bishop and an Executive Bishops' Council. The TJC is governed by general assemblies, with an International Assembly. The doctrine of God and the baptism formula are shared; the government is not.

Where the TJC is based. The sources differ. Its 2011 history lesson says "The current church headquarters is in Taipei, Taiwan." Its brochure is printed in Lakewood, California.

Numbers. The UPCI's figures are its own, and they count preaching points. The PAW's 2 million is its own claim; the Association of Religion Data Archives, cited in Wikipedia, counted far fewer in the United States. The TJC's range is a 2013 estimate.

The Bible is the only God-given authority. The UPCI adds position papers on holiness; the TJC adds the Sabbath and its own place as the true church.

The UPCI Articles of Faith begin with Scripture: "The Bible is the only God-given authority which man possesses." Its summary page calls the Bible "the authority for salvation and Christian living." The UPCI also issues position papers adopted by its General Board (on holiness, church government, the coming of the Lord and others), and its Articles ask members to refrain from named activities.

The True Jesus Church calls the Bible "the only scriptural truth, and the standard for Christian living." It also teaches that the Holy Spirit established it as "the restored True Church of the apostolic time." The PAW pages the research read state no doctrine of Scripture.

The Bible is the only God-given authority which man possesses; therefore, all doctrine, faith, hope, and all instruction for the church must be based upon, and harmonize with, the Bible.

The Bible is the infallible Word of God and the authority for salvation and Christian living.

The Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God, the only scriptural truth, and the standard for Christian living.

The UPCI's essay "Oneness Pentecostalism" says: "The Bible is the sole authority for salvation; the basis of salvation is Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection" (UPCI). The Church Government paper says that "no authority is absolute except God's." On the PAW, the pages read give only a mission statement and a statement of its chief aim.

Full salvation is repentance, immersion in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost with tongues as the initial sign. The TJC adds face-down immersion in living water.

The UPCI's Articles call this "the Bible standard of full salvation": repentance, immersion "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins," and the baptism of the Holy Ghost "with the initial sign of speaking with other tongues." It teaches that water baptism "is only for those who have fully repented" and is by immersion, and it ties the whole to Acts 2:38, which it says fulfills Matthew 28:19. It teaches that salvation is "by grace through faith," based on the atonement, and that a person who "transgresses and sins against God and does not repent" can be lost. It does not teach that membership in the UPCI is needed: "We do not believe someone must belong to the UPCI to be saved or to have a valid ministry."

The TJC baptizes "for the remission of sins for regeneration" by complete immersion, with the head bowed and the face down, in natural living water (a river, sea or spring), in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by a baptizer who has himself received water baptism and the Holy Spirit. It teaches that receiving the Spirit is "evidenced by speaking in tongues," and it baptizes the infants of members in the same form. The PAW's draft constitution requires its ministers to be "baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and filled with the Holy Ghost."

The basic and fundamental doctrine of the general organization shall be the Bible standard of full salvation, which is repentance, baptism in water by immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.

the application of grace and the expression of faith come as a person obeys Acts 2:38, thereby receiving the new birth promised by Jesus.

Water Baptism is the sacrament for the remission of sins for regeneration.

The Articles on water baptism: "The scriptural mode of baptism is immersion and is only for those who have fully repented, having turned from their sins and a love of the world. It should be administered by a duly authorized minister of the gospel, in obedience to the Word of God, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Acts of the Apostles 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5; thus obeying and fulfilling Matthew 28:19." The TJC on infants: "Mirroring adult baptism, infant baptism in the True Jesus Church is performed in the name of Jesus Christ," and the infant’s face is bowed down. The page argues from circumcision in Colossians 2.

The UPCI keeps the Supper with literal bread and the fruit of the vine, as emblems, and teaches footwashing beside it. The TJC says the bread and juice become the body and blood of the Lord in the Spirit.

The UPCI's Articles call the Supper the "sacrament or communion." It was instituted on the night the Lord was betrayed, Paul instructed the church how to observe it, and it uses "literal bread and the fruit of the vine, which are partaken of literally, as emblems of His broken body and shed blood." There is also "a spiritual significance and blessing." The UPCI pages the research read do not say how often it is held. Footwashing follows in the Articles (see Also central to their faith).

The True Jesus Church holds that communion "enables us to partake of the flesh and blood of our Lord," that it "shall be held as often as possible," and that "Only one unleavened bread and grape juice shall be used." It teaches that "the bread and grape juice become the body and blood of the Lord in the Spirit." To take it, a person must have been baptized in the true church and be free of serious sin. The worker who serves it is usually an elder, deacon or preacher. The PAW pages read say nothing more of the Supper.

Thus was instituted the use of literal bread and the fruit of the vine, which are partaken of literally, as emblems of His broken body and shed blood. There is also a spiritual significance and blessing in partaking of the sacrament.

After the thanksgiving prayer, the bread and grape juice become the body and blood of the Lord in the Spirit.

This sacrament shall be held as often as possible. Only one unleavened bread and grape juice shall be used.

The TJC's brochure explains the elements: the "unleavened bread" represents the holiness of Jesus and the "one bread" the one body. It adds: "The Holy Communion is to be received in a thoughtful and worthy manner." It also says the flesh and blood are meant spiritually: "To partake of Jesus' flesh and blood means to partake of His spiritual life, rather than His physical body." The UPCI does not describe a presence in the bread and cup beyond "a spiritual significance and blessing."

The UPCI calls itself "basically congregational," with a pastor over each church and districts and a General Superintendent above. The PAW is governed by diocesan bishops. The TJC has elders, deacons and preachers under general assemblies.

The UPCI Church Government paper says: "Each local church is self-governing." It holds to "the priesthood of all believers," and so calls the UPCI "basically congregational in structure rather than hierarchical." Members vote in local church business meetings; credentialed ministers vote in district and general conferences. It teaches that New Testament churches had "multiple elders or bishops" and chooses the title "pastor" for the leader of a local church. Above the local church are district and national officers, and the General Superintendent chairs the Global Council. It does not use "apostle" or "prophet" as titles, and it names five kinds of ministry from Ephesians 4.

The PAW is different. Its draft constitution says: "The current bishop of a diocese is the executive head of that diocese and is amenable only to the Executive Bishops' Council." That council is "the highest court of appeal in the case of any grievance." The TJC's pages name elders, deacons and preachers, and it holds general assemblies in many countries; the pages read do not set out its government in full.

Because of the priesthood of all believers, the UPCI is basically congregational in structure rather than hierarchical, with each member having a voice and expected to participate in the worship, life, ministry, and governance of the local church.

The current bishop of a diocese is the executive head of that diocese and is amenable only to the Executive Bishops' Council.

Each local church is self-governing.

The UPCI paper concedes that "The Bible does not give detailed instructions for church governance," and that the New Testament shows "at least four levels of authority and responsibility in the general church." A church may vote to affiliate with the UPCI, and "When church members vote to disaffiliate, they delegate to the pastor the sole authority to determine the church's future relationship with the UPCI."

Worship is to be heartfelt and spontaneous, with the whole congregation taking part. Most UPCI churches use a worship band. The TJC sings hymns on Saturday.

The UPCI teaches that worship is for everyone: "The act of worship is the rule and not the exception in human existence." Its General Superintendent writes that every service should be marked by "heartfelt, genuine, spontaneous worship." The Articles ask its people to avoid theaters, dances and worldly amusements. The pastor survey says that most UPCI churches use a worship band and a guitar, and that most do not have an organ or a choir. The UPCI's pages do not set a rule on instruments.

The True Jesus Church says: "During our worship services, we sing hymns of praise. We share the word of God. We pray in the Spirit." It meets on the Sabbath. The pages read for the PAW do not describe worship.

The act of worship is the rule and not the exception in human existence.

Every service must be saturated with prayer and characterized by heartfelt, genuine, spontaneous worship.

During our worship services, we sing hymns of praise. We share the word of God. We pray in the Spirit.

From the 2025 pastor survey: "Most congregations feature modern worship elements, including a worship band and a guitar. Conversely, traditional elements, such as organs and choirs, are not as common."

The gifts of the Spirit are for the church today, and every person who is baptized with the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues as the first sign.

The UPCI teaches that "It is scriptural to expect all who receive the gift, filling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit to receive the same physical, initial sign of speaking with other tongues." It teaches that the gift of tongues described in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 is "the same in essence, but different in use and purpose." It holds that "the gifts of the Spirit become vital tools for strengthening the church" and that divine healing is "in the atonement." Members are urged to expect healing and the gifts.

The True Jesus Church teaches that receiving the Spirit, "evidenced by speaking in tongues," is "the guarantee of our inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven." It says in its own history that God "testifies to the truth" "through signs, miracles, and the gift of the Holy Spirit," and its brochure calls the sign of the Spirit "speaking of unintelligible tongues." The PAW calls its members to "seek a spirit-filled life," and requires its ministers to be "filled with the Holy Ghost."

It is scriptural to expect all who receive the gift, filling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit to receive the same physical, initial sign of speaking with other tongues.

Receiving the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, is the guarantee of our inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.

As Spirit-filled believers, we can exercise simple faith to receive God’s miraculous gifts and to stir up the gifts He has already placed in our midst.

In the UPCI's Articles, divine healing rests on Isaiah 53:5 and James 5: "The vicarious suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ paid not only for the salvation of our souls but also for the healing of our bodies." The Articles list the terms "baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire," "filled with the Holy Spirit" and "gift of the Holy Ghost" as "synonymous."

Christ will come again to catch away his church, and a thousand years of peace will follow. The UPCI allows differences on the timing of the tribulation and rejects the view that Christ's coming was fulfilled in A.D. 70.

The UPCI says "Jesus Christ is coming again to catch away His church," and that "The righteous will inherit eternal life, and the unrighteous eternal death." Its Articles teach that the dead in Christ will rise and the living be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, that a period of tribulation will be followed by a thousand years of peace on earth, and that "When the thousand years are finished, there shall be a resurrection of all the dead" for the final judgment, when those whose names are not in the Book of Life are cast into the lake of fire. Its paper on the coming of the Lord says that "the expectation of the soon return of the Lord is integral to our identity as a movement," while it "allows diversity in views regarding the timing of the coming of the Lord, particularly with reference to the Tribulation." It rejects preterism, the teaching that the prophecies were fulfilled in A.D. 70.

The True Jesus Church teaches that the Lord's second coming "will take place on the Last Day when He descends from heaven to judge the world: the righteous will receive eternal life, while the wicked will be eternally condemned."

Jesus Christ is coming again to catch away His church.

When the thousand years are finished, there shall be a resurrection of all the dead, who will be summoned before the great white throne for their final judgment

The Lord’s Second Coming will take place on the Last Day when He descends from heaven to judge the world: the righteous will receive eternal life, while the wicked will be eternally condemned.

The UPCI Articles on the restitution of all things say: "But we cannot find where the devil, his angels, and all sinners are included." The paper on the coming of the Lord also says: "We reject preterist notions that the prophecies of Revelation 4–19 were fulfilled prior to A.D. 70, that Satan is bound, and that we are now living during the thousand years described in Revelation 20."

One God, one person: the Oneness doctrine of God

There is one God, who revealed himself as Father in creation, as Son in the flesh and as the Holy Spirit in the believer. Jesus Christ is that one God, and is not one of three persons.

This is what gives the movement its name, and it is the center of the UPCI's identity. The UPCI Articles say that "This one true God has revealed Himself as Father; through His Son, in redemption; and as the Holy Spirit, by emanation." They say God is "absolute, indivisible deity," that "Before the incarnation, this one true God manifested Himself in divers ways," and that "In the incarnation, He manifests Himself in the Son, who walked among men." The Son is the one God in a human body: "Jesus in His humanity was man; in His deity was and is God." The UPCI calls its teaching "Oneness." Historians call it modalism, and Bernard himself counts the "modalistic monarchians" of the early centuries as Oneness believers. Its summary essay puts the heart of it this way: "God loved us so much that He came in flesh to save us. He gave of Himself; He did not send someone else." Its summary page points to Deuteronomy 6:4, its Articles quote Isaiah 9:6 and Colossians 2:9, and the movement's other chief texts are John 10:30 and John 14:9.

The UPCI holds that Jesus is fully God, was born of a virgin, died for sin and rose, and will return. It differs from the historic Christian creeds on one point: it denies that Father, Son and Spirit are three distinct persons. The True Jesus Church holds the same teaching and calls Jesus "the only true God."

This one true God has revealed Himself as Father; through His Son, in redemption; and as the Holy Spirit, by emanation

Jesus Christ is the one God incarnate, and in Him we have everything we need

The Word was not a separate person or a separate god any more than a man's word is a separate person from him. Rather the Word was the thought, plan, or mind of God.

He is the only Savior of mankind, the Creator of the heavens and earth, and the only true God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Father, I desire 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.

My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

The Oneness Pentecostals are right that "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah" (Deuteronomy 6:4), and right that Jesus is God, for "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9), but they are wrong that the Father and the Son are one person, and their ablest teacher shows why the texts will not bear it. At the Jordan the Father speaks from heaven to the one in the water, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17); David Bernard answers that "The voice and the dove do not represent different persons," but a voice that calls another "my beloved Son" is not speaking of itself. The Word "was with God" and "was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2), and the Son prays to be glorified "with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5) and says, "thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24); Bernard must answer that "the man Jesus did not exist to have glory before creation" and that the Word was "the thought, plan, or mind of God," but the one praying says "I had," and a plan is not loved. After the ascension "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1), and an advocate pleads with another. This is a serious departure from what the apostles taught about God, and the UPCI binds it on all as the center of the faith.

Each of their best texts, weighed. "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Shema rules out other gods and rival lords. It does not say how the one God is. The same Scripture that holds the Shema names three together in one name: "baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). The name is one, and the three are named.

"Mighty God, Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6). The child is called Mighty God, and Christians who hold the Trinity say the same. The verse says "unto us a son is given," and a son who is given implies one who gives him. The title "Everlasting Father" names what the child is to his people, as their Father of the age to come, and does not make him the Father who sends him.

"I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The sentence has two subjects, "I and the Father," and a plural verb. One person would not speak of himself and another. The oneness the Lord claims is a oneness of deity and work, and his hearers took it as a claim to be equal with God (John 5:18).

"he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). In the same chapter he says, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter" (John 14:16). The Son shows the Father fully, as the "effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance" (Hebrews 1:3), and the Father is still not the Son.

"in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). This says that all of God is in Christ. It does not say that the Father and the Spirit are only other names for Christ.

The Oneness answer in Bernard's words, and why it fails. The Articles say that the one God, "In the incarnation," "manifests Himself in the Son." Bernard draws the conclusion plainly. On the Jordan: "It was not at all difficult for the Spirit of Jesus to speak from heaven and to send a manifestation of His Spirit in the form of a dove even while His human body was in the Jordan River." On John 17:5: "Jesus spoke as a man in John 17:5, for by definition God does not pray and does not need to pray." On the love of John 17:24: "What these verses express is the relationship of the man to the eternal Spirit." On 1 John 2:1: "the Sonship allows Christ to be our advocate." That is the doctrine at its strongest, and it still breaks on the texts. The man did not exist before the world, so a glory the man "had with thee before the world was" and a love for him "before the foundation of the world" can only be glory and love in a plan, and the text says "I had" and "thou lovedst me." The Word is not called the plan of God but is "with God" (John 1:1-2). And the essay's "He did not send someone else" cannot stand beside the apostle's witness: "the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4:14).

What is credited. The UPCI holds the deity of Christ more plainly than many churches that have forgotten it, honors his name, and insists that Scripture alone must settle the matter. These are good. It is the conclusion that Scripture refuses.

Holiness standards in dress, hair and entertainment (UPCI)

The new birth, they say, produces a holy life outwardly as well as inwardly: modest dress without jewelry or make-up, uncut hair for women, no theaters, dances or television.

The UPCI teaches that holiness is the result of the new birth, not a way to earn it. Its position paper says: "Thus in the New Testament, man's holiness is God's character inborn into his or her nature by the infilling presence of the Spirit of God." It then applies this to appearance and conduct. The Articles say members should avoid "theaters, dances, mixed bathing or swimming, women cutting their hair, make-up, any apparel that immodestly exposes the body, all worldly sports and amusements," and, because of what television shows, "we disapprove of any of our people having television sets in their homes."

The 1977 paper addresses jewelry, make-up, the length of men's and women's hair, and the clothing of each sex. The Articles also point to a separate paper on media technology. The PAW pages the research read ask only that believers "seek a spirit-filled life," and set no dress standard in what was found.

Thus in the New Testament, man's holiness is God's character inborn into his or her nature by the infilling presence of the Spirit of God.

The Scriptures teach us that the wearing of ornamental jewelry and expensive, showy clothing is not in harmony with the Christian lifestyle.

Separation from worldliness also involves the length of hair for men and women.

In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment; but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works.

Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

Whose adorning let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.

The UPCI is right that holiness is the fruit of the new birth, and Scripture does call women to dress "in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment" (1 Timothy 2:9-10). Peter's parallel shows how such texts work: "let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart" (1 Peter 3:3-4), and since no one reads "putting on apparel" as a ban on clothes, the verse sets display against the heart and is not a list of banned goods. Paul says long hair "is a glory to her" (1 Corinthians 11:14-15), and the UPCI may honor that, but the text sets no rule that a woman's hair must never be cut. Where Scripture gives a principle and no rule, a church that turns it into rules on make-up, swimming and television for all its people binds "the precepts and doctrines of men" (Colossians 2:20-23), and Paul's word to the one who judges another on such matters is plain: "Who art thou that judgest the servant of another?" (Romans 14:4). The call to holiness is sound; the particular rules, held as bound, go beyond the text.

The Articles "admonish all of our people to refrain" from these things "in the interest of spiritual progress," and the holiness paper presents them as the outflow of the Spirit. The pages the research read do not say what follows for a member who does not keep them.

Footwashing

The UPCI keeps footwashing as the example the Lord gave, to show humility. The TJC holds it to be a sacrament that every baptized person must receive.

The UPCI Articles quote John 13 and say: "This first example was given by our Lord, and it is a divine institution. It is well to follow His example and wash one another's feet; thus manifesting the spirit of humility."

The True Jesus Church teaches that footwashing "enables one to have a part with the Lord Jesus," and that "Every person who has received water baptism must have his/her feet washed in the name of Jesus Christ." It is done by an ordained worker, or by a member who has been baptized and filled with the Spirit and lives a godly life, with a basin and a towel. The TJC also says: "Mutual foot washing may be practiced whenever is appropriate."

This first example was given by our Lord, and it is a divine institution. It is well to follow His example and wash one another's feet; thus manifesting the spirit of humility.

Every person who has received water baptism must have his/her feet washed in the name of Jesus Christ.

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.

Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

well reported of for good works; if she hath brought up children, if she hath used hospitality to strangers, if she hath washed the saints’ feet, if she hath relieved the afflicted, if she hath diligently followed every good work.

The Oneness Pentecostals take John 13 seriously: the Lord said "ye also ought to wash one another’s feet" (John 13:14-15), and the UPCI and the TJC do it. That is to their credit, and they stand near the line. Where the TJC says every baptized person "must" receive it and that it gives "a part with the Lord," it takes the Lord's word to Peter, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me" (John 13:8), spoken in the hour of his cleansing, and makes it a second rite after baptism. The one other New Testament mention sets washing "the saints’ feet" among the good works of a widow (1 Timothy 5:10), a service to others and not a rite that joins a person to Christ. The UPCI's "it is well to follow His example" is nearer the text than the TJC's "must."

The seventh-day Sabbath (TJC)

The TJC keeps Saturday as the holy day and does not hold services on Sunday, which it says came from sun worship and a later change.

The True Jesus Church teaches that "The Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week (Saturday), is a Holy Day, blessed and sanctified by God." On its pages: "True Jesus Church generally does not hold services on Sunday because we observe the Sabbath, which is on the seventh day of the week (Saturday)." Its brochure says that "the Bible makes it clear that Sabbath observance is a commandment to every God-worshiper," and traces Sunday worship to sun worship, to an emperor's decree of 321 and to a later change made by the Roman church. The church's own history says its early worker Ling-Shen Chang first received a revelation to observe Saturday as the Sabbath. The UPCI and the PAW pages the research read name no such day.

True Jesus Church generally does not hold services on Sunday because we observe the Sabbath, which is on the seventh day of the week (Saturday).

The Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week (Saturday), is a Holy Day, blessed and sanctified by God.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.

Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

The TJC teaches that "Sabbath observance is a commandment to every God-worshiper." The law itself calls the Sabbath "a sign between me and the children of Israel" (Exodus 31:16-17), and the New Testament names it a shadow: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s" (Colossians 2:16-17). No apostle commands a Christian to keep it. The church at Troas met "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), within the apostles' lifetime and long before Constantine's decree of 321, so the first day did not come to the church from an emperor or from sun worship. The TJC is right that the Lord's people must keep the day he appointed; it has kept the day of the old covenant in place of the day of the new, and bound it on all as a commandment the apostles never gave.

The one true church (TJC)

The TJC teaches that it is the church Christ restored in the last days, that its baptism alone is the one baptism, and that those who come must be baptized into it.

The True Jesus Church says that it is "the restored True Church of the apostolic time," that it "was not founded by certain individuals. Neither was it derived from any denomination," but "founded by the Holy Spirit," and that it "administers the one baptism that the apostles administered." Its brochure says: "There is only one true church because Christ has only one body, and this church preaches the only gospel of salvation. In this end time, the Lord Himself has raised up the True Jesus Church to preach the only way of salvation." It tells seekers: "Accept baptism performed by the true church according to biblical instructions." Communion is for those baptized in it.

The UPCI does not make this claim for itself. Its Church Government paper says: "We do not believe someone must belong to the UPCI to be saved or to have a valid ministry." The UPCI teaches that the new birth comes by obeying Acts 2:38.

The True Jesus Church, established by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit during the time of the ‘latter rain’, is the restored True Church of the apostolic time.

The God we worship is the true God; thus His church is the true church.

We do not believe someone must belong to the UPCI to be saved or to have a valid ministry

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved.

The TJC is right that there is one church: "There is one body, and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4-6). It is wrong that this body is the organization that began in 1917. The Lord said of his church, "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18), and a church that had to be restored after nineteen centuries is a church that the gates prevailed against. The Lord adds to the church "day by day those that were saved" (Acts 2:47), by the gospel and baptism, and not by joining a body raised up in 1917. To require every other believer to be baptized again by it, and to bar them from the Supper, binds a test the apostles never set.

The UPCI is the more careful on this point: "We do not believe someone must belong to the UPCI to be saved or to have a valid ministry."

The Oneness Pentecostals will be weighed here by the same rule as every other body in this series. They deserve credit first. They baptize only believers, by immersion, and the UPCI and the TJC both teach that baptism is "for the remission of sins." They keep the Bible as their only authority, wash feet, pray for the sick, and hold that the Lord is coming back. They also hold a doctrine of God that the New Testament does not teach, and they require a baptismal formula and a sign of tongues for salvation that the New Testament does not require. Both are weighed in full below.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

The UPCI says in so many words that the Bible is "the only God-given authority," and it does not set a pope, a creed or a council above the text. On that confession it stands near the line, but it stands short in what it binds beside the text. Its Articles and General Board papers bind four things the text does not: rules for dress, hair, television and entertainment; a doctrine of God that the text does not state; a spoken formula for baptism; and a sign for the Spirit. The church is to "learn not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6), and a man who examines the Scriptures "daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11) will not find those four there. Two of them, the formula and tongues, are bound as terms of salvation, so that a believer immersed at the Lord's word is held not yet fully saved; that is the heaviest thing in this placement.

The TJC goes further and binds the Sabbath and its own place as the one true church. The General Board papers argue from texts in the open, which a reader can check. But a paper adopted by the General Board that tells a member what to wear, and a statement of what counts as "full salvation," act as a creed beside the Book.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:

And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.

Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

The UPCI immerses penitent believers "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and in this it stands nearer the New Testament pattern than most Protestants, most Pentecostals and every body that sprinkles infants. On who is baptized, how, and for what, it stands on the line, save that it sets the completion of the new birth at the sign of tongues rather than in the water, and beside this it binds two serious things, weighed again under authority. The formula: the Lord's word, "baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19), and Peter's, "be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38), are both Scripture and must be read together; each says into whose name and by whose authority a person is baptized, and neither is given as words that void the other, so a church that holds a believer immersed into the threefold name unbaptized has bound what the Lord did not. Tongues: Paul asks, "do all speak with tongues?" (1 Corinthians 12:29-30), and the question expects the answer no, while a rule that every saved person must speak in tongues answers yes. And the miraculous gifts came through the apostles' hands and ceased with them, so a church that makes tongues the proof of the new birth has made a sign that has ceased into a term of salvation the apostles never set.

The formula. The UPCI's best texts are Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48 and 19:5. They are real, and they show that baptism in the early church was done by Jesus' authority and in his name. Bernard argues that if these do not give a formula, then "it is equally true that Matthew 28:19 does not indicate a formula," and he answers that "the Lord did not leave us without a baptismal formula." But Acts does not say what the baptizer said, and its own wording varies: "in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38; 10:48), "into the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:16; 19:5). Paul uses the same phrase of everything a Christian does: "whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17), and no one takes that as words to be spoken over each deed. In Acts 19:3-5 Paul asked, "Into what then were ye baptized?" and the answer was John’s baptism. The question there was whose baptism it was, not which syllables were spoken. Matthew 28:19 uses the singular "name" for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit together: the Oneness reading says that one name is Jesus, but the verse names the three, and that is the doctrine of God again. The sound conclusion is that a believer baptized into the threefold name by the Lord's command has obeyed him. A believer baptized by immersion "in the name of Jesus" has too. To call either one not baptized is to bind the formula.

Tongues. Tongues do follow in Acts 2, 10 and 19. In Acts 8 the Samaritans were baptized and received the Spirit later, when the apostles laid their hands on them (Acts 8:14-17); in Acts 9 Paul is "filled with the Holy Spirit" and baptized, and no tongues are named (Acts 9:17-18); and the eunuch, once baptized, "went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:36-39), and is never told he lacks anything. These are the early church's days of miracles, when "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders" (Hebrews 2:3-4), and the gift came through the apostles' hands. Nothing in the New Testament makes tongues the proof that a person has been born again. Paul says that "if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9), and the sign of the Spirit in a life is the fruit of the Spirit in it.

Fairness to the movement. The UPCI says "We do not believe someone must belong to the UPCI to be saved," teaches that "Salvation is by grace through faith," and its essay adds: "We do not reject those who have not received the complete New Testament experience, but we encourage them to receive everything God has for them." That is better than the demand that a person join a body. But its Articles still call the three steps "the Bible standard of full salvation," and the essay says the new birth is received "as a person obeys Acts 2:38." The TJC goes further than the UPCI: it asks seekers to accept baptism "performed by the true church" and baptizes infants face down in living water. The Acts text for baptism requires belief first (Acts 8:12), and no infant can meet that. A body that holds, on the strength of Acts, that only believers are baptized should not baptize infants on the strength of circumcision.

Against the other direction. On the remission of sins in baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16) the Oneness Pentecostals are right and many of their critics are wrong.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The UPCI describes the Supper as Paul does: real bread and the fruit of the vine, taken as "emblems" of the Lord's body and blood "in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24), with no priest, no sacrifice and no change in the elements. On what the Supper is, it stands near the line, but it stands short in two places. The pages the research read give no rule on how often it is held, and the apostolic example is the first day: "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), which binds the church, so that if the Supper is not set on every first day, Acts 20:7 is left unkept. And the True Jesus Church says that the bread and juice "become the body and blood of the Lord in the Spirit," that it is held "as often as possible," and that only those baptized in its own church may take it; each of these goes further from the text.

The Articles place footwashing directly after the Supper, as John 13 does. The TJC joins the two as sacraments. The TJC's wording, that the bread and juice become the body and blood "in the Spirit," is not the Catholic view; the same page says the flesh and blood mean "spiritual life, rather than His physical body." But it still declares a change in the elements that Paul does not describe.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

The UPCI teaches the priesthood of all believers, refuses the titles "apostle" and "prophet" as ranks, and says each church "is self-governing," so it stands near the line against hierarchy. It also admits that the New Testament churches had "multiple elders or bishops," which is the pattern: the apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23). It stands short because it sets one senior pastor over the church, with the sole authority to take the church out of the UPCI, and puts district and general officers above it. Titus 1:5-7 shows elders and the bishop to be one office, and Peter charges the elders to shepherd the flock, "neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:1-3). The PAW is further out: a bishop of a diocese "amenable only to the Executive Bishops' Council" is a rank above the congregation that the New Testament does not know.

The PAW's bishops hold a rank over many congregations, and its Board of Bishops includes women (for example Bishop Gwendolyn Weeks), which Paul does not allow: "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12). The UPCI's paper also speaks of "two women ministers" at Philippi. The TJC's elders, deacons and preachers are closer to the New Testament names, but the pages read do not show who rules a congregation.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

The UPCI's call to worship is the right one: those who worship him "must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24), by the whole congregation, and its churches ask each member to take part. The meeting Paul describes has room for every member: "each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching" (1 Corinthians 14:26). But the Sunday in most UPCI churches, by their own pastors' account, has a worship band and a guitar. The New Testament commands "singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19) and "singing with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16); the instrument is an addition to what the text commands. The TJC's service of hymns, the word and prayer is nearer the shape of the first assembly, but its music is accompanied too: its hymnal supplies piano accompaniment, and its choir guidelines regulate the use of instruments (see the True Jesus Church chart).

The call to "spontaneous" worship is good when it means that every member takes part, within Paul's limit: "Let all things be done unto edifying" (1 Corinthians 14:26).

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works.

The Oneness Pentecostals are right that the Spirit is promised to all who are called, for "to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off" (Acts 2:39), and that every obedient believer receives him. They are wrong to hold that the miraculous gifts continue as before and that tongues is the sign for every believer. The gifts came through the apostles' hands: "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given" (Acts 8:18), and they were the signs that "confirmed" the word "unto us by them that heard" (Hebrews 2:3-4), and "the signs of an apostle were wrought among you" (2 Corinthians 12:12). When the confirmation was done, the gifts ended: "whether there be tongues, they shall cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). A church that teaches that every believer must speak in tongues, and that counts the gift as the guarantee of the kingdom, has made a sign of a past age into a requirement for this one.

The UPCI's care for the sick, in obedience to James 5, is right and is a service that many churches have lost. Anointing and prayer can be done today. The claim that the miracles of Acts continue is a different thing. The UPCI's own Articles gloss the "tongues" of Acts 2:4 as "languages," and in Acts 2 every man "heard them speaking in his own language" (Acts 2:6). The TJC's brochure calls the sign "speaking of unintelligible tongues," which is not that gift.

who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The Oneness Pentecostals hold the plain facts of the Lord's return. He is coming again in person, "in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11), the dead in Christ rise, and the judgment is final. On these they stand near the line, but they stand short in making a scheme of the end a mark of their identity. The UPCI's paper calls the expectation of the "soon" return "integral to our identity," with a "catching away," a tribulation and a thousand years on earth, though it allows differences on the tribulation. The text gives one coming and one end, and a believer should not be asked to hold more than that as the test of the faith.

Revelation 20 is read in more than one way by those who love the text, and the Lord said of that day that "of that day and hour knoweth no one" (Matthew 24:36). The UPCI's saying that the unrighteous face "eternal death" and the lake of fire, and its refusal to read the "restitution of all things" as including the devil, keep it with the text of Matthew 25:46. Its rejection of the claim that all prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 is also sound.

The Oneness Pentecostals hold a great deal that Scripture also holds, and in some of it they stand nearer the New Testament than larger churches. They baptize only those who believe and repent, by immersion, "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38). They keep the Bible as their only authority, and they argue from it in the open. They honor the name of Jesus, believe in his virgin birth, his atoning death and his bodily return, and worship him as God. They teach the priesthood of all believers, and the UPCI refuses the titles of apostle and prophet. They wash feet as the Lord commanded. They pray for the sick, and they keep a call to holiness before their people. The PAW began as one of the few interracial churches of its day, and the UPCI's Articles state that every person has worth "regardless of race, ethnicity, ability, or national origin."

The Oneness Pentecostals are weighed here by the plumb line and found to be right on baptism and wrong on God. The doctrine that the Father and the Son are one person cannot stand beside the Jordan, the prayer of John 17 and the Advocate of 1 John 2, and the UPCI binds it on every member as the heart of the faith.

Beside it stand two more things bound that the New Testament does not bind: a spoken formula for baptism, and tongues as the sign of the new birth. These are not small, because by them a believer who repented and was immersed at the Lord's word is held not yet to be saved. The body deserves a hearing where it holds the text, and a plain answer where it does not. Those who hold Acts 2:38 as they do should keep all of it, and set down what Scripture does not bind.

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