Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism

Abstract

Strangely, the theology of Oneness Pentecostalism has been ignored in the academic study of theology in general and in the study of American religion specifically. Scholars have examined Pentecostalism as a general religious phenomenon or have been more interested in exploring the social and psychological origins of its various dimensions. ... This study proposes to break new ground in several areas. There are six principle contributions wherein originality is claimed. First, the heart of the book, developed in chapters three and four, constitutes at the very least a recovery of a vanishing past. Hitherto, the dimensions of the doctrine of salvation associated with sectors of the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated have never before received academic exploration or sustained scholarly attention. The present official doctrine of salvation as taught by the United Pentecostal Church is not necessarily the same as that endorsed by the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated. This part of Oneness Pentecostalism can be referred to as a vanishing past because within a decade or so, that past will be largely forgotten and perhaps irretrievable. According to some observers within the United Pentecostal Church, that vanishing past has been deliberate in some instances. 'We have let men die historically as though they never lived.' If one does not know what is omitted, one can neither see nor understand what is being promoted. This underscores the second significant contribution which is the utilisation of oral sources. Curiously, writers within the United Pentecostal Church dealing with their denomination's history and doctrines seem not to have accessed many of the primary sources of living memory. Oneness Pentecostals, like so many other movements within American religious history, were not men and women who committed much to paper. The discipline of oral history is most helpful in this connection but the past is vanishing. Three months after a lengthy interview in relation to this project C.H. Yadon died in his ninetieth year. Six months after he gave an insightful interview filled with penetrating and shrewd observations and comments, W.M. Greer died in his ninety-fourth year. While this research project was unfolding, John Paterson died in his one hundredth year. Several other ministers, including Ralph Reynolds and Raymond Beesley, died not long after interviews. Two hundred men and women associated with Oneness Pentecostal history have been interviewed, many tape-recorded, in connection with this study. Their insights and reflections have been recorded and many appear in these pages. David Reed conducted some interviews in the 1970s in connection with his research and David Bernard seems to have paid some limited and selective attention to one side of his tradition, but these are exceptions.