There are quite a few different views in the Oneness churches of how to interpret who is God. So it can become difficult to address their teaching. Some teach Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always the one person who is God, but they call them manifestations (roles or offices). Some say that God changes from one to another (this is the most ancient form of Oneness that developed into other concepts through time). God being the Father first in creation, the Son in redemption and now is the Holy Spirit. Others say the Father is the Holy Spirit and that the Son is his humanity in which the Father dwelt in. Others will say that the one person who is God manifests in all three at the same time but they are not persons. Another says that these are all modes, offices, functions and titles of one person, God.  That the Holy Spirit is the Father who incarnated in the Son (humanity) so that He is deity. All concentrate on the strict singularity that God is one, and one person only. This is done to avoid what they perceive as the great Catholic lie that there are three distinct persons simultaneously existing as eternal God. If one says Rome has no truth in any doctrine than when they say there is one God this too is equally not true. I’m no supporter of Rome and her falsehoods but I don’t think anyone wants to go that route, so let’s be honest and accurate in our arguments.

Oneness has a wrong theological template based on their preconceived assumption that there is absolutely no Trinity. That God cannot exist in this manner. Therefore any proof given from the Bible, any explanation no matter how solid is refused to be considered true. This is no different than the Jehovah Witnesses. The problem is that if there is no eternal Son there cannot be an Eternal Father. It is spoken like this in Scripture to explain relationship.

What some oneness are saying is the Father is not a person but an office or a role (you choose), the son is not a person but an office, and the Holy Spirit is not a person but an office. So then God is not personal, he is an office, I can only wonder who they think sits in his office.

According to Oneness, if the Father is there then there is no son nor spirit, If you have the spirit then you don’t have the father or the Son. Why because they insist there is only one person, not one being. It’s like Abbott and Costello’s skit “whose on first and what’s on 2^nd”

Oneness believes the Father became the Son. Trinitarians believe (and prove from the bible) that the son of God is eternal (Jesus is the only begotten) became the son of Man. This is term used by Daniel showing he was fully human (without denying He is deity). The Son is attributed to have created all things, this includes the Father’s participation (as well as the spirit Heb.1). There would be no reason to mention it like this in the Bible if these were not distinctions.

If one speaks to another and the other hears and responds what are we seeing? This is described as two persons –identities speaking, conversing to one another. But when God does this via the Father to the son Oneness Pentecostals claim it is not persons but God manifesting himself in two different ways. Then we have neither one as a person! But there position doctrinally is that God is one person, he can have several manifestations at once, even triple, quadruple if necessary. We will look at this perspective to see if it makes sense logically and biblically.

Oneness needs to answer why would God made himself as two or three manifestations before he made the world?

We must look at the Bibles revelation on this to see what is true and what is false on the matter. John 14:28 "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.”

This is why the Father is not the son, nor is he Jesus. If the Father is Jesus, can the Father be greater than himself ?Why would Jesus have to go away to the Father if he is the Father?

There are two passages in John where Jesus states that He and the Father serve as two witnesses authenticating His ministry (John 5:31-32; 8:16-18). His statement, "there is another ("allos") who bears witness concerning Me (5:32). This proves that Jesus is not the Father. The term "allos" is used here to mean someone "different {from} the subject who is speaking."

Trinitarians (who believe in a tri-unity) teach there are three eternal persons that have simultaneously existed as the eternal one, who is the creator God.

This error of Oneness is found all in ancient history of the early Church. It was rejected as distortions of the biblical teaching.

There is no question then that the Word is a distinct person, and not just a quality or characteristic of God. The use of the masculine personal pronoun (autou – houtos "same," John 1:2). The Greek absolutely requires that the Word is a distinct being, and CANNOT refer to a thing, quality, or manifestation of God. It MUST refer to a distinct person. Everything (including mankind) was made by the Word, according to John. The only logical way to understand this apparent paradox is the compound-plural God. John is giving us more revelation about one of the beings of this plural God mentioned in Genesis one. The Word is ONE of the "US" who made man in "OUR" image.

Oneness tells us that Jesus spoke to the father as a human (son) to the deity. But they will also state the Father was in his humanity (God’s spirit). Has your body ever spoken to your spirit by itself? Has your spirit ever spoke to your body? Oneness interprets any relationship between the Father and the Son between Jesus' deity (who is the Father) and Jesus' humanity. (in other words, when Jesus prays, He's really talking to Himself). If one speaks and the other hears just as when man speaks to man and converses, the other speaks back it is a conversation. So we have two intelligent beings. One hears and thinks and responds to the other, which would not be necessary if both were the same person.

In the activity of communication by both the agent and the object must exhibit intelligence and consciousness. Along with personality, thought, will, and affection would be seen to be exchanged. If the agent that initiated communication is a Person, the object that responds must be a Person. Natures do not communicate with one another. Jesus prays to the Father in his subordinate state on earth and the Father speaks back to Him. But Oneness eliminates this as persons in dialogue, but assigns them as natures. This makes the dialogue an illusion of two individual persons. As Jesus is only speaking to himself, His human nature communicating to His deity nature. Natures don't speak to each other, only Persons (personal beings) do. Jesus is one Person, not two. He speaks as a whole Person. When the Father speaks he speaks to a person, the Son, Jesus. The fact that they communicate, respond to each other shows they are not the same in person, which qualifies them as each being different from the other.

Jesus constantly treated the FATHER AS ANOTHER (person) OTHER than Himself. Mt. 23:8-10: "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. "And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.”

Here Jesus spoke of the Father as another person other than himself who is not on earth but in heaven. He also distinguishes himself on earth as Christ the teacher. How can he be speaking of his deity which oneness states is the Father. Do we have the son speaking to the father inside himself? This would also make meaningless his action of ALWAYS praying toward heaven to the Father when he was in him? If it sounds confusing, you’re right, it is.

As Trinitarians we believe there is only one God but that is not in reference to his personhood, but in His nature of “being” the one God. That He (God) exists with certain identities that are always there. They simultaneously exist as they have always existed although different terms can be applied to them (Father, son and comforter). 

How do we explain and refute Oneness' main arguments such as The word Trinity is not found in the Bible!

Answer: I have heard this from Jehovah's Witnesses so much that it has become a mantra for cults. Oneness has borrowed it. True the word Trinity or eternal Son is not specifically found in the Bible. But so are many other terms we use to describe God and His nature. The words omnipotence for all powerful, omnipresent for being everywhere at once are used by us. Should we stop using descriptive terms we communicate theology by?

The concept of the tri-unity is clearly there for anyone who is open enough to study it. This argument doesn’t seem to stop Oneness from using their non- biblical terminology to explain their own beliefs. Where do we find the word Oneness, where does it teach or specifically say the Word for Father or Son are modes or roles, offices, manifestations or functions, everything but persons. Nowhere does it say all three are manifestations, that's right nowhere. Orthodox historic Christianity and the Bible teaches that God who is the Son manifested in the flesh to mankind, not God manifested as different personalities in the spirit

There are many words used to describe doctrines that are not found in the scripture. The word Bible is not specifically found in the Bible, should we dispense with that too! We can’t find the word bible in this book so we are not allowed to use it! Certainly the word Oneness is not found! We all use terms such as chapter and verse, even numbers that were not in the original writings from the teachings of the apostles. If they want to be consistent in their beliefs and theological position, they would not use chapter and verse and would remove these from their Bibles as well (not Bible, call it something else).

I would like to see the day all the straw man arguments are set aside and they would deal with the facts. And not get so emotional in defending what they see as “revelational truth,” there are many who were Oneness who now see it differently.

We find several times it is God himself who states he is plural in persons. Oneness neglects these descriptions and majors on all the singular descriptions.Isa.48:16, as the Son was sent from heaven to earth. By whom? Another mode? When we read us and we in describing humanity we agree it is plural, so why is it not for God who speaks to us in human terms? When someone is sent it is by another. they do not say I sent myself to the store, but, I went to the store I in the same manner Jesus said he would send the Spirit, not send Himself again to earth, or become the Spirit (comforter or helper that would now live in the believer)

God is three persons is a biblical conclusion one comes to by studying and rightly dividing the word. Seeing that there are three called God who eternally exist at the same time.

The bible teaches Abraham, Moses, John and Peter were not only persons, but different persons. Yet, nowhere does it specifically say they are persons. From Oneness’ own arguments they are not persons until proven they are. When we read of angels such as Michael or Gabriel we know they are persons, just as we know Satan who is a Spirit being is a person.  But they are not flesh and blood persons. The term "person" should not be, nor should be restricted to human beings alone, we are identifying personal subjects . Using this word is an accommodation of our human language to show an individuals identity. One that has consciousness, intelligence, and communicates, hearing and speaking. All this makes someone distinct in identity.

When we use the word person we are trying to differentiate between who is who in personality. For in all languages the words Father and Son are personal and not nominal designations; to say our Lord intended these words to have merely nominal signification, while in all languages they have a personal signification, is to say he employed language more likely to deceive than to instruct; and not only so, but he commanded others to perpetuate the same deception down to the end of time." (Christian theology 5^th ed. P.67-73)

We might ask where does Scripture say God is one in person. It only states God is one. So the question is one what? If God is a personal being, (not a human person -physical) than the Father is a person, so is the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each time one of these appears they are a person. So when the Father appears he is that person who is God and when the Son appears he is that person. Therefore by logic based on the Bible if all three appear at the same time, (which they do) they are three persons who are the one God. God who became man is a person not a percentage of God. He is the same God but each are different in identities.

When it says in Heb.1 Jesus is the exact image of God, should we not think of Him as a person who has the nature of God. And in whose image is He exactly like? Another who is a person, His Father. If the image is a person so is the one he is the image of (not physical). Oneness claims Father and Son are only titles of a single person, who is God. The terms of the Son and Father are not titles of a single person, but different titles that belong to two different personalities that differ in identities. This is seen clearly as Jesus said the Father sent him FROM heaven. Does it say the Holy Ghost is the Father or that Jesus calls the Father Jesus, or the Father calls Jesus the Father or the Holy Spirit? No it does not.. Not once.

The Bible never says the Father was incarnated as man, Jesus said in Mt.16 to Peter the Father is in heaven, He reveled to Peter whom the son is, and Peter said he is the Son of the living God, so he is not the Father.

If the Father sent the son from heaven as the savior then it should be evident the Father did not become man. Then one has to deal with another explanation.

 John 16:27-29 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."

He came From the father to the world and leaves to go back to the same place he left from. There would be no Father to go to, if he was the Father on earth.

Oneness has to deal with the fact the Father was located in heaven the whole time Jesus was doing His ministry on earth, He is not the son.