When Strangers Come Knocking---Part 26

 

This is the next installment of my series to be published the first Monday of each month.

There are members of false sects, like Jehovah's Witnesses, that come knocking door-to-door hoping to convert you. Instead of ignoring them, it is we who should try and convert them. In 1 Peter 3:16, our first Pope writes, "But in thy hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks thee to give the reason for the hope that thou hast. But do this with gentleness and respect,..." Before the Great Apostasy, the Church would send missionaries to the ends of the Earth to make as many converts as possible. 

Those in false religions don't always come (literally) knocking at your door. It may be a Hindu at work who wants you to try yoga. It could be a "Christian Scientist" who lives next door and invites you to come to their reading room. Each month, I will present a false sect. Unlike the Vatican II sect, I do not see them as a "means of salvation" or possessing "elements of truth" that lead to salvation. That is heresy. They lead to damnation, and the adherents of the various sects must be converted so they may be saved.

In each month's post, I will present one false sect and give an overview of: 

• The sect's history
• Their theology
• Tips on how to share the True Faith with them

"Jesus Only" Sects

"Have you been truly baptized?" the young man asked my colleague as he was sitting in Central Park a few years back. "Yes, I was," he replied. "Were you baptized in the name of Jesus?" My fellow attorney said, "Yes, and the Father and Holy Spirit." "So then you were not really baptized," said the young man who handed my colleague a pamphlet containing an invitation to come to his church. My co-worker promptly got up and walked away. The next day at work, he handed me the pamphlet and asked me if  I could explain it. I told him he was the target of attempted proselytism by a "Oneness Pentecostal." Also referred to as "Jesus Only" sects, these are anti-trinitarian Protestant offshoots that try very hard to convert others.

Generally speaking, they are much more sophisticated and deceptive than the anti-trinitarian Jehovah's Witnesses, and they confess the Divinity of Christ. So what, exactly, are "Jesus Only" sects, and how can they be corrected/converted? The answers to those questions will be explored in this post.

The Beginning of Rebuking the Trinity

(I wish to credit the history and teachings of Oneness primarily to Bernard, Brewer, and Buford, Meet the United Pentecostal Church International, [1983], and David K. Bernard, The Oneness of God, [1983]---Introibo). 

We can trace the Oneness Pentecostal Movement to April 1913 at a camp meeting in Los Angeles, California. R. E. McAlister, a popular Protestant teacher from Toronto, Canada, preached a sermon on Acts 2:38 where he argued that baptism must be done in the name of Jesus only and not the Trinitarian formula. He rejected the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity. The movement grew and attracted so-called "Charismatic" denominations including the Assembly of God sect. Eventually, just a couple of years later, in 1916, the Assemblies of God rejected the teachings of the newly dubbed Oneness Pentecostals and 156 clergy left the sect to form the Oneness sects. 

Oneness Pentecostals reject the dogma of the Trinity. The Church has always taught that there is one God who exists eternally in three separate and distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Oneness Pentecostal sects teach a heretical doctrine known as Modalism. Modalism asserts that there is one God who appears in three different forms, or three different modes. So, there’s only one Person in the Godhead and He takes on three different modes or three different appearances.

The appellation of Modalism derives its origin from the Greek playwrights. In Greek plays, there is only one actor who appeared in different characters. When he would change characters, he would change modes, change his voice, and change his mask. There is only one actor who had several masks who played all the parts in a particular play. Although he had different forms, different voices, it was still the same actor. That’s Modalism – that there’s one person in the God who takes on three different forms.

Historic Modalism taught that the Father appears in three different forms. This modern Modalism teaches that since the Incarnation, Jesus then appears in three different forms. At times, He appears as the Father, or at times as Jesus the Son, or at other times the Holy Ghost. Some Oneness Pentecostal sects teach that really there’s only Jesus who appears in the form of the Father or of the Son and that the Holy Ghost is not a Person but the impersonal "Spirit of God," in the same way the Jehovah's Witnesses denigrate the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. 

Baptism in Jesus Only and Speaking in Tongues

Oneness sects teach that baptism is necessary to salvation (unlike Protestantism, properly so-called). However, baptism (1) must be by immersion only, (2) must be in the Name of Jesus and not the Trinitarian formula, (3) and must be immediately followed by glossolalia ("speaking in tongues").  For the assertion that baptism must be in the name of Jesus only, and followed by speaking in tongues, they appeal to Acts 2:38, "Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of thee, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of thy sins. And thou shalt receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." 

But what about the Great Commission, when Christ stated, "Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (St. Matthew 28:19)? The typical response given is as follows:

Notice that Jesus did not say in the names plural but the name singular. Indicating that there is a single name believers should be baptized in. That name of course being the matchless name of Jesus Christ. The only name by which men must be saved. Jesus was not calling the church to baptize in three different names but the single name that shows the fullness of the Godhead. As scripture declares all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ. (See everydayapostolic.com/is-re-baptism-in-jesus-name-biblical). Like mainstream Protestants, Oneness sects believe in sola scriptura (the Bible alone as the rule of faith). 

Why is it necessary to speak in tongues? In Acts 2:1-4, we read:

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

To this the Oneness sects declare:

It also fell on other believers as they heard God’s word preached, had hands laid on them by other believers, and after being baptized in Jesus name. All with the sign of speaking in new tongues. Showing that receiving the Holy Spirit isn’t something to be assumed or guessed at but known with certainty. (Ibid). 

Questions to Make You Question Your Faith

To support their Modalistic heresy, members will often hit you with questions like:

1. Did Jesus have two fathers? The Father is the Father of the Son (1 John 1:3), yet the child born of Mary was conceived by the Holy Ghost (St. Matthew 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35). Which one is the true Father?

2. How many Spirits are there? God the Father is a Spirit (St. John 4:24), the Lord Jesus is a Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17), and the Holy Ghost is a Spirit by definition. Yet there is ONE Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13, Ephesians 4:4).

3. If Father and Son are coequal Persons, why did Jesus pray to the Father? (St. Matthew 11:25) Can God pray to God?

4. How can the Son not know as much as the Father? (St. Matthew 24:36; St. Mark 13:32).

These questions can be perplexing to those not well-versed in the Faith. 

The Teaching of the One True Church

1. The Dogma of the Trinity. In God there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Each of the Persons possesses the one (numerical) Divine Essence. (De Fide). (See theologian Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, [1955], pg. 52). 

Proof from The Bible:

God the Father is Truly God: 

St. John 5:18, "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him [Jesus], because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."

God the Son (Jesus Christ) is Truly God:

St. John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

God the Holy Ghost is Truly God:

Acts 5:3-4, "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." 

Proof from Tradition:

The Didache (Teaching of the Apostles):

"After the foregoing instructions, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living [running] water. . . . If you have neither, pour water three times on the head, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Didache 7:1 [A.D. 70]).

St. Augustine:

“All the Catholic interpreters of the divine books of the Old and New Testaments whom I have been able to read, who wrote before me about the Trinity, which is God, intended to teach in accord with the Scriptures that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are of one and the same substance constituting a divine unity with an inseparable equality; and therefore there are not three gods but one God, although the Father begot the Son, and therefore He who is the Son is not the Father; and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son but only the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, Himself, too, coequal to the Father and to the Son and belonging to the unity of the Trinity” (The Trinity 1:4:7 [A.D. 408]).

Athanasian Creed:

"Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith. Which faith unless every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Essence. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is; such is the Son; and such is the Holy Ghost." (Circa end of 5th century A.D.). 

Ecumenical Councils:

Nicea (325 A.D.):

The Nicene Creed decreed infallibly that there is one God and Three Persons: the Father, the Creator, in Greek Pantokrator, the Almighty; Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God; and the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Jesus is not a creature made by the Father. Rather the Council used a Greek word, homoousios, today translated consubstantial, emanating from the Father’s substance, “begotten, not made.” The Father and the Son are “one in being,” coequal and coeternal.

Constantinople I (381 A.D.):

The Council reaffirmed and defined the Divinity of the Holy Ghost in response to the Macedonians who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost. The Council also condemned Apollinarianism, a heretical belief that Jesus is Divine, not human, and that Jesus did not have a human soul.

Sabellius, a third century priest, taught the heresy of Modalism. Sabellius was excommunicated by Pope Callistus I (c. 220). Sabellianism was rejected by the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople I, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. These Councils affirmed that God is one, but made the distinction between Person and Nature, teaching that the Son and the Holy Ghost are separate Persons Who share one Divine Nature with the Father.

2. Baptism is only valid with the Trinitarian formula. 

The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches the following:

"If at any time the Apostles baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ only, we can be sure they did so by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, in order, in the infancy of the Church, to render their preaching more illustrious by the Name of Jesus Christ, and to proclaim more effectually His Divine and and infinite power." (pg. 168). The Catechism immediately declares this opinion doubtful, and cites Church Fathers (such as Sts. Ambrose and Basil) in support of the more probable opinion; that the formula of baptism was always Trinitarian. The phrase baptism in the Name of Jesus was meant to distinguish the Sacrament of baptism from the non-sacramental baptism of St. John the Baptist. Theologian Pohle teaches this as well; "in the Name of Jesus" means "by the authority of Jesus" who instituted the Sacrament. (See Dogmatic Theology [1923], 8:223-224). 

The invocation of the Trinity was defined by the Council of Florence:

 The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water; it makes no difference whether cold or warm. The form is: I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 

And again at the Council of Trent, the fourth Canon on Baptism defines:

If any one saith, that the baptism which is even given by heretics in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church doth, is not true baptism; let him be anathema.

As to the argument that in The Great Commission, Christ says "...baptizing them in the name.."which is singular and not plural, consider the following sentence: “Rain poured down, striking the head of my wife, my sister, and my brother.” Is this sentence correct? Yes. If I’d have written, “… striking the heads of my wife, my sister, and my brother,” I’d have been wrong unless I was claiming that my wife, my sister, and my brother each have multiple heads.

Here’s an example from Exodus 23:13:

"Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth." (Singular; Emphasis mine).

Exodus links the singular “name” with the plural “gods.” (See also Deuteronomy 18:20 and Joshua 23:7-8). 

3. Speaking in Tongues is not needed anymore.

The Apostles and extraordinary gifts. According to theologian Scheeben: The internal perfection [of the Apostles] arose from the fact of their being eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses of the whole Revelation, and of their being so filled with the Holy Ghost that each of them possessed a complete and infallible knowledge of revealed doctrine; while the external perfection was the gift of miracles, by which they were able to confirm the authenticity of their testimony...As soon as the original and fundamental promulgation of the Gospel was complete there was no longer any necessity for the extraordinary Apostolate. (See A Manual of Catholic Theology, [1890], 1:37-38; Emphasis mine). 

Theologian Van Noort teaches: Therefore, as apostles, each of them had (a) a direct divine mission to carry out both of the aforementioned tasks all over the world. Furthermore, (b) they enjoyed the charisms (1) of revelation, (2) of infallibility (in matters pertaining to their mission), and (3) of miracles. The apostolate was, to begin with, by its very nature an extraordinary gift, confided to these men alone. (See Dogmatic Theology, [1961], 1:39; First emphasis in original, second emphasis mine). In end-note #19, Van Noort references the work of heretical theologian Oscar Cullmann (d.1999). Cullmann, a member of the Lutheran sect, was an "observer" at Vatican II and a driving force behind the One World Church ecumenical movement. Cullmann advanced the heretical view that apostolic grace must perish with the Apostles or survive them in its entirety. Van Noort responds that the dilemma is resolved in Catholic theology by distinguishing between a mission of the Apostles which is an extraordinary, noncommunicable charism relating to the founding of the Church, and an ordinary communicable and non-miraculous charism relating to the preservation of the Church. It is only the latter that is carried down through the ages by the Apostolic Succession of Catholic bishops.

The charismata, or special gifts of the Holy Ghost, is therefore not in use after the founding of the Church. Yes, there have been certain saints in the Church that had various miraculous gifts, but this is not (as the Oneness sects and so-called "Charismatics" claim) true of all members of the Church. The vast majority are devoid of any miraculous deeds. 

The Oneness sects (as well as Charismatics---both Protestant and Vatican II sect) are heard "speaking in tongues" at their services. What, exactly, are they saying? In a word: Nothing. As far back as 1972, University of Toronto linguistics professor William Samarin had this to say:

There is no mystery about glossolalia. Tape recorded samples are easy to obtain and analyze. They always turn out to be the same thing: strings of syllables made up of sounds taken from among all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but which nevertheless emerge as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody. Glossolalia is indeed like language in some ways, but this is only because the speaker (unconsciously) wants it to be like language. Yet in spite of superficial similarities, glossolalia is fundamentally not a language. All specimens of glossolalia that have ever been studied have produced no features that would even suggest they reflect some kind of communicative system...Glossolalia is not a supernatural phenomenon...In fact, anybody can produce glossolalia if he is uninhibited and he discovers what the "trick" is... (See Tongues of Men and Angels, [1972], pgs. 227-228; Emphasis mine). 

Having been exposed as no known languages, how do Oneness members respond? They are told, "600 million Christians (sic) have received the Holy Spirit gift of their own spirit language." (See book description for 70 Reasons for Speaking in Tongues: Your Own Built-in Spiritual Dynamo [2010], by Bill Hamon; Emphasis mine). They point to 1 Corinthians 13:1, " If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (Emphasis mine). Charismatics will claim that this verse "proves" there are "angelic languages" and that's why it sounds like gibberish and does not conform to any earthly language. The Biblical account of true glossolalia gives the lie to that contention. 

In Acts 2:1-4 we read, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." The Scripture relates how Jews, gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost from around the world, had grown up speaking languages other than Aramaic, yet all could understand these uneducated Galileans. They were able to speak in many (and authentic) languages. 

This is confirmed by the great St. John Chrysostom who wrote, And as in the time of the building of the tower [of Babel] the one tongue was divided into many; so then, at Pentecost, the many tongues met in one man, and the same person used to discourse both in the Persian, and the Roman, and the Indian, and many other tongues, the Spirit sounding within him: and the gift was called the gift of tongues because he could all at once speak divers languages. (See Homilies on First Corinthians, 35.1; Emphasis mine).

Although some "speaking in tongues" is mass hysteria, some may well be caused by demonic activity. They open themselves to possible possession. Be very cautious, and always say a prayer to St. Joseph, Terror of demons, before conversing. 

4. Asked and Answered.

In response to the questions Oneness members ask, there are explanations when the dogma of the Trinity is correctly understood. The literature I've read from these sects show culpable ignorance of Trinitarian dogma.

1. Did Jesus have two fathers? The Father is the Father of the Son (1 John 1:3), yet the child born of Mary was conceived by the Holy Ghost (St. Matthew 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35). Which one is the true Father?

Answer: God the Father generated God the Son from all eternity. They are co-eternal. The Son proceeds from the Father from all eternity, and in this sense, God the Father has Fatherhood. The Holy Ghost created the Son's human nature, not from eternity, but in time. The Holy Ghost is therefore not the Father of Christ, but only He Who gave Him a human nature hypostatically united to His Divine Nature. 

2. How many Spirits are there? God the Father is a Spirit (St. John 4:24), the Lord Jesus is a Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17), and the Holy Ghost is a Spirit by definition. Yet there is ONE Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13, Ephesians 4:4).

Answer: There is only one Spirit (essence) but Three Persons. There may be three drops of water, but only one water (H2O) as they share the same substance.

3. If Father and Son are co-equal Persons, why did Jesus pray to the Father? (St. Matthew 11:25) Can God pray to God?

There is no problem with God the Son praying or talking to God the Father. They had an eternal relationship as distinct Persons before Christ became a Man. This relationship is depicted in the Gospels so we can see how the Son of God in His humanity carried out His Father’s will, and in doing so, purchased redemption for His children (See St. John 6:38). Christ’s continual submission to His heavenly Father was empowered and kept focused through His prayer life. Christ’s example of prayer is ours to follow.

4. How can the Son not know as much as the Father? (St. Matthew 24:36; St. Mark 13:32).

Answer: "But about that day or hour [i.e., the time of The Second Coming] no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (St. Matthew 24:36). What this means then is that “not knowing” refers to His not being sent to reveal the day and the hour in His human nature, leaving that office to the Father. It has always been understood that as God, Christ knows the day and the hour but that in his mission on Earth, He was not sent to reveal this; it is a broad mental reservation. The Son does not know (have the ability to reveal it) as part of His Divine Plan.

Proselytizing Oneness Sect Members

I suggest the following:

1. Ask them who interprets the Bible, and how do they know their interpretation is correct. They will respond, "The Holy Ghost has put it on my heart."

2. Tell them that other denominations (e.g., Charismatic Baptists) say the Holy Ghost taught them the about the Trinity, so who is right?  Subjective experiences can never be objective proofs.

3. Share all the Bible references to the Holy Trinity (the name "Trinity" is not in the Bible, but it names a doctrine clearly found therein). There are many Biblical references you can find online.

4. If they respond, "Pagan religions had three-headed demons and gods, so the Trinity is from paganism, " ask them if God created the universe. When the respond in the affirmative ask, "Pagans also believe that their gods created the universe; so isn't that also a pagan belief?" A belief held in common with pagans does not mean (without anything more) that it came from paganism. 

5. Pray for them and have Masses offered for their conversion. 

Conclusion

Oneness sect members deride the Most Holy Trinity in part because they feel God must be knowable to people. While God is knowable, not all things can be known; not even in Heaven. “For my thoughts are not thy thoughts, neither are thy ways My ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than thy ways and My thoughts than thy thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

As God is infinite and we are finite, there are some "mysteries" (i.e., things above--- but not opposed to--- our reason), and the Most Holy Trinity is one such mystery. Those who deny mysteries inevitably wind up denigrating God (by brining Him down to our level), or exalting people to a status where they completely understand God.