Oneness Pentecostal help?

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thephilosopher6

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My cousin left the Catholic Church some months ago to join AOG, and she dragged my aunt into it. Recently, I found out they are now going to a Oneness Pentecostal church and now hold to Modalism. I have no clue why they suddenly are “Oneness” now, but it is worrying. They even got “baptized” in the name of “Jesus only”, which would both be their third time undergoing a “baptism” in their life (their first one of course being valid Catholic baptism). I was sad when they left the Church for AOG, but now that they’ve joined a major non-Christian heresy, I want to at least draw them back to the Christian Trinitarian side of things. Any ideas to help bring them back?
 
thephilosopher6 said:
My cousin left the Catholic Church some months ago to join AOG, and she dragged my aunt into it. Recently, I found out they are now going to a Oneness Pentecostal church and now hold to Modalism. I have no clue why they suddenly are “Oneness” now, but it is worrying. They even got “baptized” in the name of “Jesus only”, which would both be their third time undergoing a “baptism” in their life (their first one of course being valid Catholic baptism). I was sad when they left the Church for AOG, but now that they’ve joined a major non-Christian heresy, I want to at least draw them back to the Christian Trinitarian side of things. Any ideas to help bring them back?
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First of all, prayer.
2nd. Do you have a rapport with them?

If so, just talk to them and find out why they left. Then, without rancor, discuss the reasons they should be Catholic. Do you have any idea what those are?

If not, you’d better brush up on your apologetics before you start the talk.
 
Oneness is a very very fringe, it has many of the same earmarks of a cult. Unless you know Scripture like the back of your hand, I’d keep to the “love them and pray and let them see the joy in your life” method. Joy and peace will be attractive, you want to be there for them and keep the lines of communication open. They will be told you are “of the devil” and will be pressured to disassociate from you.
 
TheLittleLady said:
Oneness is a very very fringe, it has many of the same earmarks of a cult. Unless you know Scripture like the back of your hand, I’d keep to the “love them and pray and let them see the joy in your life” method. Joy and peace will be attractive, you want to be there for them and keep the lines of communication open. They will be told you are “of the devil” and will be pressured to disassociate from you
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Even knowing scripture will not help. The difficulty in using scripture is, we see this you see that type of argument. It does seem as if those involved with the oneness are brainwashed.
 
There are oneness Pentecostals but not all AOG churches are none trinitarian.
 
The Assemblies of God are trinitarian.

THE ADORABLE GODHEAD
a. Terms Defined
The terms “Trinity” and “persons” as related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with Scripture, whereby we may convey to others our immediate understanding of the doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from “gods many and lords many.” We therefore may speak with propriety of the Lord our God who is One Lord, as a trinity or as one Being of three persons, and still be absolutely scriptural.


Oneness is a completely separate denomination.

 
On of my best friends is a Oneness Pentecostal and I’ve debated him for over 10 years since he became a Modalist. He was a non-denominational Christian before joining this Men’s outreach program which was put on by a Oneness Pentecostal church. For several months he was in this program and during that time he was taught that the Trinity was a man-made doctrine invented by the Catholic Church and unless one is baptized in Jesus name only and can speak in tongues, they aren’t validly baptized and will not enter God’s Kingdom.

I wish there was an easy “go to” argument to use against those who believe in Modalsim, but unfortunately there isn’t. I’d rank Oneness Pentecostals right up there with Jehovah’s Witnesses, in terms of being completely immersed in their beliefs and doctrines to the point that it almost becomes indoctrination. Another sad part is that at times, those Oneness Pentecostals that I’ve talked to, my friend included, can come across as very condescending and arrogant, when they are talking about other religions and trying to share their own faith. I’m not trying to generalize all Oneness believers that way, I’m merely sharing my own experiences.

The one area I’ve had the most success with is Sola Scriptura. To this day my friend has yet to give a reasonable answer as to why his church’s interpretation of scripture is correct and others are not. Plus the lack of historical evidence showing that the early church held to the beliefs of modern day Oneness Pentecostals has also been difficult for him to explain.

I don’t know what their official teaching is on the matter of there being only one true faith, but my friend is convinced that their is no “single Christian Church” that is the one true church, as Catholics believe. He feels that all churches have some truth, but yet he can’t explain how to prove that statement as being true without a valid way to prove the “true” teachings from the “false” ones.

I think many non-Catholics who think this way simply choose to ignore this dilemma and take comfort in knowing they are right, without actually having to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
 
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Obviously there are verses on the Great Commission with the Father/Son/Holy Ghost requirement.

But there are additional places where the Bible establishes the Trinity.

Compare
  • Exodus 17:2 (the Father);
  • 1 Cor. 10:4, 9 (the Son);
  • Hebrews 3:7-9 (the Holy Ghost).
Whom did the people tempt when they were in the wilderness? They tempted the Triune God.
 
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