At a glance

Oneness Pentecostals, often organized in bodies such as the United Pentecostal Church International (formed in 1945), confess Jesus as God and still reject the Trinity as three distinct Persons. They typically baptize with the formula “in the name of Jesus Christ” and read Matthew 28:19 as a description of Jesus’ one name, not as a command to name Father, Son, and Spirit as distinct persons.

Dialogue that treats them as Baptists with extra shouting will fail. The fight is Nicaea: whether the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct, coeternal persons, or whether those titles are modes or roles of the one God who is Jesus. Jehovah’s Witnesses deny Christ’s full divinity; Oneness teaching usually affirms it and then collapses the Persons, so the errors are not the same.

    • Catechism of the Catholic Church
      CCC 253
      CCC 232

      “The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the “consubstantial Trinity”. The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire.”

      Trinity

      “Christians are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part interrogation when asked to confess the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: “I do.” “The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.”

      Baptismal faith

    Origin and history

    Classical Pentecostalism after Azusa Street (1906) was Trinitarian. A new teaching spread from 1913–1914, especially after preaching associated with the Arroyo Seco camp meeting near Los Angeles and then with ministers such as Frank J. Ewart and G. T. Haywood: the baptismal formula should be Jesus’ name only, because Jesus is the revealed name of the Godhead. Assemblies of God and other bodies rejected the doctrine in 1916. Those who held it formed their own fellowships.

    The United Pentecostal Church International united two Oneness groups in 1945. Other Oneness bodies exist, and not every Jesus-Name congregation is UPCI. The movement is global, often intense in holiness codes (dress, media, sometimes facial hair rules), and missionary. It should not be confused with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which is Trinitarian and remains inside the sacramental Church.

    • 1913–1916 — Jesus-Name / Oneness controversy in early Pentecostalism
    • 1916 — Assemblies of God rejects Oneness teaching
    • 1945 — United Pentecostal Church International formed
    • Distinct from Trinitarian Pentecostals and from Catholic charismatics

    Beliefs and doctrines

    Oneness theology is a modern form of modalism: the one God is revealed as Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Spirit in the Church, without three distinct persons who eternally relate to one another. Baptism in Jesus’ name is often treated as the biblical and necessary formula, with Matthew 28:19 explained as Jesus’ identity rather than as three names. Many Oneness churches teach that Spirit baptism evidenced by tongues is necessary, not optional, which creates a two-tier Christianity the Catholic Church does not teach.

    They usually hold a high moral code, believer’s baptism by immersion, and a memorial or spiritual view of the Lord’s Supper rather than transubstantiation, with varied language about justification. The decisive Catholic objection is not their zeal. It is the Creed: the Son is not the Father, and the Spirit is not merely Jesus’ title in another mood.

    • Denial of three distinct divine Persons
    • Jesus-Name baptism as the required formula
    • Tongues often as initial evidence of Spirit baptism
    • Holiness rules as identity markers

    Scripture they emphasize

    Expect Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, and 19:5 on baptism “in the name of Jesus.” Expect Colossians 2:9 (“fullness of deity dwells bodily”) and Isaiah 9:6 (“everlasting Father”) as proofs that Jesus is the Father. Catholics should keep Matthew 28:19, the baptism of Jesus where the Son is in the water, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks (Matthew 3:16–17), and Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17. A name used in Acts does not erase the scene in which three are manifested at once.

    John 1:1–18 remains the short path: the Word was with God and was God, and became flesh. “With” is relation, not a costume change. The Nicene and Constantinopolitan faith is the Church’s reading of that grammar, already fought out against Sabellius in the third century and against Arius in the fourth. Oneness revival is new in organization; the idea is old, and it was already answered.

    What to know before dialogue

    Do not open with “cult.” Many Oneness Christians are morally serious and biblically busy. Define the terms person, nature, and name, then show the baptism of Jesus as three-at-once. Then show that Acts’ “in the name of Jesus” is authority and confession, the way one might say “baptized into Christ,” not a veto of Matthew 28. Invite them to the Creed the Church has prayed since the fourth century, not to a cooler Pentecostalism.

    Use the Trinity, Baptism, and Pentecostalism pages together. If tongues become the membership badge, 1 Corinthians 12–14 is already Paul’s brake: not all speak in tongues, and love outranks the showy gifts. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is not a door into Oneness doctrine. It is a reminder that the Spirit who gives charisms is the third Person, not a mask.

    • Distinguish Oneness from JW and from Trinitarian Pentecostals
    • Keep Matthew 3 and John 17 on the table
    • Explain Acts 2:38 as authority, not a rival Trinity
    • Do not mock holiness codes; argue the Godhead
    • Catechism of the Catholic Church
      CCC 253

      “We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the “consubstantial Trinity”.”

      Trinity

    Common misconceptions

    Oneness Pentecostals are just fervent evangelicals.

    Fervor is not Nicaea: evangelicals who recite the Nicene Creed confess three Persons. Oneness teaching denies that confession and often rebaptizes those who were baptized with the Matthew 28 formula. Shared King James English and shared opposition to Catholic sacraments can hide the gap. Profile the Godhead before you argue the Eucharist, or you will spend an hour on tongues and never reach the Son’s relation to the Father.

    Acts 2:38 proves baptism must be in Jesus’ name only.

    Acts describes baptisms into Jesus’ authority and confession in a Jewish and then Gentile mission. Matthew 28:19 is the risen Lord’s own command to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Church has used that formula from antiquity. “In the name of Jesus” does not cancel the three who are named at the Jordan, where the Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks. If those are only costumes, the scene is a play. Catholics say it is a revelation of distinct persons.

    The Trinity is three gods.

    That is the charge Arian and modalist polemics always use. The Church answers it in CCC 253: not three gods, one God in three persons, each the whole deity, not a third of a pie. The Trinity is a mystery of relation, not a committee. Oneness teaching avoids tritheism by erasing the relations Jesus actually lives: he prays to the Father, promises another Paraclete, and is not talking to himself in a closed circuit of titles. John 17 is unintelligible as a man addressing his own mask.

    Sources

    Citations for this article. Browse the full bibliography to see every place each source is used across the library.

    Catechism

    CCC 253

    One God in three persons

    We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the “consubstantial Trinity”.

    CCC 253. Trinity

    Open source Also in bibliography
    Scripture

    Matthew 28:19

    Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

    baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

    Matthew 28:19. Scripture

    Open source In bibliography
    Scripture

    Matthew 3:16-17

    The baptism of Jesus: Son, Spirit, Father

    the Spirit of God descending like a dove… and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son”

    Matthew 3:16-17. Scripture

    Open source In bibliography
    Scripture

    John 1:1

    The Word was with God and was God

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    John 1:1. Scripture

    Open source In bibliography

    Debates & media

    More debates and documents on the Resources page.

    Revision history

    Who changed this page and when — newest first. Like a wiki edit log.

    gap-articles-2026

    New articles for common missing topics

    Added scandal, historical violence, homosexuality, rapture, soul, euthanasia, private revelation, and Oneness Pentecostalism.

    Apologia Catholic · Aug 22, 2026, 10:00 PM UTC

    Image credits