In 2001, the Society for Pentecostal Studies, an international society of scholars established in 1970 to provide a venue for research related to Pentecostal and Charismatic studies, commissioned a five-year study of Oneness and Trinitarianism.
The final report states, "The chief purpose was to allow for a clearer understanding of Oneness and Trinitarian Pentecostal perspectives, including the variations possible within them, as well as both the commonalities and difference between them...the goal was a clearer understanding of their positions and not the winning over of one side to the other or the adoption of a compromise position. "
The Trinitarian position was represented by Frank Macchia, chair (Assemblies of God), Kimberly Alexander (Church of God, Cleveland, TN), and Edmund Rybarczyk (AG). The Oneness position was represented by David Bernard (chair, United Pentecostal Church International), James A. Johnson (Pentecostal Assemblies of the World), and J.L. Hall (UPCI), and later Howard Swancy (PAW) and David Norris (UPCI). Several SPS members were invited to sit in as external observers.
The two teams met for one day each year, with each side presenting a paper on topic selected for discussion. The topics were Pentecostal History (2002), Water Baptism (2003), the Godhead and Christology (2004), Salvation (2005), and Holiness (2006). The final report was drafted in 2007 and presented at the annual SPS meeting in 2008.
The report will be published in Pneuma (SPS Journal), which is distributed worldwide to seminaries, libraries, and individual subscribers. It contains the first explanation of Oneness theology by Oneness adherents to be published in a scholarly theological journal.
Click here for a great article by Dr. David K. Bernard on "Unmasking Prejudice." This article is a book review of E. Calvin Beisner's, "Jesus Only" Churches (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998). It is a short jab since his book is only 87 pages. Bernard delivers with a roundhouse though, that seals the victory. "Unmasking Prejudice" can be freely accessed online through the Cyberjournal for Pentecostal Charismatic Research.
