Valuable answers for valid questions about world religions, cults, worldviews and the Christian church
This site contains over 130 pages of free content in articles, videos and audio – it might be faster to use our search function to find what you are looking for
The Oneness Pentecostal Church is not a Christian denomination as it rejects the Triune God of the Bible which is the God of Christianity. It instead embraces a changing “modalist” god which reveals itself in different phases which they call “manifestations”. Although R.E. McAlister is the one to embrace this modalism and create a cult around it, he is not the inventor of modalism as this heresy goes back 1800 years!
Modalism was a very early heresy in the history of the Christian church having first appeared during the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. Its core belief is that there is one God revealing Himself in different modes or manifestations, not three distinct persons. It was created to preserve the so-called absolute “oneness” of God while trying to account for the varying roles of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sabellius was perhaps the most famous proponent of this heresy in 215 as he tried to systematize this unbiblical belief by stating that God began as Father in creation, was then succeeded by the Son in redemption who was then succeeded by the Holy Spirit in sanctification. This is directly opposed to the scriptures which tell us:
"Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines..."
"“For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.."
This version of modalism was also called Sabellianism in the early days and was written against by Tertullian (Against Praxeas) which helped to codify and better understand the Trinity from Scripture. Despite being rightly condemned by the Christian Church in the 3rd century it would re-emerge in the 20th century as a cult from the unbiblical Pentecostal movement of William Seymour at Azusa Street in Los Angeles.
Oneness Pentecostal church began in 1913 amidst the controversy of a World-Wide Apostolic Faith Camp Meeting in Arroyo Seco, California where a Canadian Holiness-Pentecostal preacher named R.E. McAlister (pictured) mistakenly assumed that since he read that early believers were baptized “in the name of Jesus” and not according to what he thought was the traditional “Trinitarian” method, he assumed that this MUST be the ONLY way that people must be baptized and then he set about to form an entire theology around a god that reveals himself via different manifestations to support his “discovery” in the Bible (c.f. Charles Taze Russel of the Jehovah’s Witnesses). This new modal god was put forth instead of the one and only true God who in unchanging and reveals Himself as One God in Three Persons according to Scripture.
In his formative years as a Pentecostal, McAlister was closely associated with early leaders such as A.H. Argue in Winnipeg and A.D. Urshan, a fellow pioneer who would later play a significant role in the Oneness Pentecostal movement.
McAlister was one of many preachers who carried the Pentecostal message beyond Azusa Street in California to the rest of the world, particularly into Canada, where he became a well-known evangelist. McAlister’s preaching caused quite a problem for some Pentecostals. Since from the outset Pentecostals have always been anti-intellectualists by way of the Quaker-Holiness idea that “thinking” isn’t “spiritual” many of them were easily and eagerly swept up into this mess including Frank Ewart, Gleen Cook and G.T. Haywood; all of whom would be considered founders of this erroneous cult. All of these leaders along with R.E. McAlister were from the Holiness Movement and all were impacted by the Azusa Street Pentecostal movement from 7 years earlier.
Frank Ewart later developed this modalist idea more fully and along with Glenn Cook in 1914, they re-baptized each other in “Jesus’ name” only which the Oneness Pentecostal history cites as the act which sparked the formal beginning of the Oneness Pentecostal movement – which Bible-believing Christians believe to be a cult.
Oneness Pentecostal churches reject the doctrine of the Trinity just like the Jehovah’s Witnesses who also formed as a result of one man’s erroneous view of a few passages of Scripture caused him to panic and create an entirely wrong belief system which drew people away from the God of the Bible – even though both systems used the same words of the Bible as Christians do. Oneness Pentecostals instead believe in what they call the “absolute oneness” of God who has revealed himself in various modes
Oneness Pentecostal church baptize only in the name of Jesus for salvation and not according to Jesus’ words in Matthew:
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
In keeping with the original error of R.E. McAlister, the Oneness Pentecostal church preaches baptism in Jesus along with repentance and receiving the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues which is a decidedly unbiblical practice altogether. They do NOT like using Biblical words like “Person” or “persons” when speaking of their god as they only believe in a changing god with varying manifestations.
Early organizations to form out of the Oneness Pentecostal chruch was the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW) and later the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) which is also considered a Oneness Pentecostal cult.
As of the early-to-mid 2020s, Oneness Pentecostals claim to have globally 24 to 30 million members. However, in keeping with Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, the group most likely inflates this number greatly. The largest and most prominent Oneness Pentecostal denomination is the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI), which claims to have over 5.5 million members worldwide and over 43,000 churches across 200 nations including both the United States (where the UPCI is headquartered) Latin America, Africa, and Asia where false Pentecostal cults are currently flourishing. There are Oneness Pentecostal “theological” institutions, media platforms, and global outreach ministries.
The most prominant Oneness Pentecostal preacher (third in picture from left to right) in recent years is the disgraced T.D. Jakes who, like most other Pentecostal denominations, claims to be “non-denominational Christian” despite his ministry having clear roots in Oneness Pentecostalism. He was the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas until recently under allegations of “sexual misconduct” along with damaging photos and reports of affliations with the alleged pedophile Sean “Puff Diddy” Combs.
It is sad but not surprising that a many (if not most) of these Pentecostal leaders fall into the sin of fleshly gratification as that is the usual result of rejecting the truth of God’s word and instead trusting in one’s “inner voice” or feelings which is a hallmark practice of Pentecostalism.
When T.D. Jakes started to face scrutiny for his Oneness cultism rejecting the Trinity and embracing an unbiblical modalist god, he began to backpedal furiously so as not to lose his massive widespread appeal to clueless Christians who thought him to be a Biblical teacher. For example, in a 2012 interview at “The Elephant Room” (a public theological discussion), Jakes stated that he then affirmed the Trinity, though he openly insisted on using the Oneness Pentecostal term of “manifestations” rather than the Biblical Christian term of “persons”. Because of this wishy-washy position, some Oneness Pentecostals no longer claim him fully (probably especially not since his recent ‘fall’ from the pulpit), while many Trinitarian evangelicals see through this ruse and only see him as a leading cultist for a Pentecostal cult called the Oneness Pentecostal church.
No one receives eternal life and eternal presence with God (from Whom all good things come – James 1:17), by belonging to the right church, denomination, world religion, or by having a particular world view. Rather only those who trust in the Lord Jesus (preached by the Apostles in the Bible) for their own sin. We will not trust in a Savior for sins that we either don’t believe we have or that we think aren’t deserving of hell. But the Bible says that ALL have sin and the wages of that sin is eternal separation from God (death). The good news is that the Bible says that you can know that YOU have eternal life. Click the button below to see if you are genuinely saved from your sins according to the Bible: