Controversy over Jesus name

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Category: Jesus name

Published on Tuesday, 21 June 2011 22:48

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Controversy over Jesus name

• The Biblical doctrine of baptism in Jesus name divided those who had received the Holy Spirit baptism into those who (1) took on the name of Jesus Christ in water baptism as the Bible teaches and, (2) those who held on to the man-made doctrine of  baptism in the titles of Father, Son & Holy Ghost of the Roman Catholics.
• The Division began by the Assemblies of God organization who decided to keep the man-made trinity doctrine which came out of the reign of Emperor Herodotus

The Biblical doctrine of baptism in Jesus name

The Biblical doctrines of baptism in Jesus and the oneness of God in Christ are in many ways related. Throughout history and beginning with the first church started in Jerusalem, there have been Christian believers who baptized exclusively in Jesus name and who understood the fact that Jesus Christ is God manifested in human flesh (as shown by many Scriptures already discussed in this church timeline study). We would like to note that after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues, it is often times accompanied by the seeker gaining an illumination of Scripture. (“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. . . . When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth . . . He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” John 14:26; 16:13-14)
The indwelling Holy Spirit plays a vital role in understanding and reestablishing the Biblical truth, including the full deity of Jesus Christ and the power of His name.  (54. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard) Thus, it is

no surprise that Charles Parham, the catalyst for the entire Pentecostal movement, began to baptize exclusively in Jesus’ name as done exclusively in the Book of Acts. We have also seen that some people in Los Angeles were baptized in Jesus’ name during the Azusa Street revival, and perhaps some people under Durham in Chicago as well. Gary McGee, an Assemblies of God scholar, discovered that a missionary in Latin America baptized in Jesus’ name in 1904. (55. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard) Another early example was Andrew D. Urshan (1884-1967), an immigrant from Persia (Iran) who received the Holy Ghost in Chicago in 1908. He established a Persian mission there and was ordained by Durham in 1910. That same year, Andrew D. Urshan came to a new understanding of truth as he pondered the question: Why did the apostles always baptize in the name of Jesus in the Book of Acts when Jesus Himself had instructed them to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in Matthew 28:19? As he meditated on this matter, Acts 4:12 came to his attention, and he concluded that the Lord Jesus Christ was “the one name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”: The blessed Lord showed me then and there, that “The Lord Jesus Christ” is the ONE PROPER NAME of God for this gospel dispensation; because in Him, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt; and to Him, all power in heaven and earth, was given; that repentance and remission of sins should be preached everywhere in Jesus’ Name ONLY. [See Colossians 2:9; Matthew 28:18; Luke 24:47.] He called this new understanding “a wonderful revelation of the Triunity in Christ” and “a blessed revelation of Christ’s absolute deity.” He did not mean an extra biblical revelation, however, but as he explained when he first received the Holy Ghost, “The scriptures were illuminated to my soul as never before, by the Blessed Holy Spirit, who faithfully brought to my remembrance, with new meaning, that which I had read years ago and made it fresh as the morning dew.” As a result of his study, in 1910 Urshan printed Acts 2:38 on the side of his baptismal tank and began to baptize all new converts “into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (56. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard)
From the beginning, Oneness believers have appealed to Scripture as the authority for their doctrine and rejected the idea of revelations coming from outside of the Bible. They believed that the Holy Spirit had helped them rediscover and understand biblical truths that had long been neglected. (57. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard) Divided those who had received the Holy Spirit baptism into those who (1) took on the name of Jesus Christ in water baptism as the Bible teaches and, (2) those who held on to the man-made doctrine of  baptism in the titles of Father, Son & Holy Ghost of the Roman Catholics.

The Worldwide Camp Meeting, Arroyo Seco, 1913
These early examples of baptism in Jesus’ name did not lead to the formation of the Oneness movement, however. The events that ultimately resulted in controversy and division began with the Worldwide Apostolic Faith Camp Meeting organized by R. J. Scott and George Studd and held at Arroyo Seco near Los Angeles, on a campground used by the Azusa Street Mission. The month-long meeting began on April 15, 1913, and perhaps two thousand people attended. The main speaker was Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844-1924), a well-known Holiness evangelist who had embraced the Pentecostal message. Expectations were
high, and they were fulfilled, for 364 people received the Holy Spirit. Many miracles of healing took place as Woodworth-Etter prayed “in the name of Jesus.  Of particular significance to the future of Oneness Pentecostalism was the message of Robert E. McAlister (1880-1953), a Canadian preacher who had received the Holy Spirit at Azusa Street in 1906. Speaking at a baptismal service, he explained that single immersion was the proper mode for baptism, not triple immersion as some people practiced. As proof he cited the baptismal accounts in the Book of Acts. The apostles baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; they never baptized using the words “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” as triple immersion requires. (58. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard) McAlister’s observation that the apostles always baptized in Jesus’ name planted a seed in the minds of several people that day. A man named John Schaepe (1870-1939) was so inspired by this thought that he spent the night in prayer. Early the next morning he began running through the camp shouting that he had received a revelation of the power of the name of Jesus. Quite a few of the campers were greatly stirred as Schaepe fervently explained his newfound understanding. (59. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard)

The Division began by the Assemblies of God organization which decided to keep the man-made trinity doctrine which came out of Rome
In the meantime, the third general council of the Assemblies of God convened in October 1915 in St.
Louis. With the approval of some executive presbyters, J. R. Flower, the secretary-treasurer, convened the meeting specifically to suppress the so-called New Issue. Collins, the chairman, and Opperman, the assistant chairman, did not want to do so, and they arrived late. In their absence, Flower took charge and asked J. W. Welch (1858-1939) to chair the meeting. About one hundred ministers were in attendance, and a debate was organized. E. N. Bell and G. T. Haywood presented the case for baptism in Jesus’ name. Speaking for
the traditional trinitarian formula were Collins and Jacob Miller. William Schell was originally scheduled instead of Miller, but he was prepared to speak on church history. When he learned that the debate was to be confined to Scripture, he withdrew. (60. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard) Despite the professed desire for further discussion and deliberation, the conference elected staunch Trinitarians to every position and removed everyone who had
accepted baptism in Jesus’ name or who had a conciliatory attitude toward it. Bell, Collins, Goss, Lawrence, and Opperman all lost their positions. Welch replaced Collins as chairman. (61. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard) During 1916, the leadership of the Assemblies of God fought strongly against the Oneness message. Flower’s opposition was the most decisive of all.   He argued that if the Assemblies of God adopted this position, it would break fellowship with historic and contemporary Christianity. (62. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard)
Welch announced that the general council in 1916 would decide the issue. The fourth general council of the
Assemblies of God convened October 1-7, 1916, in St. Louis. The leadership appointed a committee to write a doctrinal statement, even though the organizing conference two years earlier had voted not to adopt such a statement. The committee was composed of D. W. Kerr, T. K. Leonard, S. A. Jameson, Stanley H. Frodsham, and E. N. Bell. Bell was the only one who had been baptized in Jesus’ name; the others were staunch trinitarians. Bell was apparently placed on the committee because of his great influence and also to reestablish him firmly in the trinitarian camp. 62   In the end, the conference adopted the Trinitarian statement. It also voted to require that the words of Matthew 28:19 be incorporated in the baptismal formula. The Oneness ministers had no alternative but to leave the organization. As a result of this conference, 156 out of 585 ministers dropped out of the Assemblies of God—about one-fourth
of the total. Presumably, almost all of them were Oneness, although a few left because they objected to the
adoption of a statement of faith and felt that the handling of the controversy was too harsh. (63. A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 3 by David K. Bernard)