oneness

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> > Anyway, you can imagine my dismay when shortly after H-F was started,
> > discussion on Oneness began and **nobody could agree on a definition of
> > Oneness!!!**

> ...but what exactly is wrong with Bro. Bernard's definition of Oneness.

> ...he says that Oneness belief can by stated in two basic
> affirmations:  1) There is one God with no distinction of persons, and
> 2)  Jesus Christ is the the one God incarnate.  What could possible be
> wrong with this definition?  Just curious.

Where people disagreed was in some of the nuances, the finer points of
christology, and in some of the language used.

One specific area people disagreed with was in the relationship between
the humanity of Jesus Christ and his deity.

Regarding Bernard, one individual would quote Bernard to support his
thesis, then another would write something like "while I appreciate
Bernard's work, he's not the pope" then proceed to elaborate on why he
disagreed.  For example:

 * How much of a human will did/does Jesus have?

 * If Jesus is God, who was Satan tempting?

 * When Jesus prayed, was he talking to himself? or was it humanity
   talking to deity?

 * When Christ was crucified, who died? The man? The deity? Both?
   Neither?

 * Christ is the mediator between God and man. What, precisely, does
   this mean?

 * Rev 5 describes "a lamb as it had been slain" taking a scroll from
   "him that sat on the throne."  If the lamb is Jesus, and Jesus is
   God, who is on the throne?  If him on the throne is God, who is the
   lamb?

Several people reading the above might have a first reaction of "Oh,
those are easy!" and indeed I do have definite opinions about these and
other questions, but there does appear to be quite a bit of
disagreement about several of these finer points of what precisely
"oneness" means.  Some even object strenuously to the language of the
dual nature of Jesus Christ, contending that giving these two "natures"
to Christ is compromise with trinitarian theology.

One place you can see some of this is in the archives for November of
1995 under the thread "Trinity Correspondence."  These archives are at

 http://eli.elilabs.com/upc/net/higher-fire/11-95/archive/

Richard Masoner
richardm@cd.com