British Views on the Oneness of God with Observations on the Doctrine of the Trinity

By Kulwant Singh Boora

Attested to by some of the worlds leading scholars, historians and theologians, Britain received Christianity as early as the second or third century that was brought over into Britain not longer after the events of the Day of Pentecost, which is noted in the New Testament. Such Christianity and theology, of course, had its roots in Jewish monotheism, which later in the New Testament centered on a very high christology that assigned unique divine qualities to Jesus that were inherently reserved for the God of Israel as expounded in the God in Christ or Jesus is God New Testament narratives. The British then are counted in the body of believers of adhering to a theology of the oneness view of God from the ancient days of Christianity. This is coupled with the notation of ascribing to baptism in the name of Jesus only in the earlier centuries of Great Britain as explained by British theologians and scholars, one in particular, an Oxford University scholar has attested to such an early practice by the British. More pointedly, commissioned British studies have also concluded that the doctrine of the trinity is a dead letter in the British churches and one that is the subject of neglect, to the extent that trinitarian Christians are hard pressed to given an account, let alone a defense, of the doctrine of the trinity. While the author’s work is not final on the subject of British apostolic oneness pentecostal theology yet it paves the way for a review of the studies that will lead to a wholesome perception that the apostolic oneness view of theology, whether it is in a form of sabellianism or modalism has been present within Britain for centuries. The God in Christ or Jesus is God christology is certainly something that British theologians have believed wholeheartedly as one notable British scholar has pointed out, which has generated continued interest in this field of study in contrast to the troubling commissioned studies on the subject of the doctrine of the trinity, which is a post-New Testament product emerging from secular philosophical and platonic concepts catapulted into the Bible.



Books by the Author
Book 1 - Oneness of God and the Doctrine of the Trinity

Book 2 - Oneness and Monotheism

Book 3 - Apostolic (Acts 2:38) and Post-Apostolic Baptism Apostolic Baptism (Matthew 28:19) Volume 1

Book 3 - Apostolic (Acts 2:38) and Post Apostolic Baptism (Matthew 28:19) Volume 2

Book 4 - Baptism in the Name of Jesus (Acts 2:38 From Jerusalem to Great Britain

Book 5 - The Roman Catholic Church And Its Recognition of The Validity of Baptism In The Name of Jesus (Acts 2:38) 100 A.D. to 500 A.D

Book 6 - Baptism in the Name of Jesus Name (Acts 2:38) and The New Testament Pauline Epistles

Book 7 – British Views on The Oneness of God With Observations on the Doctrine of the Trinity

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468561128

Kulwant Singh Boora

The author was born in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom and is of Indian descent growing up in a Sikh family. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from Staffordshire University, England and also studied law at Sutton Coldfield College where he completed his Professional Diploma in Law and Higher Professional Diploma in Law in conjunction with the Institute of Legal Executives Tutorial College of Law; he went onto complete his Graduate Diploma in Law/CPE (Law Society of England and Wales Common Professional Examinations) with Hertfordshire University School of law, England. He studied theology and biblical interpretation with Kings Evangelical Divinity School and the University of Wales. Mr. Boora is also admitted as a Fellow and Legal Executive lawyer in the United Kingdom.

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© 2012 Kulwant Singh Boora. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 3/14/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4685-6113-5 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012904581

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I thank God for all that He has done in my life and for giving me strength from day to day. Without Him I would not be here, He is the source of my strength, life and hope of eternal security.

To my dearly beloved parents whom I love, that have been instrumental in my life, my father and mother who always believed in me, thank you. I also extend appreciation to my brothers and sisters and their respective families.

To my lovely and beautiful wife and two God given sons that are precious stones, all of whom have been very patient while I spent endless hours in research, studying and preparation of this book.

Personal and very special thanks to Pastor Raymond Miller of Bethel United Church, Manchester, England, for his support and contribution. It would not have been possible to publish this work without the generous support of Pastor Miller.

LIST OF SCRIPTURES

LIST OF JOURNALS

BIBLE VERSION

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Scriptures, Journals and Bible Version

1   Introduction

2   A British Look at Christology in the New Testament

3   Proponents in Britain on the Oneness View of God

4   British Studies on the Trinitrian Doctrine

5   Conclusion

Bibliography

About the Author

1

INTRODUCTION

T here is some surety that in the ancestral development of Christian Britain, the apostles’ doctrine is well established within its borders and certainly by the time the noted church historian Eusebius wrote. The British scholar, C. J. Godfrey speaking on the subject of the apostolic doctrine, speaks to the effect that ….by the time Eusebius wrote, the doctrine of the apostles was well established in Britain. ¹ The apostles’ doctrine is of course explained in the New Testament in the Acts of the Apostles and the New Testament epistles.

Furthermore, a number of studies have implied and suggested that the Gospel was preached in ancient Britain by one of the apostles or one of the apostles’ disciples or even by Joseph of Arimathea himself. Professor Margaret Deansely, Professor Emeritus of History in the University of London advocates the strong possibility that Britain received Christianity during the reign of Tiberius (c. 14-37), but certainly during the lifetime of the Latin Church father Tertullian.² Deansely then picks up a point with regards to the first church in Glastonbury, England with some interest.³

Deansely’s work is an important contribution to an understanding of British Christianity, since it adheres to the apostolic traditions associated with Christianity in Britain and the church at Glastonbury. But it is certain that the origins of the British church had apostolic–in terms of biblical–roots as oppose to Roman or papal influence.

Another commentator, Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford and Professor of Welsh at St. David’s College, Lampeter in his study informs us that a disciple of the apostle Peter or Paul, St. Aristobulus was sent to Britain as the first British apostolic Bishop and that he died in Glastonbury.⁴ Notably then, St. Aristobulus would inherit his apostolic teachings from the apostles themselves, arguably, a man of apostolic roots and teachings.

Notwithstanding this, Christianity it is said entered into ancient Britain sometime in the second or third century or as Deansely points out during the reign of Tiberius (c. 14-c.37). Dr. Dorothy Watts points out that both Tertullian (c. 160–c. 240) and Origen (c. 185–c. 255) are noted in there writings as saying that Britain sees its borders opening up to Christianity⁵ in the earlier centuries beyond Roman boundaries. In the periods of the second and third then notably during the same time that Christianity entered into Britain, the doctrine of the trinity is still largely an unemployed theme emerging from its embryonic stage.

Therefore, one would undoubtedly be correct in assuming that