Oneness?

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Why are Apostolics called "Oneness" Pentecostals?  Is "Oneness" a
biblical concept?

	Reading through the posts on this forum the acceptance of the name
"Oneness" is very apparent.  If, as I wrote in "An Apostolic Vision",
the Apostolic movement defines itself as a restorationist movement
patterned after the faith, life, and ministry of the Apostles in the
book of Acts, why is "Oneness" widely accepted as the defining
characteristic of the movement?  Is there a biblical precedent?
	Paul assumes that his readers in ICor. 8:4ff know that "There is no God
but one."   For Paul, the God who justifies is "one God" (Rm. 3:30). 
The early Christian confessions of faith recorded by Paul emphatically
state that "There is one God" and "One Lord...and Father of all"  (ITm.
2:5; Eph. 4:6).  According to Jesus the Jewish confession of faith in
one God is the first commandment.  "Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God,
the Lord is one" (Mk. 12:29).  The God proclaimed by the apostles, the
God revealed in Jesus Christ, is the one and only God!
	The apostles inherited the "shema Israel", the Jewish confession of
faith in God as one quoted by Jesus in Mk. 12:29, from the Old Testament
(Dt. 6:4ff).  Because of the faithfulness of the God of Israel in
delivering and providing for His people, "all the people of the earth" 
were said to know "that the Lord is God, and that there is none else"
(IKg. 9:60).  The uniqueness of the God of Israel and the nothingness of
other Gods was proclaimed by Isaiah.  "I am the Lord: that is my name:
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven
images"  (Is. 42:8).  For Israel and the writers of the Old Testament, 
belief in the one God was not an abstract philosophical monotheism
describing the essential nature of God, "oneness", as He exists in
Himself.  Belief in the one God was the result of God acting in human
history through revelational events, His mighty acts for the people of
Israel. These Acts revealed who the one true God was for Israel, in
contrast to the false gods of the world (Dt. 32:7; Ps. 106:37).  These
acts also disclosed the essential essential nature of God.   God was
Israel's faithful covenant partner.  The "oneness" of God in the Old
Testament was the uniqueness of God for Israel.  God has revealed
Himself to be the one God for Israel!
	This conception of the uniqueness of God continues in the New
Testament.  In his discussion of eating sacrifices made to idols Paul
contrasts the "nothingness" of idols with the reality of the one God
(ICor. 8:4).  He acknowledges that in the world there are "gods many,
and lords many" (1Cor. 8:5).  But for Christians "there is but one God,
the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (ICor. 8:6).  The
"oneness" of God in the New Testament is his self revelation in Jesus
Christ which provides salvation for all.  In Jesus, God has revealed
Himself to be the one true God for the world!
	Apostolics believe that Jesus Christ is the definitive revelation of
God to humankind.  They believe that the one true God has revealed
Himself in human history, as recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture,
and that this revelation has culminated in Jesus Christ.   Apostolics
are revelational monotheists.  They believe that the one and only God of
Israel, the unique God, has revealed Himself decisively in Jesus
Christ.  This is not an abstract philosophical conception of "oneness"
in contrast to "threeness".  This is an affirmation that God is not
different from the unique "one" He has revealed Himself to be in Jesus
Christ.
	Apostolics readily accept the title "oneness" because of their
opposition to the doctrine of the Trinity.  But such a conception of
"oneness" is foreign to the Bible.  The God of the Bible is made known
through revelational events recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture, not
through  philosophical reasoning which can demonstrate the rationality
of believing there is only a single God in contrast to many Gods. For
Apostolics, the knowledge of God is also a revelational event. 
Apostolics encounter the presence and the power of God in the Apostolic
community and receive the revelation of the "name", an understanding
that the one true God is revealed in Jesus Christ.
	Because there is no Biblical precedent for an abstract philosophical
concept of "oneness" Apostolics should seriously consider redefining
there movement.  In my discussions with Trinitarian Pentecostals I
continually insist that they no longer speak of "Oneness" or "Oneness
Pentecostalism".  We are Apostolics and our movement should be called
Apostolic Pentecostalism! This reflects our self definition as a
restorationist movement patterned after the experience, life, and faith
of the churches founded by the Apostles in the New Testament.  It is
also a friendly reminder to our Trinitarian friends, that we are more
thorough going restorationists than they.  Baptism using the formula
found in Matthew 28:19 and the doctrine of the Trinity are not
consistent with the restorationist faith they desire to embrace.