Bible Studies

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All quotations were taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition, unless otherwise noted. Sometimes I make comments in the middle of quotations using brackets [ ] or [[ ]] to make them more obvious. I am using straight quotation marks ("), hyphens (-) instead of dashes, and a few other things like this because some of the internet sites where I post these articles require it. Also they don't allow footnotes. Cf., e.g., means "compare, for example."

CONTENTS OF THIS PAPER:

INTRODUCTION...... 4 (These page numbers go with the complete edition of this paper.)

I'll Quote a Little from what Baxter Says Under the Heading "The Mother of Harlots" on page 137...... 6

Deuteronomy 6:4...... 7, 18, 28

I'll Include Some Excerpts from under Baxter's Heading "The Judgment of the Great Whore" (pages 136, 137)...... 9

Some Comments Regarding Baxter's Last Sentence that Contains Several Errors (I'll quote Baxter's last sentence: "As a result, at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, the Roman Catholic Church changed the mode of baptism that had always been used by the church from baptizing people 'in the name of Jesus Christ' to 'Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' ") This double bracket continues for twelve paragraphs. I quote from David K. Bernard in these comments. After the double bracket I'll continue to quote from Baxter...... 10

Some More Comments in Another Double Bracket (Ten Paragraphs) that Responds to what Baxter Has Wrongly Said Regarding the Viewpoint of the Apostles and Early Christian Church. Then I'll continue to quote from Baxter....... 15

Some More Comments Regarding Baxter's Statement that as a Result of Adopting the Doctrine of the Trinity "at the Council of Nicea...[they] changed the mode of baptism that had always been used in the church from baptizing people 'in the name of Jesus Christ' to 'Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' "...... 18

Some Excerpts that Deal with Water Baptism from "A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Christian Fathers" by David W. Bercot, editor (Hendrickson Publishers, 1998)...... 21

One of the Books I Read in Preparing to Write this Paper was "Decoding Nicea" by Paul F. Pavao (published by The Greatest Stories Ever Told, 2011, 2014). I'll include some excerpts from this book that deal mostly with the Council of Nicea...... 23

Another book that I purchased and read in preparing to write this paper is "The Trinity: How Not to be a Heretic" by Stephen Bullivant (Paulist Press, 2015), 121 pages. I'll include some excerpts...... 26

I'll Quote Two Passages (Deuteronomy 6:4 and Isaiah 9:6) from my Paper "More on the Trinity: Some Key Passages from the New Testament Where We See the Full Deity and Preexistence of God the Son with God the Father and Some Key Bible Passages Used to Teach a Oneness View of God" (33 Pages) under the heading "Some Key Bible Passages Used to Teach a Oneness View of God."...... 29

Deuteronomy 6:4...... 30

A Better Way to Interpret Deuteronomy 6:4...... 32

Isaiah 9:6...... 34

WHERE WE ARE GOING WITH MOST OF THE REST OF THIS PAPER...... 37

JOHN 1:1-18...... 38

JOHN 8:58 (WITH 8:57, 59)...... 47

JOHN 17:1-5...... 48

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11...... 51

COLOSSIANS 1:15-17...... 56

HEBREWS 1:1-3...... 58

I'M GOING TO QUOTE WHAT I HAVE IN MY PAPER "MORE ON THE TRINITY" UNDER THE HEADING "SOME KEY PASSAGES WRONGLY USED TO TEACH A ONENESS VIEW OF GOD."...... 59

FIRST I'LL LIST AND QUOTE AND BRIEFLY DISCUSS SOME VERSES FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN THAT SHOW THAT GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE SON ARE DISTINCT PERSONS (Some of these verses are much more important than others to show that the oneness viewpoint is wrong): JOHN 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 9-13, 14, 18, 30; JOHN 3:13, 17, 19, 31; JOHN 6:38, 46, 62; JOHN 7:33; JOHN 8:12-19; JOHN 10:15, 17, 18; JOHN 12:27, 28; JOHN 13:3, 31, 32; JOHN 14:16, 23, 26, 28; JOHN 15:1, 2, 8-10, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26; JOHN 16:3, 5, 15, 23, 24, 26-28; JOHN CHAPTER 17; JOHN 20:17 (Most of these verses are quoted and some of them are discussed.)...... 59

I'LL ALSO LIST AND QUOTE AND BRIEFLY DISCUSS SOME VERSES FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN THAT EXPLAIN WHAT JESUS MEANT WHEN HE SAID THAT HE AND THE FATHER ARE ONE, AND THAT HE WHO HAS SEEN HIM HAS SEEN THE FATHER, AND SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS: JOHN 5:17-33; 8:26-29; 12:49; and 14:24, 31...... 63

JOHN 10:30 (WITH JOHN 10:27-29) with John 17:21-23 and 10:36-38...... 65

JOHN 12:44, 45...... 67

JOHN 14:7, 9-11 (WITH JOHN 14:1, 2, 6)...... 68

ACTS 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5; 1 COR. 1:13 with MATT. 28:19 and BAPTIZING IN/INTO the NAME OF... ...... 70

I'LL QUOTE A SMALL PART OF WHAT GREGORY A. BOYD SAYS IN HIS CHAPTER 3, "IS JESUS HIS OWN FATHER?" ("Oneness Pentecostals & The Trinity" [Baker Books, 1992], 234 pages) ...... 74

1 CORINTHIANS 8:4 (WITH 8:5, 6)...... 76

COLOSSIANS 2:8-10 (WITH 2:16-23)...... 77

SOME EXCERPTS FROM "A DEFINITIVE LOOK AT ONENESS THEOLOGY: IN THE LIGHT OF BIBLICAL TRINITARIANISM" BY EDWARD L. DALCOUR (3rd edition, revised, updated & expanded; adapted from Ph.D. Thesis from North-West University; copyright © 2011 by North-West University in South Africa; 215 pages)...... 81

SOME EXCERPTS FROM "ONENESS PENTECOSTALS & THE TRINITY" BY GREGORY A. BOYD (Baker Books, 1992, 234 pages)...... 83

SOME EXCERPTS FROM "THE FORGOTTEN TRINITY" BY JAMES R. WHITE (Bethany House Publishers, 1998, 224 pages)...... 86

THE INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION CHAPTERS 4 AND 5...... 91

A FEW BRIEF EXCERPTS FROM IRVIN BAXTER'S "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BORN AGAIN?"...... 105

I'LL ALSO GIVE A FEW BRIEF EXCERPTS FROM IRVIN BAXTER'S "WHY SO MANY CHURCHES AND WHICH IS RIGHT?"...... 106

INTRODUCTION. I'll borrow part of this Introduction from the first paper, "Critique of Irvin Baxter's 'Revelation Commentary.' " When I decided I should write the first paper on Irvin Baxter's teaching on the end times, I didn't have any idea that I would have a need to write this second paper, which is, I suppose, more important than the first paper. I have been reading Baxter's "EndTime" magazine for more than twenty years. (I haven't heard hardly any of his radio or TV broadcasts, but I did hear a few of the Praise the Lord broadcasts on the Trinity Broadcasting Network on the end times where he was one of the guests.) It is clear that his ministry is influencing large numbers of Christians around the world. As you can tell from my first paper, although I appreciate some of the things that Baxter teaches, I often disagree with his end-time teaching.

I didn't have any idea that I would need to add a second paper to point out some super-strong things that Baxter says against those who baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in his "Revelation Commentary" and to discuss this oneness theology and the Trinity. I always knew that Baxter was associated with the United Pentecostal Church, International, which is oneness. I never have agreed with their oneness doctrine, which I consider to be a serious problem, but I believe that some of them are true Christians. (Based on what Baxter says, there is no way he could accept me, or a whole lot of believers like me, as a true Christian. I believe this is a serious problem!) Also, it takes a lot more than believing in the Trinity to make a person a true Christian. God is the Judge! HE determines who the true Christians are! We should be very careful about passing judgment for God regarding who the true Christians are!

I'm not attacking Baxter or anybody else, but I am trying to make it a top priority to be faithful to God and present the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches. I would like to be a blessing to Baxter and every Christian, and every non-Christian.

I have written four papers dealing with oneness theology that are available on my internet site (Google to Karl Kemp Teaching): "Who Do We Worship? (Jesus-only Worship Songs)

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