Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism [Paperback]

Thomas A. Fudge (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1581125844 | ISBN-13: 978-1581125849 | Publication Date: April 1, 2003

A study of the doctrine of salvation in the United Pentecostal Church and its immediate historical antecedents with a focus on the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated and prominent ministers such as Goss, Greer, Yadon, Gurley, Jacques, Stairs, Wickens and Paterson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Universal Publishers (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581125844
• ISBN-13: 978-1581125849
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #622,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, May 18, 2003

By 

Lew Ferris (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism (Paperback)

As a former United Pentecostal Church minister, to confess that I read this book with great interest is an understatement. Oneness Pentecostals owe it to themselves to read this book carefully. No history of the Oneness movement as this book documents is available through any Oneness source. I was facinated by the wealth of background information that Mr. Fudge has documented at great length, and by the interviews he held with Oneness ministers and adherents some of who I know personally! And as to the accuracy of the information in this book....Mr. Fudge is right on! The words and writings of well known Oneness pioneers such as H. A. Goss, John Paterson, Andrew Urshan, C.H. Yadon, and G.T. Haywood will amaze the Oneness reader. And this is not just hearsay! Everything is documented.
However, challenges have already been made to the accuracy of some of the information in this book but no quotes or references were given, or any documentation cited. By way of criticism, however, I am not totally comfortable with the main title of this work "Christianity Without The Cross." Contrary to a very large percentage of what Oneness pioneers believed (with whom I agree), most Oneness believers today (with whom I disagree), do in fact equate the "water and the Spirit" of John 3:5 with water baptism in Jesus' Name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost evidenced by speaking in tongues as the new birth, however, they do believe that it is the "Cross of Christ" that makes it possible for repentant sinners to partake of the "water and the Spirit" as they believe it. Great book!

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Controversial Title, August 9, 2003

By 

Daniel J. Lewis (Rochester Hills, MIchigan United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism (Paperback)

The title of this work serves as a lightning rod. It is bound to be controversial (and a perusal of the earlier reviews substantiate such a conclusion). While the title will almost certainly be objectionable to most members of the UPCI, I submit that it is legitimate so long as one understands a careful distinction the author intends. Dr. Fudge uses the term "the cross" to refer to the preaching of the cross in a Pauline sense. He takes it primarily from Paul's letters, and specifically from 1 Corinthians 1:17-18. As such, the preaching of the cross is the message of salvation by grace through faith in the reconciling death of Christ. While Dr. Fudge says as much in the text of the book, this special nuance is not immediately apparent in the title, while his explanation is not near the beginning of the book. Nevertheless, the fact remains that while members of the UPCI believe in the crucifixion of Jesus as an historical event, they decidedly do not believe in the cross in this special sense as the sole means of salvation. No one, according to them, can be saved according to the Reformation rubric of sola fide and sola gratia. Rather, one is saved by following the UCPI interpretation of Acts 2:38. Given this theological differentiation between "the cross" and the "the crucifixion," it is entirely appropriate to say, as does the title of this book, that the UPCI advocates "Christianity without the cross", even though its members believe in the historical fact of Jesus' crucifixion.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unraveling a revisionist history, July 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Christianity without the Cross: A History of Salvation in Oneness Pentecostalism (Paperback)

Finally, a work that undoes the myths perpetrated by a Protestant denomination on itself and its adherents. I was amazed to read what many Oneness Pentecostal "pioneers" really believed... which runs contrary to the histories written by themselves post-merger. The two groups that merged in 1945 (PCI and PAJC) did NOT believe in the absolute necessity of oneness theology, baptism, nor the sign of "tongues" for salvation, as is purported in said "histories." This book, the result of MANY interviews and obviously tedious, painstaking research (it is profusely footnoted)sheds light on the history of a movement that self-claims to be "the true" bride of Christ. Names of good men, often pushed aside in the mythologized histories created by the UPCI are finally given their due, as major more mainline evangelical contributors to a union of Pentecostals gone awry in the past 3-4 decades. They did NOT all believe as the UPCI does today, and they were not the exclusive band of believers they are portrayed to be by their current UPCI biographers. As a former member and minister of this denomination, I can only say thanks to the author for unraveling the web of misrepresentations and letting the facts shed light on these formerly unchallenged revisionist self-histories. Although the title initially seems a bit harsh, it seems more appropriate after a thorough read.