A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

The Jesus Name Controversy
eral people that day. A man named John Schaepe (1870-
1939) was so inspired by this thought that he spent the
night in prayer. Early the next morning he began running
through the camp shouting that he had received a revelation
of the power of the name of Jesus. Quite a few of the
campers were greatly stirred as Schaepe fervently
explained his newfound understanding.
Detractors sometimes say that Schaepe founded the
Oneness movement and that he did so by an extrabiblical
revelation. Actually, little is known of Schaepe (pronounced
“Sheppy” and sometimes misspelled “Scheppe”).
In 1919 he was listed as a minister with the Pentecostal
Assemblies of the World, a Oneness organization, but he
did not play a significant role in the movement after
1913.
As the quotations in this chapter from Andrew
Urshan, Frank Ewart, and Frank Small show, early
Pentecostals used the term “revelation” to refer to the illumination
of Scripture by the Holy Spirit. David Reed has
accurately noted, “‘Revelation’ was primarily a term used
by Oneness exponents to describe the subjective confirmation
of the objectively stated truth in the Bible.” 67 From
the beginning, Oneness believers appealed to Scripture as
the authority for their doctrine and rejected the idea of
extrabiblical revelation. They believed that the Holy Spirit
had helped them rediscover and understand biblical
truths that had long been neglected.
Frank Ewart and the Oneness of God
Another man who was deeply impressed by
McAlister’s message was Frank J. Ewart (pronounced
“You-ert”) (1876-1947). A Baptist bush missionary in
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