A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
Christian and Missionary Alliance, was the most prepared
and had the most influence on the committee. He had
studied the issue thoroughly and already had rebuttals for
the Oneness position. He was the primary author of the
document that the committee formulated, the “Statement
of Fundamental Truths,” which consisted of seventeen
points. The statement strongly advocated trinitarianism—
some would say almost tritheism—and expressly
denounced the Oneness doctrine on a number of points.
(See chapter 5.)
Vigorous debate ensued. In a personal interview, Carl
M. O’Guin, the last surviving participant, gave the following
description of the meeting. O’Guin was twenty years
old at the time. He was living with Welch, and he supported
the trinitarian position. He later became a district
superintendent in the Assemblies of God. 78
According to O’Guin, the most influential leaders in
the Assemblies of God at the time were Bell, Goss, Kerr,
Opperman, and Welch. Bell was by far the most respected.
On the Jesus Name issue, his opinion was especially
important, for the other four leaders mentioned were
evenly split between strong trinitarians (Kerr, Welch) and
strong Oneness believers (Goss, Opperman).
In the debate, the main advocates of trinitarianism
were Kerr, Leonard, Pinson, and Welch, while the main
advocates of Oneness were Ewart, Goss, and Haywood.
Ewart and Haywood were not officially members of the
Assemblies of God but were given the privilege to speak
because of their close fellowship and significant influence.
J. R. Flower’s input was mostly behind the scene; he
was only twenty-eight at the time.
O’Guin estimated that about eighty ministers were in
78