[In the next several posts, I will share a chapter from my dissertation,
The People of the Name: Oneness
Pentecostalism in the United States (Florida State University, 1985). Each subsequent post will deal with one of
the unique themes of Oneness Pentecostal belief and life listed in the final
paragraph of this post.]
Oneness Pentecostal thinking can only result in a "theology
of experience." Regrettably, the apologetic and polemic literature
produced by Oneness publishers fails to even approximate any positive expression
of the belief system apparent in the ritual worship of songs, testimonies, and
sermons. This belief system, which arises from the act of worship, demands more
than intellectual affirmation or moral obedience; rather it requires a passionate
embrace of the Oneness forms of worship and sense of community as the root of
Christian identity and the foundation for theological constructions and ethical
obligations. The acts of worship become embedded in the emerging belief system
and provide a unity for the larger framework of beliefs and meanings shared by
Oneness Pentecostals. This belief system, arising from the act of worship—acts
back upon Oneness worship—interpreting its significance and impact upon the
arena of everyday life.
Peter Berger points out that the acts of religious ritual
consist of two parts: "the things which have to be done" and "the
things which have to be said” (usually words of interpretation for ritual
actions). In these acts and accompanying interpretations, the participant confronts
an ultimate reality and is "made contemporary" with the acts and
words of the sacred realm. In such interpretations, the believer
"recalls" the traditional meanings embodied in the religious society.
Succinctly stated, "Religious ideation is grounded in religious
activity." For Berger, the acts and interpretations of religious rituals
"restore ever again the continuity between the present moment and the
societal tradition, placing the experiences of the individual and the various
groups of the society in the context of a history which transcends them
all."1 It is precisely in the interpretations given to the acts
of ritual worship—most specifically, the song, testimony, and sermon—that the
distinctive Oneness belief system most clearly appears.
These interpretations impose a meaningful order upon the
experiences of the individual and the community. This system of meaning,
whether created or received, constitutes the basis for order through a
consensus of "basic knowledge" within the community—shared
interpretive schema, moral maxims, and collections of traditional wisdom. Berger
points out that this "knowledge" is "pre-theoretical," that
is, it is readily available to all within the community, not just to the
scholar or theoretician. To participate in the society is to share this
"knowledge," to apprehend and internalize its meaningful ordering. When
socialized to the order, the individual can correctly interpret his own
biography of experiences. The society, in turn, comes to act as the guardian of
this meaningful order, objectively through institutionalizing its values and
subjectively by structuring individual perceptions along uniform lines.2
Oneness ritual worship encapsulates in action the beliefs of its
participants. Regular church services provide a "routinized
framework" around which believers orient their lives. The shared symbols
and beliefs of this framework give meaning to the intensity of the divine-human
encounter in worship and serve to structure social relationships within the
community.3 This framework also sets the community apart from the
values of the dominant society (although at many times the two
"worldviews" intersect).4
From the ritual acts of worship and the interpretations ascribed
to them, the entirety of Oneness Pentecostal theological perception, social
orientation, and moral direction arises. In testimony, the believer confirms
his own experience of overcoming past disorder and despair when embracing the
new religious "worldview" and its attendant notions of community. Such
individual affirmations edify and encourage the congregation, and, in turn,
elicit the communal seal of acceptance upon the individual. In song, the
community relives the moment of its collective past: the journey from burdened,
misdirected heaviness to joyful, ordered freedom. The stirring gospel message
set to music strengthens communal bonds and demonstrates the impact of the
"theology of experience" back upon the ritual worship itself. In the
sermon, the preacher and the congregation join voices in the proclamation and
experience of the divine presence. Here, the message is "fleshed out"—the
realm of belief ceases to be abstract and cerebral and becomes real,
substantial, and concrete in the experiences of community initiation and renewal.5
Several recurring themes emerge from Oneness testimonies, songs,
and sermons which function as the central foundations in the Oneness belief
system. The themes, although not systematic, to a great extent encompass the
whole of Oneness distinctiveness. Focusing on the eschatological
"revelation" of the divine name "Jesus" and its centrality
in the life of the believer, these themes differentiate Oneness life and
worship from other expressions of Pentecostalism. These themes include: (1) the
"Name" and the presence of God in the worshiping community; (2) the "Name,"
the "concreteness" of Christian salvation, and the assurance of the
believer; (3) the "Name," the "perfected humanity" of Christ,
and the redeemed life of the believer; and (4) the "Name" and the certain
vindication of the future.
_____________________
1Peter L. Berger, The
Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological
Theory of Religion (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Company, 1969), pp.
40-41.
2Ibid., pp. 19-22.
3Arthur E. Paris, Black Pentecostalism:
Southern Religion to an Urban World (Amherst: University of Massachusetts
Press, 1982), pp. 93-99.
4See Marion Dearman, "Christ and Conformity: A Study of
Pentecostal Values," Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion 13 (1974): 437-53.
5For a comparative analysis of these elements in black
Pentecostalism, see Paris, Black
Pentecostalism, pp. 99-106.
_____________________
Next post: The "Name" and the presence
of God in the worshiping community.
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