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don't understand why people make oneness out to be such a big deal. It's not that different from trinitarian views.
The following info is based on the doctrines of the United Pentecostal Church:
Oneness Pentecostals do not fail to see a distinction between Father and Son as many suppose. The United Pentecostals explain the distinction of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as follows: "God is Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Holy Spirit in sanctification." Note however, that the distinction is in what God is doing and how he is doing it, not in person-hood.
The doctrine of Oneness denotes that there is only one God who manifests/reveals/expresses Himself at various times in various ways. This is in contrast to Trinitarian doctrine which sees God as always having existed as three separate and distinct persons, though one God.
One United Pentecostal theologian, David Bernard, in his book, the Oneness of God, points out that Scripture uses the term Son when referring to Jesus' humanity, never His divinity. Thus, they see a distinction between Father and Son in terms of humanity. Jesus the Son says He is one with the Father, in the Father and the Father is in Him. They therefore see one God existing simultaneously on Earth in the Son and in heaven as the Father.
Having established that background, in Matthew 3:16-17, God is in the Son, who is getting baptized. God speaks from heaven as Father, addressing His Son. God also alights upon the Son, in the likeness of a dove. But He is only one God simultaneously in three places, doing three things, in three different ways.
Bernard writes:
With the omnipresence of God in mind we can understand the baptism of Christ very easily. It was not at all difficult for the Spirit of Jesus to speak from heaven and to send a manifestation of His Spirit in the form of a dove even while His human body was in the Jordan River. The voice and the dove do not represent separate persons any more than the voice of God from Sinai indicates that the mountain was a separate intelligent person in the Godhead.
The rest of what he writes in regard to Jesus baptism is found on page 172-175 of his book, The Oneness of God.
(from https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjEndjnoo7QAhWJ1IMKHeiUAyMQFggbMAA&url=http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/26320/how-does-oneness-pentecostalism-interpret-matthew-317&usg=AFQjCNFNyOD0dQXBnkt8-YBdagZwXyawyw&bvm=bv.137901846,d.amc )
Jesus said in John, that if they couldn't believe in what He taught, believe Him for the works that He did. He put up His miraculous works to show the people that he was in the Father and the Father was in Him. Concerning oneness preachers: If a preacher shows that he is truly anointed of the Holy Spirit through miraculous healings, deliverances, and salvation preaching, then we can believe that he is anointed of God even though he might not accept the Trinity. If I was in a meeting listening to oneness preacher, and if he was demonstrating the miracle working power of God, I would accept that his ministry was anointed. I would accept his teaching if it was Scripture-based; but if he started teaching anti-Trinity stuff, I would let it go in one ear and out the other, realising that the treasure is in an earthen vessel.
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