Unitarian Pentecostalism
Unitarian Pentecostalism is the faith in one God—the Father—revealed through Jesus Christ and continuing among believers through the Holy Spirit. It represents a return to the original, apostolic fellowship of the Father and the Son.
In the New Testament, there is no formal doctrine of the Trinity, yet Jesus is presented in a way that makes him “God” to his disciples. This does not mean he is identified with the Father in essence, as later theology would claim, but that he embodies and reveals God’s presence, authority, and character in human form. In the Gospels, Jesus forgives sins, calms storms, and redefines divine law—actions traditionally associated with God himself. To his followers, this makes him the tangible manifestation of God’s nearness, the one through whom they see and know the divine.
When the disciples encountered Jesus, they experienced the living presence of God—not as an abstract concept but in personal, human terms. The divinity of Jesus in scripture is therefore functional and relational, rather than metaphysical. He is “divine” because he does what God does—forgiving, judging, revealing, and saving—and because he bears God’s authority and name. The New Testament writers portray him as exalted and worshiped, yet always as the one through whom the one God acts.
For the disciples, to call Jesus “Lord” was to confess that God had made himself known through him. Their devotion to Jesus was devotion to God in person. This understanding forms a kind of relational monotheism, preserving God’s unity even as his presence is encountered through the Son.
If this vision were to take shape as the foundation of a church today, it would not belong to any existing branch of Christianity. It would not be Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox, since all three are built upon post-biblical Trinitarian definitions. Nor would it be a mere denomination, as it would not arise from within those traditions but as a distinct expression of the faith. It would seek to recover the earliest form of Christian experience—the way the first disciples knew Jesus as the human embodiment of God’s presence, before the creeds sought to define that mystery philosophically.
Such a church could stand alongside the great historic streams of Christianity as its own expression: a community devoted to the one God made known through Jesus, emphasizing encounter over doctrine, revelation over metaphysics, and worship of God as personally revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of the man from Nazareth. In this vision, Jesus is neither a separate deity nor merely a prophet, but the living, human face of God—the one through whom the divine is seen, known, and loved.
It is a vision that could exist today. In this sense, it is akin to Pentecostalism, yet neither Protestant, nor Oneness, nor Biblical Unitarian, all of which arose from Protestantism and looked back to Catholicism. It preserves the anointing of the Holy Spirit through an apostolic laying on of hands and maintains eldership in continuity with the practices of the early churches and apostles. It seeks to remain grounded in the teachings of Christ and in fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Though it might eventually adopt a denominational name for practical recognition, it would seek unity with all believers wherever righteousness is pursued in the name of Jesus Christ. At present, it exists primarily as a distinct and coherent vision—neither a reform movement within existing Christianity nor a sectarian reaction against it—but as an effort to embody the original relational and spiritual life of the earliest followers of Jesus.
This visionary church recognizes Jesus as the personal revelation of the one true God—the Father—and builds its life around continued fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit and the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles. Its worship and teaching would not be framed by later doctrinal categories such as the Trinity or the Protestant–Catholic divide, but by the lived experience of God’s presence as revealed in Jesus and poured out through the Spirit.
Like Pentecostalism, it honors the anointing of the Holy Spirit as essential to the church’s life and ministry, viewing the Spirit not merely as doctrine but as the active continuation of Christ’s presence among believers. Yet it would also preserve the apostolic pattern of spiritual transmission—the laying on of hands, recognition of elders, and continuity of faith through personal relationship and prayerful discernment—rather than through institutional hierarchy or theological system.
Such a community might adopt a recognizable name for legal or organizational purposes, but it would see itself as belonging to no denomination and no tradition except the teaching of Christ himself. Its goal would be to live in the fellowship Jesus described: “Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3), extending unity to all who walk in that same light.
In essence, this would be a church of simplicity, spirit, and truth—grounded in the original gospel witness that to encounter Jesus is to encounter God; that the Spirit continues his life among believers; and that faith expresses itself in love, humility, and unity. It would stand alongside the historic branches of Christianity not as a rival, but as a fresh embodiment of the same divine life they all, in different ways, seek to serve.
Why “Unitarian Pentecostalism”?
The term Unitarian here does not refer to classical “Biblical Unitarianism,” which developed within Protestant contexts, nor to rationalist Unitarianism, which minimizes the supernatural. Instead, it affirms the oneness of God—the one divine Spirit fully revealed in and through the human Jesus—while recognizing Jesus as the living, anointed manifestation of that one God to his disciples and to the world.
The word Pentecostalism retains continuity with the vital, experiential life of the Spirit—the sense of God’s living presence, the gifts of the Spirit, healing, prophecy, and the transformative power of prayer. It also upholds the apostolic practice of anointing and laying on of hands, symbolizing the transmission of spiritual life and commissioning for ministry.
Together, the phrase Unitarian Pentecostalism describes a faith seeking to recover the simplicity and vitality of the earliest church—before Trinitarian doctrine and denominational divisions—when believers knew God through Jesus, lived in the Spirit’s power, and continued in fellowship with the Father and the Son.
It would not reject existing Christians or traditions but would stand alongside them, affirming unity wherever Christ is honored and righteousness practiced. In practice, such a church would be rooted in the teachings of Jesus, in prayer, in the Spirit’s active presence, and in apostolic order maintained through humble eldership and relational transmission rather than institutional hierarchy. Doctrine would not be an end in itself but a guide to living communion with God.
Thus, Unitarian Pentecostalism—qualified by this intent and spirit—could name a new stream of the Christian faith, centered on the one God revealed through Jesus Christ, animated by the Spirit, and dedicated to the original apostolic fellowship that unites Father, Son, and believer in living unity.
Many people today find themselves deeply drawn to Jesus Christ yet unable to define their belief within existing traditions. They may not identify as Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox, yet their hearts remain bound to the same God revealed through Christ and made known by the Spirit. For such believers, the vision of Unitarian Pentecostalism provides a language, not yet an institution—a way to describe faith in the one God made known through Jesus and continuing among humanity by the Holy Spirit.
Those who hold this understanding might use the term simply to identify their faith, even if no formal church or organization bears the name. It serves as a confession of belief in the unity of God, in the divine life revealed through Jesus, and in the continuing work of the Spirit who anoints and unites all who call upon the name of the Lord.
Such believers might gather informally, worship in homes, or simply walk in fellowship with others who share this heart for the original gospel. In this way, Unitarian Pentecostalism does not designate an institution or denomination but names a spiritual reality—a faith grounded in Scripture, alive in the Spirit, and centered on the fellowship of the Father and the Son. It gives voice to those whose belief transcends historical divisions yet remains rooted in the original life and message: the one God revealed in Jesus Christ, whose presence continues among his people through the power and love of the Holy Spirit.
