Editing Oneness Pentecostalism (section)

====The Word====
Oneness theology holds that "[[Logos (Christianity)|the Word]]" in [[John 1:1]] was God's mind or plan. Oneness Pentecostals believe that the Word was not a separate person from God but that it was the plan of God and God itself. Bernard writes in his book ''The Oneness View of Jesus Christ'', 
{{Blockquote|In the Old Testament, God's Word (dabar) was not a distinct person but was God speaking, or God disclosing Himself (Psalm 107:20; Isaiah 55:11). To the Greeks, the Word (logos) was not a distinct divine person, but reason as the controlling principle of the universe. The noun logos could mean thought (unexpressed word) as well as speech or action (expressed word). In John 1, the Word is God's self-revelation or self-disclosure. Before the Incarnation, the Word was the unexpressed thought, plan, reason, or mind of God.<ref name=":OnenessJesus">{{cite book|last1=Bernard|first1=David|title=The Oneness View of Jesus Christ|publisher=Word Aflame Press|year=1994|isbn=1-56722-020-7}}</ref>}}
Bernard additionally claims that the Greek word ''pros'' (translated as "with" in John 1:1) could also be translated as "pertaining to", meaning that John 1:1 could also be translated as (in his view) "The Word pertained to God and the Word was God."<ref name="The Oneness of God">{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Bernard |url=http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216034825/http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm |pages=60–61 |archive-date=16 February 2008 |title=The Oneness of God |publisher=Word Aflame Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-912315-12-6}}</ref>

In the incarnation, Oneness believers hold that God put the Word (which was his divine plan) into action by manifesting himself in the form of the man Jesus, and thus "the Word became flesh".<ref>{{bibleverse|John|1:14|KJV}}</ref> As an extension, Oneness Pentecostalism argues that the incarnation was a singular event unlike anything God has done prior or will ever do again.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Norris |first1=David |title=I AM: A Oneness Pentecostal Theology |date=4 September 2009 |publisher=Word Aflame Press |isbn=978-1565630000 |page=161 |chapter=The Man Who Preexisted |quote=...and of course, the Incarnation is one of a kind-it is unique, as it is expressed in the rest of the verse.}}</ref> Oneness Pentecostals believe that the Word of John 1:1 does not imply a second pre-existent, divine person but that the Word is simply the plan of God, which was put into action through the incarnation.<ref name="The Oneness of God"/>