I went to a funeral yesterday, which was officiated by a minister of the United Pentecostal Church, aka, Oneness. To the best of my understanding, they believe Jesus was God the Father in flesh, and while Jesus was on earth, no One was in heaven. Yet they say that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. I don't understand that.
Well, that's not the main reason for this post. The Oneness, as a group, are generally considered extremely conservative (legalistic) - women shouldn't cut their hair, they shouldn't go to theaters, no TVs in their homes, must speak in tongues to be saved, must be baptized "IN JESUS' NAME ONLY" to be saved, strong emphasis on Eternal Damnation/hellfire. Well, I actually enjoyed the sermon given by the minister, and being curious about things, I did some reading about the UPC/Oneness doctrine. I came across the following about the Restitution of All Things, which piqued my interest;
[emphasis mine] "We understand the scripture to teach the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21). But we cannot find where the devil, his angels, and all sinners are included. (See Rev. 20:10)."
I thought it interesting they would even mention the restitution of all things, and confusing that once again, somehow, all only really means some. However, that statement "we cannot find where the devil, his angels, and all sinners are included" almost sounds hopeful - as in, "if we could find it or be shown it, maybe we could believe it". Hmmm...