HISTORY
OF THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE NATURE OF GOD
IN THE EARLY CENTURIES OF CHRISTIANITY
Part 11
THE MODE OF BAPTISM
EVERYWHERE IN THE OLDEST SOURCE IT IS STATED THAT BAPTISM TAKES PLACE IN THE
NAME OF JESUS. [8] THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF THE TRINITY
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, EXCEPT IN THE COMMAND ATTRIBUTED TO CHRIST IN MATTHEW
28:19. [3] (It is a Trinitarian theological opinion and assumption that the
Baptismal command in Matthew 28:19 was in the name of the Trinity. The
Scriptures came first. Both Oneness and Trinitarian teachers accept the verse
in light of their understanding of the general tenor of Scripture. The
Oneness people see no Trinitarian formula here but a truth that was revealed in
the carrying out of the command by the Apostles in baptizing in the name of
Jesus. The Trinitarians made the command a formula and made the formula a general
statement of authority).
(<The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia>, p.338, says): "THE
FORMULA OF THE trinity IS GIVEN IN MTT. 28:19 BUT IT IS CURIOUS THAT THE WORDS ARE
NOT GIVEN IN ANY DESCRIPTION OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM UNTIL THE TIMES OF JUSTIN
MARTYR: AND THERE THEY ARE NOT REPEATED EXACTLY. IN EVERY ACCOUNT OF THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE RITE <IN APOSTOLIC TIMES A MUCH SHORTER FORMULA IS IN USE,
NAMELY 'IN THE NAME OF JESUS'>. THE LONGER FORMULA OF MTT. 28:19 BECAME
UNIVERSAL only in the SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH at which time triune immersion was invented.
Tertullian said: 'AND IT IS NOT ONLY ONCE, BUT THRICE, THAT WE ARE IMMERSED
INTO THE THREE PERSONS, ONCE AT EACH SEVERAL MENTION OF THEIR NAMES.' The
church gave INJUNCTIONS TO USE THE LONGER FORMULA, AND PUNISHMENT INCLUDING
DEPOSITION, THREATENED THOSE WHO PRESUMED TO USE THE SHORTER. [3]
K. LAKE HOLDS MATTHEW 29:19 AS GIVEN NOW TO BE FALSE IN AS MUCH AS EUSEBIUS
"FATHER OF CHURCH HISTORY", OFTEN QUOTES THE TEXT WITHOUT MENTION OF FATHER,
SON AND HOLY GHOST BUT INSTEAD QUOTES, "MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS IN
MY NAME." THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS SCRIPTURE WOULD INDEED NEVER HAVE BEEN QUESTIONED
IF IT HAD NOT BEEN SUCH A CONTRAST WITH OTHER EARLY CHURCH TEACHING, PRACTICE
AND APOSTOLIC HISTORY. THAT IT IS A REASONABLE POSSIBILITY OF BEING AN
INTERPOLATION WE SHOULD ALL AGREE, AS OTHER INTERPOLATIONS ARE
KNOWN TO EXIST. [22]
FEINE, KATTENBUSCH, AND CONYBEARE ARGUE THAT THE TRINITARIAN FORMULA (so called)
IN MTT 28:19 IS SPURIOUS, saying that THE BAPTISM RECORDED IN THE N.T. AFTER
THE DAY OF PENTECOST ARE ADMINISTERED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. [3]
(I.S.B.E. continues): "THE ARGUMENTS FOR THE LATE ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF
MTT. 28:19 ARE NOT CONVINCING; ON THE OTHER HAND THE COMMAND OF JESUS MAY <NOT>
HAVE BEEN REGARDED AS A <FORMULA> FOR BAPTISM." [3] (It should be
noted that the term "Name" in Mtt. 28:19 is singular, and that
Father, Son and Holy Ghost are not names but titles. Also it is significant
that every reference to baptism speaks only of Christ Jesus: "know ye not,
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His
death?" -
WHEREIN HAS THE SPIRIT OF THE PASSAGE BEEN OVERLOOKED? MATTHEW 28:19-20 READS
AS FOLLOWS: "AND JESUS CAME AND SPAKE UNTO THEM SAYING <ALL> POWER
IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE THEREFORE AND TEACH ALL NATIONS,
BAPTIZING THEM IN (R.V. "INTO") THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE
THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST: TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER
I HAVE COMMANDED YOU: AND, LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE
WORLD."
TWO THINGS ARE EVIDENT:
1 - FROM BEGINNING TO END THE BOOK OF MATTHEW LAYS SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE KINGSHIP
OF JESUS. CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION HAD EFFECT UPON MAN'S
RELATION TO GOD AND THIS ASPECT WAS EMPHASIZED IN THE COMMISSION AS RECORDED IN
LUKE -- <BUT IT ALSO ALTERED CHRIST'S RELATION TO MAN>. "HE HUMBLED
HIMSELF -- WHEREFORE GOD GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND GAVE HIM <THE NAME WHICH
IS ABOVE EVERY NAME> THAT <IN> THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD
BOW" (PHIL 2:8,9 R.V.) "OUGHT NOT CHRIST TO HAVE SUFFERED THESE
THINGS AND TO
ENTER INTO HIS GLORY?" (LUKE 24:26) "<ALL AUTHORITY> IS GIVEN
UNTO ME -- <GO YE THEREFORE>!" NOTHING CAN BE PLAINER THIS THIS --
THE COMMISSION IN MATTHEW EMPHASIZES AN ASPECT OF THE GOSPEL TOO OFTEN
NEGLECTED, BUT ABOUT WHICH CHRIST IS VERY JEALOUS. TO FULFILL THE GREAT
COMMISSION IN THE MANNER CHRIST INTENDED, WE MUST "PREACH REPENTANCE, AND
REMISSION OF SINS IN HIS NAME, AND THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER" (AS PER
LUKE). THE APOSTLES FULFILLED BOTH MATTHEW AND LUKE ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST;
"LET ALL THE HOUSE OF
”REPENT, AND BE BAPTIZED EVERY ONE
OF YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS AND YE SHALL
RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST." (Acts
THE SAME MESSAGE IS FOUND IN EVERY APOSTOLIC SERMON RECORDED IN THE ACTS AND IN
THE SAME ORDER:
1 - THE EXALTED POSITION OF THE MAN CHRIST JESUS AS THE RESULT OF HIS SACRIFICE.
2 - THE CONSEQUENT BENEFITS TO MAN THROUGH HIS NAME. READ ACTS 3:13,16,19;
4:10-12; 5:31,32; 7:55,56,60; 10:42,43; 13:33,38;
17:3,7,30,31; 26:13,16,18. [23]
== FORMULA USED BY APOSTLES ==
OUR FIRST REFERENCE TO BAPTISM IS FOUND IN MATTHEW 28:19, "GO YE THEREFORE,
AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE
SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST."
AGAIN IN MARK
SHALL SPEAK WITH NEW TONGUES." HERE THERE IS REFERENCE TO BAPTISM AND THE WORKS
THAT WERE TO FOLLOW IN HIS NAME.
IN LUKE 24:47 JESUS SAID, "AND THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD
BE PREACHED <IN HIS NAME> AMONG ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING AT
PHILLIP WENT DOWN TO THE CITY OF
CORNELIUS AND HIS HOUSEHOLD OF RELATIVES AND BRETHREN WERE COMMANDED TO BE BAPTIZED
IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. ACTS 10:47-48. "CAN ANY MAN FORBID WATER, THAT
THESE SHOULD NOT BE BAPTIZED, WHICH HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST AS WELL AS WE?
AND HE COMMANDED THEM TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD." ("Lord
Jesus Christ" - Greek)
THE ROMANS WERE BAPTIZED INTO JESUS CHRIST,
THE GALATIANS WERE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST. GAL 3:27. "FOR AS MANY OF YOU AS
HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED <INTO CHRIST> HAVE PUT ON CHRIST."
THE CORINTHIANS WERE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST (1 COR
PAUL UNDOUBTEDLY REFERS TO BAPTISM INTO JESUS CHRIST IN 1 COR. 1:13, PAUL SAYS,
"WAS PAUL CRUCIFIED FOR YOU? OR WERE YE BAPTIZED <IN THE NAME OF PAUL>?"
WHAT PAUL WANTED TO POINT OUT TO THESE PEOPLE WAS TO FOLLOW THE ONE
WHO HAD BEEN CRUCIFIED FOR THEM, INTO WHOM THEY HAD BEEN BAPTIZED. HE COULD HAVE
SAID, "WAS THE FATHER, THE SON, OR THE HOLY GHOST CRUCIFIED FOR YOU",
BUT EVIDENCE POINTS TO THAT OF BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.
HEALING AND DEVILS WERE ALWAYS CAST OUT IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, PAUL ALSO
SAYS IN COL. 3:17, "AND WHATSOEVER YE DO IN WORD OR DEED, DO ALL IN THE NAME
OF THE LORD JESUS." BAPTISM IS AN ACT OR DEED PETER SAYS IN ACTS
"NEITHER IS THERE SALVATION IN ANY OTHER; FOR THERE IS NONE OTHER NAME
UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN, WHEREBY YE MUST BE SAVED." AT NO PLACE IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT CAN BE FOUND BAPTISM EVER ADMINISTERED TO ANYONE EXCEPT IN
THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. [24]
== SUCCESSIVE APOSTOLIC WRITERS ==
TURNING NOW TO THE ONLY WRITERS WE HAVE ANY RECORD OF WHO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED
THE DISCIPLES WE RECORD --
<NICODEMUS>: NO MENTION OF WATER BAPTISM, HE FURTHERMORE MAKES NO MENTION
OF THE TRINITY. IN THE FICTITIOUS TALE OF PAUL, AND THE MARTYR THECIA, WE FIND
REFERENCE TO BAPTISM CHAPTER 9:6-9, "AFTERWARDS THEY BROUGHT OUT MANY OTHER
WILD BEASTS; BUT THECIA STOOD WITH HER HANDS STRETCHED TOWARDS HEAVEN, AND
PRAYED; AND WHEN SHE HAD DONE PRAYING, SHE TURNED ABOUT, AND SAW A PIT OF WATER,
AND SAID, NOW IT IS THE PROPER TIME FOR ME TO BE BAPTIZED. ACCORDINGLY SHE
THREW HERSELF INTO THE WATER, AND SAID, IN THY NAME, O MY LORD JESUS
CHRIST, I AM THIS DAY BAPTIZED." WE ARE CONVINCED THAT THE STORY AS A
WHOLE IS ONLY FICTION, BUT THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE GENERAL MODE OF BAPTISM
WAS IMMERSION AND IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
<CLEMENT>: SILENT ON BAPTISM, HIS EPISTLES REJECTED AS NOT TO DULY HONOR TRINITY.
<BARNABAS>: IN REFERENCE TO BAPTISM SAYS, PAGE 157,162: BLESSED ARE THEY WHO
PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE CROSS, DESCEND INTO THE WATER: FOR THEY SHALL HAVE THEIR
REWARD IN DUE TIME: "HAVING RECEIVED REMISSION OF OUR SINS, AND TRUSTING IN
THE NAME OF THE LORD, WE ARE BECOME RENEWED, BEING AGAIN CREATED AS IT WERE FROM
THE BEGINNING."
<IGNATIUS>: THERE ARE 15 EPISTLES DESIGNATED TO IGNATIUS, EIGHT OF WHICH ARE
KNOWN TO BE FORGERIES. AMONG THOSE THAT ARE GENUINE THERE IS NO REFERENCE TO
BAPTISM. HE DOES MAKE MANY STATEMENTS LIKE THIS: "JESUS CHRIST, WHO WAS THE
FATHER BEFORE ALL AGES, AND APPEARED IN THE END TO US." SALUTATION:
"FARE YE WELL IN THE HARMONY OF GOD, YE HAVE OBTAINED THE INSEPARABLE
SPIRIT, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST."
<PAPIAS> WAS SILENT ON BAPTISM.
<POLYCARP> WAS SILENT ON BAPTISM.
<SHEPARD OF HERMAS>: SIMILITUDE 9:120, PAGE 255, "WHOSOEVER
THEREFORE SHALL NOT TAKE UPON HIM HIS NAME, HE SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE
DEATH, AND ASSIGNED UNTO LIFE." "NOW THAT SEAL IS THE WATER OF
BAPTISM, INTO WHICH MEN GO DOWN UNDER THE OBLIGATION UNTO DEATH, BUT COME UP
APPOINTED UNTO LIFE." "THEY WENT DOWN THEREFORE INTO THE WATER WITH
THEM, AND AGAIN CAME UP."
THIS COMPLETES THE ONLY RECORDS OF WRITERS WHO WERE EITHER CONTEMPORANEOUS OR
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED THE APOSTLES. IT MAY BE NOTED THAT THERE IS NO MENTION OF
THE TRINITY OR THE TRINITARIAN FORMULA OF BAPTISM. [24].
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