“In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” With this statement, a candidate is baptized and welcomed as a new member of the body of Christ. The phrase taken from Matthew 28:19 followed Jesus' command to baptize all nations. But is this phrase really the saying of Jesus? Or was the scripture altered during the third century to support the development of the doctrine of the trinity?
Since the concession that 1 John 5:7 is spurious, only Matthew 28:19 remains as a scriptural support for the triune name. That is why the triple formula, “father, son and holy spirit:' formed the framework of the Apostles' Creed. Oxford scholar Moberly (1902) claimed Matthew 28:19 to be a “solemn precept to baptize in the name of the holy Trinity, which fell from the divine lips of the newly risen Lord”
Because this scripture is important to the trinitarian belief, there has been little interest in pursuing its authenticity. Yet some scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries believe the scripture was altered. James Martineau, in Seat of Authority, says that the “very account which tells us that at last, after his resurrection, he commissioned his apostles to go and baptize all nations, betrays itself by speaking in the Trinitarian language of the next century and compels us to see in it the ecclesiastical editor.”
In History of Dogma, Adolph Harnack claims Matthew 28:19 is “no word of the Lord” Even the cautious critic Canon Armitage Robinson, in Encyclopedia Biblica, says that Matthew “does not here report the (very words) of Jesus, but transfers to him the familiar language of the church of the Evangelist's own time and locality.”
There are early church writers who also seem to support these views. Eusebius, a fourth century writer, had the greatest library of any early church scribe. It contained manuscripts of the New Testament that were at least 200 years older than any existing today. Manuscripts copied by Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and others not available today gave him access to almost original material. Eusebius cites Matthew 28:19 eighteen times in his work, always in the same form: “Go ye and make disciples of all nations in my name, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I commanded you”.
When he comments on the verse, Eusebius places great stress on the phrase, “in my name.” Apparently his sources, Origen, Clement and Justin Martyr, excluded “father” and “holy spirit” from this scripture.
Justin Martyr wrote between 130 A.D. and 140 A.D. While much of his work is no longer available, there is a passage that is generally thought to be a reference to Matthew 28:19:
“God hath not yet inflicted nor inflicts the judgment, as knowing of some that still even today ARE BEING MADE DISCIPLES IN THE NAME OF HIS CHRIST, and are abandoning the path of error, who also do receive gifts each as they be worthy, being illumined by the name of this Christ.”
Aphraates, a Syriac writer of the middle-fourth century, cites the text in yet a different manner, “Make disciples of all nations, and they shall believe in me.”
It probably was not until the middle of the third century that the current rendering of Matthew 28:19 appeared when Bishop Cyprian of Rome insisted on the triple formula for baptism. Ironically, Pope Stephen used only one name, Jesus.
During the fourth century, the orthodox church used the phrase, “in the name of the father, son and holy ghost” as a battle cry against the Macedonians who claimed that no New Testament text supported the spirit as part of the trinity. However, by the seventh century the church had wholeheartedly accepted the current rendering of the scripture, and excommunicated the Celtic church for insisting on one name in baptism.
In 1902, the modern scholar F.C. Conybeare summed up the history of the development of Matthew 28:19 as follows: “It is worth considering, however, whether the original text of the gospel did not end at the word 'nations,' and whether the three rival endings of the text were not developed independently, viz: (i) 'in my name' in Justin, Eusebius, and perhaps Stephen of Rome and the Pneumato-machi (ii) 'and they shall believe in me, in Aphraates, representing the older Syriac version (iii) 'baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the holy Ghost; or similar in the Greek gnostic Theodotus, Tertullian Latin version of Irenaeus, and the surviving Greek MSS.”
There are four instances of baptism by the Apostles recorded in the book of Acts. In each instance, only the name of Jesus is used in connection with the baptism.
Acts 2:38. Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost was followed by a call to those who would become followers of Jesus: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (NIV)
Acts 8:16. Philip preached throughout Samaria and gained several converts. However, when Peter and John arrived, those converts had not received the gifts of the spirit that normally accompanied conversion in those days. They then laid their hands upon them, “because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized INTO THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS” (NIV)
Acts 10:48. Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was baptized after a lengthy conversation with Peter: “So he ordered that they be baptized IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.” (NIV)
Acts 19:5. Paul's initial encounter with the brethren at Ephesus caused him concern as they had been baptized by Apollos with John's baptism. He instructed them regarding Jesus: “On hearing this, they were baptized INTO THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS” (NIV)
Although Matthew 28:19 has not yet been agreed upon by a majority of scholars as spurious, there is certainly enough evidence to limit its use. At least it would be wise to consider it inappropriate for use in baptism, given its questionable history.
