Matthew 28:19,
"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit."
People usually point to the fact
that the word “name” is in the singular.
Trinitarians insist that this is the only acceptable baptismal formula,
therefore we must think of them as an indivisible unity, therefore they must
form a godhead.
The major problem with this
interpretation is that the apostles never baptized “into the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Therefore, they clearly did not consider this baptismal formula to be
important.
Acts 2:38,
"And Peter said unto them, Repent ye,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission
of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 8:16,
"for as yet it was fallen upon none of
them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus."
Acts 10:48,
"And he commanded them to be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days."
Acts 11:16,
"And I remembered the word of the Lord,
how he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the
Holy Spirit."
Acts 19:5,
"And when they heard this, they were
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus."
Since they did not use the
Trinitarian baptismal formula and they regularly baptized in the name of Jesus
alone, they did not apparently consider the Father, Son and Holy Ghost to be an
indivisible unity.
Does baptizing in the name of Jesus make him God? Of course not. If it did, then we would have to believe that Moses is God, since they were baptized in Moses's name.
1 Corinthians 10:1-2,
"For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our
fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea."
