Matthew 28:19,
πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ
ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ
Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ῾Αγίου Πνεύματος,
"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,
Πέτρος δὲ ἔφη πρὸς αὐτούς· μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ λήψεσθε τὴν
δωρεὰν τοῦ ῾Αγίου Πνεύματος.
"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,
οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἐπ᾿ οὐδενὶ
αὐτῶν ἐπιπεπτωκός, μόνον δὲ βεβαπτισμένοι ὑπῆρχον
εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ.
"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,
προσέταξε τε αὐτοὺς βαπτισθῆναι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι
τοῦ Κυρίου. τότε ἠρώτησαν αὐτὸν ἐπιμεῖναι ἡμέρας
τινάς.
"And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days."
Acts 11:16,
ἐμνήσθην δὲ τοῦ ῥήματος Κυρίου ὡς ἔλεγεν· ᾿Ιωάννης μὲν ἐβάπτισεν ὕδατι, ὑμεῖς δὲ βαπτισθήσεσθε ἐν Πνεύματι ῾Αγίῳ.
"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,
ἀκούσαντες δὲ ἐβαπτίσθησαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ.
"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?
1
Corinthians 10:1-2,
Οὐ θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν πάντες
ὑπὸ τὴν νεφέλην ἦσαν, καὶ
πάντες διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης διῆλθον,
καὶ πάντες εἰς τὸν Μωϋσῆν ἐβαπτίσαντο ἐν τῇ
νεφέλῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ,
"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."
